Pyhap2ev / Sunday

Pyhap2eva hiline hommikusook v6i varajane l6una sai soodud kohalikus pisikeses kohvikulaadses soogikohas. V6tsime fusion bimimbapi. Bibimbap on selline kohalik riisiroog (sarnaneb mingil m22ral Itaalia vormiroogadele, aga ilma juustuta), milles lisaks p6hikomponent riisile on veel k6ikv6imalikud juurviljad ja kindlasti ka liha. Kogu kupatus on tulikuum ja podiseb veel tykk aega peale lauale toomist.
Yhes6naga... kohe kui toit olemas tuleb see lusikaga korralikult 2ra segada, vastasel juhul k6rbeb lihtsalt p6hja. Bibimbapi kusjuures syyakse lusikaga :) P6hiroa juurde k2ib veel muidugi hulk vyrtsiseid kastmeid ja ka supp. Joogi p2rast ei pea siin kunagi muretsema, puhas vesi on alati k2ep2rast ja selle eest
ei pea midagi kuskil maksma. Nimetus fusion viitab tihti millelegi ebatraditsionaalsele, teistsugusele v6i kasv6i pisut l22nelikule. Nt fusion bibimbap v6ib sisaldada endas ka ananassi, mis ei ole yldse tavap2rane.

Edasi l2ksime linnapeale ringikondama. Myongdongis k2is kauplemine t2ie hooga, kuigi ilm oli p2ris kylm. T2nava22red olid t2is br2ndipoode, nt Nike ja t2nava keskel lettidel myydi k6ikv6imalikku muud kaupa alates beebitarvetest ja l6petades soogiga. Juhul kui kylm oleks hakanud, siis saanuksid sealtsamast endale ka kohe kootud kindad/salli/mytsi muretseda. Sellist t2navapealset intensiivset 2ritegevust, lageda taeva all ja keset detsembrit pole kyll veel nt yheski Euroopa riigis n2inud.

Dongdaemun oli j2rgmine koht kuhu v2lja j6udsime. See kvartal koosneb suurelt jaolt suurtest mitmekordsetest kaubamajadest, mis myyvad valdavalt ainult riideid ja aksessuaare v6i muud l2hedast riietumiskraami. Uue reisikohvri saab sealt ka, kui k6ik enam k2tte 2ra ei mahu. V2ljast n2evad ehitised v2lja nagu tavalised suured kaubamajad ikka, suurte klaasustega, aga sisenedes v6ib end leida Kadaka turult :) Sees ei ole eraldi poode, vaid igal myyjal on oma lett, nagu m6nel turismimessil ja ruum on v6imalikult tihedalt asju t2is laotud. Seet6ttu pole siin v6imalik ka riideid selga proovida, vaid tuleb nn p6rsas kotis osta. Enamik riideid on muidugi ka kohalike moodus, aga mul vedas, pluus sobis t2pselt :)
Naabrusest siiski leiab ka m6ne eraldi 2ridega kaubamaja, aga hinnad neis on juba kallimad.

Yhe eheteleti juurde j2ime pikemalt seisma, et paar asja v2lja valida ning sattusime myyjatega r22kima. V6i noh, mina pigem olin kuulaja rollis ja yritasin aru saada, millest koreakeelne jutt kah k2ib. M6ni asi j6udis isegi kohale, kuigi viivitusega. Myyjad olid t6en2oliselt ema ja poeg ja nagu ikka tunti huvi, et kust me ka p2rit oleme jne. Kuna minu koreakeelne s6navara piirdub k6igest m6nigate s6nade ja v2ljenditega, mida ma kah v2ga kasutada ei soanda ja kuuldes, et me Euroopast ja ma korea keelt ei r22gi, sain nooremalt myyjalt kohe ''Bonjoir'' tervituseks. No bonjoir sullegi!
M6ne aja p2rast l2ks poiss arvutitaha ja hyppas sealt peagi pysti: ''Tere p2evast!'' :O Vot see oli lahe! Seda enam, et v2lted olid t2iesti 6iges kohas ja k6ik k6las v2gagi 6igesti.. Hiljem sealt korra veel m66da minnes tuli letitagant kohe r66mus ''Tere!''.. :)
Nagu 6eraas kenasti 2ra mainis, siis need olid esimesed kohalikud, kes arvasid, et meie oma keel on vene keelest ikka v2ga erinev.. tavaliselt on efekt vastupidine. Arvatakse ikka, et Eestis r22gitakse vene keelt v6i on keel sellele v2ga sarnane.
Tallinnas on yks korea restoran, mida peab korealane ja tolle venelasest elukaaslane. Mees ei oska eesti keelt, aga need v2hesed s6nad, mida ta 6elda oskab, k6lavad v2ldete ja r6hkude poolest perfektselt. Siin Koreas olles hakkab mulle j2rjest rohkem tunduma, et eesti ja korea keelel polegi nii palju vahet kui v6iks olla. Viimasel lihtsalt on v2hem konsonante ja laused l6pevad tihti pikkade t2ish22likutega, v6ibolla seet6ttu tundubki mulle, et korealastel kukub ka eesti keele h22ldamine p2ris h2sti v2lja :) Igal juhul on vene ja eesti keel kordi erinevamad.

Selles riieteparadiisis l2ks p2ris tykk aega, kuigi meie saak piirdus k6igest m6ne r6ivaesemega. Rohkem lihtsalt ei j22nud midagi silma, mida kohe kindlasti oleks tahtnud v6i vaja l2inud. Muidugi voode ja pyksirihmade valik ning eelk6ige nende pannalde valik oli siin kyll selline, et yht tavalist siinse leti valikut ei leia t6en2oliselt mitte yhestki Eesti kauplusest. Praegu tundubki juba kahju, et m6nda vood 2ra ei ostnud, aga valik oli valimiseks lihtsalt liiga suur.

6htu otsustasime l6petada DVD bangis. See on analoogne koht karaoketubadele, ainult et privaatse ruumi rendid endale DVD filmi vaatamiseks, mille valik omakorda h6lmab paari-kolme seina. Suur ekraan, kinoheli, mugav lamamisdiivan.. milleks yldse peaks keegi tahtma filmi koju laenutada?

6htusoogi s6ime sushirestoranis. See oli ysna l22nelik restoran, tavaliste laudade ja muu sellisega ning ka road olid siin California sushi menyyst. Veider m6elda, Euroopas pannakse tihti m6nele teistsugusele roale uhke v2lismaa, veel parem kui aasiap2rane nimi, siin j2lle vastupidi – tundub ikka uhke kyll, kui s66d lausa California sushit! Muidugi hinnad on ka vastavalt selle pisut kallimad.

* * *

We ate the late breakfast or early dinner at a small diningplace. We ordered us fusion bibimbap. Bibimbap is, as the Lonely Planets city guide refers, a mixture of rice, vegetables and meat. For me it looks a bit similar to one certain italian dish, but the italians ofcourse, add a lot of cheese on the top..
Anyway, the whole thing is burningly hot and you need to start mix it with your spoon at the same moment it arrives on the table or else some of the food may just get completely burned. But at least you can eat bibimbap with your spoon :) As sidedishes there are again some kind of spicy sauce or paste and soup. You also don't have to worry about getting anything for drink, as there's always a bottle of fresh water nearby and you don't have to pay anything for it either.
As much as I understand, the name fusion often refers to something unnatural, different or even western. For example fusion bibimbap may contain also some pineapple, which is not usual.

Our next goal was to look around in the city. The weather was quite cold, but in Myongdong still a lot of trade was going on. You will find all kind of shops selling some brandclotching (Nike etc) on both sides of the street while in the middle are marketstalls selling everything from clotching for babies to warm food. Or if you'd feel cold, you could get a new handwear/scarf/headwear from the next stall. I haven't noticed such an intensive streetsale in the middle of december anywhere in Europe, with minus degrees outside.

Dongdaemun was our next place to visit. There were a lot of departement stores around, usually with smaller stalls inside, where you can buy all kind of clotching and accessories. And in case you think you wouldn't be able to carry all your staff with you anymore, get a nice new suitcase from the next stall. Usually you can't try the clotches on, so you just have to buy them hoping that they'll fit. Mine did :) You may also find that most of the clotches are quite smallsized. If you'd still like to try the clothes on before buying them, then you can look for a departement store with separate shops in it, but the items there may be a bit more costy too.

We stopped at a stall with some jewellery and found ourselves soon in the middle of a conversation, in korean. Or actually, I was more a silent listener trying to understand the point. I even got a couple of things, but with some delay :) The two koreans on the other side of the counter were probably a mother and son and they were also curious where we come from etc. As I do know only some words in korean and I am usually shy enough to use them and after hearing that we are from Europe I got a nice greeting in French: ''Bonjoir!'' Hehe, well bonjoir to you too!
After a while, the younger korean, the man went behind a pc and was soon back behind the counter saying happily: ''Tere päevast!' That was surprising! :O especially, because it actually sounded just as it should, better that usually foreign europeans can say it out..
When we later went past that counter once more, we got a friendly ''Tere!'' again.. he still remembered the word :)
Btw as my sis noticed... those were the first koreans that actually were in the opinion, that our language, estonian, is certainly very different from russian. Usually, the people think that the official language of Estonia is russian or that the language is very similar to russian.
There's one korean eating-place in Tallinn, which is ran by a korean and, I think, his wife, who can speak only russian. The man can't estonian, but those few words he's saying out in estonian while trying to explain the menu sound very natural, all the 'degrees of quantity' and accentuation are just in the right place. Being now here in Korea, it's seems to me even more clear, that estonian and korean actually sound a bit similar. Korean just does have less consonants and the sentences often end with long vocals. This might be the reason, why it seems to me more and more, that the koreans can actually spell estonian words very normally, so that the words actually do sound very natural, just as they should. :)
Anyway estonian and russian are much more different languages than estonian and korean.

It took quite a lot of time in this paradise of clothing, but yet we managed to get away only with some new 'items'. Luckily we didn't notice any more stuff we would have wanted to buy right away or what we could have needed. Yeah, there were really a lot of belts to choose from and I'm already feeling a bit sorry that I didn't buy any.. I don't think there's a store back home with such a wide selection.

As next we landed on a DVD bang. It's a similar place to noraebang (karaokeroom), but you'll rent the room for watching a DVD and there's really a lot of DVDs to choose from. A big screen, good sound, comfortable coach/sofa.. Why should anyone want to rent a DVD and watch it at home?

For dinner we went to a sushirestaurant. It was more a western-style than an ordinary place, with ''normal western'' tables and Californian sushi menu. It feels kinda weird if you think that people in Europe will be proud to add all kind of asian names to a place where they offer asian or asian-like food and here it's vice versa – doesn't it make you feel special, if you're eating Californian sushi?! :) And ofcourse, as always with 'foreign dishes', the prices are a bit higher than it would be in an ordinary sushiplace.

Laup2ev / Saturday

Nii.. l6puks on mul piisavalt aega, et ka midagi kirja panna.
Katsun siis alustada p2ris algusest ja hoiatan juba ette, marupika ja pisut igava teksti eest.


Lend Helsingist Incheoni l2ks suhtkoht h2sti. V2ljalend hilines samuti 45 min, p6hjuseks miski k6rgtehnoloogilise jupi vahetus ja ¨probleemid suitsuga¨, k6lab usaldusv22rselt, kas pole?
Vahepeal j6udsin muidugi ka lennujaamas pisut ringi vaadata ja juba ka raha raisata, ostsin 29€ eest Lonely Planeti Seouli city guide. J6udsin seda ka pisut sirvida ning praeguseks v6in juba 6elda, et v2ga tark ja kasulik raamat on. V6i nagu mu 6eraas siin korrutab, et n2eh yldse pole huvitav, tahtsin seda ja teist asja/k2itumist seletada, aga juba on teada!

Lennuk ise oli muidugi mugav, suur (mahtavus ~300 in) ja personaalse meelelahutussysteemiga. Igav ei hakanud, aga magada ka ei 6nnestunud. Lend ise kestis 8 ja pool tundi, ajavahe 7 tundi ning uuele p2evale vastu. Ehk oli see v2hesest magamisest v6i eredast valgusest, aga 3 tundi enne maandumist, just p2ikeset6usu ajal hakkas pea p2ris korralikult valutama.
Syydistan selles siiski k6ige rohkem vanadust.

Kokkuv6ttes hilines lennuk 20 min + veel terminalist v2ljaj6udmine (mis h6lmab endas ka metroos6itu erinevate lennujaama hoonete vahel). Olin plaaninud minna kyll ainult k2sipagasiga, aga olude sunnil sai pagas siiski 2ra antud ja muidugi oli mu pisike kohver kuskil kahesajas, mis lindilt tuli.
Korea n6uab sissetulevatelt v2lismaalastelt immigratsioonipabereid. Et kes oled, kust tuled, mis teed, kuhu majutud.. lennukis sai need juba 2ra t2idetud ja passikontroll korjas yhe lehe 2ra. Teise lehe vastu tundis huvi viimane ametnik vahetult enne terminalist v2ljap22su. Andsin talle paberi 2ra ja olin temast tegelikult juba m66das (jeee, vabadus!), kui h2rra hakkas paberi vastu rohkem huvi tundma.

¨Hmm, Eesti?¨
¨Jah, Eesti¨
Algselt arvasin, et ehk m6nede maade jaoks on nn oma uks v6i v2ljap22s, et peaks kuskilt j2lle ringiga minema, aga peale pikka ja segast vestlust, h2rra inglisekeelne s6navara oli t6siselt piiratud, selgus, et h2rra ametnik oli lihtsalt uudishimulik (t6en2oliselt ei satu justt eriti palju eestlasi Seouli) ja ta yritas oma maailmapilti rohkem selgust saada. J2rgnev vestlus oli umbkaudu selline:
¨Kuhu see kuulub?¨
¨Kuhu see kuulub?? Eee..¨
"Venemaa? Saksamaa?¨
¨Umm.. mism6ttes?¨
¨Kellele Eesti kuulub? Venemaale, sakslastele?¨
Olin ikka veel segaduses, et mida ta sellega m6tleb. Onu inglisekeel oli ikka korralikult konarlik ja sellistlaadi kysimust ei oodanud ka kohe kindlasti, pigem arvasin ikka veel, et ta tahab mulle 6iget teed v2lja juhatada (et need ja need maad, see uks palun). V6i oli see lihtsalt v2simus, mis ei lasknud kiirelt asjale pihta saada.
¨Umm.. kas keel v6i..?¨
V66ral maal olen sattunud ysna tihti kysimuse osaks, et mis keelt te seal ka r22gite..
¨Ei, ei, Venemaa, Saksamaa? Slaavi?¨
L6puks j6udis ka mulle kohale...
¨Aah, eiei, ei kellelegi.¨
¨Kellelegi??¨
Onu oli selgelt yllatunud.
¨Jah, ei kellelegi. Eesti on iseseisev maa. ¨
¨Venemaale, ei?¨
¨Ei. Eesti on Euroopa Liidus¨
¨Jah. Saksamaa siis??¨
¨Ei, mitte kellelegi, see on eraldiseisev riik¨ (lootsin, et 2kki s6na ¨eraldiseisev¨ on onu s6navaras olemas..)
Onu j22b juba v2ga sygavasse m6ttesse.
¨Just nagu Soome v6i Rootsi..¨
Tundub et Soome mainimine oli 6ige tegu. Kuna Finnair Soome ja L6una-Korea vahet lendab, siis Soomest peaks ta ikka midagi teadma. Peale viit minutit vestlust piiratud v2ljenditega j2i on l6puks sellise n2oga maha, nagu oleks ta just 2sja Ameerika avastanud..
¨Hmm!.. Eesti!..¨

Sain l6puks kauaoodatud lennujaama ustest l2bi, 6eraasuga kokku ja leidsime isegi 6ige bussi yles, mis meid Seouli viis. Incheon, lennujaam, nimelt asub Seoulist nii 60 km kaugusel, saarel. Bussis6it pealinna kestab nii 100 min. Seoulis enda lennujaama maanduvad vaid siseriiklikud lennud.
Yks asi, mis teepeal silma j2i on see, et minumeelest yritatakse merelt koguaeg maad juurde v6ita, v6ibolla see vaid tundus nii, aga need savi?/muda v2ljad, millel ainult meeter vett peal t6esti j2tsid sellise mulje.

Teine asi, mis siin kohe silma torkab, on inimeste viisakus. Nt bussijuht, kes magamaj22nud reisija 6iges peatuses v2ga viisakalt ja r66msameelselt yles ajas (tal oli pigem hea meel, et ta sai kellelegi kasulik olla) v6i mul lennukis k6rvalistunud kohalik korealanna, kes mulle mu mantli kahe k2ega ja isegi kergelt kummardudes ulatas.. veider, aga kena!

Ja kolmas - ilm on siin m6nus. Kylm, sama temperatuur mis Eestis, aga ei ole niiske. 6hk on kevadiselt kylm. Kuskil pole mingit ¨loga¨, isegi mitte veelompi. Lund kas on korraks v6i pole yldse, aga mingit vahepealset varianti, nagu enamuse talvest Eestis, lihtsalt ei eksisteeri. Ja taevas on pilvitu ning p2ike s2rab vastu..

Peale kokku kahetunnist bussi- ja metroomatka j6udsime l6puks ka hotelli. Retseptsionistil olid inglise keelega samuti kehvad lood, aga mul 6nneks oli ju t6lk omastk2est :) Yksi oleks vast seletamisega rohkem nalja saanud..
Esmamulje hotellist oli muidugi pisut yllatav, eks pildil n2evad k6ik asjad uuemad v2lja, aga praeguseks tundub juba t2itsa ok :) eriti sellise hinna eest. Ainult et tualettruum sai kohe t2ienduse 6huv2rskendaja n2ol.
Ja muidugi tuli ka k6htu t2ita. Esimene l6una koosnes supist - Vietnami nuudlisupist kanaga, mida loomulikult s66di pulkadega (nuudlid, kana) ja lusikaga (leem). Aega l2ks, aga asja sai :)

Kuna 66 j2i vahele ja tunne oli ikka veel kergelt kehv, siis said edasised tunnid p2evast lihtsalt maha magatud.

6htu veetsime karaokemajas (siinse nimetusega noraebang [-bun]) . See on koht, kus asuvad umbes 8 erinevat privaatset karaoketuba ja mille v6id endale yheks tunniks rentida. Lauludevalik muidugi on tappev ja yhest tunnist saab m2rkamatult kaks, sest ajaloendur ekraanil kerib end aeg-ajalt lihtsalt tagasi, ettek22ndeks ¨service¨. St maksad kyll yhe tunni eest, aga tegelikult pannakse sulle lihtsalt niisama jupikaupa v2hemalt teine tund veel otsa.

Yhes6naga, siin ei saa kunagi seda mille eest maksad. Siin saad alati rohkem (see peab paika ka s66mise kohta - tellid p6hiroa, aga saad kaasa ka hulga k6rvalroogasid).
Samuti on ¨service¨ v2ga hea s6na. Selle taha v6ib peita k6ik, mida muidu kirjeldada ei oska. :)

Peale karaoket leidsime kuskilt k6rvalt2navast miski s66gikoha. Ikka sellise kohalikku stiili, kus istutakse soojendusega k6rgemalet6stetud p6randal (soojendusega p6randat nimetatakse tihti ondol), madala laua taga ja seda muidugi ilma jalan6udeta. Keset lauda laiutab gaasip6leti ja toore toidu (liha), mis lauda tuuakse
kypsetad sealsamas pannipeal ise valmis. Roog koosneb k6rvalroogadest (k6ikv6imalikud kastmed kausikestes ja tihti ka supp) ning sellestsamast isevalmistatavast peatoidust (nt liha, mis t6stetakse koos teiste meeldivate komponentidega soomiseks salatilehe sisse).
Meie, kui kaks v66ramaalast, sattusime muidugi t2di (onni- vanem naisterahvas) erilise hoole alla, kes k2is ja keeras meil seda liha aegaajalt ise ringi, tont teab neid v2lismaalasi, 2kki lasevad veel k6rbema muidu..
Aga maitsev oli! Isegi see soe vyrtsipastas hiinakapsas. Ja pulkadega isegi on t2iesti v6imalik syya.

K6ht t2is, sai pisike tuur veel kohalikus poes tehtud ja igaks-juhuks midagi joodavat ka kylmkappi muretsetud. Raha on siin suurte numbritega. Nt joogi peale kulus ¨k6igest¨ ~4 000 woni (eesti kroonideks teisendamisel tuleb kaks viimast nulli maha v6tta) :) Muidugi arvutamine on jube raske tegevus ja peaaegu oleks 40 000 woni maksnud :D Raudselt vanadus j2lle..
Paris Baguette poes (kypsetised) l2ks juba kergemalt, kyyslaugu baguette eest sai ikka kohe normaalse hinna makstud.
Ahjaa ja muidugi sai muretsetud ka 6huv2rskendaja tualeti jaoks, nii et see nyyd lehkamise asemel juba lausa l6hnab :) Muideks p2ris ilus 6huv2rskendaja on, selline stiilne, erkroheline ja munakujuline. Ja see oli poes ka ainus.


* * *

So.. finally I have enough time to write something down.
I'm trying to start from the first day and be afraid, be very afraid, the following will be a long and possibly a boring text to read. :p

The flight from Helsinki to Incheon went quite well. It was also delayed 45 minutes – as the captain said something that sounded very hi-tech needed replacement and they also had some problems with smoke?

Sounds as a good start to a long flight, doesn't it?
Anyway I already succeeded to waste some money at the Airport while waiting. I bought myself Lonely Planets' city guide about Seoul. It did cost quite a lot – 29€, but I also had some time to read a couple of chapters and I can already say that this book really is useful. Or as my sis says – aww it's not intresting at all, I wanted to explain you this behavior or that thing, but you already know!

The airplane itself was very comfortable, huge (room for ~300 people) and with personal entertainment system. I didn't get bored, but couldn't sleep either. The flight took 8 and a half hour, the timezone is GMT +8, a new day arrives here faster. So maybe it was because being constantly awake or because the bright light, but 3 hours before landing, just when the sun rise, I got a terrible headache. Or I can always blame my age, you know, when you're getting older, all kind of weird stuff will happen :p.

The plane arrived at Incheon 20 mins later then it should have had + the way out of the terminal took some more time (including the subwayride between the different buildings). My small luggage was ofcourse among the last at the baggage reclaim, I knew I should have taken it with me as a handluggage..

Every foreign that enters South-Korea needs to fill out some immigration papers. They want to know who you are, where you come from, what are you doing in the country or where are you staying at etc. I already filled out the papers before, the man on the border took one sheet and the last officeial or officer before the exit wanted the second sheet I had.

I was already past him, as he got intrested of the paper.

¨Hmm, Estonia?¨
¨Yes, Estonia¨

At the start I thought, maybe there's another door or another way out for some countries, maybe it's just the exit for local people or something, but after some weird conversation, the man really didn't know many words in english, I finally realised that he was just curious (I quess there's not many estonians wandering around in Seoul) and he wanted to get a better picture from the unknown place. The following conversation was something like that:
¨Where does it belong?¨
¨Where does it belong?? Erm..¨
"Russian? German?¨
¨Umm.. what do you mean?¨
¨To who does Estonia belong? To russia, german?¨

I think I was completely confused at the start, I really didn't wait a question as this. I was still thinking he wants to make sure I'll find the right way out. Or was I just too tired to get the point fast.
¨Umm.. you mean the language, or..?¨

In different foreign countries people have often asked me what language do estonians speak.
¨No, no, Russia, German? Slavic?¨
Finally I got the point..
¨Aah, nono, to no-one.¨
¨No-one??¨
The man was clearly surprised.
¨Yes, to no-one. Estonia is an independent country. ¨
¨To russia, no?¨
¨No. Estonia belongs to European Union¨
¨Yes. German then??¨
¨No, to no-one, it's a separate country¨ (I was hoping maybe he understands the word ''separate'' better..)
The man was thinking even harder now, he was kinda bemused.
¨Just like Finland or Sweden..¨

It seemed that mentioning Finland was a right move. Finnair has a regular flightroute between Finland and South-Korea and I was hoping he knows at least something about Finland, as curious as he seemed to be.

After 5 minutes of explanations I was finally able to move on. I left the man behind with a weird expression on his face. It was like he had just discovered America..

''Hmm.. Estonia!..''

I finally managed to step out of the doors (yeaah! Freedom!), found my sister and we even got on the right bus that took as to Seoul. Incheon, the airport, is located 60 kilometres away from the capital, on an island. The bustrip to the city takes about 100 minutes. There's also an airport in Seoul but it's only for domestic flights.

Maybe it was just me, but on the road I noticed many places where the water was very shallow, it looked to me as if the koreans are trying to win more land from the sea by ditching it or by just lowering the waterniveau.

Another thing that you just can not notice are the polite people. Like the busdriver who woke up a sleeping passenger so she could get out on the right stop (and the driver was really happy that he could do that) or the korean girl that sat next to me on the plane and later handed my coat over to me with both hands and in my opinion she was even bending a bit by doing that.. odd to me, but nice!

And yet another thing. The weather is nice :) It's cold, the temperatures are exactly the same as in Estonia atm (around 0 degree), but the air is not very humid. I didn't see anything around that I could call ''wet'', like a mud puddle. There are only two ways – there is snow outside (though it doesn't last long, only a couple of days) or there is no snow. There's no period inbetween like usually most of the wintertime in Estonia, where the snow is transforming into the water again, there are mud and water puddles anywhere and it doesn't feel nice at all. Also the sky here, in Seoul is without any clouds and the sun is shining really bright...

After 2 hours of bus- and subwaytrip we finally got to the hotel. The receptionist couldn't speak much english either, but luckily I had my living dictionary / translator with me :) else, it could have been fun to explain everything necessary.

The first impression of the hotel was kinda surprising. But yes, usually the things look better on the photos, so I was prepared. At the moment, the hotel already feels very cosy. The only thing I added to my bathroom was the airfreshener, it certainly needed it.

After getting rid of my luggage we went outside to eat something. The first lunch here was Vietnamese noodlesoup with chicken, eaten, ofcourse, with chopsticks (noodles, chicken) and spoon (everything else). Well it took some time, but I finished it. :)

As I missed the nightsleep and I still didn't feel very well, we decided to take a little nap after the lunch.

The evening we spent in a local karaokehouse (they call it here noraebang [-bun]). That's a place with ~8 separate and private karaokerooms, which you can rent for 1 hour or more. The book where you can choose the songs, is unbelievably huge and there's no way that you can stay there only for an hour – the countdown timer on the corner of the tv screen is constantly just going backwards and adding you some extra minutes, explaining it with ''service''. That means, you are paying only for 1 hour, but actually you get at least 2 hours or even a bit more..

Or as I like to say.. here you never get what you pay for, you always get more (that goes also for eating – you pay for your main dish, but get also a lot of side dishes).

I also learned that ''service'' is one niiiice word. You can hide everything that you actually can't or don't want to explain behind it. :)

After the karaoke we went to a local place on a smaller street where we ate some meat. It was a traditional place – people sitting on a raised floor with heating (the heated floor is often called ondol), without the shoes ofcourse, the tables are small and low and in the middle of them is usually a gasburner. You'll cook the raw food, they bring to the table, ready yourself on the plate which is placed over the gasburner. The dish consist of the main dish and of many smaller sidedishes (all kind of different sauces in small bowls, usually a soup too). If the main dish is meat, you eat it by putting it on a piece lettuce, adding some more components you like and ready for enjoying it is.
We, two foreign girls as we were, got a special attention from the onni – an older woman, who was serving the food and taking the money later. She cooked the meat ready for us herself, who knows what those foreigns can do.. maybe they even let the food burn. :p

The food was tasty! Even the pak-choi/bok choy cabbage, in a spicy sauce. And it really is possible to eat with chopsticks.

After getting full we went to a local store to get some water to the fridge, just in case. There are a lot of 0's on the cash, so pay attention! I had to pay ''only'' ~4 000 wons for my drinks (remove three 0's by converting the money to $), but as the aritmethic with such a huge numbers seems to be way too much for me, I almost paid ~40 000 wons. :D I blame my old age again – can't even count anymore!! :D

In the Paris Baguette shop (sells all kind of bakery) it went better. This time I knew the 0's can be tricky.

Oh the last thing I bought was the air freshener for my toilet room. It certainly needed one. Now the room is already smelling, instead of stinking :) And it's a nice airfreshener, stylish, bright green, egg-shaped. And it was the onlyone in the store.

J6udsin sihtkohta/Arrived at the destination

Aga kuna yks oo jai puhtalt vahele, siis puhkan enne 6htust v2ljaminekut pisut. Blogi t2iendan hiljem.

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Bur as I'm currently missing one full night of sleep, then I decided to take a little nap before we go out in the evening again. I´ll add some more posts to blog as soon as possible.

Lendamise paev/ Its all about flying..

Istun Tallinna Lennujaamas, katsetan kuidas tuliuus Asus Eee-Pc koos linuxiga minuga hakkama saab (natuke poriseb mu peale, aga yldiselt toimib) ja surfan kohe roomuga tasuta Wifis.

Just anti teada, et Helsingi lennuk hilineb 45 min, nii et hea algus! Aga aega on, veel :)

Ahjaa ja kui lopuks suudan arvutile selgeks teha, et tappidega tahed on ka taitsa toredad ja kriipsudega tahti ka kartma ei peaks, siis ilmuvad ehk ka need ykskord siia.

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Im currently sitting at Tallinn Airport and trying to make myself understandable to my brandnew Asus Eee-Pc (running Linux). At least Wifi is here completely free and although my little pc makes some weird noices when sending or recieving a message through Skype, all seems to work well.

It was just announced that the airplain from Helsinki will arrive a bit later, so my flight to Helsinki will be delayed and will be boarding 45 mins later.. At least some more time to use free internet then (and to fill my blog..).

Seiklus algab 12ndal detsembril

The adventure starts on 12th of december.