TRAVEL TO NAMHAE

I wrote this journal the day we left Yangpyeong and headed down to Namhae. It is a lighthearted journal. Travel to Namhae with me. . .

May 12 Entry

As expected, it felt rather peculiar to say goodbye to our temporary “home” at Yangpyeong. We packed much of our stuff last night as we anticipated hitting the road earlier in the day due to the distance we needed to cover today. Even now, I feel faintly homesick after leaving Yangpyeong. It is a shade of tenderness and fondness I have not yet felt in Korea. . .

This is the first time I have driven this long of a distance in Korea. I have driven shorter distances but never from one end of the country to the other. I was not nervous, but I have seen enough K dramas where freakish things happen on the road. So, I was extra mindful as my usual tendency is to daydream when driving. Once I hit the road and stopped at a first rest stop, the little nervousness I had was gone and I was all giddy. The rest stops in Korea are out of this world, if you would ask me. Most blare loud music from the bygone era, which feels a bit odd but somehow feels right. It is akin to the idea that retro is in. Best of all, it features all kinds of eateries and restaurants, some of Korea’s favorite snack items (tteokbokki, fish cakes, world-famous Korean fried chicken, fried potato chips, corn dogs of all kinds (gotta have em with ketchup, mustard, and powdered sugar), all kinds of bread and pastries, etc), and convenient stores which have other snacks as backups in case one is not satisfied with the food that the vendors are selling. To me, it is the second-best thing after the traditional outdoor markets in Korea. Whereas I have experienced the traditional markets growing up, rest stops did not exist until I left for the US. So, there is a lot of catching up to do.

Since we did not have coffee in the morning, we ordered good old Americanos only to be mightily disappointed. Something was off and it tasted like warm mild barley water to me. “Oh well,” I thought, and my Enneagram 7 instinct kicked in to save the day as I quickly shifted my attention to the rest of the day. I knew that we would stop at a few more rest stops so there was a good chance to redeem the terrible experience. We also tried the Korean street breakfast toast. The toast basically had scrambled egg, a thin slice of bacon that is see-through, lettuce, and some unidentified sweet sauce all between two pieces of soggy bread. The toast amazingly matched the disappointment of the coffee, which is rare for me. I am usually not difficult to satisfy, a trait I developed in my childhood. I could eat very mediocre food and make it look like it is the best food ever. Many have commented that I have a gift to make others want to eat whatever I am eating. We ended up stopping by two more rest stops which were a little better but not enough to save the day. Like I said, oh well. . . there is always tomorrow.

As we got closer to Namhae which lies on the central southern tip of the Korean peninsula, we could begin to see the open ocean for the first time during this trip to Korea. The region of Namhae is comprised of two large islands that resemble some sort of amoeba shapes. A couple of nights ago, I reserved an oceanfront pension that is on the quieter side of the island. Sure enough, the road to the pension was precarious, if not treacherous, as I navigated a very narrow strip of coastal embankment road with no guardrails, that is wide enough for only one car. Understandably, my wife was nervous. I did not have to look her way, for I felt the nervous vibe. One false or foolish move, you are in the water. As nervous as my wife was, I was cautiously excited but did not want to show it for this is the kind of experience one can have only in this part of the world. I told my wife not to have too high of an expectation and she believed me because of the road. Once we parked and saw the pension in front of us with nothing standing between the pension and the open sea, my wife’s nervousness melted away, and she was all smiles from ear to ear. I too cracked a smile as if to tell her I knew all along what we were in for. The host promptly knew it was us as we were the only guests for the night, as we found out later. The name of the pension is called “the house of the poet.” It turned out that the host’s older brother used to be a poet and had since retired. The host led us to a top room with an open private deck and we naturally gasped “wow.” At one point, we were lying down on the deck benches and heard only gentle ocean waves flapping on the bank and the sound of the birds. No other competing noise. Now at 8 pm, it is pitch dark and we could hear ourselves breathing and the continued ocean flapping.

My wife asked me what I thought and/or felt is the difference between Yangpyeong and Namhae. I said, “Yangpyeong feels quainter and more snuggly whereas Namhae feels more expansive and big-hearted.” Obviously, the big difference is the ocean. Both are unpretentious and generous. The soul of my childhood “knows” the generosity and geniality, it seems. We took a long walk along the ocean embankment, basking in the here and now, just the two of us. After dinner, we drove along the narrow-twisted scenic coastal shoreline road, hugging the island, and bumped into what is called the “German Village” which was established to commemorate the nurses and miners that went to Germany to work in the 1970s and 1980s. One of my aunts was a nurse that went to Germany during that time span, I recalled.

We are now back in our pension. I thought about not writing my journal today but now that I did, I am glad for it. Where was God today? God was with me in my driving and navigating the road. God was with me in silence and small talks between my wife and me. Perhaps and just perhaps God was with me when I ate the soggy toast and the mild barley water coffee. God was with me when I prayed for my sister who went to ER for her migraine headache back in the US. God was with me when I remembered the good people God has surrounded us here in Korea. God was with me in giving this tranquil pension for tonight. God was with me when I was standing and sitting. Thank you, God. You are an amazing God.