Ms. Miran and the Sea

After a very short night - my roommates made a lot of noise on the balcony until 2am - the second day in Sokcho started with a late and hearty breakfast in a small café around the corner. 

Originally, I had planned to visit the nearby Seoraksan National Park on this day, do some hiking, see some temples. But honestly, I didn't feel like it. I just wanted to spend the day by the sea. 

And then I thought to myself: 'It's vacation after all. I can do whatever I want. I don't have to visit every tourist attraction.' What a relief! So I found a shady spot on a bench by the beach with my book. (Sun and my skin tone, you know. Love-hate relationship with sunscreen.) 

I had read about 2 sentences from the book (short stories in Korean for beginners) when I was approached. 'Excuse me, is it okay if we talk a bit? I'm also alone here.' 

The question came in Korean from a (of course, masked with a hat, umbrella, face mask, etc.) woman sitting next to me, who, upon seeing the Korean book title, thought she could talk to me. 

A great conversation ensued from her question, lasting a total of 3 hours. We talked about ourselves, our travels, families, Germany and Korea, dating Korean men (I politely declined 😬), good advice for dealing with broken hearts, hobbies, and more. She invited me to lunch, and we walked the 'Sea Smell Trail' together and she took about 1 million photos of me and tried to teach me how to pose properly. (You can judge for yourself in the gallery above whether that worked or not 😂) 

Miran, that's the name of the woman in her early 50s, used to be a model. And a secretary for a minister. And now she is learning acupuncture to help her husband. Her son lives in Munich and her daughter is studying at the best university in Seoul. And she loves to travel and have conversations with people from other countries, and she was so happy that she could speak a little English with me. (But mostly we talked in Korean.) 

She even suddenly started singing a German song that she learned in school ('I love you as you love me' by Beethoven), it was so unexpected and beautiful that I was really touched, and then we both had a little teary-eyed moment. An extraordinary encounter that will stay in our memories, we agreed! 

After saying goodbye, I wanted to continue my high spirits: A romantic ride on the Ferris wheel with just myself. The view was really great, and the price was also okay (about €8 for a 15-minute ride).

By now, the midday sun had subsided and I dared to take the long walk to the other end of the city, where a large fish market and two traditional pavilions with beautiful views were waiting. 

It took me about 45 minutes to walk the 3.5 km, including climbing up and down the stairs on the bridge (x2). I was sweating quite a bit in 28 degrees! 

When I finally arrived at the pavilion, the result was quite disappointing. Did I really walk all this way for this? According to the descriptions on the internet, I had imagined it to be more impressive. But looking at the photos, it seems quite nice, as I just realized. 

I skipped the fish market. I can't bear to see the misery. I decided very early in my trip not to eat fish/seafood here. The animals are packed together in tiny basins right in front of the restaurants and endure there until they die. I find it terrible to see how miserably they vegetate. 

I know how wrong this must sound, because I still eat meat, eggs, and dairy products, knowing that these animals certainly don't have it any better. 

In my internal struggle against my learned eating habits, I am unfortunately not as strong as I would like to be from an ideological point of view. But at least the sight of animal suffering in the immediate context of the 'end product' helped me to not go down that path anymore. 

(I'm ashamed to write these lines. Why am I so weak and why do animal products tempt me so much?) 

My feet hurt, I was a little annoyed*, and I was hot. I just wanted to dip my feet in the water and sit somewhere for a while. So I took the bus back, which was quite a dangerous affair**, and then I did just that at the beach (Update: The water is freezing!), before getting something to eat*** and retreating to my hotel room. Day over! 

Footnotes:

*I had simply smiled friendly at an old woman, to which she asked me quite snidely what there was to laugh about. I just said 'Oh, the ascent to the pavilion was so exhausting' and then she said 'Aigu' (which roughly means 'oh my goodness'), sat down next to me, and started touching my hair while talking to her friend. Kind of strange and a bit invasive. 

**The bus driver was driving so fast that even while sitting, I was being tossed around. A man who wanted to get off fell hard against me during a sudden stop. Of course, he couldn't help it, but my head was throbbing quite a bit. 

***The saleswoman in the store was so sweet, she was delighted that I ordered in Korean and after the usual questions (where are you from, why can you speak the language), she recited her two lines in German. With really good pronunciation! 😊 So I praised her as well. That was a nice interaction at the end of the day. 

It is now Sunday morning, and as I write all of this, I'm already on the bus back to Seoul. I have plans with friends later. By the way, this bus driver drives quite normally, so no worries! 😅

This not only marks the end of my short trip to the sea, but also the halfway point of my journey! 

My mid-term conclusion:

I think Korea is now being demystified for me. What I mean to say is that it is no longer this fairy tale castle from the (cheesy) dramas I devoured, but a real, genuine country, with good and not so good sides, with ordinary people, many of whom are incredibly nice, helpful, and interested, but some who don't want to deal with foreigners or don't really know how to interact with people who don't fully understand them. 

I think this development is good. I feel like I'm no longer looking at the country through rose-colored glasses, and I still really like it. (But I stick to my statement that I don't want to live and work here.)

I also feel a bit 'weary' of traveling in the sense of 'I've had enough new impressions for now'. That's why I'm looking forward to a week of learning and meeting nice people in Seoul, without the pressure of urgently having to do/see anything else (I've already done most of it). And then of course, another week of pure vacation in the south!! 😊 

It's incredible. One month is quite long. I'm looking forward to seeing you all and I wish you a nice long weekend! ♥️