Friday, Day Ten: To Seoul

I woke up at about twenty to eight, and had the usual routine (sardine option).I fell down last night going to the bathroom, I tripped on the door sill of my room (the door jamb goes all the way around, even across the floor) and scraped my knee. It hurts to the touch, is a little warm, but is fine to walk on. 

KTX train arrives at Changwon Central

I left at 11:00 and caught a cab to the station. After checking the time I got a box of kim bap (maki-sushi) to take with me and eat on the train. I then waited on the platform.  On the ride I saw many family grave plots and tried to take a picture but never got the camera out in time, or if I did the picture was blurry. I got a nap between Daegu and Daejon. 

In Seoul I caught a cab to the hotel. Traffic was bad. I saw a Buddhist monk on one street going from store to store begging alms. When I got checked in the WiFi wasn't working so I'm using broadband cable. I couldn't get the lights to work either but that was my misunderstanding; you need to leave the key card in a slot after entering or the lights go back out. When you leave the room and take your key card the lights go out soon after you leave.

I decided to go out for dinner and on the way out found some K-1s (i.e. volunteers from the first group) in the lobby. One tried to introduce me to someone who studied in GongJu who just arrived at the group by saying "he taught in GongJu." I corrected him saying I was a health worker and he answered "so you had to learn Korean." I just smiled. We chatted and then I left. 

Police leave restaurant near Jap Embassy

I found a small place near Gwanghwamun square, but it was full of police so I walked past. They were leaving when I came back so I went in and had manduguk. The place then had a lesser influx of young men and I suspect many were undercover cops. 

When I left and walked back to the hotel I saw a line of six big buses in front of the Japanese Embassy and police all over the place. They are there to protect the embassy from demonstrators. Then I saw the statue of the comfort woman across from the Japanese Embassy and in front of the hotel.When I went in I asked the girl at the desk about them and she said the police are there all the time.