i headed off to the direction of samseong park, near the hotel supposedly. i was off on a whim that i didnt bring the map, any money. all i had was my trusted ipod Touch.
i felt great, easily getting a good stride early on. the morning breeze felt great. it was still quite cold since summer was just starting. school children and office workers casted me weird looks. i didnt see other runners around.
after about 20 minutes, i thought i was heading back. i was supposed to be just tracing a square around a few blocks in the area. then wham! suddenly, the road, the buildings didnt look familiar. it seemed like i was running too long. i should have started to see the hotel by then.
panic time. i was lost in seoul. i still tried to pursue the path i was taking before finally giving in and asking for directions. the first was a student. he looked surprised when i told him i was looking for coex samseoung station. i was really far off! good grief! i tried to follow his directions but stil couldnt find my way back.
i was already praying while running. then there was an oldder man, a construction worker. next was the old lady tending her newspaper stand. they were all nice enough to try to teach me. but language was a problem. i couldnt figure out how many "blocks" they were referring to.
my fourth attempt to get directions finally showed me the way. david, an engineer for GE walked with me to the street leading to my hotel. he was so nice to do so. we chatted while walking. and he has been to the philippines, cebu and manila. he visited a friend based in cebu five years ago.
i made it back. i was getting really worried that i might roam seoul aimlessly. lol. ill never do anything that stupid anymore. the nice thing about this trip is my new respect for koreans. i admit that i found the koreans who visited and/or studied here in manila rowdy and uncouth and rude. the ones i met in seoul, especially those who have visited manila i found really nice and friendly. and they only have the kindest words for Filipinos.
i may have been a lost soul in cold seoul for a short while there. but i finally saw their soul and found warmth.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Samseong-dong,Seoul,South Korea
3 comments:
lesson learned.
To pass the time before our scheduled entrance to the Ghibli Museum in Japan, Lester and I decided to have lunch in Mcdonalds thinking it was just a few meters away since we already saw a sign. With limited Japanese, I asked a highschool student where it is and he walked us there. I felt so bad because he even stepped off his bike to literally walk with us.
Like Koreans, I think it is in their nature to be really helpful to strangers.
one thing to keep in mind where you are in a place where english can be a problem: always bring a celphone (if working of course), some money, card of hotel with map at back, your ID. always take care on our travels - pinoybkkian
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