Korea Thread: Liberal Moon Jae In Elected

[Eddie Teach]

Cool.

[jimmy olsen]

Got a ticket to the Men's Half Pipe Final on Feb 14th.

Got a love motel in Gangneung, the 13th, triple the normal price at 180,000 Won.

My wife just got me train tickets at the station. This means I am one of the lucky ones, because the pecularaties of Korean geography and calendar are going to absolutely fuck over thousands of foreigners. (For context I've lived here for 8 years)

First of all, if you go on Bookings.com or whatever app you like and put in Pyeongchang you are going to be offered a pension (Konglish for cabin) in the mountain near a small village named Pyeongchang in the middle of nowhere. It would literally take you 10 hours by bus to get to the main Olympic stadium from there.

I actually accidently booked one of these, but realized my mistake in a couple of minutes and canceled for free. Then I managed to get a ratty looking love motel room close to the Gangneung train station. Lots of foreigners with no experience with Korea are going to find themselves in random mountain cabins in the middle of nowhere.

Then I bought a train ticket to Pyeongchang on the 13th, but I shouldn't have done that. I needed to get one for Gangneung instead. That's easy to fix, just go down to the station and exchange. It's the train back on the 14th that was the problem. The 14th-18th are the Lunar New Year. And train tickets on those days, only go on sale at 9am KST on January 17th. KTX tickets then sell out within half an hour nation wide. This is not something generally known to foreign tourists, who are going to show up and not be able to get train tickets. What's worse, is that even if you have already purchased the Olympics KTX pass, for those five days you have to go on line and reserve specific seats for those days. So, there are alot of people who will show that think they have tickets, but won't.

Also, very few people in Gangwando speak English, so it's going to be hard for foreigners to get around in general. At least the signs all have English on them.

https://www.koreaexpose.com/korails-pyeongchang-olympic-discrimination/

until the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics open on Feb. 9, another issue is getting foreign visitors worked up. This time, it's ticket bookings for the new KTX (high speed rail) line that connects Incheon International Airport, Seoul and key new stations in the Olympic zone.

The culprit? South Korea's Lunar New Year public holiday period, which falls on Feb. 16. The Lunar New Year and autumn Harvest Festival holidays are notorious for transport overload, with trains pre-booked up at lightning speed and highways blocked with bumper-to-bumper traffic as South Koreans head out of Seoul to visit families in the provinces. Korail, South Korea's national railway operator, runs special pre-booking periods for these periods: This year, the Lunar New Year period is Feb. 14 – 18, for which booking opens on Jan. 17.

The problem is that this busy travel period falls bang in the middle of the Olympics, and foreigners who have already purchased five- or seven-day Pyeongchang Korail Passes are not happy about still being unable to get tickets for Feb. 14 to 18. (Pyeongchang Korail Passes are supposed to allow unlimited train travel during a fixed term but its holders still must make advance booking in order to secure seats.)

A member of staff at Korail's hotline (1599-7777) answered, in English, that online reservations for Feb. 14-18 journeys would be available 4pm South Korean local time on Jan. 17 on the English-language version of www.letskorail.com, or from 9-11am at railway stations nationwide on the same day.

But online booking via a special temporary public holiday booking site that exists only in Korean opens on the same day at 6am, putting non-Korean speakers at a 10-hour disadvantage — an eternity in public holiday train ticket booking terms.

"Last year all the KTX seats around the country sold out in about 30 minutes, so there's virtually zero chance of any Olympic visitors getting seats — even if you have already bought a Pyeongchang KOFAIL pass," wrote Reddit user zaskquatch (emphasis and sarcastic acronym in original).

A media affairs official from Korail, requesting anonymity as usual, effectively admitted that Korail's decision to only run a Korean version of the temporary booking site was in order to give priority to South Koreans traveling during the holiday period.

"It happens to coincide with the Olympic period this time, but we have to put people traveling because of the public holiday first," he said. The official added that standing tickets may still be available for those who miss out on the chance to book a seat.

Elsewhere, Korail's English language site shows signs of international confusion. Visitors purchasing a Pyeongchang Korail Pass are forced to select their nationality from a drop-down list of countries that includes only 97 of the world's 195-odd states, adds at least two defunct ones (Yugoslavia and Zaire), and misspells many more.

On Korail's English-language Q&A pages, 38 puzzled and angry inquiries date back to Jan. 5. Among them was a message from "Olympic Spectator," who wrote,

"Foreigners are spending thousands of dollars and we will be left in the dust. Korail is just opening themselves to a class action lawsuit for damages based on discrimination. As a Korean American, I am embarrassed such travesty is raising its ugly head when all the eyes of the world are focusing on the Olympics. Shame on you Korail. Your actions are truly repugnant."

Meanwhile, YouTube user Amy Moncure pointed out that foreign credit cards cannot be used at some railway stations in the Olympic zone, further undermining South Korea's claims to be a hub of smart technology.

Transportation woes come in the wake of a widely reported accommodation problems involving hotels and other properties in the Pyeongchang and nearby Gangneung area.

[KRonn]

Just booked tickets for the men's half pipe finals in the Olympics!

Excellent! I didn't realize you were still in South Korea. You've been there a while, so you must be pretty proficient in the Korean language by now?

[jimmy olsen]

Just booked tickets for the men's half pipe finals in the Olympics!

Excellent! I didn't realize you were still in South Korea. You've been there a while, so you must be pretty proficient in the Korean language by now?

Lol, no. I can read Hangeul letters but my spoken language is limited to the basics. Have been doing some tutoring with a coteacher this last semester though.

My wife speaks Korean at an upper intermediate level though.

[mongers]

Just booked tickets for the men's half pipe finals in the Olympics!

Excellent! I didn't realize you were still in South Korea. You've been there a while, so you must be pretty proficient in the Korean language by now?

Lol, no. I can read Hangeul letters but my spoken language is limited to the basics. Have been doing some tutoring with a coteacher this last semester though.

My wife speaks Korean at an upper intermediate level though.

I'd just like to go on record* here and say it was nice knowing you Tim, pity we never met up.   



* contingency post, so come the trumpian apocalypse / end of this February, I don't need to post messages on languish to semi-random people I never knew that well, wish nuclear waste rains down upon us.

[Camerus]

How accommodating are Koreans when it comes to foreigners speaking their language? When I was in China, most people acted amazed if you could utter even a few pleasantries in Mandarin and were  tolerant if you were still just learning the basics or couldn't speak it at all.  Of course, you pretty much have to learn at least everyday communication level in Mandarin in the Mainland, as so few people speak English....

[Eddie Teach]

Just booked tickets for the men's half pipe finals in the Olympics!

Excellent! I didn't realize you were still in South Korea. You've been there a while, so you must be pretty proficient in the Korean language by now?

Lol, no. I can read Hangeul letters but my spoken language is limited to the basics. Have been doing some tutoring with a coteacher this last semester though.

My wife speaks Korean at an upper intermediate level though.

What's her native tongue?

[jimmy olsen]

Just booked tickets for the men's half pipe finals in the Olympics!

Excellent! I didn't realize you were still in South Korea. You've been there a while, so you must be pretty proficient in the Korean language by now?

Lol, no. I can read Hangeul letters but my spoken language is limited to the basics. Have been doing some tutoring with a coteacher this last semester though.

My wife speaks Korean at an upper intermediate level though.

What's her native tongue?

Russian

[jimmy olsen]

How accommodating are Koreans when it comes to foreigners speaking their language? When I was in China, most people acted amazed if you could utter even a few pleasantries in Mandarin and were  tolerant if you were still just learning the basics or couldn't speak it at all.  Of course, you pretty much have to learn at least everyday communication level in Mandarin in the Mainland, as so few people speak English....

Most people will be amazed. Though they will be less so once they learn I've lived here 8 years.

[The Brain]

How accommodating are Koreans when it comes to foreigners speaking their language? When I was in China, most people acted amazed if you could utter even a few pleasantries in Mandarin and were  tolerant if you were still just learning the basics or couldn't speak it at all.  Of course, you pretty much have to learn at least everyday communication level in Mandarin in the Mainland, as so few people speak English....

Most people will be amazed. Though they will be less so once they learn I've lived her 8 years.

[jimmy olsen]

From Feb. 22nd. Missed this somehow. Lovely

https://static.theintercept.com/amp/gop-senator-says-trump-is-ready-to-start-war-with-north-korea-that-would-be-one-of-the-worst-catastrophic-events-in-history.html?__twitter_impression=true

There is no more dangerous place on the earth than the Korean peninsula right now. ...

The president of the United States has said, and he is committed to, seeing that Kim Jong-un is not able to marry together a delivery system with a nuclear weapon that he can deliver to the United States. ...

The consequences of that are breathtaking when you think about how this could happen. ...

If this thing starts, it's going to be probably one of the one of the worst catastrophic events in the history of our civilization. It is going to be very, very brief. The end of it is going to see mass casualties the likes of which the planet has never seen. It will be of biblical proportions. ...

The president can do this quickly, and as I said, it is at his fingertips.

[The Brain]

Claiming that the Bible never happened is blasphemy.

[Eddie Teach]

Why don't you just come home already.

[Ed Anger]

Why don't you just come home already.

Hey now, let's not be hasty.

[jimmy olsen]

Why don't you just come home already.

I have a wife with a baby on the way. I can't just get up and leave.