My Bus Adventure.

So I have some funny stories for you today, which is a blessing I'm sure from my usual ramblings on about my "children." :)

The story begins.... yesterday at 1:15PM. Vera and I were going to take the buses (yes, BUSES) to Seoul to the airport to pick up the kiddos flying in from DC and California.At first, I wasn't sure why Esther kept cautioning me about buses and going, trying to make sure I was still sure about going... and I thought, "geesh! what could be SO bad?" Ah... so the fun begins.
We were sitting in the bus stop, the  SWELTERING bus stop for 20 minutes wondering where the  bus was. Then a tiny 1,000 year old Korean woman came and informed us that the 1:30 bus was cancelled!!

(bus stop)

(view from bus stop)

So Vera whips out her phone and calls Justin & Phillip (the Tae Kwon Do masters/Gym teachers here). Not 5 minutes later, a tiny white sports car FLIES up the road with two Korean men with American rap thumping in the speakers, leaning back like they're "G's." Phillip rolls down his window and says "get in." Like he's some kind of Korean mobster. Hahaha! :)
Never have I feared for my life like I did on that car ride... and I've ridden on motos in Africa, taxis in Spain, 50 year old trains in Italy... it was... TERRIFYING. Justin drives with one hand, "singing" along with the sounds he could mimic. Very comical when I wasn't screaming silently. Phillip was trying to carry on a normal conversation about Hagerstown and where we can visit when he gets there (is Hagerstown known for anything famous? Ummm... no).
Finally we avoid running down old men in crosswalks, old women on vespas, taxis, buses, tractors... (you think I'm kidding, but I am TOTALLY not). Vera grabs my hand and we SPRINT through the bus terminal to the bus, boarding as the  driver shifts into gear. yikes.

 Would you like a snack for the bus?

 Beautiful lake and mountain... the mountain went straight INTO the lake. 

 Vera and I on the bus, obviously Vera is thrilled about buses.

Ha. Yeah, the metro in Barcelona was NOTHING compared to this insanity.

So off we go... until we get to this HUGE terminal... 4 floors, 2 city blocks wide... I think that maybe they are flying into a closer airport; but no... this is  a BUS terminal. Holy cow. Yeah...Wow.  

Vera asks me "would you like lunch?" 

"Sure." So we go to Lotteria and get cokes and mozzarella sticks. 

"Ok, we have 4 minutes to get to the bus..." Vera says as we get our food. Ok, WHAT?! 

So off we RUN... flying through this terminal; and I'm sure that all the Koreans were wondering why is that American chasing that Korean teenager? 

Bus #2, you have to go through this dark hallway, then through a back parking lot, then climb over the highway guardrail to where the bus is sitting.  Finally we arrive, the driver announces we will wait 5 more minutes... so Vera LEAVES me on  the bus, because she needs to go to the bathroom. So I sit  there, hyperventilating because if we leave without her, I don't know what to do next!! The bus driver starts  the engine and I am trying to figure out if I should get off or just hope he remembers to wait for  her. Blast me not being  about to speak Korean. She gets on and he  pulls  off  before she makes it to her seat. 

The ride on Bus #2 was  fine... long, rush hour  traffic around  Seoul's beltway. But it was fine. We arrived at the airport at 7:00PM.

 The green wavy thing is a fairway for the Seoul "golf course" 

Beautiful, foggy, Seoul on the river...

We arrive at the airport, an hour late. Sorry, girls!! But here is the picture of the group sitting and waiting! 

Of course, we took them to Kraze Burger for dinner... Then we boarded a bus with the 25 Californians (yeah, we didn't know we were getting EVERYONE). 

 Karla and Dominique.... passed out in the Charter Bus

Mid-laugh, but it's ok... Brielle & me (and John McBee's hand)

Nearly 3 hours later, the bus driver stops for his 2nd cigarette break and announces casually to Vera that he has no idea where we are. Oh, excellent. It's now 11:00PM... and I'm exhausted and Vera's exhausted. So we both just sit there and stare at each other.... you've got to be kidding. The driver's on cigarette 2 of this break, not seeming upset, as he leisurely smokes, that 35 people are lost on a coach bus in the mountains of Eumseong...yikes.

We sit and call people for 20 minutes... calling everyone we can think of, Esther's not answering, Henry's not answering, Justin.... Phillip.... Christina... Sarah... panic is setting in... 

So two of the other GVCS boys (who came to pick up the Californians too, but not with Vera and I... yeah, whatever that is...) run off, to see if they can see  GVCS from the top of the mountain! It was like a bad horror movie. 

The boys run back... we're 5 minutes away. If we had turned one more turn... 20 minutes ago... we would have been 1/2 a mile from our dorm. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I've never been  so happy to see Lydia Dorm. :)

So that was my best adventure. I've  decided not to go on any more public transportation adventures...  It took us  nearly as long to go pick them up (10 hours) as it did to fly to Korea from Washington DC (13 hours). 

I'll post again soon!!

-e