Even the simplest of things can be an adventure......

So, my new friend J and I walked to one of the "gates" to go off post.

We had two little ones in tow in a very long stroller. D, who is about one, was sitting in the front, and R, who is about four, was standing in the back... pretty cool concept actually. She is able to sit or stand, and still be pushed. Comfy for her, and a bit of a work out for Mom.

So, as we leave the gate and walk out into ... well, somewhere in Seoul, J looks at me and says... "hmmmm... I thought it was right outside the gate", and I had also been told that "E Mart" is right outside the gate... but, it was nowhere in site...... so we proceeded to ask folks walking by if they speak English. :)

Eventually a very nice, older man, carrying a box of what looked like small fire extinguishers stopped to help us. He was very helpful, nodding and talking, saying "follow me. I show you"......We ended up on the subway. With the man. And his box of stuff.

He cut the line of folks waiting to buy tickets, translated for us, walked with us, and made sure we got off at the correct spot. He was SO NICE. I gave him 5000 won for his trouble. (Don't be too impressed, it's equal to five dollars). What was very cool was you could tell that he GENUINELY did NOT want nor expect any compensation. He simply wanted to help us. What a sweet man.

So, we got off at our stop and after many questions, and wandering, and looking, we ended up carrying the stroller up many, many stairs to get out of the subway station.

Did I mention that it is hotter than.... well..... hotter than you can imagine let's say..... Hotter than you can possibly imagine today. :) And don't forget the humidity.

So, at this point we're very sweaty, and hot, and so are the kiddos.....

We walked some more... having no idea where we were going, pretty deep in Seoul at this point..... and as far as we can tell, sorta far from our home base. (pun intended).

Eventually, I saw a sign that actually said "Electronics Mkt"!! YIPPEEEEE!!! But. We had to walk quite a distance before we were able to find a crosswalk so we could get over to the other side of the street...

Crossing here ON a crosswalk, is dangerous. I was unwilling to attempt it w/out one.

Side note. Anyone who knows me knows that I normally don't care about sidewalks/crosswalks/ red lights/stop signs... etc.... So. If I actually CARE about crosswalks here, that should give you some sort of indication of just how crazy the traffic is.

ANYWAY..... We finally crossed.. finally got to "E Mart" and we were exhausted. The kids had had enough, and J had had enough..... at this point we went in, just to get in the A/C. We looked around for a bit, and as it turns out it's sort of like this big group of department stores.... Not really like a "mall"... but, lots and lots of stores in this big... place. We never did find the electronics section... I think that was on it's own floor.

As we discussed how to get back to post, I suggested that we just grab a taxi, J was thrilled with this idea... Taxi's don't seem to cost much here, although, I don't have much to compare it to b/c I have never been much of a taxi person.

Now we need to back track a minute.... When my friend A was getting ready to move back to the states (Remember our friends S and A? They were moving BACK to the states when we arrived.. they picked us up at the airport, were here for our first week, showed us around... etc... etc.. we were SO SAD they were leaving while we were arriving....OK that friend A. :)) She gave me a pile of stuff... her old "pre paid" cell phone (for company to use when they visit), food, dog biscuts, a laundry basket, some handy phone numbers and papers..... Well, in that bunch of stuff was a card. That card says in English and in Korean "please take me to......" two different locations by post. I thought, hm... well, this seems like it might be handy in a jam... so I put it in my wallet. :)

How happy was I to have that with me today???

We hailed a taxi and I showed him the card, and off we went!!! He was VERY nice, and his taxi was clean and cool, and we were safely delivered back to post. :)

Then we walked and walked in the heat, back to our nice, cool homes. :)

So, I don't really have a report on "E Mart" so to speak... I just thought you'd like to hear about the adventure of getting there. :)

I am hoping that all this walking pays off and that I come home looking extremely fit in two years. :)

Thanks for listening. :)
xo
K.