The 2012 Yeosu Expo

I had never been to a world's fair before, and when I found out that it was going to be held right here in Korea, I seized the opportunity, hit the trail, and off I went.  It was a pretty nifty adventure, but I must admit, I expected more from it. 

I had booked my motel and train ticket a month in advance, and even then, they were hard to come by.  Train tickets and hotel accommodations were going like Eminem concert tickets.  Still, I managed to get myself a seat on a train, and a room with a view. 

I cut out of school a little early on Friday, and jetted down to Yongsan where my cross-country train awaited.  From Friday till Monday morning, I was going to live it up in the town of Yeosu where the expo is. 

If you wanted to save cash, you could get an unreserved seat, and just buy a ticket to ride the train.  But the problem is that these seats are first come, first serve, and if there are no seats available, you have to stand in the aisle or sit on the floor.  I wasn't too thrilled with the idea standing for five hours, so I made sure I got a reserved seat both ways.

The dining car of a Korean train is pretty cool.  They got plenty of snacks, drinks, and box lunches filled with rice, kimchi, and kimbap.  The neat thing about the dining car is that it has two computers for Internet use, two arcade games (Tekken 5 and a shoot 'em up game), a massaging chair with it's own compartment, and even a karaoke machine (thankfully, also with its own compartment).  Lots of people with unreserved tickets sat down on the floor there.  I dropped by to play the shoot 'em up game.

Sometimes when people with reserved tickets get up to use the bathroom or go to the dining car, someone with an unreserved ticket will sit in that person's chair, and then give it back when they return.  I admit, when I saw this, I felt a little upset, but when the 50-or-so-year-old woman occupying my seat saw me coming back, she immediately gave my seat back.  In fact, I asked her to help me confirm my motel accommodations over the phone, because the proprietor didn't speak much English, and in thanks, I let her take my seat for 15 minutes.   

Speaking of the motel, getting there wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  The Yeosu Expo's website recommended the El Dorado Motel, among many others.

The view from my motel room.

If North Korea took over South Korea, they'd never find this place.

So I figured that any accommodation the website suggested would be close to the expo, right?  Wrong.  I got into a taxi and told the driver to take me to the El Dorado Motel.  As expected he didn't know where that was, so I called the motel, gave my cell phone to the driver, and let them figure out where to go.  Well...  The driver wanted 90,000 won (about $90) up front.  So I'm thinking, uh oh...  I called up the proprietor again, and asked him for help.  He talked to the driver and got the price down to 80,000.  When I asked how long the ride would take, the proprietor said that it would only take 30 minutes.  

It actually took an hour and a half.

During the car ride, we passed by the first town I lived in, Gwangyang.  We even passed by the bridge to Jecheol island where my old apartment was.  It felt surreal being back there.  An hour and a half later, we made it to the motel.  Needless to say, I was so mad I was turning green!

I walked into the motel and I was ready to explode.  But there was someone there I wasn't expecting, the proprietor's 12-year-old daughter who just happens to speak English very well.

I've been known to have a temper, but sometimes, when I'm really angry, the innocence of a child helps keep it in check.  Because of her presence, I was able to stay calm.  Like I said before, her father didn't speak much English, so this sweet 12-year-old girl checked me into the motel at 11:30 at night.  She used the card reader and everything. The room cost 50,000 won a night, but it was a very nice room, spotless, and perfectly clean.

After that was done, I had to devise a new plan.  I asked the girl to talk to her father and see if he could find me a new hotel closer to the expo.  For the night, I would have to stay there, and the following morning, I would have to find a bus or something cheaper than a cab.  

Then I remembered seeing a harbor as we drove to the motel.  I asked the girl if there was a ferry boat that went to the expo. She asked her dad, and sure enough there was!  And it only cost 20,000 won round trip (about $20)!  The harbor was only a 2-minute drive from the motel, and the proprietor offered to drive me there in the morning and pick me up in the evening. 

So I formulated a plan.  Stay at the Motel El Dorado for two nights, then move to a different motel in Yeosu on Sunday evening (both, her father, and myself looked for another motel, and that was the best I could do).  Saturday, I would take the ferry boat to and from the expo.  Sunday I would take the ferry boat to the expo, but then take a cab to my new motel that evening.  This time, thankfully, the plan went off without a hitch.  And at 8:30, the man and his daughter drove me to the harbor.  So of course for all her help, I vowed to buy a gift for the little girl; nothing fancy, but something nice. 

This is the ferry boat that took me from the motel to

the expo.  It was pretty neat with three decks, a snack

bar, even a dance floor, and saxophone musician to do

karaoke with!

This is the Theme Pavilion.  It's basically one big

environmental commercial.

The blue mass represents the ocean, the red mass represents

the coast, and the green mass represents the environment.

As for the 2012 Yeosu Expo itself, it was interesting, but I expected more from it.  The theme of the expo was the ocean, the coast, and humanity's relationship to both. It looked really cool.  It looked really flashy.    As you walk around, you could see solar panels feeding energy to each of the buildings.  I suspect that the power supply for the entire complex was completely green.  Basically, imagine what would happen if a museum and an amusement park got together and had a baby.  Take a look at this.  This is the Expo Digital Gallery.

But if you wanted to see a piece of working future tech that will be prevalent in the next few years, you're mostly out of luck.  And I couldn't find a single scientist around or anyone who is an authority on the environment, global warming, pollution, or advanced technology.  The best I could find was an Ecology undergrad from the Singapore pavilion.

Aside from the style over substance thing, there were a few problems.  For one, I got my tickets to the expo online.  But when I arrived at the port gate, they told me that because I was coming on two "peak days" I would have to pay 20,000 won extra; even though the tickets were already bought and paid for.  I could feel The Hulk bubbling underneath again. 

There were many pavilions showcasing elaborate messages to save the environment from pollution.  For example, The Japan pavilion showcased a very interesting multi-media story about last year's tsunami and the following destruction.  The Singapore pavilion was neat because it had some hands-on exhibits such as garbage art, and you could ride a stationary bike and take a virtual tour through the streets of Singapore.  I also saw the Qatar pavilion, which really wasn't anything special.  The highlight of that was a man doing traditional arts and crafts.  I also checked out the Oman pavilion with its sub-par 4-D ride/show, and I'm also sorry to say that the Israeli pavilion wasn't very interesting either.

Marvel at the quality of superior Omani computer graphics.

The thing was, there were eight specialty pavilions.  These were the main events.  The problem?  You had to make reservations to go to these places.  And I sure didn't see anything mentioning reservations for these places on the website. 

My only option was to try and reserve spots at these specialty areas on the day I got there, which was pretty difficult because they were mostly filled up.  Thankfully, a very kind gentleman who worked there, named Alex, helped me out.  He got me a few reservations at a few pavilions; the Theme building, the Aquarium, the Robot pavilion, and the Marine City and Civilization building.  The international spots, like Singapore and Japan, did not require you to make reservations in advance.

Like I said before, the theme building is just one big commercial.  Check out this picture.

A nifty little production with an animatronic manitee, a

child actor, and a virtual ocean on a screen.

I had high hopes for the Marine City and Civilization building.  I wanted to see a life-size replica of an underwater city, or some piece of working technology.  But what you see here is pretty much all there is.

The submarine home of the future (a miniature). 

The floating city of the future! 

A lifesize replica of a boat that sunk beneath the waves over a thousand years ago.

We could have been buds.

The Aquarium was the most popular spot at the expo.  They really tried hard to make this place spectacular, and I wish I could say I was impressed, but I've seen better.  There were some neat exhibits, but like I said, I've seen better; particularly at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but that's a really tough act to follow.  The Aquarium was also one of the few places where you could enjoy American food, but that dried up faster than Furbies on Christmas Eve.

Then came the Robot pavilion, and finally, I saw what I wanted to see.  Ever since I was a kid, ever since I saw the film, "Short Circuit" with Steve Gutenberg, I was fascinated by robots.  And this place was chock full of futuristic robo goodness.  Finally, I found a place that had something real to show.

First off, when you walk in the main entrance, you see a stationary human-like female android greet you (in Korean, of course) and give some background information about robots (at least I imagine that's what "she" said).  After that, we were given a very short dancing white robot presentation.  I think it was tethered to the ground, but the little guy had some moves.


After that, we were treated to a Q&A with a robot.  This machine was equipped with an artificial intelligence, and took questions from the crowd.  I wondered if it spoke English, so I asked, and the announcer told me, yes.  So I asked it, "how do you walk?"  And in reply, the robot swung it's arms up and down.  Everyone, myself included, laughed at that.  Then it spoke English and said that it keeps its balance through an IMO program; whatever that means. 

My new friend

And then we saw some more small robots dancing in a group, which waspretty cool, and then came my favorite part of the whole expo!  It was...

That's right, sports fans!  Two teams of infant-size robots competed to the bitter end on a miniature soccer field.  It was the pink team against the black team, and the black team won.  I could feel the tension, the anticipation, and the strategy as these mechanical warriors ruthlessly dueled to get the little orange ball into the goal.  The announcer cried out in excitement, and the crowd cheered in happiness!  I wish you could see it.  That's why I recorded the game on my camera.  Check it out!

All in all, the expo was one big adventure.  I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'd do it all again if I had the chance.  I was happy to take the initiative and take a vacation into the unkown and report back to all of you.  I hope you enjoyed looking at this, and if I remember anything significant, I'll add a few more things.  Questions from everyone are welcome!  :)


“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
-St. Augustine