Can I Call It The Day From Hell If It Ends On A Good Note?

Yesterday I had an incident. I knew I had it coming. Things had gone far too smoothly. I was navigating the city. I had all of my shit together. I was awesome. People bowed down before me. And then it happened. I f**ked up. Not just a little, a whole lot. See I had this meeting at an art center out of town. Actually, it was in a little town that was about forty minutes outside of Seoul. I had to take a bus there. I knew things were shaky when I got on the bus going the wrong way. But that worked out fine. I passed the stop I should have gotten on. I knew then that I was going the right way. Yes. I got cocky. I relaxed and started reading my book. I took pictures out of the window. It was good times.

And then I realised I had been on the bus for about an hour. I thought "perhaps it was the traffic? Maybe we are running late. Surely the bus driver would have told me when we got to my stop?" Um, no. My stop, had I known what it actually looked like, passed a LONG time ago. I move to the front of the bus. I try and talk to the driver. This is when I realise that I hadn't written down my destination in Korean. I had no map and no idea where I was headed. I try to talk to the driver. He thinks I say something else and goes "Oh yeah! I know where you are going!" and points ahead. We keep driving.

We end up in some far away town. He pulls over, quite proud of himself I must say, and proclaims us there. I put my head in my hands and try not to freak the f**k out. I have no phone, no map and no freaking idea where I am. What am I going to do?? I am very, very close to losing it. It is at this point that a bunch of high school kids get on the bus. He begins questioning them one by one "do you speak english?" and pointing at me. Finally a group of girls push one of their friends forward and she tries talking to me, very haltingly. I had visions of myself being thrust in front of a group of Korean tourists and being forced to translate! But she knows where I want to go. A fifteen year old Korean high school student knows where the Nam June Paik Art Center is. Her and a friend take me off the bus at one stop and stand with me till a bus going back towards Seoul pulls up. She tells the driver where I need to go. I thank them profusely and throw myself into the front seat. Crisis averted.

I make it to the Nam June Paik Art Center two hours late for my appointment with the curator. Nice.

So, what have I learned? Never, ever forget to write shit down. Oh yeah, and don't believe T-Mobile when they tell you your phone will work. Rent a friggen phone people. You never know when you'll need it.

The photo at top is me, after getting on the bus. Still confused but on my way!
Excited!

The photo below is me, finally heading in the right direction, having been on a bus for almost three hours. Seriously.