Today has been about resting. I started the day off by walking an hour to a local folk village which was a disappointment. After the first few minutes, all the other tourists cleared out and I was the only one around. However, I think I have pagoda’d myself out. They all look the same, and these did not have much of a historical significance. The high point of the morning was when a class of school children, probably in the first grade or so, saw me and swarmed me. They were shouting “Hello! Hello! Are you Crazy?!” over and over again. They came up to me and started rubbing my beard and my arms, laughing at my hairiness. They had probably never seen a caucasian before in person, and could not understand why my arms had hair and how I could grow a beard. Their teacher came up and haltingly asked where I was from, and when I responded, she told the class and used it to teach them for about five minutes.
I already bought my ticket to the next city and I leave tomorrow, so I am here until then. This is not all bad, as the night life here seems to be very good. There is a small college, and last night there was a great environment. I haven’t seen anyone who is western yet, but maybe one of the college students speaks some English and we can start a conversation.
I wandered around the local market for a while, which was much more interesting than the folk village, and I simply stumbled upon it randomly. Some of the stuff for sale was recognizable, the rest questionable. I cris-crossed the streets for an hour or so before I was convinced I had seen it all and made my way back to shave so that the next batch of children won’t think I am the Wolfman. (And because it is more in line with the culture… thus possibly allowing more friendliness and a chance at a discount from people I meet.)
I took care of finding my next place to couchsurf, and contacted a man about interviewing for a job in Seoul on Monday. Other than that, I am just going to hang out and wait for the train tomorrow. Expect some random calls tonight as I get restless and want to communicate with people back in the states.