the maze that is downtown

last night was one of those nights where you plan to come home early but don't make it through your front door until the wee hours of the morning. my neighbour decided to take me out with some of her friends for some dancing. we caught a taxi since it was raining (of course) and headed downtown.

we got there and some of joannes friends were there. she knew that i had been wanting to meet some different kinds of people so she invited some of her friends. these people are so different from her! i love joanne, she's been so nice to me, but she is quite reserved... these people, wow, the exact opposite!

so at this bar, there is this buffet for 13, 000 won, and if you get it, it's all you can drink beer! that's all you can drink for around 15 bucks.. isn't that crazy? needless to say joannes friends were quite festive by the time we got there.

so, i danced, had a great time, joannes friends were hilarious. there were 2 guys who were a little strange, but at about 10:30, joanne wanted to go home. 2 of the girls, linda, and tristan invited me to another bar. i decided to go with them because i hadn't been to many bars here yet and i wanted to see what the nightlife was life. so we went to this bar called the Commune. it's a bar that a lot of foreigners go to. people there were really nice. it's a lot different than in canada. people here come up to you and ask you where you're from and chat. i got some phone numbers of some people. i still don't have a phone though!!

so then we went to another bar, where we met some more new people. i talked to some people who have only been here for 5 days. then, and i don't know why, 2 guys stood on the pool table and were de-panted. that was.. interesting i guess. a bottle of canadian beer was over 6 bucks here! i had one.

so, then i was told that we were leaving and heading to another bar. i left the table of new people i had just met with more phone numbers and email addresses.

so, this one girl that we were with was really really drunk. i was almost ready to head home. this was about 3 am now. but i didn't want to leave linda with the sole responsibility of taking care of her. (even though i had just met her, she was really nice to me) so tristan, the girl who was drunk went into this new bar, called itawon or something.. linda and i realize that there's a 10,000 won cover! and it's 3:30 am at this point. so we have no money so we have to walk around trying to find a bank machine. at this point i should mention that downtown is like a fricking laberinth. everything looks the same, you can't use landmarks because there are always 50 of the same stores, plus everything is in korean. i think it can be assumed that this city was not built on any kind of grid system. we finally find a bank machine but my card isn't working. i can't read the message that has come up on the screen. i get a korean girl in the store to help me, it still doesn't work. we thought maybe it was because it was the wrong kind of machine, we had no idea.

so we went looking for our bank.

as we are walking around we 're asking random people if they know where our bar was. noone does, and then these 2 guys, one canadian and one korean come and help us out. they told us that in korea you can't take money out of bank machines after 10pm!! ok, so that explains that. so we tell them we need to get back to our bar to find our friend. so they are guys so they say they know where they're going.. they don't really. we walk and walk with them, so many people are out partying, everything is all lit up, it's really cool. finally we find the bar we told them we needed. linda and i look at eachother and we're like "this doesn't look familiar, i don't think this is our bar" the guys start laughing. then, after an hour, i realize that i had a ticket from that bar in my pocket. we were looking for the wrong bar. sigh.

so we get to the bar we were loooking for finally. she's not there. we call her cellphone (which we should have done a lot sooner) and she's at home!!!!!!!!

linda and i are completely lost now, and so our two knights in shining armour drop us off at home. if i had money, or could have taken money out i so would have bought them a drink. they totally saved us. they didn't even ask for our numbers, or complain once.

i finally got home around 5 am. that's something different about korea. foreigners help foreigners out. i guess we have to stick together.

so it was one of those night where you plan something quiet, and it ends up being one of the craziest most eventful nights of your life. i was planning on being out for an hour and ended up being out for 9. it's nice being out with people who take care of you.

i met lots of people. i don't know if that is something that i would want to do every weekend, but it's good to know that i have some phone numbers to call if i'm ever in the mood for something crazy. in anycase, i think i really needed a night like that.
nana, don't worry at all times i was safe! i was never alone :)

now however, i'm not going to do all the things i had plans to do! i'm too tired.

i forgot my camera too, which is a shame. no pics this time.