Directions

This is starting to become a usual occurrence; I find a place of interest to visit, I write down the internet directions, I follow those directions, I end up frustrated and lost. It's making me reluctance to go anywhere on my own.

The first time was tuesday. After lunch with Jill and her friend, I planned on hopping down to Itaewon and meeting Kraig at a bookstore. The directions seemed easy enough to follow- take subway line 1, exit 14, walk past the Mosque (you can't really miss a Mosque in Seoul), go right at the fork in the road, book store on the right with a green sign. I think the biggest problem with internet directions is that they assume you'll know which direction to go after exiting the subway. When I arrived and took exit 14, there was no Mosque in sight. I didn't think it would have been a problem because the last time we were in Itaewon, I had seen the Mosque. I walked along the main road for a while. I stopped to look at a map, which did not have a Mosque on it. I found another map that did have the Mosque, only the Mosque wasn't really along either road that crossed paths with subway, making the 'walk past the Mosque' a somewhat impossible step to follow. Thankfully Kraig and I thought ahead and planned on a second, emergency, place to meet, in case we were really late or couldn't find the bookstore. Of course, upon arriving at the spot- Burger King- I couldn't find the entrance, so I kept walking. Kraig saw me walk past and had to run out to get me.

We were both completely frustrated, after each spending an hour wandering around, and had realized the flaw in the directions. Kraig wanted to go on, but I couldn't take it anymore. So we went on to find another place I had found on the internet, a nice little pub with 2 for 1 fish and chips on tuesdays. This place, unlike the other, was easy enough to find. It was very delicious and not to bad a price. I think Kraig and I will be going back there again.

The second time this happened was last night. We were in search of the movie theater so I could see Twilight Eclipse. Again, the directions seemed easy enough, walk towards Jongno for 5 minutes and there is it. Problem? Which way is Jongno? We followed the road sign for Jongno and again, wandered around for an hour. The interactive tourist map didn't have a button for 'entertainment' and was of no help. After a while, we decided to leave the main road and walk down a side road. There along the river, we found a map that had not only the theater we were looking for, but 2 others, and they were right by the subway.

At this point, I wanted to let my rage go wild. I've had a headache everyday. I think it's a little from the coffee, a little from the humidity, and when we're downtown, from constantly breathing in cigarette smoke and the loud music blaring from all the shops. Add it to the frustration of not finding anything or being understood or understanding. Of feeling so small and so helpless in such a big place with so many happy people who can understand their surroundings. And the frustration in hardly being about to eat anything, because everything has meat in it, or smells disgusting, or has tentacles. Before we found the theater, I declared to Kraig my hatred for Seoul and how I was never returning here again. Maybe if I had a purpose here, it would be better. It's been a difficult week, with so many more trials here than at home. I am having a tough time reconciling my expectations to reality. I thought it'd be so much fun, so easy to get around, be able to talk to Koreans, do things on my own, eat wonderful food. It hasn't been anything of what I thought it would, and that is what I'm struggling with.

I am hoping the month gets easier and that I'll have a more adventurous spirit. We'll see.