in which i prove that i am still inept in korean

Yesterday, I got up early and was out at the bus stop by eight o'clock. I was on my way to visit a good Nepalese friend at the immigration detention center in Hwaseong. Hwaseong is a really small city more than two hours from Seoul, and home to a rather large holding facility for undocumented workers, perhaps owing to the fact that the city and surrounding areas are also a magnet for industries that employ undocumented folks. I had to reach Hwaseong by 11 in order to make visiting hours, and I thought that leaving at 8 would get me there with time to spare.

So, bus stop, 8 am. No bus. At least not the one I need to get me to line number one. I waited 20 minutes and then hailed a taxi.

Seoul Station 8:45 am. I get down to the platform and wait for the express train. For 15 minutes. It doesn't come and no longer makes sense for me to take it. I get on the slow train.

Suwon Station 9:45. I still have plenty of time. I used to live in this city and know where all of the bus stops are. I just have to figure out which one I need. I ask for help (in Korean). But here's the rub. In Suwon, there is an old fortress by the same name of the city I want to go to, so every time I ask for directions, people think I'm a confused tourist and try to send me to the local buses, which I know are wrong. I get to what I think is the right bus stop, find the bus which goes to Hwaseong and before swiping my bus card ask the driver if I'm going in the right direction. He says no, go to the other side of the street. I think he's wrong, but I go anyway, wait another 10 minutes for the next 999 and then ask the bus driver on that side. He, again, tells me I'm wrong and sends me to the other side. By this time, I've visited 4 of 6 bus stops and it is 10:25. The General Secretary isn't answering his phone and I can't find anyone who can actually give me useful information about where to go. So I am, predictably, angry. Really angry. Angry at my shitty Korean. Angry at all of the idiot Koreans who think I'm just a stupid tourist and don't bother to listen to what I am actually saying. Angry with the bus drivers who should know their damn bus routes and who shouldn't dismiss me just because I have funny accent when I speak Korean. Angry at the GS for not answering the phone to help me. Just angry.

10:30 am. Still in Suwon. There was no way I could get there in time. The bus, if I could ever get on one, was going to take another 40 minutes. I gave up. I was tired. And hungry. And on the verge of tears. I got a coffee and got back on the train to Seoul. On the train, the GS called me and told me that, actually, he was wrong, I had until 12 to get there. But by this time it was too late. I was already leaving.

12:20 pm. I arrive at City Hall in Seoul. From here, it's only a short bus ride to my new home. But I just moved and I've never take the bus from there before, so even though I'm pretty confident that it's the right bus in the right direction, I double check with the bus driver, who does exactly the same thing that the jerks in Suwon did. He tells me I'm on the wrong bus (which, once again, I wasn't, but not wanting to go 20 minutes in the wrong directions decided to take his word for it because, well that would suck). I get off and now I start crying. I've been here for 2 and half years and people still can't understand me when I ask if he's going to Hong yeon e gyo? I mean, I have an accent, but it that bad?

12:30 crying in a taxi, who managed to understand where I wanted to go through my tears. After five minutes in the taxi, we passed the bus that I was supposed to be on. Just more evidence that he was a jerk and I was right.

12:45 home. exhausted. frustrated.

So my friend in the detention center didn't get his medicine. And I didn't get to say goodbye to him. And by the time I got home, I was wishing that I was the one being deported because this country just totally kicks my ass sometimes.