The Cab Driver and Kung-Fu

The morning we left Shenyang it was rainy and it was 6:45am.  We were staying in a hotel under construction on a street that was also under construction, and we hadn't thought to have the hotel right down "airport" in Chinese for us (do this anytime you take a cab in China).

The street was under construction so cars could drive part way down and then make a u-turn.  We should have walked down to the intersection to get a cab, but we waited in the rain for 10 minutes on the partially closed street and an empty cab turned down the road.  From the moment the guy pulled over, things did not go well.  We opened the back door and said airport and I think Rodney showed him airport in Chinese in the phrase book we have.  He started yelling at us loudly in Chinese.  We looked at each other and slammed the back door and started walking down to the main intersection to get a different cab.  Being yelled at before you get in is a bad sign.  Then the guy was out of his cab, continuing to yell at us, but now the trunk was open and he was grabbing one of our bags and gesturing wildly at the back seat.  We took the cab ride, we knew better, it sucked.  I hate that cab driver.  He drove incredibly slow the whole way because his cab was so janky (this also ran up the fare).  He smoked even though we made it clear we prefer he didn't.  He was an asshole of the first order, and we knew it from the moment we hailed the cab.

Earlier today, after a relaxing morning, Rodney and I went out for a bite to eat.  We thought we'd try some Chinese fast food (there is a huge variety near our hotel).  We landed on Kung-Fu, a chain with a Bruce Lee-like man (it might be Bruce Lee) on their sign.  At the counter we were presented with a menu with English descriptions.  We were debating our order when a small cockroach crawled into the center of the menu.  Rodney and I were visibly unnerved.  The girl behind the counter killed the roach and muttered an apology.  We should have left.  No doubt about it. Instead, we overplayed the cultural sensitivity card.  Things in our travels thus far are different from home, significantly different.  Standards are not the same.  We have stayed places that we likely would not have stayed in.  We have eaten meats that were not refrigerated cooked in place that do not conform to health department standards.  We have used bathrooms that I would not like to describe, and you would not like to imagine.

So, we ordered.  Rodney got tiny pork ribs with garlic, and I got chicken with mushrooms.  We got our food (which included two bowls of congealed soup).  Not too much of surprise, it was awful.  God awful.  The worst thing we've eaten since Mongolia.  This is saying a lot as almost everything we've eaten in China from street food to the nicest restaurants has been very good to spectacular.  We took not a lot of bites and walked out.

This may seem obvious from the two stories relayed here, but instincts are not lost in translation.  Trust them.

China Recommendations

If you're in China and looking for an inexpensive place to stay, we would like submit for your review...

Motel 168

The Orange Hotel (Their website is a pain, but you can reserve through many of the hotel booking sites.)

Both are clean and cheap and have many locations throughout China.

If you're looking for an ATM in China that will accept your card without issue, look for an Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).  We've had some difficulty in this regard, but ABC has always come through.

Unexpected Soundtrack

It quickly became apparent in Korea that natural sound isn't desirable.  We hiked up a mountain with beautiful carved Buddhas and came to rest at an ancient temple.  The sound of the wind in the trees and birds chirping and perhaps some monks chanting (live) would have been a quiet moment of serenity.  Someone had other ideas.  Hidden speakers piped in music.  The music (in this case) wasn't bad or too loud, but it was definitely out of place.

This has not been an isolated incident and has not been limited to quiet moments.  At the beach in Sokcho, South Korea. there were many opportunities to ride in inflated tubes and rafts while being pulled behind speed boats.  People LOVED it.  Having experienced this type of activity before, I fully expected to here the delighted screams of gleefully terrified young people.  Not the case.  The speed boats were equipped with large speaker blaring pop music.  I guess this was meant to enhance the whole experience, but, in order for the raft/tube-riders to here it, the music was played at such a loud volume that it muddy and distorted.

The piped in soundtrack is not only present in Korea, we have been to several sites in China where the natural sound is apparently not enough.  The tourist sites we visit are plenty authentic (though I do wish that there wasn't quite so much modern signage), but the piped in music seems to angle at increasing the degree of authenticity.  Maybe I'm curmudgeon and think everyone should turn their music down (this is often true), but I just find it makes these places a bit less interesting.

Do You Speak English?

In South Korea that answer was often a resounding "yes".  That's not
totally true actually, the answer was often "no", but then people
would go on to have lengthy conversations with us in English.  We
learned fairly quickly that starting a conversation in English was
more effective than asking first.

What struck us as most interesting about many of these conversations
in English was what it seemed to reveal about Korean as a language.
Americans often hedge when you ask them about something.  You could
this or you could do that.  You can take the interstate, but there's
also a back road or a parkway if highway driving doesn't suit you.

I am not a linguist, but spending a month speaking English with many
South Koreans from different parts of the country revealed a much more
emphatic way of speaking.  They don't hedge.  When we asked what to do
or where to go in a certain town, we were given a precise list, an
order in which that list should be completed and how to most
efficiently complete that list.  "Let me make you a plan..." was a
phase often uttered.  The first few times we had these interactions, I
would remark to Rodney that people were helpful, but that they seemed
a bit instructive, bordering on rude.

We came to believe that this is not the case at all.  It is our
totally unscientific guess that Korean is a declarative language
without the cornucopia of modifiers and softeners that Americans so
often employ.  It was kind of refreshing.  We asked and we always got
a direct answer.

The thing that sealed the deal for us on this theory was our trip to
the Leeum Samsung Museum of Contemporary Art.  Leeum is a great museum
in an beautiful area of Seoul. It is also unlike almost any other
museum experience I have had. The museum is divided in 3 buildings,
and you present your ticket at each to enter. As your ticket is
scanned the staff person tells you where to begin your tour of museum.
This did not seem so strange, but then you arrive at the prescribed
floor and are met by a second staff person who beckons at the first of
many arrows that indicated the path by which you are to view the works
of art. The whole of your journey through the museum is directed by a
series of these arrows and often accompanied with gentle gestures by
the staff if you seem unsure of where to go next. Again, no hedging.
A path laid out to follow.

Side Note:  We have returned to China.  This is land of spotty and
slow Internet.  A sad state of affairs after coming from South Korea,
the most wired place ever.  Tons of pictures of Shanghai have been
taken.  Uploading to resume as soon as possible.

Like Clockwork

We have been traveling in South Korea for close to a month and can report that both the train and bus systems here are nearly flawless.  Both run frequently, are consistently on time and cars/cabins are clean and well appointed.  Bus travel here resembles something much closer to overland business-class travel than what you might think of Greyhound.

Prices are reasonable for both buses and trains (we never paid more than US$20) for trips ranging from 1-3 hours, and even the KTX high speed rail (Busan to Seoul in 3 hours) was a good deal at around US$45/person.

Should you ever be planning intra-South Korea transport the below two websites came in very handy for us...

Korail Korea Railroad Online Booking

Official Korea Tourism Organization - Express Bus Page

Buy Korean

There is much we could learn from the people of South Korea, but one of the things that has repeatedly struck us is how much stuff that it manufactured here is consumed here.  Coming from America, particularly in the Northeast, seeing foreign cars and electronics is common.  It is almost more surprising when someone has chosen to buy Kodak or RCA rather than Sony or Panasonic.

Not in South Korea.  Kia, Hyundai, LG and Samsung are everywhere.  Rodney and I are owners of a Hyundai car and two Samsung TVs and can attest to the quality of these products, but it's truly amazing to see how successful they are in their home market.