7:10pm - I'm sitting in the Osan bus terminal, waiting for Andrew. I've spent the last two hours on a futile search for a McDonald's that doesn't exist in Osan, South Korea. Regardless, at least I had a chance to walk around and talk to the Korean people; I've realized that most people, outside of the airport, don't speak English; however, I have learned, and am currently using, with alarming frequency, two Korean words, "An Nyung Ha Se Yo" and "Gam Sa Hap Mi D." I anticipate eventually being able to speak several words.
The bus ride to Osan, from the airpot, was long, boring, and tiring. Upon disembarking, I spoke with some people who pointed me in the possible direction of McDonald's. Along the way, I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for a Green Tea Coolatta and a Green Tea Bavarian Donut; wow, Korean cuisine is awesome! I love the fusion of the Korean and American palette. This fusion could be successfully exported to HK too. Anyway, it was fun to communicate with the shop keeper. I kept trying to get her to teach me to say the number, "one", in Korean, but she was having none of it. Undaunted, I finished my snack and marched onward.
I ended up walking through a great deal of Osan, since everyone I asked kept pointing me in a different direction, or some people just didn't know of McDonald's. I even asked the police, and they pointed me in my original direction.
After walking past a carrier factory, I met this guy named Steve who turned me around and walked with me back to Osan, only to find out that he was mistaken about the location of McDonald's. However, it was terrific to talk to him: I found out that Carrier is an American (of course!) air-conditioner company that is number three in Korea (behind Samsung and LG) and China (behind Haier and some other brand.) Steve also gave me his name card, and he taught me how to use the pay phone, which I later successfully used to make contact with Andrew.
Now I am back at the bus terminal, doing some reading, looking at cute Korean girls, and wondering why everyone thinks I'm Japanese.
April 18, 2006 - I slept in a hotel last night; it was comfortable, and an excellent value at 40,000WON per night. Andrew and I, unfortunately, weren't able to meet because I truly suspect that we are in different Osans, or at least in different sections of the city! He made two trips to find me yesterday evening, and during our conversations, it was obvious that we were using two completely different sets of descriptors to identify our locations.
Last night, Andrew told me to look for a restaurant called "Happy Teriyaki," so I wrote the name down in my journal and began asking people if they knew of such a place; like McDonald's, this place doesn't exist. I walked quite a bit though, and I saw that this place has many venues that appear to be bars/karaoke joints/brothels. There are also nice fashion/sport shops.
Today I'm going to find the Air Force Base (AFB) but first, I'm going to do a little more scouting. The new morning has made me more determined to find my way here.
12:30pm - I'm sitting in a hotel, in Songtan. After breakfast - which consisted of Pork Dumplings, soup, and a pickled, yellow vegetable - I scouted out the train station, and copied the stations on a subway line into my journal. I realized that Songtan, which is a place that a guy at the hotel mentioned to me, is close by. Afterwards, I walked over to City Hall to verify the existence of a McDonald's. Well, McDonald's doesn't exist in Osan! I did stop by another Dunkin Donuts to try another kind of Green Tea donut. The donut was delicious and the two girls who I met there were very helpful and friendly. One girl is learning putonghua in university! We communicated a bit using spoken and written Chinese - who would have thought that Chinese would come in handy here! The girls suggested that I try Songtan, if I wanted to find Andrew. To cement our friendship, they offered me a free cup of milk. I took their photo an promised to send them a photo. Korean people are quite helpful.
On the way back to the train station, I met a South African who is working in Osan as an English teacher. She confirmed that the AFB is closer to Songtan than Osan. At least one white person lives in Osan, and she is a very valuable English-speaking asset to this community! Oh, I dropped by the police station, again, and the police reaffirmed that I had a date with Songtan. The police were friendly, and taught me the name of the AFB, "K55."