Jinju is considered a small city by Korean standards, with a population of somewhere around 350,000. It's known as the "Education City" and the only things here that would attract tourists are the huge fortress that sits on the Nam River and survived two large Japanese invasions in the late 16th century, the 10-day lantern festival held every October, and its proximity to other attractions in Korea like Jirisan National Park. Oh yeah, and perhaps the bull-fighting event that is supposedly held every weekend here, though I have yet to witness that myself...
True, Jinju is not necessarily an "exciting" city, but it has it's charm. After all, Jinju's motto is "Jinju Charm"--as proudly displayed all over on random signs throughout the city. Jinju is pretty much all I knew of Korea for my first six weeks here and I've liked it from the beginning. That doesn't mean it's not nice to get of town for a while, however. A few friends and I took advantage of our time off from school during winter vacation and spent about four days in each Busan (Korea's second largest city) and Seoul, and now Korea has stolen my heart even more. (Check out the next post for a photo-recap of my trips to each city).
But first...
You may wonder why, when given over two weeks of vacation time, I would choose to travel within the tiny country of South Korea (which, mind you, one can get just about anywhere in the country within five hours on a bus) when I could instead travel to another country nearby. Another country like China or Japan. Another country like... Thailand. Yes, Thailand, a country that is on the top of my list of places to visit because every person I have ever met who has traveled in Thailand RAVES about it. Well, let me assure you, Thailand was the plan--especially when my friend and I found tickets for $400. But alas, my plan was spoiled.
You see, some Americans get lucky when they obtain their working visa for Korea and are automatically granted a multiple re-entry into Korea. Not me. I was one of the unlucky ones who was given only a single re-entry into the country, thus creating a major problem should I have left Korea and tried to come back in. So, naturally I had to take an extra step--and hand over a hefty amount of extra cash--in order to change this.
Long story... long, I headed over to the office for foreign workers here in Jinju on the first Wednesday that I possibly could (to make things SO easy, one can only take care of such tasks on Wednesdays). They told me I would receive my passport with its updated visa within two weeks. A few of my friends, however, had told me that it only took about four days for theirs to process, so I had high hopes that perhaps mine would also turn over in only a few days and I may have just enough time for a 12 day trip to Thailand. I couldn't have been more excited.
Monday arrives. My friend received his passport and updated visa in the mail and told me to be ready for mine, since he applied on the SAME day. I waited longingly in my apartment all day long, maintaining high hopes that I would hear a knock on my door at any given moment.
Someone knocked on my door only moments later. Heart racing, I stood up and opened my door in excitement to find that a strange man had accidentally knocked on the wrong door. Damn.
No passport. And did I mention that my internet had just completely stopped working on the previous Saturday?
Tuesday comes. I am positive it will arrive on this day. Again, I shut myself in my apartment and refuse to leave all day, lest I miss the mailman and his special delivery. I was trying not to think about the fact that I was sitting inside my apartment for the second day in a row during one of my handful of weeks of vacation when I could be out touring a fascinating country that has a lot to offer. I used the thought of sitting on a beach in Thailand to level these thoughts.
No passport. No internet. Went to the gym to work off the cabin fever that was beginning to overcome me.
Then comes Wednesday. I am trying to hold back all feelings and thoughts of concern and annoyance. My internet guy was supposed to have come to my house to fix whatever had taken away my internet connection. Hours passed and still no internet guy OR passport. I decide to take action and head back over to the foreign worker's office and inquire in person to the whereabouts of my passport. I call the internet guy to tell him I have to leave my apartment, turns out he'd forgotten about me--or something. His English is limited. He told me he could come to my house at 5pm, no later. It was almost 4pm.
I talk to my friend Megan, who had offered to accompany me to find out about my passport. I'm walking to meet her on the street corner so we can hop on a bus when she calls me. "I found kittens! And they're in the street and they're going to get run over! I want to take them home!" (Or something along those lines). Oh no. She and I both have a HUGE soft spot for kittens. I agree to help her capture the kittens.
Obviously, we had no luck capturing the feral kittens and it is now well after 4pm. We reluctantly give up and head downtown to the office. I don't get any answers from the man working there, but I do get a phone number. We leave so I can get back to my apartment for the internet guy. We're waiting for the bus, when suddenly we hear a huge BOOM--an explosion, of sorts. The rear of bus #35 (where the engine is), which had pulled curbside right in front of us, started smoking. Passengers immediately bailed and there were confused looks on the faces of both passengers and passerbys. It wasn't really a big deal, but it was still fun to laugh about the 'bus explosion' that we witnessed--embellished though it may be.
I call the phone number, and speak to a woman with delightful English skills after floundering around on the phone with another man first for the entire bus ride home. All she could tell me was that if my passport didn't show up next week, call her back.
The internet guy comes, he fixes my internet, and his friend/coworker shows up in the middle of it all to bring us all coffee and chat in English a bit--and because, according to my internet guy--he missed me. (They had both worked on my internet previously and we had exchanged some friendly, yet broken, English conversation). This time, when they left, we all agreed that we were friends and someday we'd go out for coffee or beer or soju, or something of the like. I haven't seen them since.
I get a phone call. It's the passport woman. She tells me it will be delivered that night! Megan comes over and we scope out Thailand tickets and share a pizza during this celebratory time.
No passport. Broken hearts, full bellies. At least I have internet.
Thursday arrives. I take advantage of a helpful, English speaking coteacher and ring her up, asking her to call the office for me and ask about my passport. She happily helps me out and then informs me that my passport will indeed be delivered that day. FINALLY, my passport arrives in the afternoon and Megan and I are ecstatic. We could still have nearly two weeks in Thailand.
No such luck. Ticket prices rose. Tickets that were supposed to exist, in actuality, were a fraud and no longer existed at all, as the airlines had slacked on changing their information.
Our dreams of sunshine and sand and dancing on a moon-lit beach for the full-moon party were crushed.
Luckily, she and I could still look forward to another two-week vacation coming up in Vietnam and Philippines, respectively...
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