Day 11: the wild goose chase

whats black, white, and red all over? a heat exhausted mike nelson wearing a black shirt. Kim Young called me last night and asked me to meet her in 이태원 (little america). I called Jean to tell him that we were going to meet at 10 instead of 12, but he didn't answer his phone. so i slept on it thinking that i'd just call him in the morning. then i awoke to a dead phone (again...). so i went on a wild goose chase trying to figure out how to get a hold of him before i left. i got pretty desperate, so i just asked a stranger on the street if i could use their phone. surprisingly, they didn't even think twice. Jean didn't answer because he was sleeping, of course.

I told the land lady what happened (through a lot of grunts and body language... much like the cave men i saw yesterday) and conveyed a message that if Jean showed up, to tell him that i went to little america. I hopped on the subway and rode it to my destination. I barely made it by 10:00 to the stop that we agreed on, but there was no sign of kim young, so i waited for a little bit. i waited for about another half an hour and then went to find another phone. after another struggle, i got a hold of her. she called this morning and left a message that she couldn't make it. but then when i didn't call her back, she started to get worried, so she called Jean. then Jean ran for 20 minutes to my house, only to find me not there and a land lord acting out grunts to him. so, he called Kim Young up and told her that i wasn't there. she hopped in a taxi and was a block away when i finally got a hold of her. i don't know what the big deal was. i made it there just fine, so i could make it back just as well if needed. anyways, she and i walked around little america for a little bit in the blistering sun (didn't she notice what i was wearing?) and ate at ColdStone. then she showed me a house that she owns that she is renting out. this thing could have been in a horror movie with the barred windows, stray dogs, and graffiti. (which was the first time i had seen that kind of thing in korea.)

Jean met up with us for lunch and we went to the little america's town that is like Beverly hills. (thats why i was semi dressed up) it was a nice restaurant that served geese. with how civilized these people are, you'd think that they would stop killing and eating everything that moved. (I say that because i found out this morning that silk worm is a delicacy.) We then visited the only Islam temple in Korea, hit up some books/cd stores, and caught the train home.