Korea 1, Susanna 0

Hehe, well, today I am defeated.

I got up this morning with the plan to go to Seoul to finally register at the U.S. embassy. I figured out the bus and subway routes the night before, and was feeling pretty good about taking on the Big City solo. All I had to do was to put some more money on my transit pass, which my guidebook told me I could do at a subway station, since there would be ATMs that take foreign cards.

The last part turned out to be not true. I had enough money to take the bus into Seoul, but when I got to the subway station, the ATMs weren't accepting my cards. A Korean woman stopped to help me, and she was very generous with her time. I think we were trying to figure out how to get me some transit money for about 15 minutes. Maybe 10. She finally, in another at of kindness, lent me 1000 won, in addition to the less-than-1000 won I had, to get me back to Yongin so I could start over. We exchanged e-mails after that, so I sort of made a friend from the whole thing. But by the time I was out of the station, it was too late to go the the embassy.

I decided to check out the area by the station, and by hilarious chance, I found an American Apparel store. Man, after trying to navigate the bus and subway systems and ATMs in Korean, I was so happy to see anything with "American" in the title. And that happiness transitioned to an impulse buy of a neat green dress that I think looks awesome on me.

With renewed confidence, I caught the bus to go back to Yongin, back home, where I knew where to find an ATM (which is kind of a long walk, otherwise I would've gone there this morning). Alas, the bus I caught was a slightly different route, the 5001 as opposed to the 5001-1. And so I ended up in an entirely different part of Yongin. For being a "small town," it sure has some sprawl.

At this point, I was on a bus going in a direction I had no idea about, in a place I had never seen, with no money left to use to take another bus. And I don't speak Korean. Luckily, I had my phrasebook with me, which if I hadn't had, who knows if I'd be home right now.

I eventually decided to get off the bus, since from what I could gather, it was moving away from the area I had the slightest familiarity with. Then it was phrasebook time. And if you have to get lost in a country where you don't speak the language, you could do a lot worse than Korea. The people were so patient with my broken Korean, and when I asked them for help, it was like they dropped everything to help me. I am so thankful to all of those strangers! To the girl in the convenience store who showed me the ATM and tried to figure it out with me when my card was rejected, and then pointed me in the direction of the bank. To the bank greeter, who told me where I could find a foreign exchange when my card didn't work at the bank ATM. And to the women at the Paris Baguette, where I bought a treat to break the 10,000 won I got at the ATM at the foreign exchange (finally). They told me what buses would take me back to the Shingal neighborhood where I live.

I had a lot of doubts about the bus that I got on, particularly because I have a hard time reading the stops and finding them on the route maps posted inside the buses. I think some of the stops must be left off on the maps, since their minor or something. I'm still getting used to hangul, Korean writing, as well. Anyway, the bus finally stopped at I place I definitely knew, and even though it was half a mile away from home, I wasn't going to take my chances that the bus would get any closer. And hey, I got more exercise in that way.

And hey, I just realized! The place where I got off the bus was where the ATM was that I could've used this morning. What an ironic twist!

Lessons learned: Be prepared before setting out for the day. Always bring the phrasebook. Always ask for directions. Get a map of Yongin. Learn more Korean.

I'm going back to Seoul for round two on Friday.