Seoul: Part 2 Protests and Bathrooms

We inadvertantly got "caught up" in Anti-Amercian Beef protests.
This is City Hall in Seoul,



Andy and I were on foot when we happened upon this scene. We tried our best to avoid them and go around but it was impossible, so we had to go through them. Thank God Andy is a very tall man because he could see above everyone's head and just cruise through the crowd. I hung on to the back of his backpack for dear life and let him tow me through the crowd. I could not see a thing and was being bumped and pushed from all sides....so naturally I had a panic attack. The mantra in my head was.."don't puke, don't puke...if I puke it's going to get all over me and 14 other people." I would rather throw myself out of an airplane everyday for the rest of my life than go through that experience again. My name is Sherry and I have severe claustrophobia in crowds of people. My body goes through a physical reaction where my temperature rises to fever level, nausea, trouble breathing and dizziness. This event probably lasted for 10 minutes which seemed like an eternity. If it were any longer we would have had serious problems. Andy was very good about getting me out of there, and I was very good about not dying. I fight to not allow this to become debilitating but I don't know...this was just awfull!

After we got out of the crowd and I could catch some air and recover I went into survival mode. (Survival mode for me is clinging on to my sense of humor! I've been known to tell jokes while tears are streaming down my face.) I started swaying and singing "All we are saying....is give beef a chance."...I think this is why Andy stays married to me.

Public Bathrooms:
Hmmmm ...where do I start? Of course....with a picture..because that is worth a thousand words right?


There was no toilet paper in this stall or anywhere else in this bathroom. So I says to myself, "Hole in the floor + no toilet paper = I will hold it until the cows come home." ...which here is Korea is going to be a long time due to the protests.

Every restroom that Andy used had a cleaning lady in it. Yes, these ladies work in the middle of men peeing.
Let's see....Most bathrooms seem to have only 1 toilet paper roll which is located in the common area...so you must make sure to grab some before you go into the stall which is so small and cramped that you can barely close the door behind yourself.

I had to walk past a gentlemen peeing on his side of the room to get to the ladies stalls....AWKWARD!

In one bathroom there was no soap to wash your hands but there was a mouthwash dispenser...but no cups. Andy actually tried to wash his hand with the mouthwash.
I saw some little girls dispensing it into their mouths like they were drinking from an upside down water fountain. Messy.

I could go on...and probably will touch on this subject again as bathroom humor NEVER gets old.
And honestly, I have to say I have seen far worse conditions than this in France and Fiji.