d-Wizz Hankuk Travel Diary [2005]
Preface / Introduction / Day 1 (2005-07-27) 
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Introduction
This is the story of d-Wizz (my alias) and my first adventure overseas to Korea and Japan in July/August, 2005. To help you to understand the full story, here is some background information.
I was never looking to be an international traveller. The thought of going overseas myself had not really crossed my mind, even though my brother and one of my sisters had been on many foreign excursions. In my thinking, international travel was exorbitantly expensive and time consuming, and I was quite comfortable and cosy in my little bubble here in Brisbane, Australia. Why would I want to leave and fly thousands of kilometres away?
The seeds of change were sown by the rapidly growing list of international friends I was meeting at ARK every Saturday afternoon. My involvement in ARK began in 2003 when I was invited to a meeting by my sister, who by that time had established strong ties with the Korean community through her language studies. An important part of ARK is the playing of a few simple church songs in English, so I was invited to bring my drum kit and join the music team for that.
My sister was also sub-letting part of her living room to Korean people she had met (only one at a time!), so I was already pre-conditioned to the gentle nature of the Korean people.
In just a few months, I met a lot of people, most of whom were Korean, but there were a couple of exceptions. I often extended an invitation to my home to share music with them and to enjoy time together. Some of them were interested in learning to play the drum kit, so I showed them some basic techniques. Most of the time, they were able to play reasonably well after only a few lessons. I have enjoyed many hours with many different people playing music with them and talking about many subjects.
Eventually, the time came for some of my new friends to return to Korea. They invited me to come to visit one day, and I said I would think about it.
There are about half a dozen Koreans who are very special friends to me:
Jamie (최창석: Choi Chang Seok) lives in Chungnam Asan. He came to Australia in 2003 and stayed in Brisbane for 7 months, before going to Sydney in September. I taught Jamie how to play the drum kit and he picked it up very quickly. In January, 2004, I drove my car to meet him in Sydney and we went together on a 17-day tour to Sydney, Canberra, Mt. Kosciuszko, Melbourne and Wagga Wagga, sleeping in the car on most nights. I took my mini drum kit with me on this trip, and we both played a lot. Jamie’s drumming skills improved further and his confidence as a drummer also increased. After returning to Sydney, Jamie came back to Brisbane with me for the final two weeks of his time in Australia. He left Australia on 2004-02-05, the day before his birthday.
Dae-Young (조대영: Cho Dae Young) was the second Korean person I met. He stayed with my sister for a while when he was in Brisbane. He was also interested in learning the drums, so I showed him a few things, but we did not share as much time together as I did with Jamie, so Dae-Young can only play simply. He has a very pronounced American accent when he speaks English, which takes a little time to adjust to. He was in Australia around the same time as Jamie, and was even in Sydney when I was there in January, 2004, but unfortunately, we could not meet each other. I last saw Dae-Young in Brisbane in late 2003, so it’s been a while. He lives in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
Spike (이건웅: Lee Keon Woong) caught my eye in early 2004, soon after I arrived back from Sydney with Jamie. In fact, Spike arrived in Australia just three days after Jamie left – so they did not meet each other. Spike was very interested in music, so we connected very well. He learned about the drum kit very quickly, and was a keen student. He had learnt to play guitar in Korea, and he soon bought an acoustic guitar in Brisbane. He would come to my home frequently to play guitar with me and practise on my drum kit. We had many hours of musical enjoyment together. By the time he left Brisbane to travel around Australia, Spike had become a very good drummer (although he always doubted this status). He went travelling about three months before he had to leave Australia, so I did not see him again. He lost his mobile phone in Adelaide, which meant that he could not call me anymore. After Spike had returned to Korea, I often called him for a chat. Maybe I called him too many times, because on 2005-03-22, he asked me not to call him again. Spike lives in Gwangju.
Young (조보영: Cho Bo Young), from Daegu, met me in 2004. He learned the drums very quickly and we became good friends, although I did not see him a lot in Brisbane. On the night he left Australia (2005-01-17), we shared a very special time at my house, and I drove him to the airport to catch his flight.
James (김재홍: Kim Jae Hong) is a fellow drummer – and a good one too. I should have learnt many things from him, but I didn’t pay enough attention at the time, preferring to let him do his own thing on my drum kit. On a couple of occasions, James visited my house and we played two drum kits together at the same time (called a “drum duel”, or “drum battle”), which we both enjoyed a lot. James lives in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.
Mi-Ra (한미라: Han Mi-Ra) sang for ARK while she was in Brisbane in 2004. I noticed her beautiful voice and invited her to sing on a CD of Korean songs I was planning to make. Her sister Mi-San visited Brisbane in 2005. She lives in Yeong¬deungpo-gu, Seoul.
Jimmy (정진우: Jang Jin Woo) was only in Australia for a few months, and spent most of those at language school or working, so we didn’t meet often. But he was an important part of the ARK vocal group on many occasions, and he enjoyed music like me. I longed to explore our musical connections further, but circumstances prevented that from happening in Australia. I was able to meet with him in his home city of Daegu.
Some of the many other Korean friends I met in Australia include:
Seoul: JK (정양우: Jung Yang-Woo), Back (Back Jae Ho), Ken (김홍진: Kim Hong Jin), Joey (Lee Seung Ho), Ageha, Joey (김영용: Kim Young Yong)
Incheon: Lauren (신원석: Shin Won Seok)
Sanseong: Joo Jin Oh (주진오)
Suwon: Jack (김승수: Kim Seung Soo)
other Gyeonggi-do: Geenie (김은진: Kim Eun Jin)
Busan: Ryan (조정우: Cho Jung Woo), Scott (조승래: Cho Seung Rae)
Daegu: James (정원재: Jung Won-Jae), Patrick (최병기: Choi Byong Gi)
Changwon: Jo Hanwook (조 한 욱)
Jeonju: Ted (김 태 영: Kim Tae-Young)
Chungnam: Chi-Ung (김치웅: Kim Chi-Ung)
and many others I haven’t listed here.
I was not able to meet all of the people on this list, because some of them were too busy or otherwise unavailable, others were still in Australia(!), and some did not respond to my contact attempts. I have not listed everybody here because there are just too many to mention. Omission from this list is not a reflection of lower friendship status, it’s just a slip of memory!
As I talked on the phone with many of my Korean friends, the subject of international travel was often hinted at. Many of my friends in Korea had met my sister, as she was in Korea to study the language and they invited me to come and visit them. I entertained the thought briefly, but quickly dismissed it as just a fantasy. But the invitations kept coming, and my sister’s influences were gradually pulling me away from my position.
Just before Easter 2005, the magnetic attraction of Korea really hit hard. It was then that I made a decision to try to visit Korea before my sister returned at the end of June. I originally planned to spend two months overseas, combining the trip with about two weeks in Japan with my brother and a few friends I knew in that country followed by six weeks in Korea. As I had friends in almost every corner of Korea, I knew I would need a lot of time to be able to travel and visit as many as possible. I also wanted to maximise the value of my overseas flight and see as much of Korea as I could. With my sister having completed her semester, she would be able to show me some interesting things.
Once I had decided to commit myself to visit Korea and Japan, I had to figure out how I would finance the trip. I had already learned from my sister and many of my Korean friends that most essential items such as food and transport were much less expensive than in Australia, so that was in my favour. Also, some of my friends had offered to let me stay with them when I came to visit their city, so that would reduce my accommodation costs dramatically. The single biggest expense would be the airfare. I knew I needed about $1,200 for that, and probably that much again for expenses in Korea. So I had to raise just under $3,000 to fund the trip comfortably.
Well, it was a good plan in theory, but unfortunately it didn’t work out, because I could not raise enough money in time to leave on my proposed date of 2005-05-06. I had told many of my friends that I was coming to Korea, news that was greeted with enthusiasm and excitement by most of them. So this initial hiccup was a major disappointment for everybody.
I began delivering newspapers and junk mail at the end of April to raise money. I was no stranger to this work; l had done it for many years as a teenager and also in my 20s. I understood the pay was not high and the work was hard, but it was the only way I knew to get the money I needed.
I disciplined myself not to spend the money I was earning by having it put in an account that was difficult for me to access. I set a target date of 2005-07-16 as a departure date. This was a Saturday, and it was important to leave on that day, because there was a cheap flight for $803 + tax leaving on Saturdays only to Tokyo (Narita), and I wanted to use that flight. This fare was conditional on me returning from Narita within 35 days of arrival, so I had to plan a 35-day itinerary only, not the 7 – 8 weeks I originally wanted.
By the end of June, I had delivered over 200,000 pieces of junk mail and about 5,000 newspapers. I had raised just under $2,000, and I made the executive decision that I was definitely going ahead with the trip. So, I began to organise my passport. I had been doing this since Easter, but I had encountered a problem with getting a photo taken, so I had not been able to apply for the passport. I managed to solve that problem in early July, so I paid the $153 fee and submitted my passport application.
About 10 days later, I received an e-mail saying my application had been successful, and that my passport would be ready a few days later. I took that as a guarantee, so I went to book the flight. I had moved my target date one week later to 2005-07-23.
There was another hiccup at the travel agent: there was no seat on the flight back from Tokyo 35 days later! My choices were that I could either delay another week, or try another airline. I had been researching alternative fare options on the Internet, so I decided to go with a deal from Singapore Airlines for $1,004 + taxes. My brother suggested I ask for an “open jaw” ticket, arriving at Narita, but departing from Incheon – this would save me from having to come back to Japan. The travel agent tried to do this for me, but she could not find any suitable flights to come back from Incheon to Australia. She suggested I might like to try the other way; arriving at Incheon and departing from Narita. I decided to try that, and she found a set of flights which fit perfectly. So I was booked in to do Korea first, and then Japan.
My flight out of Brisbane would leave on 2005-07-27, and I would arrive back on 2005-09-01. The total fare was $1,372.
I quickly spread the news to my Korean friends, and began planning an itinerary and visiting schedule.
On 2005-07-22, I collected my passport. I was now officially approved by the government to leave Australia and visit my friends in Korea! I had everything I needed to go ahead.
I did my last junk mail deliveries the day before my plane left. I had delivered over 250,000 pieces of junk mail and 8,000 newspapers to secure the financial requirements of the trip. I had about $A700 in the bank and about $A800 owing to me from work I had done before I left. This was due to be paid in about 2 – 3 weeks, so it would provide a timely injection of funds for me while I was away.
With all the major requirements satisfied, I began to pack on the evening of 2005-07-26: less than 20 hours before departure.
And thus the adventure begins...
Preface / Introduction / Day 1 (2005-07-27)
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