A Story From Nowhere

So before I get back to transcribing backlogged entries...a new story, fresh from the brain, stream of thought style!

Today was my first time getting 'lost' in South Korea. Now, for people that know me well enough, me being lost isn't really a traumatic thing. Generally, I have some visual landmarks in mind and am willing to spend an indefinite time walking in carefully plotted circuits until I find them. During this period of time, I resolve that should worse come to worse, I can always fall asleep in a protected area, wait until morning, and then search for a practical way home with whatever directions I could remember. Of course, depending on the severity of my lostness, asking for help could occur sooner.

In my case of being lost, my key direction word was a large department store with an English name. Early in the morning, I went to the department store to get some supplies; pillows, bowls, a spray bottle for ironing, and a towel. During my return, I ran into a new friend who offered to show me a different area of Ansan, Jungan. I gladly accepted and quickly ran my goods back to my officetel before beginning our walk. During said walk we shared a fairly interesting conversation during which I failed to keep tabs on my surroundings. The only landmark I registered on our 20 minute walk was the bike path we took the entire time.

We sat and talked in Starbucks for a bit before I decided that I needed to return home in order to prep for teaching. Passing the tank full of live squid I had marvelled at earlier, I took 5 minutes to cross two not-as-scary-as-Seoul crosswalks and walked back towards my dwelling. The walk was very pleasant. Lots of trees, some magpies, cicadas visible to the naked eye, swarms of dragon flies, school children, apartment buildings, and lots of stuff I'd never seen before. Rather than feeling lost, I felt that because I was on the opposite side of the street, I must be seeing things from a different vantage point, thus, things looked 'new". All I had to do was keep walking and I would reach my apartment!

Well...a bunch of time passed and I passed no shops, no bridges, and nothing I'd seen before. I eventually decided that I was likely two streets too far to the north and that I would have to make a right turn eventually. I walked for another five minutes until I decided to turn. Now...it wasn't the time that made this decision, it was the apartment buildings on 3 corners and big field of large leafy vegetables on the fourth which made me decide to change directions.

Immediately I saw the vertical shops of commerce in the near distance. I kept on walking. Two school girls walked by, one ran shyly away, the other said, "Hello!", so I said, "Hello!", then she said "Bye Bye!" and I said "Bye Bye!". A good time had by all.

Following this brief encounter, I came to an intersection, 2 corners apartment buildings, one corner greenery, one corner shops. I decided to take the shops route. Right turn! Walking along, things didn't look familiar, but they looked promising. I knew that a dense commercial district was across the street from the mildly dense commercial district that I live in, so I figured I was near it. I figured I would probably come across the movie theatre if I continued on in this direction. Strutting along at my own pace, I noticed on one building a circular symbol similar to the one on the front of the theatre. I took a left!

Going down the street I saw some fresh produce stores, a good reference for future shopping, some barber shops (they're everywhere here) and the same number of innumerable restaurants. I still haven't decided if it's cheaper to eat out or shop for food here....half and half may be it. I've been eating dirty 1000 won bulgogi burgers today. They're pretty delicious, cheap, and filling. 461 calories!.....

So anyways...my view of the distance was blocked by the vertical signage which is everywhere here. A new friend once explained it to me as, "Everything in South Korea is up" and he's basically right. I'm sitting on the third floor of a building typing this in a PC 방 (PC Bang) which sits next to a Jazz bar. Yes..the signage. So the signage was blocking my view of what was coming up after this street ended. I could only focus on what was directly ahead or beside me. So, it was much to my surprise that as I neared the streets end the familiar store front of the Department store near my apartment came into view! Only mildly relieved since I was never stressed in the first place, I crossed a bridge to get to the other side of the street and went home. By the end of that small ordeal, I came away with a good idea of what my jogging route will be here. All I need is a pair of shoes!