Took a bit of time to wake up, and had breakfast. Got a call from one of my students, about yet another change of plans to go to the cinema with them. They changed the cinema, one that I have no idea how to get to, and also, the wanted to see the second Narnia movie, in which I have no intention of seeing. It goes for 2 hours and 25 minutes, and I was totally not in the mood to be sitting down for 2 and a half hours, watching a kids movie. So, i told them to just go without me.
But, I had stuff to do in Gwangju anyway. I had a shower, and walked outside to get the bus to Jangseong terminal, but I had just missed it. It was waiting at the lights as I saw it, and a few seconds later, it went though the intersection. Luckily, there is another bus, which directly goes to Gwangju, so I walked into town, and got that. Good timing. I got to Gwangju at 12:35, and walked from the bus terminal to Nongseong station, to take the subway to Sangmu.
I remembered seeing a McDonald's in Sang Mu, so that is where I was headed. It was where I remember it, so I went in - it was air conditioned, which was nice - placed my order, and then went to the second floor to eat it. Lately, Monday though to Saturday, I have been eating pretty healthily, so having one meal a week, which is not healthy isn't too bad.
Yes, it is 24 hour open.
After lunch, I planned on going to a book store that I regularly go to to buy books for class. I get a discount there, which is cool. If the weather wasn't as humid, I would have walked directly there, but I decided to get the subway. It is only one stop away, but the book store Is about 20 metres from one of the exits. I got the books I needed, and got back on the subway to get to Homeplus to do some shopping.
Since the line is finished in the subway (before, you could only go as far as Sung Mu, now you can go to the Airport and further), it was pretty simple. They've tidied up a few stations, and made it look more like Seoul, with the barriers and stuff.
I got the subway to 금남로5가 (Geumnamro 5ga) and walked for about 15 mins to get to Homeplus. On the way, I walked by a Lotte Department Store, which has a cinema, but I had never been there before. After doing my shopping at Homeplus (picked up some more Protein Bars for breakfast, and 60 min Mini DV tape for when I go to Japan. They're still out of Cadbury Chocolate) I walked back, and checked out the Lotte Department Store. I went to the information desk, to ask where the Lockers were, so that I wouldn't have to carry the shopping around, but after following her directions, and then searching the entire floor she said to go to, no luck, so I just carried my stuff to the 9th floor, and bought a ticket to see Indiana Jones 4.
When I was buying the ticket, I was asking the guy in Korean about how big the cinema was, and where I wanted me seat. He was kinda shocked that a non-Korean person was telling him all this stuff in Korean and asking questions about how many rows where in the cinema, and if the seat that he suggested was in the middle or on the edge. Then, one of the other ticket people came over (a cute girl) and started talking to me in English, and the guy that was serving me went a bit red. Her English was pretty good. Anyway, I got my ticket, and decided to check out a few floors of the department store.
Indiana Jones 4 was a decent action/adventure movie. Sure, Harrison Ford is getting on a bit, but it was 2 hours well spent. The story line with the alien skull thing was a bit out there, but none the less, it was decent enough to keep me entertained.
After the movie, I walked back to the subway station, to get the subway back to the bus terminal. My timing was good, but only because i was walking fast. I didn't want to wait at the bus terminal for an hour, because I missed the bus by one or two minutes. But since I was speed walking and concentrating on getting though the crowd, I kinda forgot that the bus back to my town on Sunday afternoon at 5:35, 6:35 and 7:20, is normally packed full of Korean soldiers (there is a Korean military base near by), and when I got on the bus, i remembered.
There were 2 seats, so I go to one, and ask "is this seat taken?" to the young Korean guy who is sitting in the seat next to it. Rather than saying No in Korean and/or English, I get the forearm X. What I mean by the "forearm X" is this: make fists with both hands, and then cross your arms infront of your body or face, so that they make an X shape. This means "no" in Korea. I asked the question in Korean. You would think at least, I'd get a response in Korean. Not today. I just get the Forearm X. Luckily, there was another seat available, but it was in the back, and I hate sitting in the back. But I was already on the bus, and the bus driver just got on, and I was seriously thinking about getting off and waiting an hour, so I could get a better seat.
One reason why I don't like the back seat on a bus - Korean bus drivers drive buses, like they are small, compact 2 door cars. Or like they are in a race. So, after 40 mintues of that, in a back seat, trying not to let the side forces affect me to the point where I'm squashing the guys either side of me. Maybe I should have, since the guy on my left was coughing without covering his mouth.
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