solo adventure Sunday and my Korean smartphone

On Sunday, I decided to venture out into Seoul on my own to find some Thai food and make a trip to a department store. I Googled "best Thai food Seoul", and came up with a place named "Yum Thai" near Sinsa Station.

I ordered green curry and sat outside to enjoy my meal. A woman came up and asked if she could sit with me. She was from Australia, and she said she just wanted to talk for a bit with another native English speaker. We had a great conversation, and she shared some pretty personal stuff with me. I just felt like it was one of those moments that couldn't have been planned, and I was really glad I was there to talk with her and encourage her. Good food and good conversation: my favorite combination!

From there, I went on to my next errand, which was to find a department store where I could buy a potholder, some candles, slippers, and several other items that I can't find at my nearest grocery store. I had searched online that morning for the nearest Lotte Mart (which is a major department store in Korea), and found that the closest one to my home was in Jamsil, about a 25-minute subway ride away. Perfect, I thought. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

This is what I came to when I arrived:

You know, just your average trip to the department store. This particular branch of Lotte Mart is called Lotte World, and it has a five-story mall with an ice skating rink, a theme park, a grocery store, a department store, an electronics store, beauty shops, designer brand shops, massage salons, and so on and so on and so on. I was so overwhelmed!

I just wandered around in a kind of stupor as people bustled around me. I had no idea where to go! I was not expecting this! Finally, I came to my senses enough to look for a directory and figure out where the department store was. When I got to Lotte Mart, there must have been some kind of sale going on, because the place was PACKED! People were practically running through the store, bumping each other, grabbing things off of shelves...so much for my leisurely wandering through the aisles to find what I was looking for. After about an hour of shopping, an hour of wandering around trying to find the subway station that connects to Lotte World, a 25-minute subway ride home with my bags and then a 15-minute walk to my apartment, I was totally exhausted! I thought I would never leave my apartment again after that crazy experience. I'll have to wear my hiking boots next time I go!

Fun little anecdote from that chaotic adventure: during my shopping, I picked up a bag of frozen dumplings, and a store employee took the bag right back from me. She pulled out an identical bag from the freezer that had a roll of paper towels taped to it, and said "Service, service" over and over as she pointed to the package. Finally, I figured out what she meant. Sometimes stores or restaurants will throw in little snacks or extra things for free to help keep their customers happy. I guess the freebie in this case was a roll of paper towels! For some reason, it cracked me up that this roll of paper towels was in the freezer along with all of the frozen food. 

What an adventure.

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Today, my coworker took me to get a cell phone. He found this tiny "handphone" shop near my apartment, and he did all of the translating and explaining that is to be expected when trying to arrange for a phone contract between a Korean company and an English-speaking foreigner. A man and woman were both working in the shop: the woman was working with us regarding the cell phone contract, and the man was painting the most beautiful calligraphy at a small table. I asked if he was painting them to sell, and my coworker translated my question for me. The man just stood up, grabbed one of his paintings, and handed it to me. When I asked if I could pay for it, he said no. It was so kind of him! When my coworker left to get back to work, and I was waiting for the woman to activate my phone, I snagged a picture of them. I recognize how creepy that is, but I just thought they were so cute!

(Do any of my friends who can read traditional Chinese characters want to tell me what that says? I can only make out the "門" character on the top right.)

And now I have a phone, yaaaaaay!!

Never a dull moment these days!