"이번 정류소는 외대앞입니다." You hear the familiar words ringing in your head, gently pushing you back into reality from the fuzzy quiet deep slumber you were so pleasantly enjoying.
You flutter your eyes open and remember yourself, your life, your surroundings. Here you are in South Korea because you decided to take the once in a lifetime opportunity of studying abroad in Seoul, a place you've wondered about for quite a while.
When you first got here you always wondered how people could so easily sleep on public transportation and not be afraid of missing your stop. And yet here you are a month later doing the same.
[[I should probably wake up...]]You hear the pleasantly robotic voice of a woman warning you in the country's native language. "다음 정류소는 회기시장입니다"
[[Isn't that your bus stop?]]이번 정류소는 회기사장입니다."
You aren't fluent in this new language but you recognize the sounds enough to know something in there sounds like the neighborhood that you live in. Hoegi. You live in Hoegi. You remember making fun of the way the name is spelled in english in the group chat with your friends back home. But was does it mean its this stop or next stop?
[[Look out the window]]
[[Just decide to get off on this stop anyway]]You turn your head to the right and see what looks like a wonderland of intruiging stores and restaurants, all charmingly and asymmetrically stacked high on top of each other as far back and forth as your eyes will let you see through the constraints of the bus window. One thing catches your eye. In gargantuan fushia bold printed letters you see the familiar English letters: MISSHA. Its probably not english. You have no idea what it means if it is English. However you know that's the beauty store right next to your house so it serves as the 'quest completed' marker to all your adventures every day as you return to your home. Yeah, this is definitely your stop.
[[Gather your things and to leave]]You remember bus stops are usually so close together here in South Korea so even if you get off at the wrong stop it's no big deal and usually just gives you a chance to walk around or discover a new cute cafe while you find your way back home.
[[Gather your things and to leave]]You pull your backpack close to you, quietly. So quietly as not to disturb anyone around you. You remember that's one of the huge differences between here and where you're from. Everyone's always worried about disturbing everyone else so they think about their actions when outside a lot.
Slowly pulling your arm through your backpack loops you wait as your stop appears in the distance.
[[Push the red button thext to you that says "STOP"]]
[[Wait to get off]]You look at the big red button next to your hand. Under it says 하찰벨 with a drawing of a hand pressing a button. Seems simple enough to understand even though you dont know what the Korean means. You always hope you can correctly guess the context of these things when you have no idea what the words under them mean.
You press the button but to your surprise the loud buzzing sound it usually causes didn't happen. Someone else must have pressed the button. The bus comes to a stop and the doors open in front of the familiar market you're so used to seeing every single night.
[[Get off the bus]]The slowly bus comes to a stop at this stop anyway and you figure someone must have pushed the button anway.
[[Decide to get off at the next stop, just in case]]
[[Get off the bus]]You get off the bus and see the familiar view of the neighborhood food market in front of you. Usually its bustling with life but as it's dusk now, less people are in and you can see the yearning to just end the day and go home ont he faces of the workers. Even though you're the only foreigner, unlike the stories you've heard about the natives of South Korea, no one stares or makes you feel uncomfortable and everyone ignores you, just as they do for everyone else. You always liked that.
[[Start walking home]]You stay seated and anxiously wait as you watch people exit the bus.
"Ya! Did you forget your bus stop again? Come on!!" You see a familiar face laughing. It's your friend Jack from school.
Jack grabs your wrist quickly and pulls you through the bus doors with just enough time for you to see the annoyed look on the busdriver's face before it pulls away.
"Haha, you're always forgetting your stop and getting lost. Pabo. Anyway see you tomorrow!" Jack laughed quickly before running off into the dusk, probably to meet his drinking buddies.
[[Start walking home]]You pass a cute bakery on your left. "PORTOI" it says in huge white letters. Every time you actually see english letters you wonder if they mean anything in any other language.
[[Look in the bakery window]]
[[Keep walking home]]You peer inside the wide open widows that seem to encompass the whole frontal walls. There's 4 tiers of shelves that all hold the cutest and most carefully made small pastries you've ever seen in your life. Crossants, Breads, Tartes, Buscuits, Muffins, It's all there. They're all so cute that you wonder if they're fake and for display or possibly, if they're just made to be cute an dont actually taste good at all.
As you continue to admire the beauty of the foods you notice the two female workers inside, looking at you in wonder, possibly hoping if you'll come in to buy something. Maybe another day, you decide.
[[Keep walking home]] You come up to the edge of the street and remember you must cross the street to get home. Crossing the street was always scary in Seoul. Where you're from there's laws against running red lights and motorcyclists definitely aren't allowed to drive on the sidewalks. Even though you've only been here about a month, you distinctly remember 3 or 4 times nearly being brushed by hurried delivery workers on mopeds as they try to beat the day traffic fams. Either way you must go home right? Your phone vibrates in your pocket.
[[Look at your Phone]]
[[Ignore it and wait to cross the Street]]You pull your phone out of your pocket curiously to investigate the buzzing. "NEW MESSAGE FROM JIN" flashes across the notifications bar, along with a cute small goblin-face-like symbol you dont recognize. This doesnt look like any app you've remember downloading. And you definitely dont know a Jin. At least, you think you dont. It's a little hard to make friends at school since you decided, in an attempt to save money, to live on your own and not in student housing.
[[Click the notification]]You wait to cross the street and stare at the busy city in front of you. It's 7pm now. Even so, when facing the main streets, there's so many lights and people walking around it's almost as if it's the middle of the day. Your phone vibrates again. This time a little more strongly. That's a little weird, as you remember your phone only has one vibrate setting. You stare at the cowd of people congregating on the other side of the street, signaling the light will soon change for you to cross. As you stare, you wonder if your phone automatically updated to include more vibration settings.
[[Look at your Phone]]
[[Ignore it and cross the street]]Boop boop come back later lolYou get hit by a car and die the end
Just kidding there's more later
↶↷"이번 정류소는 외대앞입니다." You hear the familiar words ringing in your head, gently pushing you back into reality from the fuzzy quiet deep slumber you were so pleasantly enjoying.
You flutter your eyes open and remember yourself, your life, your surroundings. Here you are in South Korea because you decided to take the once in a lifetime opportunity of studying abroad in Seoul, a place you've wondered about for quite a while.
When you first got here you always wondered how people could so easily sleep on public transportation and not be afraid of missing your stop. And yet here you are a month later doing the same.
I should probably wake up...