Seoul goals

Early Saturday morning I hefted my pack and strolled
to the front gate of the base. 4 hours, a cab ride, a
train trip, and several subway rides later, I emerged
from the Seoul’s underground world into the bright
sunlit crowds of Itaewon. Just off the US Army base
Yongsan, Itaewon is the foreigners’ shopping district,
lined with shops selling luggage, lingerie, suits,
jewelry, junk, and anything else you could
imagine…except climbing gear. For that, one of my
traveling companions requested a Korean friend of his
to act as a guide. She led us through more of the
maze of subways, then up into Dongdaemun shopping
district. Unlike the America-crowded Itaewon area,
Dongdaemun was Asia-crowded – as in wall-to-wall
bodies. We pushed our way to the sports store, bought
what we needed, marveled at the plethora of
roller-blading gear, then jostled our way back into
the subway system, passing an infinite number of
shoes, t-shirts, handbags, and unidentifiable
odd-smelling snacks along the way. Seoul goal #1
accomplished.

Seoul goal #2 was meeting more English-speaking rock
climbers at a Canadian tavern that evening. There we
sat, 3 Americans living in Kunsan, beside Rhett from
Saskatchewan; Caitlin and Logan from near Vancouver
now living near Seoul; Eric the American and Jake the
Aussie, living in Daejon; Jenny and Jill stationed at
the US Army post at Yongsan just down the road; Russel
and Joey stationed at Uijongbu; Heidi from Canada,
living in Seoul; Collin the Aussie, living and
studying just south of Seoul; Sonia from the US,
living near Cheonju; and several others I met only
briefly. As with any gathering of climbers, we were a
very varied group of personalities and interests.
Oddly, however, we were of only 3 professions: one
student, several English teachers, and us, US
military.

We climbed Sunday in the shadow of an overhanging
man-made wall amidst the concrete maze of Seoul. I
was loving the challenge of it, even if it made me
sore for days afterward. Waiting for the train back
to Kunsan that evening, we explored one of the 9-story
world of electronics at Yongsan Station. Display
cases containing only digital cameras, MP3 players,
tiny computers, and electronic accessories stretched
from wall to wall on the vast brightly-lit floor. I
was the only one of our group to escape without a new
digital camera.

After living in a town with only a post office, gas
station, and convenience store to its name, I have to
admit it was a bit overwhelming, despite being a great
weekend. And now back to flying over the land of the
“not quite right”, where you can see the runway just
fine from 4000 feet, but between 3000 feet and 700
feet, you can barely see the ground below you, and
struggle to see the runway before you reach 1 mile
from it and have to go “missed approach”. The joys of
flying in Korea!

Have a good week.
Donna