VICTORIA HERE with a story I originally posted on my Tumblr, hotmilkblacktea. Getting lost in a foreign country is an experience I shouldn't keep from you guys and this is certainly a memory I never want to forget. As travelers, we should expect this to happen at least once! After getting lost, ironically, I felt like I knew how to navigate myself around Seoul comfortably.
28 July 2014
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Last night, I decided to go to Hongdae for the first time since moving into the guesthouse I will be living in for the next three weeks. The guesthouse is located in Mapo-gu which is about 10 minutes or so away from Hongdae but I have no idea how to get from Hongdae to my guesthouse without taking the bus. Not realizing this last night I had a few drinks with friends and missed the last bus!
I was feeling confident (maybe because of my alcohol consumption) and decided I had memorized the bus route I took earlier in the day and that I’d be able to find it if I walked. So I began walking as I figured I would recognize the area as I went on but that was not the case….
After walking for 10 minutes I realized that I should probably get help so I walked into a Minimart (convenience store) to ask an employee for directions. He was really nice and looked like an actor from the drama Trot Lovers (pretty sure his name is Shin Sung Rok). He looked up my address on Naver Maps and told me to take a picture to help me find the way but my phone died!
Fortunately, he charged my phone for me and bought me lemonade and I sat in there for around 30 mins waiting for my phone to charge. He gave me directions basically telling me to walk all the way back to the Hongdae subway station because I walked in the complete opposite direction I was supposed to and was actually much farther away from my guesthouse than I imagined.
I ventured out again and noticed an ahjussi (older man) hail a taxi by waving his arm at the road. Imitating him, I crossed the street and successfully hailed a taxi by myself for the first time ever!! (I'm from California, we don't do taxis.) He dropped me off in an area I thought I recognized but soon got lost again.
Here I will mention that I am not a dog person and am scared of them to be honest--no matter the size. But the only person in the nearest vicinity was out walking her dog and was picking up its poop when I walked up to her. She was able to help me but her animal was barking at me the entire time!
My guesthouse was only a minute away and I had basically walked past it BUT I found it! And all of the communication I did to find my way back (while tipsy) was in Korean! So I feel pretty proud of myself! This is the kind of experience you have to have at least once in a foreign country, no?
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Last night, I decided to go to Hongdae for the first time since moving into the guesthouse I will be living in for the next three weeks. The guesthouse is located in Mapo-gu which is about 10 minutes or so away from Hongdae but I have no idea how to get from Hongdae to my guesthouse without taking the bus. Not realizing this last night I had a few drinks with friends and missed the last bus!
I was feeling confident (maybe because of my alcohol consumption) and decided I had memorized the bus route I took earlier in the day and that I’d be able to find it if I walked. So I began walking as I figured I would recognize the area as I went on but that was not the case….
After walking for 10 minutes I realized that I should probably get help so I walked into a Minimart (convenience store) to ask an employee for directions. He was really nice and looked like an actor from the drama Trot Lovers (pretty sure his name is Shin Sung Rok). He looked up my address on Naver Maps and told me to take a picture to help me find the way but my phone died!
Fortunately, he charged my phone for me and bought me lemonade and I sat in there for around 30 mins waiting for my phone to charge. He gave me directions basically telling me to walk all the way back to the Hongdae subway station because I walked in the complete opposite direction I was supposed to and was actually much farther away from my guesthouse than I imagined.
I ventured out again and noticed an ahjussi (older man) hail a taxi by waving his arm at the road. Imitating him, I crossed the street and successfully hailed a taxi by myself for the first time ever!! (I'm from California, we don't do taxis.) He dropped me off in an area I thought I recognized but soon got lost again.
Here I will mention that I am not a dog person and am scared of them to be honest--no matter the size. But the only person in the nearest vicinity was out walking her dog and was picking up its poop when I walked up to her. She was able to help me but her animal was barking at me the entire time!
My guesthouse was only a minute away and I had basically walked past it BUT I found it! And all of the communication I did to find my way back (while tipsy) was in Korean! So I feel pretty proud of myself! This is the kind of experience you have to have at least once in a foreign country, no?
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Until next time,
V.
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