Thank you!
Post-surgery meeting 6 days after surgery. VFSRAC recovery wasn't bad at all. So I didn't sit still.
Took the new high speed rail from Seoul Station to Jinbu in the PyongChang area, site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Obviously I missed the games (and the traffic) but it turned out to be a great day trip. Seoul was a bit smoggy and cloudy that day, the mountains were clear and sunny. There was snow on the ground but it was surprisingly warm - had a very nice walk in the mountain air. Then back down the hill for tofu soup and bibimbap.
Here's how I order food when I can't talk.
1. Always carry the slip of paper that says 제가 성대 수술을 받아서 말을 하면 안 됩니다 (I've had voice surgery and can't speak).
2. Find a restaurant with one of those cool displays in the window. Food demo!
3. Take photo of what you want, show it to the restaurant.
There's also a bunch of GS-25 ("open 25 hours") mini-marts all over the place with pretty good food.
If you plan to use the subway, purchase a "T-Money" electronic card (easier to do everything before voice surgery). Once you have the card it's easy to reload using machines in the subway stations. Taxis cost a lot more and get stuck in traffic.
Next day, weather cleared in Seoul so I headed to 경복궁 (Gyeongbokgung Palace). It's definitely on the must-see list in Seoul, been there before but I always enjoy it. Subway station drops you off under a museum. A special treat this time was people walking around in traditional Korean clothing. I really like the last photo of these three.
And then I took a slow train into the east-central mountains. Left in the morning, arrived in the mountains early afternoon. This involved making a reservation for four trains from Seoul - I usually use the service counter at Seoul Station but figured out how to use the machines this time. The O-Line heads southeast and then circles a mountain area. The V-Line goes up a mountain valley. Majority of trip was on the medium-speed O-Line with swivel chairs facing the window. Once in the mountains I transferred to the slower V-Line which has huge windows and travels through remote areas. It was lightly snowing near the top, the train car had a cozy wood stove. I stood near the stove to thaw out. This was off-season during a weekday, the cars were mostly empty. Food options weren't great - a few smaller stations had a row of food stalls, the V-Train stops long enough to get out and take photos at some stations but the food vendors were closed. I was okay but it's best to bring something to eat mid-day unless it's full tourist season when everything is open. Returned to Seoul at 10pm. Really glad I made this trip.
So... about my gender. This is my first trip here after visibly starting transition. Zero issues. The funny thing is, several times men have started up conversations - in Korean language or in English. I've never had that randomly happen in previous years. In one of the mountain towns a friendly group of four guys tried talking me into moving over to their seating area. I showed my "sorry I can't speak" card, they were still talkative - one of them asked (in English) if I am Russian... not sure if that's an honest guess or a pick-up line.
