Sunday, September 17

Riding on the "Ji Ha Chul"

Well, sometimes you can see some pretty interesting things and people riding on the Metro or the 'Ji ha chul' in Korean. It's pretty hard to get a seat on some of the trains, and when one becomes available it's snatched up pretty quickly. I was taking Line 2 from Dangsan, where some friends and I stayed last night, to Gangnam Station.

First of all, about 2 stops on the way, I didn't have a seat. I saw one guy looking for one and he was literally walking down from the front cars of the train to the back. I wonder if he found one or if he was just exercising. Then a few ajummas got off and I was able to sit down. There was still about 12 stops to go. If you've ever been on Line 2, you'll know that it looks a little like the line in Busan where it starts out underground and then it goes way above ground where you can look down on the city and see the mountains in the background.
Well, this salesman got on a few stops later and was selling some little pocket knives that resembled swiss army knives. They were stainless steel knives and pretty sharp looking things. I thought he was one of the better salesman I've seen trying to sell something on Line 2 so I asked him:(in Korean ofcourse)
Me: Can I take a look at one of those?
Salesman: delay.....You....want to look at one?
Me: Yes, please.......How much is it?
Salesman: Twenty hundred thousand one. (in English)
Me: Two thousand one?
Salesman: Yes.
That was a good price I thought so I bought one. Pretty cheap for a stainless steel swiss army knife. He seemed like a really hard and diligent salesman too. I put it in my bag. I tried to relax but it was a little hot and I was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. I wonder if people could tell I was? To be honest, there were other people that looked as if they were wearing the same clothes for days.

A couple of stops later, the seat next to me became available and a highschool student sat next to me. She was very tired as she started to nod off almost right away. She hit the back of her head on the window a couple of times until her head finally landed on my shoulder. Everyone around saw it and started smiling or laughing silently. I couldn't help smiling because I kinda thought that might happen. She suddenly woke up, embarrassed, and said sorry or 'Jae sung hamnidda'! I got off a few stops later and caught the bus back to Bundang and then caught a taxi to go home.
I asked him to take me to Jangantown, near where I live. I told him to turn right at the next street. He said, "No turn left". I said, pointing, "This is right". He said, " No right and turn left". I said 'whatever'(in Korean) and he said, "Eh!?" so I said it again and he said "AAhhhh....whatever!"
I finally got home, glad that I can speak some Korean. It's raining again. Time to go to the gym.
Then going to watch the Chelsea Liverpool game at Paul's place.

1 comment:

Kyle said...

i wish it was i who nodded off on your shoulder, dave. how come you never hold me anymore?