*****Basically until I get internet in my apartment you should just assume when I say 'yesterday'/'last night' think a day ago because I always wait until the next day to post these lol****
Last night we went to Hongdae, which is a two-minute cab ride
from our apartments and is really popular for nightlife. When we got in the
area, everyone was telling me about what a cool place it was, especially when
its warm enough to just walk around outside. We went into a restaurant that
they know well and some of them ordered “Chicken Boobs”. They were talking
about it all day and I thought they were just being funny and talking about
chicken breasts but when the plates came out the chicken had these things on
top of them to make them look like nipples. It was weird lol but it smelled
really good!
We all took a shot and then when everyone was ordering their
second drinks, I looked at the menu but didn’t see anything I wanted. Then
Justin said the magic words. “I think they have wine here”. Menu closed.
“That’s what I want.” I will always remember that moment and it will be the
point at which I remember Korea before & after I found wine.
When everyone was finished eating we all paid our tabs. I
was one of the last people to pay and as the woman swiped my card I mentioned
to Mark how I’d never seen someone sign their name as fast as he did. He said
something like “Its Korea, it doesn’t even matter”, at which point I promptly
signed my receipt as “Nicole” and followed everyone downstairs.
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Ben found me and I said good night to my coworkers. I was so
happy to meet up with the three of them and it made me remember the first day
of our certification class. We were all on our lunch break and there were like
6 of us around a table talking about where we wanted to teach. When I initially
signed up for the class I wanted to go to France, the Caribbean or Northern
Africa so I could speak French. But that day at lunch everyone else at the
table wanted to go to South Korea and as I listened to what a sweet deal Korea
was, I started reconsidering my first choice of location. Fast forward to now
when we were all sitting at a table in a bar in Seoul. Its so crazy how things
have turned out for me. Its like the littlest things this past year have
changed my direction completely.
Shortly after I got there everyone decided to head home
because it was like 1 am and they all live in Gangnam, which is a ways away
from Hongdae. I told them once I’m in my place, if they ever wanted to pregame
at my place or spend the night at my apartment after coming all this way they
were all welcome. Ben and Caitlyn walked me back to the bar that my coworkers
were at.
For those that don’t know, I have this habit when I go out
of going from “Yay! I’m out! What a great time!” to “OK time for bed” in like 2
seconds and I can never gage when that will occur lol. Every time. Nothing even
sets me off either. There’s just a moment where I think about my bed… and I
want it. That’s why at home I used to make sure I always drove separately from
everyone when we go out and that I don’t drink too much so I can always drive home.
I know myself. I know I am MISERABLE if I don’t get myself home when I’m ready
to be there lol. (If you’ve seen Chelsea Handler’s recent interview with
Whitney Cummings where Whitney is telling Chelsea about how she disappears from
parties and Whitney never gets to say goodbye… that’s what I do. If you haven’t
seen it, youtube it, its hilarious lol.) The only problem is that last night I
had all the confidence in the world. “I know how to get home.” “I know the name
of my neighborhood.” “I speak Korean.” Woopsie.
I escaped from my coworkers, got into a cab, tried to pull
up a screen shot of my gps location when I was at Piore earlier to show the cab
driver where to take me. He had no idea. Help… I’m trapped in a city where I
don’t speak the language of my cab driver and I have no idea how to get home…
Kristen problems. Then I remembered Mark telling Ben the name of my
neighborhood in case I decided to leave after I left Ben & everyone. Ben
had texted me the name of it right when Mark told him so I pulled up the
message and showed the cab driver and then we were off. Mark & Ben to the
rescue!
As I looked out of my window, I remember thinking to myself
“I hope I can recognize where I am when he drops me off” lol. I ended up
getting home with no problem and quickly went to sleep.
This morning I texted Kate and apologized for leaving
without saying anything and explained to her this is probably not the last time
this will happen and to not be worried when it does lol.
It was a good night and I’m excited about maybe going back to
Hongdae tonight to do a little shopping. I’ve been living out of my suitcases
and haven’t unpacked anything so I’ve been wearing the same 2 pairs of pants
and 3 shirts that were loosely packed in some of the bags. Most of my clothes
are in vacuum sealed space bags because it’s the only way they will fit in my
suitcase and since I’m moving again on Thursday, I don’t want to open the bags
to get my clothes out because I won’t be able to fit them back in my suitcases
to move. So I’m thinking I’ll buy a shirt or 2 and maybe a sweater if I go out
tonight. I don’t care about wearing the same pants but I don’t want to keep
wearing the same shirts. That’s weird. I’m just really looking for something to
do because I can’t stand being in my apartment all day with no internet and I
was just at Piore for like 5 hours so I need a change of scenery lol. Plus,
going out last night gave me a little more confidence with the surrounding area
so I think I can manage getting there and back. Especially now that I know what
my neighborhood is called lol.
