I had a lot of plans and expectations for this weekend, but all went array before I even arrived in Seoul. As Bianca said later, our Seoul luck was bound to run out. Three fabulous weekends, each better than the last? Certainly too good to be true! However, I think the fault lies with my attitude toward the big trip. I was really tired on Friday after another long week of teaching and capping the day off with hours of bus travel was definitely not enticing. Also, although the prospect of seeing all my friends together again sounds nice, in reality it’s a little overwhelming for me. I have always detested reunion-type gatherings, and we’ve had two of them already in Korea! I don’t know why I hate them so much…I guess I get sick of having the same conversation 500 times and pretending to be glad to see people I don’t like. It takes me about a week or so to get back into it, and until then, I’d just as soon avoid everyone. Man, this makes me sound really anti-social! I don’t think I am…I do like to be around people, just not in this particular type of situation. And weeks at a time on my own only retards my ability to converse, of course. I actually don’t miss the interaction with other English speakers, but weeks spent virtually on my own with no one to have real conversations with only emphasizes my hermit tendencies. Even though I am always surrounded by people, it’s often almost like being alone, because it’s not like I can actually talk about anything meaningful with any of them. Like I said, it’s completely fine with me and I am not suffering in any way, but suddenly being surrounded by 100ish excited Americans is a little overwhelming and not really something I look forward to.
So I was already not in the greatest mood when I set out, and the events of the weekend served to just darken my spirits. First, my bus hit some traffic and we were an hour late. This was actually okay and I was not too bummed by this…just a little stressed because I was supposed to meet Bianca and I was really late. Second, this absolutely crazy lady pretty much accosted me on the subway. I didn’t realize she was legitimately crazy until it was too late…I guess I’ve experienced too many bizarre but harmless strangers and am unable to recognize the psychos until too late! Anyway, this lady came up right away when I got my map out and I was thinking that she, like many kind strangers, wanted to help me find my way since they all seem to think that I cannot possibly operate in a country in which I do not speak the language. WRONG! But I usually let them think they are helpful, anyway. So she scoots right next to me, tries to take my bags repeated times (probably just trying to help me, since I had so much shit, but still…give ‘em back, thief!), and then grabs my hand and starts massaging it very hard. This whole time she’s just a quiver with what appears to be repressed emotion, because very soon rivers of tears start streaming down her cheeks. I am not kidding. Like I said, psycho. It was like we were lovers in a Korean drama breakup scene! Unfortunately, the subway ride is a long one and while I did consider jumping off and then catching a later one, I decided to stay on because I was already late, I refused to let her get the best of me, and I figured this whole interaction would make a great story. It was a good thing, too, because she ended up trying to follow me all the way to my hotel! After some awkward massaging of my entire arm, I managed to give her the slip and dart away to meet Bianca.
We promptly set off in search of a dive bar (being the broke pseudo-teachers we are) and eventually happened upon a likely-looking place called the “Beer Hunter.” Now, there is nothing I enjoy more than a clever or unusual name (like the “Ninja” last time), so we made a beeline there. We ordered a bunch of cheap beer and the required anju of what we thought was cuttlefish and onion rings, but it turned out to be just cuttlefish cleverly shaped into rings, disappointing us both because I had nothing to eat and Bianca had too much! Next time, we’re going for French fries all the way. By the end, Bianca was feeling ill and it was time to meet a group of friends to go clubbing, so we set off. Of course, we met some major obstacles in our quest to get our groove on.
First, I forgot my subway card, so I had to run back and get that. Second, Bianca nearly peed her pants and we had to run around to find a bathroom and missed numerous trains in the process. Third, the train schedule was much less regular now (it was pretty late), so it took us FOREVER to get to Hongdae, where we were supposed to meet the crew. And once we got there, we couldn’t find anybody! We did the usual soju drinking outside Family Mart and then tried to take a taxi to the club they landed at (after 1.5 hours of walking!), but no one knew where it was! After some walking, we came to the realization that there was absolutely no way we would happen upon the club by chance, especially without any idea where it was, so we went home.
On Saturday, I was still exhausted and hungover to boot. A great way to start a big day, let me tell you. I was also a little mad about the whole fiasco of the previous night. I’d really been looking forward to seeing the crew and going clubbin, since I haven’t done that in forever, but it just didn’t work out. And I’d already made plans for Saturday night, so I knew I wasn’t really going to see any of my friends now. I originally thought I’d plan on going out with everyone on Saturday night, but I was convinced by a well-intentioned friend that Friday would be too fun to miss. That’s the last time I listen to HIM. Anyway, the clouds had already descended by this time. Then, Bianca and I went to the little restaurant we discovered last time and I ordered kimchi mandu ramen, but they misunderstood and brought me kimchi mandu AND ramen. It was really good, but more expensive than I’d planned. I should have known then…it would be a day of misfortunes. Afterward, Bianca headed off to the ambassador’s to help set up and I went to Kyobo to browse through books. My friend Janaki called and I arranged to meet her, but after a half hour of walking, we finally realized she was in Itaewon and I was in Insadong. I knew I was going to mix those two up someday! When I finally found her, we did have a good time wandering around Insadong (it’s so cute!) and had tea at the same place Bianca and I went to when we were in Seoul for Halloween. It was just as delicious as I remembered, too!
At that point, it was time to head to the ambassador’s residence. When we arrived, it was PACKED. I felt incredibly overwhelmed and it was all I could do to not dart in the opposite direction. And, of course, I ran straight into my least favorite Fulbright people, who put on bright fake smiles and cheerfully greeted me as if we were long-lost friends. Ha! Why the pretense? Dinner was pretty good, but was definitely lacking in some key ingredients I have become accustomed to by Thanksgiving dinner at home—namely, pumpkin bread, homemade rolls, twice-baked potatoes, cheesy zucchini bake, wild rice and mushroom casserole, and ice cream pie. Essentially, everything. Isn’t it funny how Thanksgiving dinners vary so widely from family to family? In any case, I missed mine. I did get to talk to a few friends there, but it really wasn’t the reunion I had anticipated. I mean, I hardly had time to have 60 some in-depth conversations! And before I knew it, it was time to leave. Everyone else was going to nap or shop and then meet up at a hookah bar, but I’d made plans to meet up with this guy Paul I met last time I was in Seoul.
It was fun enough, I suppose, but disappointing in that he’s really not someone I’d consider dating. He was charming in emails, but a little awkward in person. I know there are some people who find that endearing, but I am not one of them. I like a suave man! We met at Kyobo, which was my worst nightmare because I could not remember what he looked like except that he was Korean-American. As it happens, there are thousands of people with Korean features at Kyobo. I basically walked right into him and felt like an ass. He took me to this river right nearby and we walked on a nice little path near it for about five miles, I think. Koreans seem to be really into river walks…where there’s a river, there’s a path alongside it, in my experience. This one was nicer than most, at least at first, but we ended up in this weird industrial area unintentionally. I have no idea why we walked so far. He said he preferred sitting to walking, but perhaps he was yielding to what he perceived to be my preferences. I do love a good walk, especially post-dinner. We took a cab to another section of town and ate some pajeon (Korean-style pizza, with vegetables and sometimes meat in the crust and no cheese…sounds weird but it’s delicious!). We also got some interesting rice wine that tasted like sweaty socks at first but then grew on me. Their rice wines are like that, in my experience. At first sip, they are generally disgusting, but with each sip it grows more delicious. Makes for good times drinkin’! I’d been receiving little messages from friends all evening, as everyone was curious about my “date,” but by now it was about 1 or so and Bianca sent an urgent message asking for our room key. I thought I told her I’d be right there, but there was some miscommunication and she didn’t come back until 4:30! Meanwhile, Paul had come in with me to wait for her, which was fine but a little weird after a couple hours had passed and I’d been wanting to sleep for quite some time. And then when she arrived, he up and peaces out! I have no idea where the dude went…he lives close to an hour away and the subways weren’t running at the time. Bianca got quite a fright when she knocked on the door and a man’s voice answered because she belatedly remembered we hadn’t paid for Saturday night yet and had been envisioning our room taken over by Norwegians and our things stolen. It was really funny. Anyway, if her glowing report is any indication, I guess I did miss out on a good time with all the peeps and in exchange all I got was a mediocre date with a nice guy! All of this did not serve to lift my spirits, let me tell ya.
After minimal sleep, B and I went to a Philippino market she’d read about somewhere. I was disappointed, though, because it was really small, the food was all meaty, and they sold only trinkety crap. Our tummies grumbling, we headed across town to a Mexican restaurant we’d heard about. In our first stroke of good luck in a while, not only did we find it with relative ease but the food was delicious AND cheap! AND a group of our good friends—Janaki, Dana, Jen, and Sara—walked in as we were eating our food!
After lunch, Janaki and I went to Kyobo and I dropped a wad on books, even though I have quite a few already I haven’t read. There’s just something about reading books…I can’t say no when I’m in a bookstore. I like to think I am enriching my mind through such consumption, and goodness knows I need to brush up on my English now that it’s becoming rusty from disuse. I said goodbye to Janaki and headed back to Insadong to buy my host mother a gift because her birthday was last week, but I arrived and realized that I’d left my bank card at home and I had just barely enough to get home! I decided right then it was time to say goodbye to Seoul, the city that had crushed my spirits in a mere 40 hours and without dawdling I went south to the bus station. I was going to spend the afternoon with Bianca, but it was really just time for Jen to take her leave of civilized company.
Instead of the mug, I decided to get doughnut holes for everyone in my family because that’s all the money I had left…or so I thought. I woke up most of the way back to Buyeo in a panic because I’d forgotten all about money for the bus ride to Hongsan! I seriously must have been operating on one cylinder. And this was after I’d almost missed the bus because I got on the wrong one and for some reason had checked just in time with the bus driver. I had only 1470 won left, which was 130 short for a bus ticket, so I decided to try to catch a local bus, which I’d never done before and was not looking forward to now because I had a ridiculous amount of stuff and no room for errors with my funds. I was actually short money here, too (he told me 1500, even though I could have sworn I paid 1000 when I took the local bus from Hongsan before), but I just threw my money in real quick and sat down. I was scared it was the wrong bus at first—it came so quickly and the process was so easy that I figured there must be some catch, after my recent stroke of bad luck—but I arrived in Hongsan shortly thereafter and began the cold walk home. I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see that place!