Every time Lauren comes into town, we find ourselves strolling down Garosu-gil (가로수길), one of the trendiest streets in Seoul. When it’s warm, the main avenue is teeming with people: when it’s cold…it’s teeming with people in fashionable outerwear.
Cold winters tend to run many of us ragged, both mentally and physically. If you’re especially located in a place where it snows a lot (with there’s little sunlight), it can totally dampen your mood…well, at least that’s what it does to me. My 4th and final winter in Chicago tore me up to the point where I just had enough. “I can’t do it,” I told one of my friends. “I’m finally tired of being here. Once I finish my thesis, I’m going somewhere else.” That somewhere else was Seoul.
After an uneventful KTX ride back to Seoul I hopped a cab to my final (holiday) staycation destination. The traffic was awful, as usual, but the cab driver was nice enough…until the confusion set in.
“Go to the Park Hyatt Seoul hotel, please.”
“Okay…[drives for 4-5 minutes]…the Grand Hyatt? On Nam Mountain, right?”
“[sigh]…No…the Park Hyatt Seoul in Gangnam, at Samseong station.”
“Oh…[drives for a few more minutes]…well, I don’t know where that is.”
After spending Christmas at home I began my trek to Busan. I took the KTX, of course, since I wanted to make the most of the 2 days I had there.
One 2.5 hour train ride, one 30-minute bus ride, one ill-timed disembarkation and one unintentional 15-minute walk later, I finally arrived at the Park Hyatt.
After a long hiatus, I have returned to the blogging sphere (like I was really there in the first place)…I told myself that, since I’m high-kneeing my way out of my 20s, I really need to get with the times.
