Seoul Adventures, Part 3: Transit Nightmares and a Mansion

When the bell rang for the New Year, I was not much more than 200 feet from the subway entrance, but it took 20 minutes to get there. People just weren’t moving or all trying to go different directions. It was a huge pain. Once I made it to the subway, I had to wait for two trains before I could get on because the platform was so full.

The train platform. SO MANY PEOPLE!

I had to make two transfers, first to the 3 Line, then to the SinBundang Line or Bundang Line. Catching the 3 was easy. I took the train to the transfer to the SinBundang Line and got off. The train pulled away as I got to the caged off area for the SinBundang line, and this is when I really started to worry. It was 1AM, 1 Hour to get home and the Bundang line is not fast and I had to wait for the next 3 Line train to come through. I waited and waited. Waited, waited, and waited. 20 minutes pass while on the platform and I try to talk to a couple who was looking for the SinBundang line to see if they were from the same area I needed to go to. I took out my handy phrasebook and pointed because I was too tired to try to speak Korean. Thankfully one of them spoke English. They were from two neighborhoods over, thank god, so we decided to share a cab if there were issues with the Bundang line.

After 30 minutes of waiting, another train came. We went down to the next stations to see if the Bundang line was open. When we arrived there, it was also closed. Tried another transfer point, again, closed. So frustrated, exhausted, hungry, sleepy, etc. I joined the couple to find a cab and ride home.

We got in a cab which took about 15 minutes to get to Sunae station where it dropped me off. I said thank you and gamsa hamnida a million times and paid for my share of the fair, but then I had a 20 minute walk home at 2AM. Korea is very safe, I have never felt threatened at all, even when I was in the massive throng of people where I could have easily been pickpocketed, I was not concerned. So walking home was more of a marathon of a distance than a nervous trek through dangerous streets.

I was so hungry on the long, quiet walk back that I stopped and got a bag of chocolate chip cookies in a convenience store on the walk. I gobbled them up in two minutes. They were delicious. I got back after another ten minutes, put my key in the door, turned it the wrong way, swore, unlocked the door and immediately changed and collapsed on my bed. I Skyped with my mom and brother for a minute before falling asleep. Soundly.

In conclusion, I do not plan on going back to Seoul for any late night adventures any time soon. It will definitely be a few weeks at least.

Or so I thought...

I ended up back in Seoul again the next weekend to go to Hongdae. Hongdae is a hip, young area people go to party. There is a University there. There are also a lot of clubs. My friend Kenny's friend was hosting a party at one of the clubs so we had to go. I ended up having a blast! I have never been clubbing before because noisy, dark places are not good for someone with vision and hearing problems. Regardless, I do love music, so I just made it work and danced like crazy! Here is some evidence from the night.

The DJ was pretty awesome

I forget what song they were playing, but it was an American rock song.

Dancing on the stage.

I have a good feeling Hongdae will be an occasional treat I'll give myself. I also did not need to rely on public transit. We took a cab home.