I awoke for the first time in Seoul hours ahead of everyone else. But it wasn’t jet-lag that had me up so early—I’m always up by 5 or 6 a.m. Jumping the International Dateline actually helped me avoid any real time change havoc on my inner clock. I went to bed at my “normal” time, and arose when I had had “enough” sleep. Easy-peasy!
Today was a day dedicated to “acclimating” us to the neighborhood, learning to use the key card, the door code, and the general lay of the land. Right across the street is a wonderful “Science Park” in which many things—like the “bench” and the “lamp post” are labeled in both Korean and English.
There are enormous dinosaurs, plenty of exercise equipment for adults, playground equipment for kids, benches on which to play board games in the shade, a snack bar/coffee shop, “interesting” restrooms, and it’s all surrounded by a level, paved, walking path. A little oasis in the midst of a city where 10.5 million people reside!
I particularly fell in love with the signage on the sides of the buildings. Yes, I know, this is all just advertising, but since I’m not able to read the words, the script looked like nothing more than beautiful decorations.
A “rainbow bridge” takes you from the park up and over the next busy street, and there’s more park on that side, where there’s an ornate pagoda, women do group tai chi, and men gather occasionally in their wheelchairs to sing hymns. Recognizing the tune, Miriam and I joined in with “Bringing in the Sheaves,” and they were well-pleased that we did.
I learned my first, and a most important, word in Korean today. Technically, it’s spelled “Gamsahamnida,” but here the Gs and pronounced like a hard C or a K, so the way I remembered it, roughly phonetically, was Kahm-Sahm-Knee-Da.