Midnight Madness

On Saturday evening, I had an unexpected adventure... probably the most panicked incident I've had in Seoul thus far (and perhaps the only one that I can recall). I should back up, though. Saturday afternoon was lovely, despite the rain. Sara, Hil, Josie and I met up in Insadong to have a look at the tourist souvenirs and had our share of street food tasting. It was a lot of fun. Perhaps my highlight was sitting down at a coffee shop and just enjoying each others' company for hours. It was quite refreshing. I like those girls.

Saturday evening started off well. We decided to go visit Sara's apt. (out in the boonies). She invited us over for a movie night and was an excellent hostess... made a lovely fruit plate and made sure her guests were well taken care of. Hospitality is something I love and wish to do more of!

Anyway, around 11 p.m. I glanced at my watch and made a mental note, just thinking that it was going to be late when I got home (if you remember, in one of my previous posts, I mentioned that my self-appointed bedtime is generally around 10:30 these days), but the movie was still going. At 11:24 p.m. I looked at my watch again and suddenly realized that the subways close around midnight! I had completely forgotten about this element of getting back home earlier... so, we snapped the movie off immediately and three of us ran out the door to catch the subway as far as it would take us. (Remember, Sara and I live nearly an hour away from each other). As we waited for the subway (which seemed like an eternity), I realized a few things:
1) I only had 8,000 won on me (about $8.00).
2) I had accidentally left my subway map in my apt. (I ALWAYS have my subway map with me)
3) The subways close around midnight. I'm still unfamiliar with the bus routes.

I realized I would probably have to take a taxi. This made me extremely uncomfortable for the following reasons:
1) I didn't have enough cash for a taxi. They are much more expensive than buses & subways.
2) I usually feel VERY safe in Seoul, even when I am alone. However, I did NOT feel comfortable taking a taxi alone, particularly because I've heard some things about females taking taxis alone late at night.

I was scared... and kind of freaking out. Fortunately, Josie and Makeeya were still waiting at the subway stop with me. One subway zipped right by us with the lights all out. It didn't even stop. I was afraid that we had missed our chance. We waited for probably ten minutes until a subway that was still running picked us up (usually you only have to wait 2 minutes MAX). I was thankful to catch the subway, but knew it wouldn't take us all the way. However, I was still thankful for Josie, Makeeya and a random Korean American from Boston that we ran into. I also knew that the friends I had with me did not live near me... so I figured we'd be splitting up soon.

Makeeya got off a couple stops later. Josie, David (the Korean American - referred to as a kyopo here), and I stuck together until the subway stopped running. Then we looked for a bus route. Fortunately, both of them can read Hangul... I still need to learn how to read Korean! Since I live in a pretty central place, we figured I might be able to find a bus. All three of us ended up catching the same bus and Josie ended up going all the way to my apartment with me... which I was really thankful for. It was the easiest way for her to get home (I think)... and I was just thankful to have her with me!

So, we made it back to my place around 1 a.m. Much too late for this girl! Oh, did I mention that I also had to haul around my laptop throughout the whole thing because we were using it to watch Sara's movie? It just made me even more exhausted, I guess. Upon returning to my place of residence, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief, praising God for His protection and grace... and somewhat ashamed that I flipped out instead of trusting Him to take care of me. (Did I really think that He got me all the way here to Korea only to leave me stranded on the streets at midnight?)

Anyway, I think I learned a lesson or two... I don't like being out late at night anyway... and now I have even more reason for being home at a decent time!