Public Transportation - Blog Assignment #2

As soon as we landed in Seoul, crowds of people surrounded us.  It finally hit me that I was traveling to South Korea, a country that I have always loved.  During the flight and visiting San Francisco, it did not quite hit me yet and it felt very unreal.  When I looked around it finally occurred to me that we were not in small town Fort Smith anymore.  We arrived in Seoul a couple of days prior to the UIP Program to do some sightseeing.  I didn't think I would be culture shocked, but due to the chaos when we arrived in the ICN Airport I started to panic and started sweating profusely.  Until Matthew mentioned that I was in shock, I just kind of felt myself go through the motions in a very quick pace.  Everything just passed by, the city passed by nonchalantly.  To get to our hostel we had to get our checked bags and travel via the subway station to the center of the city.  Before we could find the subway station that was connected to the airport, we were completely lost.  With little knowledge of the language, I felt many barriers go up.  However, we kept calm and I managed to ask several of the information booths scattered about and find our way to the station.  Luckily the attendant selling the subway tickets could speak a little English, and in little time we were in the subway.  It took around 30 minutes to reach the city.  There we continued to travel to Myeongdong to our hostel.  Navigating the subway was incredibly difficult, not due to the many lines and trains but of the lack of elevators.  Matthew and I had some luggage and it was very hard dragging everything around up and down the stairs.   My nervous state and hot weather made me sweat uncontrollably, which did not help the situation.  I remember once we reached the hostel, I had to change shirts because it was drenched in sweat.  Once we learned how to the subway, however, the stay in Seoul was unforgettable and I fell in love with the city.  I'm already excited to go back.  After Seoul, we had to travel to Ulsan, Matthew and I decided to take the Express Bus to from Seoul to Ulsan instead of the KTX and that was another nightmare in itself.  So after this experience, I learned that having cars is a blessing, but knowing how to travel via public transportation is a valuable skill that everyone should have.  Besides all the issues with transportation, I've fallen in love with South Korea and honestly could live here for the rest of the life but for now I will continue to update you on my wonderful adventures.