She may not need an introduction for some of you, but if you don't know her, allow me to introduce you to Tania Vogel. Tania and I worked together at Bearbrook pool last summer and together we combined to offer the highest quality socials to the staff (not like those pathetic little events that the Dream Team would come up with). Tania is an avid traveler and after having toured around Asia with her family she stopped by in Seoul for a few weeks to stay with one of her best friends, Natasja Mackwood (who I'd only met briefly at a party last summer) who is teaching English in Seoul. When we found out that we would both be in Seoul at the same time we made sure that we would meet up at least once.
Tania sent me a message when she arrived in Seoul and we planned on meeting Saturday (the day after the last day of Kookmin's festival). She was going to be out with Natasja for a friend's birthday and I was to meet up with them after their dinner. I was to meet them at 10pm outside of Carne Station, a restaurant in Myeong-dong, a popular shopping district with a great night life. 10pm is a little late for me to be going out, but I had already decided that I would not be back by midnight and that I would either get the demerit points or I would sleep in the lab.
Now back to my night out. I had received directions to the restaurant from Natasja:
Exit #7 at Myeong-dong station. Check.
Walk down the street with the CK store. Check.
Turn right onto the street when your street ends. Check.
The restaurant is in the basement of a building on the right hand side of the street. Hmm.
Maybe it's further down the street.
Maybe just a little further.
A little further?
Ok, this street is getting a little sketchy, there are no more lights.
I think I've gone too far.
I'm now late, so I went into the first metro stop I found and used a pay phone. I didn't have any change with me but I wasn't worried, I had my T-money card. T-money cards are great, you put money on it and you can use it to take the bus or the metro, you can use it with pay phones, vending machines and even in convenience stores. The phones that I found in the metro had the T-money logo on them, so I took the phone off of the receiver and slid my card into the slot. "Wrong Card." I flip the card over. "Wrong Card." I was confused, why was the phone not accepting my card? I tried another phone. "Wrong Card," it told me again. I tried two other phones but they wouldn't take my card either. Since I couldn't get a phone to work, I decided to retrace my steps and try and find the restaurant and hope that Tania was still there.
I was almost back to the street with the CK store when I saw a group of foreigners standing around. Unfortunately neither Tania or Natasja were with them. I asked them if they knew where Carne Station was. They said that it was in the building that we were standing in front of, but that the restaurant closed at 10. I thanked them for their help and walked towards Myeong-dong to look for another pay-phone. I found a bunch of phone booths and tried each phone and not a single one would take my card. After I slammed down the phone and exited the last booth I saw the same group of foreigners. They asked me if I was able to get in touch with my friend. I told them how I could not get a pay phone to work, so one of the guys offered to let me use his cell phone.
I called Natasja and asked for Tania. Unfortunately, Natasja and Tania were heading home because Tania was feeling sick. Apparently Carne Station is an all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink restaurant for only $25. The catch is that you can only be there for 2 hours. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself and I guess Tania took full advantaged and payed the price after.
I was disappointed that I came all the way to Myeong-dong and wouldn't see Tania as I handed the phone back to the guy, but I was more curious by the people around me at the moment. I got a few strange looks as I said hello to Natasja and asked to speak with Tania. Ends up I was in the company of Natasja's friends. They had just left the restaurant when I first ran into them and I just missed Tania. They knew that Tania was waiting for a friend so they invited me to join them for the rest of the night. They were heading to Daehango. I declined their invitation though. It was getting late and I decided to get home before they shackled the doors. I didn't want to use up my demerits if Tania wasn't there.
I did meet up with Tania in the end though. We had lunch on Tuesday. I took her to the Tak Kalbi place in Daehagno. It is still by far my favourite Korean food. It was really nice to talk with Tania because it was the first time in a while that I could talk like a normal person. I have to be careful to talk slowly and to keep my sentences as basic as possible when I speak to Koreans. At times I catch myself talking like them and I slap myself. It's one thing to speak in sentences that are stripped to the bone, its another to start talking in fragments, and I'm certainly not doing them any favours by talking like that.
Ok. I finished. We talk later.
Tania sent me a message when she arrived in Seoul and we planned on meeting Saturday (the day after the last day of Kookmin's festival). She was going to be out with Natasja for a friend's birthday and I was to meet up with them after their dinner. I was to meet them at 10pm outside of Carne Station, a restaurant in Myeong-dong, a popular shopping district with a great night life. 10pm is a little late for me to be going out, but I had already decided that I would not be back by midnight and that I would either get the demerit points or I would sleep in the lab.
By the way, I've ruled out trying to sneak back into rez after midnight. This is what they do to the doors at night, I wonder what to do in case of a fire...
-Regular electric lock
-Chain with a padlock
-Wooden bar
-Regular electric lock
-Chain with a padlock
-Wooden bar
Now back to my night out. I had received directions to the restaurant from Natasja:
Exit #7 at Myeong-dong station. Check.
Walk down the street with the CK store. Check.
Turn right onto the street when your street ends. Check.
The restaurant is in the basement of a building on the right hand side of the street. Hmm.
Maybe it's further down the street.
Maybe just a little further.
A little further?
Ok, this street is getting a little sketchy, there are no more lights.
I think I've gone too far.
I'm now late, so I went into the first metro stop I found and used a pay phone. I didn't have any change with me but I wasn't worried, I had my T-money card. T-money cards are great, you put money on it and you can use it to take the bus or the metro, you can use it with pay phones, vending machines and even in convenience stores. The phones that I found in the metro had the T-money logo on them, so I took the phone off of the receiver and slid my card into the slot. "Wrong Card." I flip the card over. "Wrong Card." I was confused, why was the phone not accepting my card? I tried another phone. "Wrong Card," it told me again. I tried two other phones but they wouldn't take my card either. Since I couldn't get a phone to work, I decided to retrace my steps and try and find the restaurant and hope that Tania was still there.
I was almost back to the street with the CK store when I saw a group of foreigners standing around. Unfortunately neither Tania or Natasja were with them. I asked them if they knew where Carne Station was. They said that it was in the building that we were standing in front of, but that the restaurant closed at 10. I thanked them for their help and walked towards Myeong-dong to look for another pay-phone. I found a bunch of phone booths and tried each phone and not a single one would take my card. After I slammed down the phone and exited the last booth I saw the same group of foreigners. They asked me if I was able to get in touch with my friend. I told them how I could not get a pay phone to work, so one of the guys offered to let me use his cell phone.
I called Natasja and asked for Tania. Unfortunately, Natasja and Tania were heading home because Tania was feeling sick. Apparently Carne Station is an all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink restaurant for only $25. The catch is that you can only be there for 2 hours. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself and I guess Tania took full advantaged and payed the price after.
I was disappointed that I came all the way to Myeong-dong and wouldn't see Tania as I handed the phone back to the guy, but I was more curious by the people around me at the moment. I got a few strange looks as I said hello to Natasja and asked to speak with Tania. Ends up I was in the company of Natasja's friends. They had just left the restaurant when I first ran into them and I just missed Tania. They knew that Tania was waiting for a friend so they invited me to join them for the rest of the night. They were heading to Daehango. I declined their invitation though. It was getting late and I decided to get home before they shackled the doors. I didn't want to use up my demerits if Tania wasn't there.
I did meet up with Tania in the end though. We had lunch on Tuesday. I took her to the Tak Kalbi place in Daehagno. It is still by far my favourite Korean food. It was really nice to talk with Tania because it was the first time in a while that I could talk like a normal person. I have to be careful to talk slowly and to keep my sentences as basic as possible when I speak to Koreans. At times I catch myself talking like them and I slap myself. It's one thing to speak in sentences that are stripped to the bone, its another to start talking in fragments, and I'm certainly not doing them any favours by talking like that.
Ok. I finished. We talk later.
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