Day 2:
On day two I didn’t leave my friend’s apartment. I wrote a little bit about that in my last post, which you can read here. I was jet lagged and unsure of the neighborhood I was in and that combination resulted in me hanging out with my friends cat Fufu all day. Also it was Valentines day, I just feel like that’s worth mentioning.
Day 3:
Day three was my first big adventure. I made plans to met a friend in a part of Seoul that is pretty far away from where I was staying. I had to walk to the bus station, take a bus to the subway station and then get one the subway and transfer once. (Again I wrote more about that experience here if you’d like to read it.) I made a lot of mistakes getting there but all that matters is that I got there. In one piece. And I got to do my all time favorite activity of sitting in a cafe writing.
While I was there I posted a photo on snapchat that I was in Gangnam and one of my friends, who I hadn’t seen in two years, saw it and then stopped by the cafe to see me! It was really fun to catch up with him and also somehow made me feel like I really live in Korea. Justing having a friend stop by to study with me because he happened to be in the area, something about that just feels so normal.
I stayed in that cafe for a while before heading off to Coex where I was planning to meet my other friend for dinner. I’d been to Coex several times when I was in Korea before, so finding it wasn’t a problem. However I had way over budgeted how long it would take me to get there so I ended up with about an hour to walk around and look through the shops.
I never knew I needed a hoodie with the instructions for how to play ping pong written on the back, but now I do.
Some very familiar looking 70’s America styled kitchen goods.
Finally 7:00 rolled around and I found the Mexican place where we were planning to eat and my friend. I hadn’t seen her since August and it was so lovely to be with someone who reminds me of, and understands, my life back at university. 많이많이 보고 싶었어!!
We went to a little cafe after for cake and coffee. The jet lag was starting to kick in at that point and so my friend very kindly put me in a taxi so I wouldn’t have to take the subway and bus back to my house in the dark. I have had a lot of moments like this where I have felt incredibly loved and taken care of in Korea. This was one of many.
When I finally made it back home I barely even had the energy to take a shower and feed the cat. But once those were done, I fell right asleep.
Hours and Miles 