Sleeping Between Cars

This is a story I wrote a few years ago. With the completion of the KTX bullet train and a ban on smoking on all trains, scenes such as this are, I'm afraid, a thing of the past. I hope you like it.

Sleeping Between Cars
By Eric Kruse

I'm all about the creature comforts in life. I don't camp. I'll take a hotel room with AC and a comfy bed anytime. Backpacking to me is a one day excursion to a steep hill somewhere with a bottle of water, an extra pack of smokes, and a six-pack. When traveling in Korea, I always get first class seats on the train, so I can ride in relative comfort (sure it costs extra, but we're talking leg room here). That said, some of my best experiences have come on the late night Mugunhwa train.

This train is the cheapest train available, and it usually is the last train of the night leaving from the major cities. It's primarily a commuter train and stops in every podunk town along the way. As many of you know, there are never any seats available on this train, so you end up squatting between the cars, usually half in the bag and wondering why you didn't follow the instinct to catch the earlier train you were supposed to be on. This is by no stretch the most comfortable way to spend two hours, but it offers a microcosm of Korean society that you can observe between nodding out and trying to listen for the announcement for your destination over the clack and clatter of the moving train.

The people you see, and at times talk to, are from all walks of life. There is the young college girl trying to study, who bums a light for a cigarette that disappears almost as soon as it is lit. There is the soju addled, blue collar guy who struggles to not fall in your lap while staring at you like you are from Mars. Or the close-cropped gangster with jailhouse tattoos on his forearms respectfully offering elderly passengers some of his food. Others include graying old men falling asleep while sitting with perfect posture, and the ubiquitous fashion disaster ahjumas in their lime green pant suits and dyed, permed, hurricane proof hair. All this makes for some pretty fascinating people watching.

There are those times when the space is filled with folks wearing the sullen, weary faces of people contemplating the prospect of a long, uncomfortable trip. However, many a conversation has been started with a tired but friendly smile and a request for a cigarette. Most of the conversations are of the "Where are you from?" variety and last the duration of the smoke. At other times you can get into a decent, if somewhat choppy, conversation that will last the length of the trip. Koreans in general are pretty friendly folks, and the conversations usually involve a few beers and a lot of laughter. Everyone is in the same boat, so you might as well make the best of it.

Kicking back and watching people settle in for the ride is also a fascinating thing. My favorite between the cars scene is what I've dubbed "The Laying of the Paper". On my last trip from Seoul, I watched three separate people as they laid out newspapers on the floor in nice neat squares, popped off their shoes and sat down as if they were in the comfort of their own homes. This ritual, which is done as naturally as breathing, has an aesthetic quality that I find immensely pleasing. Then you have the cell phone addicts who make the mistake of coming between the cars in the vain search for somewhere quiet to talk and end up shouting at the top of their lungs into the phone. Finally, simply watching the animated conversations of people not able to or interested in sleep, is a pleasant way to pass the time.

In the two years I've been here, there are many things that I have come to love about Korea and, of course, some things that I don't. Late at night, between the cars, is one of the former. It's not comfortable, but it offers a glimpse of Korean society that you simply can't get anywhere else.