Frustration in Seoul
No, not that kind... work frustration. I've been spending hours on the phone, sending countless emails, and attending every event I can (so far I have crashed a US embassy party at the JW Marriot Ballroom, and a press conference about the beef crisis in the Foreign Correspondent's Club) in hopes of getting interviews with people about the Seoul Olympics. But, it seems that there are five people left alive who have anything to say about it. I have managed to interview two of them, another is in jail, and it's not looking good for the other two.
Considering that this is a pretty non-controversial topic, I'm amazed how difficult it has been trying to nail down interviews. But, I have a few appointments lined up now, so I hope to get some more interesting tape while I am in town.
This whole beef thing has complicated matters. Trying to get people to talk about the 1988 Olympics in the middle of this beef chaos is like asking people on the Titanic whether they thought the wine went well with dinner--not exactly the topic on people's minds... The worst part is, since I can't use my blackberry, and since the city is so huge (and it takes a long time to get from place to place), I basically have to sit in my hotel room working the phones and getting ready to jump at a moment's notice. I can't even afford to head to the gym right now (despite the fact that I desperately need a couple of weeks on the stairmaster right now) because I can't afford to miss a call.
On the subject of how long it takes to get around Seoul, the population is about 10 million, which is larger than any US city. It's not overwhelmingly dense, so it's spread out, and despite an extensive metro system, nothing seems to be close by. Plus, the metro stations are giant labyrinthian-mazes of catacombs. I would swear that you can end up walking a mile underground from a metro entrance to the actual platform. It's nuts. And each station has about 14 different entrances/exits, so the underground network of tunnels and walkways is stunning--and somewhat maddening.
