Island Biking

Once the air freight arrived I didn't waste any time unpacking both the bikes. Conte's Bike shop of Norfolk (shameless plug) did a fantastic job boxing and as far as I can tell there was no damage to either machine. The level of disassembly was further than I would have done myself, but that just goes to show what I actually know. Not only were the wheels and handle bars removed, but the shifter cables were removed from the frame mounts and the skewers were also removed from the hubs on all four wheels. The tricky part was unlacing the front wheel from the crank arm. I'm not entirely sure how the Mechanic did that, but the crank was jammed into the spokes to hold the wheel in place. Damn good thing I was patient enough not to start snapping spokes. God only knows where I would find aero replacements for a Mavic Ksyrium SL wheel here in Koje!

No sooner than the bikes were together, I was out the door. Of all the things to have forgotten to pack in the air freight were my bike shorts, but fortunately there is a hole in the wall shop in Okpo where I could buy a new pair. So, the riding....

First thing to know about this island is that the roads are in pretty good shape, but there is really not much of a shoulder and everything is steep. After living in flat-as-a-pancake Norfolk for the better part of two years where riding wasn't really an option, I'm completely out of shape and feel like I'm going to die pretty much as soon as I leave the apartment. To the north is basically 20 or 30 miles of hills, seaside villages, and rice paddies. To the south is Okpo, DSME, and the majority of the traffic. As can be expected, I've been keeping my rides to the north. So far I've done about 50 miles total over three rides. Considering that the daily temps have been about 35 deg C (95 deg F for you non SI types) I've been trying not to actually kill myself. Ellen seems to appreciate that level of self regard. Anyway, the scenery is absolutely amazing and I love being able to grab quick glances of the ocean as I'm speeding past verdant fields of rice and chili peppers. 

To mix things up a little today, I decided to go for a leisurely ride out to a rock pebble beach about 10 miles from Deokpo for a swim. Splitting the ride into two parts was good for my legs and definitely a good way to cool off. The way back was slower, but I decided not to push too hard since I volunteered for the office soccer game tonight. 

If I'm actually able to walk tomorrow I'll consider myself very lucky.

Samsung Army

I thought that coming from America, where everything is "super sized", I'd be unimpressed by the scale of things in South Korea. To a certain degree that initial assumption is correct and I'm still right when it comes to cars, meal portions, parking spaces (if you can open both driver and passenger doors to get out it's a huge spot), and beer selection .

Where I was dead wrong had to do with the shipyards. Samsung and DSME are absolutely enormous. I'm not sure on numbers, but I heard that about 20 thousand people work at each yard. The parade of scooters (some of which are pretty awesome mini-choppers) headed in and out the main gates every day continue to amaze me, as I'm jammed in traffic behind the mob.

The other thing that is different about the working culture here is the institutional nature of the environment. I primarily see it during lunch, which is currently one of my favorite times at work. At Samsung there are giant 1000 seat mess halls where the Koreans flock for the noon meal. Now everyone that works for the shipyard wears a uniform consisting of a gray zip up jacket, slacks, and name tag. They look like postal employees, only more useful.

So at about 12:00, if I stroll out of my building and walk down the hill I have to jockey for position near the front door of the dining hall. By this time I'm usually surrounded by what I like to call the Samsung Army. At noon, the doors fly open and there is this mad rush down a long hallway to the entrance of the buffet. Let me just say that this is no ordinary lunch line (for an American anyway). First step is to get the tray. As you can imagine, it's the compartmentalized beauty we all had in middle school (or prison for my other readers). Pretty normal....up until the utensils have to be selected. Only choices here are stainless steel chopsticks (which are a bitch to use) and spoons. On to the food.

Rice, obviously, is a huge component. Imagine the bottom 12" of a 55 gal drum filled with sticky rice mixed with what appeared to be a few black beans. I usually grab a big spoonful. Next is an assortment of pickled veggies ( in the Kimchee style....vinegar and LOTS of chili paste) followed by some sort of a pork or fish side dish. The meat is not really the central part of the meal, but really just a bonus and to add a little flavor. Seaweed and/or Kimchee is always available. Finally, a cold soup has been served several times. The first day I had a mild cabbage and vinegar soup and the second was a peanut and sesame broth with cucumbers and rice noodles.

Once you get your tray full of fine Korean cafeteria food, you have to find a seat at one of several very long (like 100 seat long) tables. Now the chow hall fills up in about 10 minutes, so being fast through the line is key to sitting while eating. For entertainment while eating, Samsung has been kind enough to install a half a dozen or so 50" flat screen televisions around the room on which the shipyard can transmit their own programming. Yes, the shipyard has a TV station. There are songs, funny clips of "zany" shipyard workers, safety briefings, and more songs.

After I've spilled half my meal on my front because of my difficulty in using metal chopsticks, it's usually time to leave. As can be expected, the tray and silverware get dumped onto a conveyor belt for washing. The odd next step, that I still think is strangely backwards (yet appealing when I tried it), is to walk out of the mess hall into another hallway lined with cups and water dispensers. Since you don't get anything to drink with your spicy meal, now seems like a great time for a refreshing beverage. So...you pound down a few cups of water, drop the cup into a bin for washing, and head out the door. On the way out, you can usually swipe a few napkins at the mirror stations to make sure you've wiped away any stray chili or Kimchee from your face.

I still can't read the lunch menu, but it adds an element of surprise to my day.

26 hrs; halfway round the world

To fully describe the ordeal of getting out of Norfolk, I would need more time and energy than either Ellen or I currently have in reserve. That being said, we were able to completely empty the Newport Ave house in three days with the help of the moving company. I really don't have any idea how much it cost to do a move like that, but I have to say that I would loath to try and do it any other way from now on! Money well spent by ABS in my opinion. We just have to see how much stuff actually makes it to Geoje Island, then I'll pass final judgment on that experience.

On to the travel. Trinie was kind enough to take us to the Norfolk airport at 0730 on Thursday morning. I'm sure that she was happy to get rid of two coughing and sniveling squatters from her house. In addition to getting her sick we just about buried her with stuff. I think we dumped off something like 8 boxes full of food, cleaning supplies, light bulbs , and junk for her and Ryan to keep. So she kissed us goodbye, we checked into Northwest Airlines and began the flying part of the trip. Amazingly, all four bags that we checked each weighed just under the 50 lb limit. What was additionally amazing, was that NW airlines started charging $15 per bag yesterday for all new tickets purchased! Our luck continues......

First leg was Norfolk to Detroit at about 2 hrs. Not bad, but completely full.

Our layover ( I actually wrote "hangover" for a sec, as that's about what I feel like at 0700 Sat) was for several hours in Detriot. I was able to exchange some old New Zealand and Barbadian currency that I had laying around, but it didn't yield me much except 8 USD in lunch money. We flew in a Boeing 757-400 ( I think that's right...) that held about 420 people in two levels. Let me just say that a 12 hr. flight in Coach is NOT fun even if the two of us were feeling totally fine. It's just too damn hard to move around and sleeping is almost impossible. What I did have and enjoy, much to Steve's satisfaction I'm sure, was Ellen's Kindle. I was able to download a few books before we took off and after about an hour I was hooked. Dad, thanks. It was a cool gift.

We watched 4 really bad movies that probably went right to video stateside, ate 3 space man meals, and tried not to get the rest of plane totally infected. Landing in Japan at the Tokyo Narita Airport at about 3:30 PM local time, we were able to walk around for about 2 hours and get some water. Not much to report, other than the fact that we were able to get a good look at fellow Americans who were on the plane. From my guess, the couple behind us were headed to Shanghai to adopt a baby, there were a group of missionaries (the Pat Robertson biography in the shoulder bag?), a couple of college students, some business types in dark suits, and a handful of servicemen.

The flight to Busan (I have seen it spelled Pusan about half the time) was really quick, most because Ellen and I fell asleep immediately. By this point the two of us were really tired and ready to stop. Landing in Korea, clearing customs, and flying through immigration were all a snap. No bags were lost and we were met by the infamous Mr. Ko upon emerging into the airport proper. Although his English was good, I was not able to fully ascertain his relationship with ABS. I continue to believe that he is a local "facilitator" as my boss John Preston mentioned earlier. Anyway, he had this diesel mini-van and proceeded to drive us to Geoje. I was a little disappointed that the 2.5 hr drive was in the dark, as only so much of the city and countryside could been seen from the car in that condition. Let me just say that Korea is full of hills and mountains. The highways, which were better than anything we saw in Poland, cut directly through the mountains with numerous tunnels. I actually lost count of the number of major (over 20m in diameter) tunnels that we drove through. This may sound strange, but fully enclosed golf driving ranges are very popular here. They are completely massive netted enclosures where something like 2 or 3 levels of golfers can whack balls, day or night. These things are everywhere. Mr. Ko said he plays golf, but failed to mention if he is an avid user of the "range".

We arrived in Geoje at about 11 at night to see the illuminated and bustling city. Lots of big apartment buildings and small shops. I haven't gotten a good view of either major shipyard, but I think that's not far off (Monday morning, anyone!). Our apartment is on the 10th floor of the Kisan Harbor view building with a cool view of a small inlet with beach. The beach looks sandy from here, but judging from the rocks nearby I would imagine that the "sand" is actually smooth stones. The apartment is fairly new, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and is about 1000 square feet. The living room has a 32" flat screen TV with DVD player (most likely not NTSC format...) and as I was told it is fully furnished. The kitchen is actually bigger and better equipped than our Newport Ave. House! The sink is way bigger and there is about 10x as much counter space. We've got all your typical western appliances (including an oven, which I didn't think we would have). Pictures will follow...be patient.

By about 1:00 AM we were so exhausted we fell asleep on our rock hard Korean Mattress. I'm very happy that we asked to include our own queen size beds into the freight. Today we will be meeting with some of the other ABS people and hopefully getting our car from Mr. Ko in the afternoon. Let the adventure begin!