I've talked a lot, on this blog, about the nonlinearity of Koreans. My friend JW is a great example of a Korean who initially says "yes" to my carefully thought-out plan for some Saturday, then when Saturday rolls around, hits me with a "Let's do something different," thereby rudely tossing everything I'd wanted to do out the window so that we can do his thing. (There's often an element of selfish inconsideration involved when people walk all over you like this.) Or we'll be strolling along the straight-line path by the Tan Creek down to Bundang, and suddenly, he'll be like, "What about that path?" as he points to a random, lame-looking path that branches off the main path and probably leads to nowhere (I've walked a few of those, and they are lame). Koreans are often this way: they get a sudden idea at the last minute that fucks up your plans, or they make a scheduling mistake and that fucks up your plans, or something. You can never go straight from A to B in Korean society—not with friends, and definitely not at work, where bosses can be even zigzaggier. So you either become bitterly cynical and mask it with humor, as I normally do, or you kick and scream and wonder why the fuck you're still in Korea. (Such people really should just leave.)
And here's another harsh reality: you can take the Korean out of Korea, but you can't take Korea out of the Korean. I'm discovering this is true about the older couple I'm to meet this weekend: we were originally supposed to meet at the high landmark of Ihwaryeong on the Four Rivers trail this coming Saturday—arguably the trail's highest point. But the distaff half of the couple, M, texted me Tuesday afternoon to say she'd messed up and "accidentally" booked a particular hotel, which somehow altered the plans because she couldn't cancel the reservation. How do you "accidentally" book a hotel room? Granted, both members of this couple are in their seventies, so maybe senile accidents are possible. My mind is still boggled, though, because M had emailed me a PDF of her original itinerary, and I went through it line by line, checking distances and locations. It all looked immaculate, and I came away impressed. M and her hubby are veteran distance walkers, so planning and executing trips like the one they're on now should be old hat. The PDF made me think M was a pro.
But then, this nonsense happened, and I'm still not entirely clear as to what's going on. First, I'd heard that their stopping point the day before the Ihwaryeong ascent had changed. Then she texted me about what I assume was a change in the destination hotel, presumably after Ihwaryeong—the one she'd "accidentally" booked and couldn't cancel, and which was 31K away from Joryeong-san's peak.* Now, I'm all sorts of confused, partly because, even though M has lived in the States with her Caucasian husband for decades, her English still isn't quite up to snuff, which means it's occasionally a struggle to read through her texts. She's generally a clear writer, but in her most recent texts, she said some things that I found utterly confusing, so in exasperation, I texted back that I'm going to call her tomorrow at a time that's convenient to her so we can straighten all of this out. I did my diplomatic best not to make it sound as though I were blaming her, but inwardly, I'm cursing the Korean nonlinearity that led to the fuck-up of the "accidental" booking and what that's doing to my carefully laid-out plans. Looks as though I'm back to my cynical default mode of fuck it-with-a-smile. I'll just have to go with the flow the way I usually do.
But, God-fucking-dammit, I don't want to go with the flow. There'd been a plan. What a nuisance. And up until today, I'd actually been looking forward to meeting this couple. Now, I just want to get this shit over with. I don't know... maybe it's just an honest mistake and not another example of Korean flakiness. Sigh... I'll know more tomorrow. Stay tuned.
NB: if you're new to my bitching and moaning, welcome to my blog. More than anything, this is a place where I vent. So get used to it or move on.
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*This meant, or so I thought at first, a 10K walk to the peak, then a 31K walk to their hotel for a 41K total. That's a nasty distance to walk in a day; I've done 42K, 44K, and 60K walks in a day, so I know this from experience. As I thought about what M was trying to tell me, though, it occurred to me she was saying they'd be avoiding Ihwaryeong altogether. Hence my need to call the couple and clarify what's going on.
8 comments:
I miss Clint.
Btw, did you get the email I sent? Always wary about replying to a previous email and whether it will get thru your spam filter.
Haven't gotten any emails—not in my inbox, and not in my trash or spam folders.
So, being half-Korean, do you possess any of those unique Korean tendencies, or are you all-American?
I hope things get sorted out to your satisfaction with the walkers.
I'm much more in line with the Teutonically boring, strict, and linear Swiss. I prefer to have a plan and a method. I make an effort to think things through. I try not to make sudden, last-moment changes and additions after people have decided what they're going to do. I do have my spontaneous, goofy, and annoyingly nonlinear moments, but I try to keep them to myself. And I'm normally agreeable enough to roll with it if I'm in a group of indecisive, spontaneous people, but I can't hang with such people for too long, or I'll go crazy.
Dont know where the email disappeared to. I'll just copy it here.
Someone has invited me ti take part in a chase the sun ride on this year's summer solstice. The idea is to watch the sun rise in Gangneung or Seokcho on the east coast and then try and ride 280-300km and get to the stamp centre in Incheon in time to watch the sun set. Personally, I've never cycled more than 200km in one day, so I'm not sure about my ability to do the extra 100km.
If you were going to do a similar thing for walking, what route would you pick? How far could you walk? I suppose you should probably give us an answer for your walking peak and for your current condition.
Fyi, the sun rises around 5am on the east coast and sets around 8pm on the west coast, so you'd have about 15 hours.
Yours cyclingly,
Paul.
It would take me days to cross from one coast to the other, but it's an interesting idea. I'd go at my usual pace, averaging about 26 km per day. And other than the route you've suggested, I don't know what route I'd take across the peninsula. But if the basic idea is to do everything in a single 24-hour period, there's no way I could do 300K in a single day on foot.
I could cycle across Jeju in one day, but I would have to nearly run two marathons under that time constraint and that isn't ever going to happen.
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