I keep thinking, "next time" but there may not be one...

So I've basically finished packing. Mostly clothing, a few pairs of shoes, some books, and some video games. It took much less effort than anticipated but will probably prove to be a nuisance to fish clothes out of during my stay in a hotel over next week.

I managed to get a hold of 200000 Won (South Korean Currency) today which set me up for a potentially hilarious first encounter in South Korea. The money was dispensed to me in the following quantities: 10 - 10000 Won bills, 100 - 1000 Won Bills. That's correct...I cleaned out this currency booth of all of its Won and they gave me one hundred and ten bills. If I wanted to be inconspicuous with my money, well, they just spoiled that. I was handed a giant brown chunk of bills and all I could think of was how annoyed people are going to be with me. I'll be paying for stuff with what amounts to $1 bills. "That will be 20000 Won sir!" Then I will hand them 18 bills and have to fish through my pockets for an additional 2. Imagine being given a bag of loonies and told to use it as your spending money...I can only imagine how bemused the locals will be with my giant wad of cash that holds little value.

The money itself is pretty interesting. The people on the bills remind me of Romance of the Three Kingdoms only now I won't have to get confused by the ethnically confusing portrait of Zhang Fei. On the 10000 bill there appears to be an Astronomer of sorts and on the 1000 bill there's a painter, writer, or the inventor of Hangul script. I could probably research who these people are, but I'll leave that for another day. The money smells vaguely of motor oil, garlic, and algae and have a large white square on the outer corner that contain a watermark.

Anxiety is finally starting to build. The sense of finality is becoming cemented in reality as I struggle to squeeze every last moment out of this city and my close friends in it. Right now though...I need to get to sleep. If I don't make another post tomorrow night, it'll come after I'm in South Korea. Either from an Internet cafe or my friend's laptop. As mentioned I'll be keeping a paper journal, so not much will be lost in delays and any delays should be no longer than a week.

There are still a lot of small stories to tell about the lead up to my departure, but I'll save those for a less eventful time.