the geumhaeng sardine can

                                                                                                                                                                            courtesy of Wikipedia

...being an account of the best weekend in Korea so far (this time around).

Just so you're not scratching your heads for the entire post, geumhaeng (pronounced "GOOM-hayng") is the Korean word for "express." Here it applies to the express subway train on Line 1 of the Seoul subway system.

Now, I don't know if you've ever been on a metropolitan subway train when it's packed to the gills, but it ain't a pleasant experience. I haven't any pictures to show you; even if I'd had my camera with me I couldn't have pried it out of my pocket and raised it to the proper height to capture an image. Yes, quarters were that close. My bottom half was bumping uglies with a family of three Korean women, and my top half was bent over towards a seated middle-aged Korean man (thankfully asleep). I had my hands clamped on the rail of the baggage rack, and my sweaty armpits were stuck in the faces of two other unfortunate souls. The fist of a businessman, wrapped around a hand grip, kept tapping me in the back of the skull. This was how we rode for 30 minutes, in a metal sardine can, all the way from Yongsan (in central Seoul) to my stop at Songnae, in western Bucheon.

It was my first experience on a train as crowded as that one. It was enlightening, even I did feel somewhat, ah, violated. Those Koreans can be vicious. At the second stop they all just piled on, pushing and shoving and shoulder-checking the people ahead of them until every last one of them had squeezed aboard. Like a large boulder protruding from a roiling ocean, I stood resolute, refusing to budge for these rude people. I didn't care if I was flouting the unspoken traditions of my host country. I was making a stand. But then the Korean ladies wound up practically kissing my chest, and I felt obliged to move back and shift my feet for their purity's sake. There was a silver lining to the situation, however. As we burst through the train doors like fizz from a shaken soda can, a young Korean man in glasses and a gray hoodie began to talk to me. He asked where I was from, and I said California. He said "Oh! I went to Las Vegas last year." I told him that place was very fun, thanked him sincerely for speaking with me, and then plonked my outer layers of clothing down on a bench and began to wrestle my way back into them as the chill evening breeze swept the platform.

But why am I starting with the geumhaeng? I should tell you about the whole weekend, beginning to end.

I had originally intended to go into Itaewon last weekend. Due to the mix-up with my finances (I didn't have the code number I needed to access my account), I was still penniless. So I had to wait until this weekend to foray into greater Seoul on my own.

Before that, though, there was a movie I wanted to see.



Based on a series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the same guy who dreamed up a heroic musclebound jungle-dweller called Tarzan), John Carter concerns a disillusioned Civil War veteran mysteriously transported to Mars. As it turns out, Mars (known as Barsoom) is not a lifeless rock as most astronomers imagine, but a vibrant world inhabited by no less than six or seven races of sentient beings...who unfortunately are all at war with one another. Carter, being from a heavier, denser planet than Mars, gradually discovers that he has superhuman strength and the ability to jump great distances. After a series of skirmishes in which his impressive battle prowess is revealed, Carter finds himself embroiled in the war between the two powerful Martian kingdoms, one of which is backed by a group of mysterious immortal beings called the Therns, who have rather sinister plans for Mars...and Earth!

In spite of the rather scathing reviews which John Carter has received, I liked it. I thought Disney treated it right. They didn't overdo it, overplay their hand, or hype it like some big blockbuster. They just let it be what it was supposed to be, a sci-fi/sword-and-sorcery romp. And, speaking of sword-and-sorcery, I thought the tone of the movie came across really well: the epic alien setting, the warring kingdoms, the fish-out-of-water protagonist (but, instead of being at a disadvantage, Carter is actually empowered by his status as an Earth-man; quite refreshing). The film's got something for everyone. Drama, fight scenes, romance, fight scenes, mystery, fight scenes, and, oh yes...did I mention fight scenes?

One of the criticisms being bandied about by naysayers was that the film was too long. Fie on them, I say. The fact that the movie was long gave them time to put everything that was in the first book of Burroughs's Barsoom series (A Princess of Mars, written in 1917) into the film. Stuff's been cut out and added, obviously; but it doesn't detract from the overall quality of the work. Making the film longer also allowed for more fight scenes to be put in without stacking them end-to-end like cord-wood. Seriously, John Carter fights everybody in this film, be they sentient Martians or wild beasts. But it's not mindless violence. It's actually a plot point: Carter is a veteran who lost his family in the American Civil War, and has been trying to avoid fighting anyone or anything ever since. But he finds himself inexorably drawn into the Barsoomian conflict by chance, by fate, by the charms of a beautiful princess...and eventually by choice. Carter's transition from burnt-out cynic to happy-to-be-alive-again romantic is a joy to observe.

Okay, the review's gone on long enough. Now for the rest of the weekend. Simply put, I caught the subway to Itaewon, went to that English-language bookstore I keep talking about (What the Book?), picked up some new reading material, and returned to Bucheon on the geumhaeng.

I spent Saturday evening in a quiet pub a couple of blocks from my apartment, shooting pool and drinking green beer with Jon and Andy (from work). We won a game of cutthroat apiece, and talked of life, the universe and everything. And execrated Justin Bieber. I think. 

On Sunday the expatriate boys and I went to the park to play basketball. We'd been there an hour or two when we noticed, on the other side of the court, a group of Korean middle schoolers, some of whom we recognized as our own students at Avalon.  

So of course, we just had to challenge them to a game.

Five-on-five. Play to 15 points. Full-court. Substitutions allowed. Those were the terms of the duel. There was much more at stake than mere manly pride. If we lost, we would lose face. We could not rightfully expect our students to respect us in the classroom if they beat us hollow on the court. We had to make a good show of this. Win, or at least go down swinging.

We lost track of the score after five minutes.

It was intense. Some of those Korean kids were fast. Jon and I, center and guard respectively, huffed and puffed as we tried to keep up. Dan, a whiz at basketball, and Andy, light on his feet and modest about his mad skillz, kept us afloat. Jon was a rock on defense and showed us some moves as he moved the ball up the court, scoring plenty of points of his own. Martin and Peter were light on their feet and wizards (so to speak) at penetrating the enemy defense. Woe betide us if our foe caught the rebound and passed to the point guard, however. He'd move that ball up the side of the court, charge into the goal and make a jump shot worth writing home about.

By the end, we were sweaty, tired, and winded, but our bodies were singing with endorphins and camaraderie. We all parted on good terms and went our separate ways.

I had the feeling, the whole while, that this would become one of those golden memories I would derive many hours of pleasure from reflecting upon in my declining years.

And that was my weekend. Back to the grind...