Lost

Hello everyone.  Sorry I haven't been writing much on here lately.  I've been here so long that what is unusual or different is becoming common.  So I am running out of new things to talk about.  Plus I have just been teaching or chilling at home for the most part.  Not much to say there.  I do have a story for you now.  Forgive me?

Last Sunday I went to Busan.  A friend I had met the weekend before was freezing because she didn't have a coat.  Let's face it, larger sizes are impossible to get in Korea.  Maybe you can get the American size Large.  Maybe.  Beyond that it is impossible.  Another foreigner who moved away gave me a lot of her things (which was super sweet of her) including a coat.  I have a lovely coat my grandma bought me before I left for South Korea.  So I truly didn't need a second.  I offered it to her and brought it down to her this last Sunday.

I arrived early at the train station to buy a ticket down to Busan and learned that all the seats were full.  There was only standing room left.  The same story with the next train.  I opted to take a train just after lunch and made sure to buy a ticket coming back ahead of time to ensure I had a seat on the way back as well.  Walked down to the market, bought snacks, ate lunch, and then headed back to the train station.

It was a comfortable ride down.  Just after I left, I received a text message.  The person I was meeting wasn't feeling good.  I offered to go to her place to make it easier on her.  Thus started an adventure.

Arriving in Busan, I went to the taxi stand and got in.  Telling the taxi driver to go to the UN Notary as it was close to her place, he drove me someone in Busan.  I say somewhere because I am not familiar enough with the town to be oriented or know which way is North.  He dropped me off and said it was right there at the intersection ahead of me.

I walked to the intersection and saw Busan Museum.  Hmmm... that didn't look like the UN anything to me.  However the intersection was a large 5 way intersection with a monument supporting a memorial globe of Earth in the center.  That became a familiar reference point for the following few hours.

I ended up not being quite as close as my friend and I assumed I was.  I walked down each street and some side streets for two hours before I finally found the landmarks that guided me to her place.  Most people would have given up by then and I would have too if I had been driving.  I put my gaming experience to work in the real life.  In games, you click on a section of a map and let your characters walk there while you go make a cup of hot tea.  In real life, you have to do the walking yourself.  So when I realized I was going in the wrong direction, I had to walk back, turn right, and try the next street.

It was a good hike and I got the opportunity to use a public restroom... the squat toilet.  Suffice it to say, it was a unique experience that I don't recommend to those who are overweight or have bad balance.  Anyrate, found her fine.  Gave her the coat as well as the equivalent of sprite and saltines.  Then returned to the train station to use my newfound gaming skills in real life there scoping out the shops and layout of the building.