Day 162: Chungju

Ahhhh...the first day of a 9-day *paid* holiday! Sweet!!

I had made plans to take a bus down to the city of Chungju to hang out with my buddy Luke for the day, and so I had to wake up at a half-decent hour, even though I totally felt lazy and wanted to sleep in til like noon! I caught the subway and had a looooong ride to Express Bus Station which is in Seoul on the south side of the Han. I found the bus terminal a-okay and bought a ticket to Chungju. What a deal - 125 km. ride and it only costs 6000 Won! My bus was even leaving in 15 minutes so I didn't have to wait around long. It was a madhouse at the bus terminal though. Today is the first day of summer holiday here in Korea and it seems like *everyone* wants to get out of the big city.

The bus ride ride to Chungju was cool and comfortable - thank god for AC! It was only an hour and a half ride and I was so very thankful that there's bus lanes on the highway! Traffic was way backed up and in the first half hour on the bus I saw four car accidents on the highway! What the hell! Slow down everybody! Koreans can be pretty crazy drivers and I know that during holiday times everyon'es just so anxious to try and get ahead of the pack.

I stepped off the bus in Chungju and was welcomed by a wave of disgusting humidity! Holy fuck! Seoul is humid but I soon learned from Luke that Chungju is officiall the humidest (not a word, I know) city in Korea because of its central location - not near the ocean and totally boxed in my hills that trap the hot air. Lovely! Luke toured me around the neighbourhood a bit and it was interesting to see what Chungju looked like. For those of you who remember, this is the city that my old bastard boss Steven wanted me to live in after I first lost my job. Looking around at the place, I'm damn glad that I didn't take it! Not that Chungju is necessarily a *bad* place tro live, I just know that I'd be bored stiff and that I'd be much happier in Ilsan (which I am!)

Luke's friends Ryan, Juanita, and Jeff later rolled into town and the five of us went and saw Fahrenheit 9/11! *WHAT A GREAT FILM!* It should come as no surprise at all that I loved the movie and was thrilled to see many of my own opinions/criticisms regarding President Bush and the War In Iraq put so succintly and eloquently and vividly shocking into a 2-hour film. For those of you who haven't seen it, GO! Every single American, in fact, really needs to see this film. Yes, Michael Moore is biased, but he doesn't pretend to be. I think that there's a lot of information in this movie that many Americans aren't fully aware of, and with this being an election year, eligible voters should try and become as educated and involved as they can. There were many saddening moments for me in the film, particularly with the interviews with the families who've lost sons and daughters in the war, as well as the horrifyingly graffic images of war-torn Baghdad. Wow. I'm still reeling from it all...

After the movie we went to Luke's broom closet of an apartment to hang out for a bit, and then Ryan, Jeff, and Juanita headed out back to Ryan's town. I stayed in town a bit longer and had dinner with Luke. We went to Pizza Hut and had a great time just relaxing and chilling. Turns out my buddy Luke has a lot in common with me, ranging from leftist political leanings to a love of Coldplay and other Brit rocks bands! Hooray for good friends! I then got back on teh bus and made my way home. It was a really nice bus ride actually, just watching the dark countryside flow by with great tunes on my head phones. I love being so mobile here in Korea. It took almost 3 hours to get home but it was a fun day for sure.