I was really looking forward to Friday the 17th of December as one of the last days with my current roommate Kimberly. We had planned to visit Shinchon and eat at an all-you-can-eat KBBQ that was only 9,900 krw or about $8. This is a HUGE deal especially because you can refill meats and side dishes and I looked up so much info about the place. When we finally arrived around 1pm and found the place that is when it started going wrong. The business had a sign on the door that it was closed down for about a month, sad enough that our main plan was derailed we went to another KBBQ buffet that I had heard about in Hongdae and took a bus there. The place was recommended by a fellow exchange student that went there the last month. When we arrived here it was also closed down and all of its furniture gone. We had little hope of eating lunch at this time but quickly tried and third and fourth KBBQ locations in the area and found them all abandoned. By this time it was past 2 pm and about -4 degrees Celsius. The temperature wasn't the issue but the sharp wind brought countless tears to my eyes. At this point Kimberly and I are thinking the world is laughing at us but we try to find a raccoon café or pet café where you can play with animals, Hongdae has many of these places and we hadn't done it yet!
After looking up one we wanted to go to guess what had happened, it was nowhere to be found! I'm not sure if it was closed down or we couldn't find the exact location but we ended up just leaving the area after paying 3,000 krw to get here for no reason except Kimberly's fingers falling off.
We then went to Myeongdong to buy a souvenir and we already know the situation in the neighborhood. Myeongdong was the foreigner shopping district, now as you see above the streets are empty and every other store is closed down. Just walking here makes me a little sad to see how it has changed from the YouTube videos that I watched before I came to Korea.
We returned to the dorm and rested for a bit before going to get dinner at our favorite tteokbokki place to get rose tteokbokki with our friend Deniz. The day finally looks up as we tell stories of our weeks and eat delicious food! I may have been hangry for a good portion of the day (:
Now, to end a good night you must go to the norabang!! We always pay 5,000krw for 15 songs and have a scheme of songs to sing! You have privacy and disco lights to party it up for the time.
Some days flop, that's the fact of life. A fun plan may turn into an empty schedule. being spontaneous may not work out, but the day wasn't ruined. I think one big lesson to learn is to not let one thing ruin your entire day. However long I am here, I still have numbered days, and it's not worth it to be upset for one of those entire days. Even a good meal and time spent well with friends is healing.
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