Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ABC KID]

I went to Busan a few years back at a time when my Korean skills were virtually non-existent. I wanted to find my way back to a subway station to get back to the bus station but totally lost my bearings and no matter how much I tried to communicate with people it got me absolutely nowhere. Eventually I flagged a taxi down and got him to take me there. It cost a massive 19,000 won I still don't know to this day if he ripped me off but I've never had another taxi costing me more than 6,500 won in Korea.

Anyway, I'll be the first to admit that the above isn't an especially exciting anecdote but there must be some interesting stories about getting lost in Korea...

Do you know any foreigners that have had any epic adventures after getting lost here? Or alternatively perhaps you know of some interesting drunken adventures....

How did everything resolve itself in the end?
Did any kind Korean people save the day?

[faster]

My first few weeks in Seoul, and then occasionally thereafter, I spent a lot of time intentionally getting "lost."

I'd take the subway somewhere random, then walk around until I was good and lost, just taking it all in.

Eventually I'd ask someone where the subway was (at first "subway?" or "jee-ha-chull?" heh, but better with practice), which was 100% successful and very easy. People were always nice and seemed very understanding of my plight as a lost, escaped foreign zoo animal.

Had lots of wacky experiences doing that, but those are stories for other days.

[n3ptne]

I didn't exactly get lost, but once after an all night bender (on a Tuesday) a buddy and I found ourselves stumbling through a huge open air market (supposedly the largest in Korea, sure) at 7AM.

We were still drinking as we walked around aimlessly, I started getting paranoid and freaking out a little bit so we stopped at some rinky dink restaurant and ate a huge meal of crab, all the while getting more drunk.

I ended up making it home around 10:30 or 11:00 and passed out.

Still made it to work on time, too.

[ajuma]

This isn't exactly a "getting lost" story, but a "I REALLY should pay more attention to the signs" story.

At my current uni, most of the bathrooms are coded red for girls (girl figure on the sign) and blue for boys (boy figure on the sign).

I was recently at another uni and didn't really look at the sign...just went with the color...

THAT uni uses red for boys and blue for girls!!

[RACETRAITOR]

I don't get lost very often. At worst I'll miss a turn and have to get the next exit.

When I lived in Suwon, I learnt the terrain quickly, and whenever we got new clients I had to lead my boss (who'd lived in Suwon a lot longer than I had) to their home because he would always take the worst routes.

[tomwaits]

First day in Korea. I'd done the marathon trip---with a 6 hour layover in Alaska and arrived delirious---hag owner took me to a sauna (which hit the spot I must say) but then forced me to observe a plile of classes. Finally passed out but was woken up few hours later to "switch apartments." I couldn't get back to sleep so i said screw this. Started drinking duty-free Absolut and flagged a taxi to take me "downtown."

After some beer I was wandering around all night having no idea in the world where to go. Turned out I was in Myongdong but meant nothing to me at the time. Eventually I remembered the name of the station near the school (luckily or I would NEVER have seen the place again.) Had my passport with me at least. So I located a station and got back. But then of course there are 9 exits . Had to go up and down up and down trying every exit until I rcognized something....

So after going "for a beer" at 10 at night I stalked back into the school in late after noon a total mess...Haha

Happy ending though---the school -a Wonderland fired me and told me to go back home. I found my way to Itaewan and slept for 3 days before getting a job and sorting stuff out..one of those look back and laugh things.

[Bibbitybop]

I went drunken hiking in the woods at night in a remote area one night and couldn't find the trail I came in on the way back. Luckily, Korea always has one city in view and I just had to bushwhack my way toward the light.

[icicle]

In the very early days of my time in Korea I had a couple of bad "getting lost" experiences ... both complicated by the fact that at the time I didn't know any Korean and hadn't learnt the accurate pronunciation or hangul spelling of the part of my city I lived in. I caught a taxi and asked in what I thought was correct pronunciation to be taken to where I lived ... I even managed to write it down in accurate romanised letters ... But at the time my cues for knowing where I lived where things which I now know are common for everywhere in Korea ... so I didn't recognise that I was not being taken to the right place ... To this day I don't know exactly where we ended up ... But I did eventually realise that we were not where I needed to go ... And then that he couldn't understand where I needed ... so he actually stopped at the police station where we were and we went in and they listened to where I needed ... and with school name were able to work out where I needed and tell him ... I did manage to get home (about 20,000 won all up) ... and the by lunchtime the next day I had my address and the school address written in hangul and English ... and used it for a month or so ... (And however good you think your pronunciation is ... I would always recommend carrying your address in Hangul with you ... Which becomes easier when you get your ARC because it is written on it)

Icicle

[lastat06513]

One time during my first trip to Korea, me and another soldier were roaming around some area of Seoul (I don't remember where.....) and we passed by a coffee house (Ta-bang) with male hosts trying to lure costumers inside and as we walked passed the place, one of them tried to corner me and convince me to go into the bar......we ran like hell, to the point we were totally lost.......we went up to a couple of police officers and we kept on saying "Yongsan- Yongsan...", pointing and shrugging (as if to give them the impression that we wanted to know where the army base was.....one of them thought for a moment before leading us to a corner store and showed us an umbrella (thinking we said "usan"....we shook our heads and then we pointed to our dog tags and said "US army".......they just left, but fortunately some high school girls overheard the conversation and took us to the subway, showed us a map of the stations we had to go to get to Samgakji, which was the only station at the time that lead straight to Yongsan Garrison.......but not before one of them gave me her number and motioned for me to call her ......but I was committed at the time (and I was 19 years old), so I never gave her a call...oh well

[mrsquirrel]

What happened to the poster who thought he was going to work in Incheon and ended up at Icheon?

[crusher_of_heads]

I was on the bus looking at a big map "appearing" confused when this attractive Korean gal got on the bus. We made eye contact but I was trying to find something specific so I paid little attention to it-it turns out the gal in question sat at the back of the bus and slowly made it to near the front to help me out with the map. She's an English teacher so communication was easy. It's unfortunae she works nights and I work days.


best line

She: " Do you assume I understand everything you say?"

Me: "My friends back in Ottawa don't understand everything I say!"

[ABC KID]