My first Seoul ADVENTURE. 3/6/2010

I guess it has been a while since my last post! I have been either too busy or just too exhausted to post. Lets see.... my last post was a couple weeks back. I pick up where I left off.

I experienced my first true night out in Seoul on Saturday the 6th. And it WAS an experience. This was my first time riding the subway...or any subway. I got very detailed instructions from one of my co-teachers about what bus to take into Seoul, and what Subway entrance to take, train number, etc. I must say I was very proud of myself for doing it alone, and actually ending up where I had planned.  I met up with Paul, Sarah's friend, who came up to Seoul from the Busan area for the weekend. He and a few other teachers had gotten a hostel in Hongdae. Note to self: it is called HEY Backpackers. I think they paid $20 for the night. So I met Paul, we hung out for a bit in Sinchon, (pictured to the right) which was insanely packed with people. The sidewalks were literally over flowing into the streets, it was pretty crazy (but as I was to find out later that night, it was NOTHING compared to the number of people that would be out in Hongdae.) After being in Sinchon for an hour or two, Paul and I went to go be tourists and went to the Seoul Tower. So we hopped back on the subway and headed further into Seoul. By this time it was dark out. We got a cab and took it from the subway to the tower, which you could see from the streets. We told the taxi driver Seoul Tower, and he started driving the obvious wrong way. We started saying aneyo! (No!) Seoul Tower, and pointed behind us. He finally figured it out and turned around. Had I been Portland, or anywhere else in the western world, I probably would have pissed about the extra fare, but the cab ride (just like all cab rides) cost something like $4.00. Which, split between four people is nothing. We got to the bottom of the hill where the Tower is and took a tram up to the tower. It was freaking cooooold up there, but the city was beautiful. There were these flying human figures on wire. It looked really cool. When we got into the bottom of the tower we ended up having to wait for a good 30 minutes in line, we should have known better since it was 8pm on a Saturday night. On the elevator ride up which took 30 seconds or so, there was a little pomp piece talking about the tower's awesomeness. I learned that the tower has the highest toilets in Korea. After hearing this amazing news, Paul and I looked at each other and laughed pretty hard. (Of course I took a picture of these toilets!)  Up top, the view was insane. There was 360 degrees of city for as far as you could see. Population wise Seoul is over 20 times the size of Portland. But thats not including surrounding areas that are just as crowded as Seoul. City. City. City. Everywhere.

Tram ride up.

View from the top of the hill, under the tower.

Flying human shape. (I don't know what to call it!)

View from the top. This is about 1/20th of the city. 

Highest bathrooms in Korea!

After the tower we went back to Paul's hostel. I dropped my backpack off and some of his friends got ready for the evening. We went out into the streets and witnessed the ridiculous amount of people out and about. In this area there were no cars on the streets, just people. We needed food and settled on an Indian food restaurant. I was unenthused to say the least about the idea of Indian food. I was hungry and not really looking to be adventurous. But, the food was amazing. The chicken, the curry, the bread, the salad, everything was good. At the restaurant we all had wine, as it came with the meal. When the wine was being brought out, the waiter spilled four full glasses of red wine onto Paul's friend sitting next to me. It literally all landed on him. I didn't get a drop on me. The person on his other side didn't get a drop on them. Thank you, Jesus, that I wasn't sitting there.

After dinner we went in search of a bar. The streets were PACKED with people. Every bar we walked into was packed. While walking we were approached by many Koreans trying to get us to come to their bar. "Free for foreigners." We settled on a bar called Jane's Groove. One thing I miss about Oregon bars is the smoking ban. It was soooo smokey. The bar was fun, they played music I knew, and had a bunch of westerners. (Picture at right: Koreans wear clothes with English written on them... most of the time the English makes NO sense, as you can see here.) We stayed at this place until two or three (we didn't get there until close to midnight.) After that place we went to a noreabong (karaoke.) It was fun, I sang some Killers. The noreabong closed at 6am so thats when we left. (I don't like being out partying that late, its hard work! But you really have no choice since the public transportation (busses, subway) shuts down around 11:30pm and starts back up around 6:00am. So unless you have a group to split a cab with, 6am is your only option if you want to be out past 11pm.)

After noreabong, Paul and his friends all went back to their hostel. I could have stayed with them but didn't really feel like sleeping on a tiny sofa for a few hours, so I decided to just go home and sleep in my own bed. This is where my night, errr, morning gets interesting. I get back on the subway and head to the bus stop that will take me back to Suji. When entering the subway the first time, I neglected to take note of what entrance I came in, which is a big deal because there are up to a dozen entrances at each stop, each entrance going up to a different street, facing different directions. So, totally turned around and  not knowing where to go, I called my co-teacher that had given directions the day before. I felt terrible since it was 7:30am but had to do it. She helped guide me out to the right exit. Now, I knew I had to get on the number 5500 bus back to Suji. I guess in my exhausted state I wasn't thinking clearly and got on the number 5500-1. I just saw the 5500 and figured that was it. I started riding and was doing the head bobbing, dozing off thing. I lost the battle against sleep and was out cold. I woke up probably 45 minutes to an hour later to the bus driver yelling at me from the front. I looked around and saw I was the only one on the bus. I also looked out side and had nooooooo idea where I was. It looked like a college or something. It was not in the city and there was forested hill all around it.  I kept saying "Suji? Suji-gu?" and the driver kept shaking his head. I figured I had no choice but to get off the bus. There was a bus stop bench there so I sat and pondered my options. There were tons of busses in the back of the parking lot. It was obviously the end of the line and the turnaround. I was freezing and the most tired I have ever been. There were about five bus numbers going though the stop. I decided I should just ask them when they came by since I had no idea what bus went where. So after the fifth bus went by and the drivers shaking their heads when I said "Suji?" I just decided to get back on the 5500-1. If it took me back to Seoul I could try to find my way from there, or get a cab. So I got on the 5500-1 and started riding. i kept seeing signs that said Suji so I figured I was going the right way. Suji has pretty much all medium sized buildings. It only has one really tall building and it is very noticeable. I saw this building from the bus and knew I was doing good. I started to recognize things and realized I was in Jukjeon, a city neighboring Suji. As soon as I knew where I was I got off and started walking toward my apartments. It would have been one hell of a walk. I knew where I was going, but it was far. I managed to get a cab and directed him to my apartment. So, at 9:30am I made it home, closed the blinds, and slept.

What did I learn? Take a CAB home with friends!! And get on the right bus!! (Not that it would have mattered since I fell asleep.)

So Seoul was fun and the end of the night/morning made for a good story.

Super Fun Rocking Dance Party! (I should have checked it out!)

Pretty close to home...

Another picture from the top of the tower.

and another....