Before I get on to today, I should mention an amazing sight on the subway last night. We sat next to a rather large lady who was dressed all in white and wearing a white industrial style kerchief cum hat. At first she appeared to have no arms but maybe they were behind her back. I saw a handbag and shopping on the floor so I presume she had some way of picking them up. She sat there, with her eyes closed, but suddenly her legs started to shake sideways and eventually quite violently; then her entire body started to shake. Her arms, if she had any, remained behind her back, and her eyes remained closed. Sadly, we got off so I will never know anything more about her.
Today we spent time in the city centre and doing tourist things so it was quite a contrast to yesterday. Seoul, and maybe the rest of South Korea, is a fascinating place. The main roads are wide, with many lanes full of elegant and clean cars. We do see foreign cars but they are rare and the majority of vehicles on the road are from South Korean companies. When one turns off the main road it's like being in another world. There are lots of narrow alleyways, going in all sorts of directions, with homes and small shops and restaurants. If I stand in Jisun's and Jayang's roof garden, and looked left, all I can see is rooftops of small homes. The roofs are made of a special shaped tile that I've only seen in this part of the world. In some places it looked as if tarps were spread over the roof. In the other direction was a cluster of huge apartment buildings, still under construction, and an enormous church that must have been at least seven storeys tall. The size of churches in Seoul is huge yet they are always full, and it's not for one service on a Sunday but many services throughout the week and many on Sunday. I'm sure any Western church minister would be jealous.
It was a shock to the system moving from Jisun and Jayang's home, with it's comfortable mattress in a quiet room, to the Seioso Hotel in downtown Seoul. We were in what is called a traditional Korean room and I quickly decided I didn't like it. There was just thin mattresses on the floor and there were five of us men in the room. I had to ask for another mattress as my hips would have been bruised for life if I'd had just one mattress. The lads came in late and I can't sleep until there's quiet and no light. One of them snored merrily so I got up and rummaged around to find my ear plugs.
We were up bright and early, had a quick breakfast and were then picked up by a bus to take us to Nami Island. It's purely a tourist place with the island created in the river by a dam. We got off the bus and onto a futuristic looking boat made with a huge glass bubble at the front. It's heavily wooded with open green spaces and people can rent bicycles to ride around. The rides are all environmentally friendly and in one area they have a tree-top experience where young adults can tie themselves to a line to zip across from tree to tree, walk along wobbly bridges, climb tree trunks etc. People can adopt a tree and then you get a certificate to say you are a citizen of the Nami Republic.
