I went back to the train station to get on the high-speed KTX train to Daegu. There was a group of people apparently protesting some labor union issue; they had been there the day before as well. A stern-visaged man led the all-female group in some very stirring song while they all pumped their fists in the air. The song probably went something like this:
Workers, together
We shall throw off the chains
Of management, which sucks.
Vigorously.
The tune reminded me of “Follow the Fold” from Guys and Dolls, and I have not been able to get that tune out of my head for the past day.
This high-speed train is based on the French TGV technology (insert obligatory snide reference to the French here). Here are a couple of pictures from the train window. They really all look pretty much alike, so I am including only a couple.
Daegu seemed to me to just be “Seoul, Jr.”–smaller and less crowded. The hotel had a nice view, but the place wasn’t kept up very well, as you can see from the condition of the shower curtain.
![Subway token [no larger image]](photos/subway_token_8804.jpg "Subway token [no larger image]")
Here are photos from the trip downtown on the Daegu subway. Their subway tokens are quite interesting, resembling a poker chip more than anything else. They must have some sort of electronics chip in them, because you just hold them on top of the turnstile and it opens the gate.
While I was at the ticket machine looking for change for a ₩10,000 note, a little boy about 6 or 7 years old started tugging on my sleeve and started talking to me in Korean and dragged me over to a machine that gives you back ₩1,000 notes that you can put in the ticket machine.
I keep seeing this guy’s face everywhere, and I just cannot place it. It isn’t David Lynch; at least I hope not. That would be a weird spokesperson to have for anything.
