Traveler Lost

I'm gonna take you back to the beginning. Back to my first few hours in South Korea and Seoul. It was an interesting few hours, so...let us begin.

I luckily found the bus from the airport without a hitch. Seemed to easy. I gave Lauren a call to let her know that I had arrived. Voicemail isn't available; so she just saw a missed call but knew to expect it from me. I didn't sleep much on the plane- maybe an hour, so I was sleepy. I dozed off a bit on the bus, but not knowing when my stop was to come I tried to stay alert.

WELL, after about TWO HOURS I came to my stop. Upon arrival I was to find a payphone and call Lauren again so that she may send a friend over to pick me up (she had a class until 7:30 that evening). I arrived at the stop at 6:00 p.m. SHARP and began my search for a payphone. Shouldn't be too hard, right? It was. There wasn't a phone in sight. I sat fidgeting on a bench near the bus stop. There were a few large company offices behind me and I finally decided to enter and ask for directions to a pay phone.

Now, the only thing I really knew in Korean was "Can you speak English?" lol Upon entering an insurance office building, the gentleman at the front/lobby desk greeted me and looked at me expectantly.

It took about 5 minutes to try and explain what I was looking for. Expecting a pointed finger in a certain direction, to my surprise and relief, they handed me the office phone to use. I had to press 0 first, not 9 like in the states. Lauren answered and I told her I had arrived, and she sent Ellen over. I told her to look for me sitting on a bench wearing my yellow sunglasses.
I thanked the gentlemen for the phone and went outside to sit on my perch and wait for Ellen.

An hour later....no Ellen.

Too shy to return to the previous office building, I went to another. This time the gentlemen at the desk had no idea what I was trying to say. About to give up, a young gentleman briskly greeted me "you need a payphone?" in ENGLISH! He led me outside in order to show me and then realized there really are no payphones anymore.

"You are to call people in your country?" he asked. Mind you I had been toting my luggage this entire time.

"No, my sister who is here in Korea." I guess that answer sufficed because he pulled his own cellphone out of his pocket saying "use mine."

Turns out Ellen had arrived at the bus terminal (where I was supposed to be dropped off but I was across the street) and she had looked for me for nearly an hour before giving up. I sat waiting for Lauren until her class was over. Again we had forgotten to decide a meeting place. She had to call the number that I reached her with, spoke to the young gentleman to see where I was, and FINALLY, we were reunited!!!

More than four hours after arriving in Seoul and I was finally with my sister!

--THE END--