Popsicles, petting zoo passengers and poopy pants... or not!

Corin and I took a day trip to Busan today. I had a lingering feeling that this day would be filled with interesting events as I packed the bag this morning. Yep... that feeling was right! ;)
After packing up and heading out the door, we waited outside our complex for the city bus to take us into town. We waited... and waited. A cute little old lady was sitting there with us as we both took turns glancing at our wrist watches. Finally... the bus showed up and we boarded for the short ride to town. Once we got off, we headed to go see daddy at his school for a quick money swap and then back to the intercity bus station to get our tickets to Busan. After purchasing our tickets, we sat down on the benches inside to wait for another 25 minutes for our outgoing bus. Corin began to entertain himself by playing with the occilating fan that was in the room. He seemed to be pretending to get hit by wind "bullets" everytime the fan passed by him... it was entertaining for us all! The bus station attendant particularly seemed to find Corin extra fun, he would walk up to Cor and pretend with him in between calling out buses that came and went! It was pretty funny to see a grown man (old enough to be his grandpa plus some) dodging air bullets! They were quite the pair... the little old ladies were pretty interested in him too as they made the sounds Corin would make each time the fan breeze touched his face. "Shweeeah, OOOOOOOOOO, Uuuuueeeewwwwwwffff, bang, bang, whoooooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhh!" The list went on and on, but these were a few of the echoed sound effects coming from the bus station this morning. After the fan lost its charm, Corin moved on to running in circles smack dab in the middle of the station. He bumped an older man on his way to buy a ticket before I could grab Cor, and then drag him to the side lines! Corin sat down and said sorry to the man. Less than two minutes later, that same kind man returned from the ajoining convenience store with two popsicles! One for Corin, and one for me! Wow! I was amazed and we both replied with a "Kamsahamnida" or thank you. Corin of course shoved the package back into his hands and asked him to open it. The man had no clue what Corin said, but instintively opened the package and handed Corin the cold treat. It took only seconds for me to realize this was no ordinary popsicle. This just so happened to be a red bean ice pop. Yum... my favorite. (please read with closed jaw and hesitant sarcasm) Then I realized that I myself had one to force down the hatch! Hmmm. They are not alllll that bad. I mean they are high in protein and refreshingly cold! The perfect summer snack! Of course Corin went to town on his and so now I had to get the package open and show my gratitude by appearing to enjoy it too. First lick... sweet, gritty, and cool. Not too bad. I think I can handle the gritty. Second lick... same as first, only this time I hit a bean. Third lick... I realized that bean was going to have to be chewed and swallowed. Fourth lick... the ice pop started dripping bean juice on me as the hot summer weather began to catch up with my popsicle procrastination! Oh no.... now I would have to bite it! And fast..... well, better fast than slow right? Wait.... if it was dripping on me... Yep, Corin was now soaking himself in bean juice as well. Sticky bean juice right before we get on a bus. Great. Luckily I had packed a second set of clothes so I had nothing to fear but my own popsicle when to my delight... "Masan!" yes! the attendant called for the Masan passengers and the station emptied out. Just as they all left the room, Corin walked up and stuck his popsicle in a dangerous drip zone over me... I did not have any spare clothes so I jumped out of the way. When I jumped, the popsicle "accidentally" fell out of my hands into the conveniently located trash can next to us. Well... I at least tried it before bailing out. I was proud of myself for that. And.... I even took a few bites before the audience dissapeared! Corin continued on in his efforts to dodge the drips while licking the red beans. Finally, the attendant came over and showed him how to do it! He took a huge bite out of the popsicle and handed it back saying "bite, bite, bite!" Haha.... it was pretty funny. Of course Corin went for it... he took the next bite, right after his newly established friend had just eaten off his treat. That's Korean closeness for you. There aren't really any "bubbles" here. No comfort zones. Anyways... COrin finally lost interest in the dripping mess and it went in the trash in time for me to wipe him down with wet wipes and change his shirt. The bus arrived, we loaded up, and off we rode to Busan!
Once we got to Busan, we headed for the subway where Corin was "pet" by multiple passer-byers. People love to touch his hair and face and that seemed to be in excess today. Finally Corin decided to hide behind me. We boarded the busy lunch-rush subway and stood near the door. Corin of course wanted to be held the entire time and was beginning to get frustrated and cranky with the people continuing to touch him.... So I headed for the corner to get out of the flow of traffic. There we stood as Corin pointed out the older men on the subway and called them all "Pa-Paws." (This is his version of the word grandpa.) After a quick transfer and a couple more stops, we finally reached our exit! Off the "train" and on to Mary's home!
We were meeting Ms. Mary for her haircut. When we got to the door, we were greeted with barking and Corin perked up a bit. "Puppy?" Yep, Ms. Mary had a sweet little dog that Corin was ready to play with! As Mary and I settled down to cut her hair, Corin snuggled up with Pepper. It didn't take long for Corin to come up with some funny stuff to talk to Pepper about as Mary and I carried on our own conversation. Each time Pepper would lick Corin, he would respond by telling her "No, don't eat me!" It was rather entertaining! Corin also decided to share bites of his carrot sticks with Pepper. It was a red bean popsicle all over again! Ha! After the hair was looking fabulous, Mary generously treated Corin and I to some tastey pizza! It has been a while since I have had a slice! Good stuff! Corin of course ate a couple of slices... with a spoon no less! Hahah... this kid goes for the route less traveled for sure! After yummy pizza and good talks, we all headed out to get Mary's eyes checked out. We went to a local eye-care facility/store (equivalent to Lenscrafters) and waited for Mary to drag out information from the technician performing her eye exam. She needed to have the exam done for her state-side license, so she needed him to fill out a form with the info from the check-up. It was like pulling teeth getting this guy to give her the reciept, a business card, even to write down the full address of the store! Yikes! hahah.... We are crossing our fingers that the DMV in the States is not too picky about the exam details! ;) Then we swung by the post office before heading back to the subway. The day had slipped through my fingers... before I knew it I was looking at my watch and reading 5:15. So... the voyage home began. We all boarded the subway and Mary parted shortly, with Corin in such sweet sorrow. He began sobbing as she exited the subway car and the doors closed behind her. It was so cute to see his affections for his new found friend! (Although I can't say sleep depravity and Pepper didn't play into the emotions a little!) This ride we stuck to the corner and were relieved to have a break from the "petting zoo" passengers. Finally we were at the intercity bus station and about to be able to relax and enjoy an hour of quiet and hopefully... for Corin... sleep. We got our tickets and made a bee-line for our beloved backseats on the bus. Just as we were settling in and getting comfy, a rather sweaty scented man decided to sit in the seat directly in front of us. Why? The bus was practically empty and he chose to grace US with his potent presence? Oh well... I soon had the clever thought of pointing our adjustable air vents in his direction. Slowly the sweat smell faded and I began to enjoy my seat again. Corin as usual, did not act according to my mental plan. No nap for him. (In his defense, he was amazingly well behaved the entire ride home!) We no sooner left the station than we were stuck in jam packed traffic. We sat still for about 20 minutes and then crawled to the edge of Busan. Finally, we hit the toll booth and it was smooth sailing from there. Corin was being great, I was fully relaxed and reflecting on my good conversations with Mary. We were about half-way home with half an hour left on that enclosed bus, when I began to get whiffs of some not so pleasant bodily odors. This time... it was not sweat. The guy in front of us was letting them rip! and man oh man... it smelled like he was about to R.I.P! They were disgustingly smelly. Putrid one might say. The guy never even blinked! At first, I thought it might be Corin, but when I took a sniff at the diaper, there was no lingering smell. Awwwww Man! With each new wave of stench, I found myself looking to the clock and counting down the minutes before we would be in open air! No wonder he chose the back of the bus.... "Oh look foreigners... even if they smell me, they won't be able to blame me... at least I won't be able to understand if they do!" Either that or "Look, a kid... kids always get blamed for gas. Perfect!" Oh well... I suppose it made for a good story-book ending to our day's adventures. Once we landed, we grabbed a taxi and a few minutes later, we were home! As soon as we popped out of the taxi, we were invited by some guys up at our new complex "mart" to have an ice cream with them. Half out of fear for red bean ice cream, and half knowing Corin needed sleep, I politely declined and gestured the sleeping motion before pointing to Corin. They bowed and smiled and bid us goodnight. With the sound of the unlocking deadbolt came the feeling of relief that I was home to relax and enjoy reflecting on the past ten hours. (Too bad the house was a mess... my fault!) A speed clean, tucking into bed, and tea making frenzy later... I resided to the computer room chair to await the arrival of my lovely hubby who should be home shortly from judging a speech competition in Busan... and with a set of bookshelves at that! :) All in all, a pretty good day with my little man!
LL