23 Photographs

Strange title, I know. I don't know what else to call it.

I got out of bed today having fallen asleep later and woken earlier than I would've liked. I contemplated washing my bedding but have decided to wash it tomorrow. I don't know how I feel about everything really. I have to admit my upbeatness didn't make it very far into the weekend. I've swung right back. I did absolutely nothing with my long weekend. Yesterday the most exciting event was one I would've rather missed.

I was cleaning my bathroom and just decided to spray the windows with the shower hose. The seal isn't airtight I guess and though the windows were closed water got out and fell onto boxed produce belonging to the convenience store. I make horrible decisions really especially when it comes to cleaning. Anyways, I have to confess that I did this twice yesterday. The first time I got away with it, I guess. The second time I could hear someone outside saying 'mul, mul' (water, water). A few minutes later the ajumma was at my door looking upset. She took me down to her store and showed me the track of water leading out of my window and then the slightly wet boxes. I felt bad but given my low level Korean I couldn't even apologize so I just looked sheepish while she lectured me in Korean. I don't know how she feels about me, whether she knows it was accidently/unintentional or whether she just thinks I'm the selfish foreigner that everyone seems to peg me as. I heard her when I went back up to my apartment just repeating the word waygook to someone (foreigner). Luckily, I only have about 9-10 days worth of avoiding her. Sometimes she seems happy to see me and other times just either indifferent or a little upset. Maybe I've wronged her before. Maybe I play my music too loudly or she's offended I don't buy much from her. I don't know. I contemplated buying her flowers or something to apologize but I'm a selfish foreigner and I don't feel like spending money. I watched Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD yesterday. I can relate so much more to being a victim of a combination of circumstance and poor decisions.

Now on to the title story. I went to a travel agent today. I was going to go to the one where Julie's brother worked, not knowing other ones. I don't know how close they are and it's probably better the place was closed lest there be some kind of familial hatred of me. I was going to lie about where I worked and deny any connection to Julie teacher. She wouldn't know my real name anyways. Maybe that's what this whole problem is related to. Perhaps I make a horrible Shawn. It's funny how I'll be remembered by that name there. Anyways, I went by my old Korean hagwon (where I learnt [hardly any(due to lack of effort)] Korean). I'm not sure why. I saw one of the people from my class outside on their break. I talked to her for a bit. I reconfirmed that my decision to leave Korea was for the best. She gave me the name of a travel agent. I went over there and entered the agency one second before some other Westerner. The agent assumed we were together naturally. I would've also probably. I bought a Chinese visa that should be ready by next Tuesday. It was an extra $25 I think but worth it to not have to overnight in Busan or Seoul and stand in long lines. I also had to get one passport sized photo. Of course you can't just buy one so I had to buy 23. I ended up getting a little keychain with a locket size photo of me. Kind of funny. I went back to give him the photos after about 20 minutes. The other guy was still there. I'm glad I beat him there, we rode up in the same elevator (I beat him to the elevator bank, the 15th floor button, and the agent's door so there was no question really). I think I took less than 10 minutes. Hopefully, I won't need my passport for the next week.

I've begun formulating the first leg of my trip. I'm probably going to literally take a slow boat to China, spend a few days in Beijing arranging for more visas and sightseeing. I'll have a week in Korea so maybe I'll be able to get a Kazakh visa here. I don't think there's a Kyrgyz embassy in Korea anyways. I might have to wait to Beijing to get several visas. Almaty supposedly is the best place to get visas in central Asia. It's probably a good thing I still have 22 passport photos.

After Beijing, I'll probably spend a few days in Xian with the terra cotta soldiers and other things before going on to Urumqi (56 hours by train or bus) and then Almaty (20 hours I think, 7 of which are spent at the border). I'll probably overload my luggage with huge novels. I might have to breakdown and buy another guidebook for China(41,000 won). I'm hoping to buy a used one in Seoul. Otherwise I'll be lost until I get to Kazakhstan, which seems very bizarre. I think I'm more worried about the China segment. I'm not sure why but I think petty theft is worse in China. Aaron, the former former teacher whose workload I have, had his iPod and camera I think stolen his first week in China. I definitely plan on traveling light. I don't know about my digital camera. That's probably the only thing of significant value I'll take aside from currency and my passport. I've always fallen into the con rather than outright theft. I've only ever had my bike stolen I think. It's happened twice now.

Almaty onward is still very much up in the air. Kyrgyztan on to Tajikistan and then Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan might be too big a visa pain to go to. Accompanied guide and visa approval of a month or more even for just a transit visa. I guess I'll have to plot the cities now and read up on the other visas. Hopefully my Chinese visa will be processed uneventfully.