Day 4 in South Korea-Hongdae, Mandu, Odeng, EVEN MORE Ddeokbokki, and a really bad day

오늘 저는 홍대 가셨어요. 'One Shop Coffee Prince' 가고 싶었어요 하지만 저는 길을 잃었어요. 그 밤에, 떡볶이 만두하고 먹었어요.

I apologize for only talking about things I'm eating in my Korean sentences. I'm just not sure what else to say. =P I think my poor Korean abilities are becoming obvious now. XD

So, I will confess I don't care to write much in this post. It wasn't my favorite day of the week and definitely not the most stellar for my record. We had classes from 9 until...5? I can't remember, actually-I just know we had a lot of classes! Like the good girl I am supposed to be, I should have gone straight to the dorm from my classed, but instead my friends and I decided we wanted to travel around and do something. Earlier that day I had spent nearly my entire lunch hour trying to find the bank via a very wandering path through the campus. I did discover this interesting staircase at the top of one of our campus hills. There was actually a beautiful view, but I was too desperate to find the bank in time to stop. However, I thought it was very innovative and even a little scary! Hahaha, I was certain I would fall and break my kneck. XD The regular staircase is the wood that you see at the top of the picture.

Anyway, after my bank adventure I was pretty exhausted and I'm not sure why I agreed to going out with them. We sat and discussed it for a while before going to my friend's dorm to think about it. They suggested we go to Hongdae, which was a 20 minute subway ride (I think). I have always wanted to go to Hongdae, but the issue for me at that time was whether or not I could get any information about any indie artists playing, if I could even get into the clubs to see them play, and if my friends would go with me (who wants to go alone?). In the end, we settled for going to the 'Coffee Prince Cafe'. If any of you have ever seen this drama, you know the cafe I am talking about that the drama was filmed in. If not, here are some pictures-

I was excited. I got directions on my tablet and I left ahead of my friends to meet them at the subway station exit. However, somehow we became confused and I entered the station at the wrong exit. With no way to contact them and time slipping by quickly, I decided that they had probably gone on ahead of me, and I would just meet them at the Coffee Prince Shop. I'm not sure why I thought this or if I was even thinking at that time, but when I arrived in Hongdae it was already dark (Korea has no daylight savings time, so it gets darker earlier than in the US) and I was utterly lost. I tried to follow the directions I had, but I only managed to get further lost. Giving up on the prospect of ever getting a Wifi signal, finding my friends, or finding the Coffee Prince Shop (was it even open still?!), I began to head home.
That was when I spotted a street vendor, and instantly I felt better! Familiar food was such a comfort to me while in South Korea! Of course, by this time it was 9 PM and I hadn't had much to eat that day, so I was righteously hungry. =P
I ordered some ddeokbokki and then just randomly ordered mandu without knowing what it was. At first I said I would eat it there, but after a few minutes it became apparent to me that without water, I would never finish this spicy ddeokbokki, so I asked the nice ajumma to pack it up and, nearly forgetting to pay, walked back to the subway station. This is what that amazing food looked like-

I sipped the broth she gave me on my way home. Earlier in the year I had bought some odeng in the U.S. and it was a similar warm, fishy taste, so I didn't feel as lonely any more.
HOWEVER, when I got home it was a completely different story, and needless to say, when in your dorm at your wits end with yourself, ddeokbokki tastes AMAZING through tears.
Honestly.
I've never eaten something so spicy and still smiled while downing it-and thankfully, though wrecklessly purchased, my mandu was very good. It didn't *look* too spectacular when I got home, but it still tasted amazing. I can only imagine how nice this would be on a cold winter day, or after something really sad happens (like that day!). My friends were exasperated with me, my mother was frustrated, but we overcame it and I never did anything this ridiculous again.

And there ends my post, with most detail taken out so that no one will be offended and I won't have to reflect on a bad experience any more than I have. :)

-Argentia