Today’s the big day–the start of my trip to Thailand. I’ll be leaving Andong in a few hours to go to Seoul for the day. My flight to Bangkok leaves at 10:20 am Monday morning, so I have to get up very early to catch the bus into {{link http://www.airport.or.kr/Eng/home.jsp Incheon Airport}}. I probably won’t be posting anything here for a while, but check back anyway–maybe I’ll post while I’m in Thailand. Near the end of July, I should have a lot of information here about the trip, as well as many photos on the gallery page. 
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We’ve had our first big rain of the monsoon season, drenching us steadily for the past couple of days. I was going to visit Brent and Katie in Gangneung, but called it off due to the unsavory conditions. They are returning to Montana on July 7th, working with the summer English Language Institute programs at the U of M and looking for other jobs. Good luck, you two! June 28th is rapidly approaching. That’s the day I fly out of Korea for Bangkok, Thailand. I’ll spend the first night in Bangkok, then I’m flying down to Phuket, where I’ll be hanging out at Kamala Beach for a few days. The air fares in country, booked through {{link http://www.airasia.com/ Air Asia}}, are insanely cheap. It cost me about $17 for a ticket from {{link http://www.bangkok.com Bangkok}} to {{link http://www.phuket.com Phuket}}. After trying to hook up with fellow teachers Jim and Allison and Jim’s parents down there, I’ll probably travel to {{link http://www.samui.org/ Ko Samui}} or to {{link http://krabi.sawadee.com/ Krabi}}, where I’ll take a boat to Hat Railey beach. It all depends on the weather. Then after slumming around the beaches for a couple of weeks, I’ll go up north to {{link http://www.chiangrai.com/e-chiangrai/index.html Chiang Rai}} and try to catch a speedboat down the Mekong River to {{link http://www.visit-laos.com/where/luangprabang/ Luang Prabang}} in Laos. Then back to Bangkok for the final days of my vacation. These plans are tentative–wherever my feet take me is where I’ll end up, I suppose. I’ll try to access the Internet whenever I can to check my email, but I don’t expect to post anything here or on the photo gallery until I get back. I’ll take plenty of photos, of course, so I should have bunches of new pictures. As promised, here are some of our “Vegas like” wedding halls. First photo is of the palm trees outside the wedding hall where my taekwando master was married, and the second shot is of another wedding hall just a few blocks down. Hmmm, with a few cheesy Montana-style casinos thrown in, we might have the start of something big! CHEESY MONTANA-STYLE CASINO
Alas, most forms of gambling are illegal here. Westerners, though, can gamble at certain places, notably at the {{link http://seoulcasino.co.kr Walker Hill Hotel}} in Seoul. For real Vegas style gambling you have to go to {{link http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/040517/17macau.htm Macau}}, the former Portuguese colony in China.
Oh, yeah! Another great Yankee comeback today–6-5 over the Padres and David Wells. A great game! I must admit, though, that I’m worried about the pitching. Both Brown and Mussina are down, hopefully for not too long, and Rivera is reported to be feeling some “stiffness.” I hope it all works out ok, because this is one of those special teams again, hired mercenaries maybe, but still, a Yankee team. Last weekend, my taekwando master, Mr. Kim, was married in one of the local wedding halls. The ceremony, typical, I’m told, of Korean weddings, might resemble {{link http://www.wedinvegas.com/ Las Vegas}}–glitz and surrealism. The happy couple was transported down the side wall of the room in an open-sided booth that emitted dry-ice smoke. The couple departed the booth at the back of the room and then proceeded up to the main “altar” at the front of the room. It’s not really an altar, since this is not a religious ceremony. In marching to the front, to the strains of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, they passed under a couple of fake swords wielded by two lady aides, dressed in mock military uniforms, which reminded me of {{link http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/b/bu/busby_berkeley.html Busby Berkeley}} musicals of the ’30s. The room itself is very ornate. Outside the building (no photos yet) are several neon palm trees, green-, yellow-, and red-colored, I believe, that are quite a spectacle at night. I’ll try to get some photos of these to post. After the ceremony, those giving money to the couple (no merchandise given, just money) are allowed to gorge themselves on a pretty decent Korean buffet a couple of floors above the wedding ceremony area. Overall, quite interesting, if kitschy.
I was bicycling around town last night, shooting some night photos using my new tripod, when I spotted what looked like a full-blown forest fire on one of the hills surrounding Andong. I watched as the fire swept through the tops of some trees, causing {{link http://www.nps.gov/yell/slidefile/fire/1988/crownfire/page.htm crown fires}}. I was probably several kilometers away, so I didn’t get a great view, but it definitely reminded me of some of the fires I’ve seen in western Montana. I couldn’t get any great photos (wish I’d had the big camera with its telephoto lens with me), but there is one here and a few more on the photo page.
I paid for my ticket to Thailand (about $300 roundtrip), but I’m still waiting to receive it in the mail. I’m told that the travel agent doesn’t send it until just before I’m supposed to leave. We’ll see what happens, but I hope I get it soon. I’m leaving on June 28th and returning on July 21st. At least, I think I’m returning–maybe I’ll love Thailand so much that I’ll just stay and become a beach bum |
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