Globetrotters-Monthly Challenge/ Gratitude
Sending Love And Gratitude To South Korea
Stories of kindness and getting lost
The crowd crush in Seoul still saddened me. So many young lives have been lost and wasted. So many grieving loved ones. So many innocent souls became victims of the mistake of Seoul.
I am grieving more because I was able to meet many young Koreans in one way or another during my visits there. I had never met rudeness from them but only kindness. How they get out of their way to help me every time I lost my sense of direction.
With that, I am sending my love and gratitude for the goodness and kindness of the young men and women of South Korea through my story.
I was in the budget mode for my second trip to South Korea and my sense of direction was in a budget mode too.
My first time was a real deal. I used my mileage for my flight. I chose a hotel that was within walking distance of everywhere I needed to be. The City Airport Terminal was across the street. As well as subway station, supermarket, COEX and other places I wanted to go to.
My budget mode
I booked my Manila-Seoul flight with Air Asia and the return flight with Philippine Airlines. It was cheaper that way at that time. I saved some good old pesos.
I attended a convention at COEX but I booked a hotel that was one-hour- subway-ride-away. The hotels nearby were so expensive.
When I checked Google Maps, the hotel is only 8 minutes away from the bus stop. The airport bus stops at that bus stop. And will only take me 4 street turns to reach the hotel.
That’s what I thought or that’s what I understood from Google Maps.
When I get there, I can’t find the hotel. Yep, I didn’t have a Wi-Fi. I usually don’t avail it during short trips.
I asked someone for directions. He didn’t understand me. Lesson #1: don’t ask an appa (father)or ajussi (older man) . I went to the nearby convenience store. Either she didn’t know or didn’t understand me. Lesson #2: don’t ask an eomma (mother) or an ajumma (middle-aged woman). Then… I saw a young man. Thank God! Aside from being able to understand me, he put out his phone, and searched the direction to the hotel. Lesson #3: look for someone in their teens up to early 30s.
You may say it’s my second time why did I get lost? Because I booked a hotel on a different side of Seoul that I had never been to before. I visited different places too.
I found the hotel. It was tucked between two alleys. Google Maps tricked me. It was six turns, not four.
A Monday Morning
The day after the convention, I went to Gaetgol Ecological Park which is outside of Seoul. Getting there needed two subway rides and a long bus ride.
Halfway through the bus ride, I was the only passenger left on the bus. Unexpectedly, the driver stopped on the side street and stood in front of me. I got nervous.
As I saw the both sides of the road, we were in the middle of nowhere. Wide roads with only few vehicles passing by.
If that gesture happened here in Manila, the driver will have this speech:
Miss, this is the farthest I can go. I am going to eat and go back to Seoul. I can not bring you to your destination. You can get out of the bus and wait for another bus.
Cutting trip is a natural thing here. How many times I became a victim of a driver’s crooked thinking. Beware.
But…the bus driver did the opposite. He asked where am I going to. It seemed he was not familiar with the park. I pointed out the place with the screenshot at my phone. He nodded and went back to his seat.
Guess what! He drove straight to the bus stop for the park. He didn’t get any passengers. This man, an angel on a Monday morning.
When I get off the bus, I saw the fork in the road, literally. Most of the street signage was in Hangul. There were more forks than with real fork. Do I have to go straight or what?
I saw an ajumma. Though I know what will come next, I tried my luck. But she went away as I went near her. (I told you so, Osan)
I walked into one of the streets. I saw two teen boys. I asked for assistance. They were not familiar with the park too. After a short chat with each other, they checked their phone and pointed me to the right fork in the road. My three wise men of the day were completed.
The next day
I had two directions written in my notes in going to the Ihwa Mural Village. There’s no way, I’d get lost. But there’s an alley (again) that I couldn’t find.
Then, I saw a familiar name. Dunkin Donut. I went inside the store and asked for help. Three young ladies left the donuts and munchkins they were layering on the trays and searched the maps on their phones. One of them accompanied me when I got out of the store and pointed the exact street leading to Ihwa Mural Village. Do angels come in threes?
Looking for a coffee shop
The following day, my agenda was to go to the coffee shop in Yeonnam-dong. According to Google Maps it’s simple to go there. But it’s not. I almost gave up.
I saw a food shop. I asked for directions. A young man who was busy with his work walked with me up to the spot where the street of the coffee shop was visible enough. I regretted from not coming back to the store. At least, bought something as my way of thanking him.
I should have bought donuts, right? But a Dunkin Donut shop is my neighbor here. And they all taste the same wherever they are 😀.
Final Thoughts
It is not my trait to ask for help especially for directions. I’ll exhaust all my energy and efforts first before I ask. I’m so thankful for most of the time I asked for one, I was not turned down but received positivity.
There is a lot more to tell but I’ll end it with the one from my first trip in Seoul. About a 13 or 14 year old girl l. I asked her – — — — where is Emart (supermarket)? Instead of telling me the direction, she walked with me up to the doorstep of Emart. That was a good 3 blocks away.
That’s the way they are. Friendly, kind and and ready to help in whatever they can. That’s how I want to remember and reminisce Seoul, not the other way around.
I want to add more but my narration is getting longer.
