1. snap!

    okay that’s pretty funny, but it’s not why i’m posting this. yesterday was a very very difficult day here in Seoul. i had a big day of sightseeing planned out and after having lunch with Lauryn at her school, i was ready to hit the streets. i got on the subway and realized it wasn’t going as far as i needed to go so i got off at the next stop. waiting for the next train to come i realized the camera was missing from my pocket. PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! i freaked out because 1, it was Lauryn’s… 2, the train was long gone and i wasn’t even sure it was on it, it could’ve fallen out anywhere… and 3, i don’t speak a word of Korean so trying to explain it to anybody would be impossible! after backtracking to the apartment to see if it had fallen out or i had just forgotten it, i went to tell Lauryn. i was sick to my stomach and sweating like a chain-gang prisoner. so awful…. but Lauryn was amazing. so sweet and understanding, way more than i would’ve been i’m sure. she asked one of her Korean teachers to call the Seoul Metro office for lost and found and wrote down a little Korean note for me to take to the station where the train was bound in hopes of finding the camera. after numerous calls with no result i headed to the station. nothing. i showed the information attendant my Korean note, he made a few calls, and nothing came of it. i got back on the (wrong) train home and ended up going 6 stops past Doksan because it was a ‘rapid’ train. the day couldn’t get any better right? finally, after getting back to Doksan i went to Lauryn’s school to tell her i didn’t find anything. when i arrived however, she told me somebody had called from the station and said they found it! what?! how is that even possible?! in america, a $500 camera laying on a train is gone as soon as the person who dropped it leaves the seat! this couldn’t be THE camera that i lost 5 hours before. after Lauryn finished school a couple hours later, we set off to pick up the camera. when we got to the station…. nothing! again! nobody had any idea what we were talking about and after what seemed like 20 phone calls, we were left with a “we’ll call if we find it” promise again. deflation. so we just decided to get dinner in the same neighborhood as the station. up until that point, it was the only good thing about the day. and then at dinner, a phone call from one of Lauryn’s co-teachers. they DO have it?! for real, or are we gonna go back just to NOT find it there again? finish dinner, walk back… wait 5 minutes and some dude strolls around the corner with the camera in hand. Lauryn promptly jumps onto him in full-on bear hug mode and he has NO IDEA what to do but hand me the camera. haha. it was too funny. sorry for the length of this post, but it is just insane to me that somebody would return this expensive camera. the Korean mindset is just so different then ours. at the lost and found were about five wallets, a passport, a couple phones, and another camera. i bet in Chicago, the CTA lost and found consists of 2 sweaters and a shoelace. and even if you had lost something, i’m sure the amazing folks at the CTA could give two shits about it. it just floored me when we got the camera back 10 hours after it had fallen out of my pocket. and no reward necessary! but we did give the lady at the help desk a white tiger donut from Krispy Kreme! haha (via baravettski:thedailywhat)

    okay that’s pretty funny, but it’s not why i’m posting this. yesterday was a very very difficult day here in Seoul.

    i had a big day of sightseeing planned out and after having lunch with Lauryn at her school, i was ready to hit the streets. i got on the subway and realized it wasn’t going as far as i needed to go so i got off at the next stop. waiting for the next train to come i realized the camera was missing from my pocket. PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! i freaked out because 1, it was Lauryn’s… 2, the train was long gone and i wasn’t even sure it was on it, it could’ve fallen out anywhere… and 3, i don’t speak a word of Korean so trying to explain it to anybody would be impossible!

    after backtracking to the apartment to see if it had fallen out or i had just forgotten it, i went to tell Lauryn. i was sick to my stomach and sweating like a chain-gang prisoner. so awful…. but Lauryn was amazing. so sweet and understanding, way more than i would’ve been i’m sure. she asked one of her Korean teachers to call the Seoul Metro office for lost and found and wrote down a little Korean note for me to take to the station where the train was bound in hopes of finding the camera.

    after numerous calls with no result i headed to the station. nothing. i showed the information attendant my Korean note, he made a few calls, and nothing came of it. i got back on the (wrong) train home and ended up going 6 stops past Doksan because it was a ‘rapid’ train. the day couldn’t get any better right?

    finally, after getting back to Doksan i went to Lauryn’s school to tell her i didn’t find anything. when i arrived however, she told me somebody had called from the station and said they found it! what?! how is that even possible?! in america, a $500 camera laying on a train is gone as soon as the person who dropped it leaves the seat! this couldn’t be THE camera that i lost 5 hours before.

    after Lauryn finished school a couple hours later, we set off to pick up the camera. when we got to the station…. nothing! again! nobody had any idea what we were talking about and after what seemed like 20 phone calls, we were left with a “we’ll call if we find it” promise again. deflation. so we just decided to get dinner in the same neighborhood as the station. up until that point, it was the only good thing about the day. and then at dinner, a phone call from one of Lauryn’s co-teachers. they DO have it?! for real, or are we gonna go back just to NOT find it there again?

    finish dinner, walk back… wait 5 minutes and some dude strolls around the corner with the camera in hand. Lauryn promptly jumps onto him in full-on bear hug mode and he has NO IDEA what to do but hand me the camera. haha. it was too funny.

    sorry for the length of this post, but it is just insane to me that somebody would return this expensive camera. the Korean mindset is just so different then ours. at the lost and found were about five wallets, a passport, a couple phones, and another camera. i bet in Chicago, the CTA lost and found consists of 2 sweaters and a shoelace. and even if you had lost something, i’m sure the amazing folks at the CTA could give two shits about it. it just floored me when we got the camera back 10 hours after it had fallen out of my pocket.

    and no reward necessary! but we did give the lady at the help desk a white tiger donut from Krispy Kreme! haha

    (via baravettski:thedailywhat)