So that last couple of weekends have been filled with parties and I’ve taken this weekend off to recover. The first event/party I went to was Seoultube. I went with a youtuber friend of mine. It was originally suppose to be in a park, but due to the rain it got moved to the Hidden Cellar in Itaewon. It was relatively easy to find but we were kinda late since we spent the morning running errands.
Seoultube was a meetup for youtubers in Korea and their friends/fans. I figured I’d spend most of the day just following Nathalie around. I wasn’t expecting much, and was actually kinda disappointed it was being thrown in a bar, I hate meetups in bars because they get loud and it’s hard to talk/hear other people. But after one walk through of the bar with Nathalie I just got pulled into a conversation. Nathalie moved on thinking it was someone I knew.
The person I ended up chatting with isn’t a youtuber but actually a Korean blogger/dancer and I had a ton of fun chatting with her. I also got to meet several other youtubers as they passed because she had picked the perfect spot by the bar that everyone had to squeeze past. Everyone I met was really friendly- well mostly, there was one person who was super rude but one bad seed shouldn’t ruin the party.
Eventually Nathalie came back to find that I was still there. It was fun chatting with people, hearing about all these new (at least to me) youtube channels and all the different styles and methods people use to share their experiences and what they love. It got me super pumped. I guess this is what you could consider a fun version of networking. I was surprised at how supportive everyone was, or least everyone I spoke to. (still excluding the bad seed) It didn’t matter how many viewers they had, everyone was just down to Earth and in heaven because they all got to nerd out about youtube stuff, cameras and filming.
We ended up staying a lot longer than we’d expected. Which was a surprise but I’d have to say it was worth it.
Now the other party I went to was the opposite, and I have to say the shortest time I’ve ever spent at a party. Depending on how long you’ve followed me you may know I hate getting lost, but that when it happens it usually includes a ridiculous hike and me wanting to cry.
Last weekend my agency that got me here threw another party, and it was the perfect type of party for me. Super relaxing bbq on a lawn in front of a cafe with a little water fountain but secluded enough that everyone there was there for party business. Everyone I was planning to go with (i.e travel with) cancelled. One of my friends had to cancel because her school made her work to catch up on hours because of Mers, the other had a grad test they hadn’t studied for the following day. I figured there was no point in me being early, especially since last time I was early I was over 3 hours early and ended up wandering around in circles for those 3 hours until the party started. (See: Welcome Teacher’s Party and Getting Lost in the Mountains )
The party started at 2pm and went until 7pm which for me on a weekend is the perfect time for a party because that way I don’t have to worry about the trains or the buses not running and being stranded in Seoul. Again. So I dragged my feet a bit but left before 2 figuring I’d get there at 4. Yes it was going to take me about 2 hours to get there. But the first thing that happened was that the bus I was waiting on to take me to the train station decided that once it was only 4 minutes away to go on a half hour break at the bus station. It takes me about a half hour to get from my bus stop to the train station. So I didn’t end up at the station until about 3. So I was an hour late, with only 2 hours left to party. A couple people I knew at the party told me to take a cab saying it’d only be about 3,000 KRW (~$3). So I got in a cab and showed him the address on my phone and he spent over a half hour trying to decipher it (I pulled it from the FB event page where it was in Korean.) He was also turning away at least 4 other people who tried to get in the cab. Eventually he finally just told me no. So rather than waste another half hour trying to get another taxi to take me I decided to pull up the map from the FB page and walk it.
Now the map showed you get out of exit 3 go straight for about 3 blocks, cross a river and hook a left at a huge curve. Which is what I tried to do. The area I was walking in was gorgeous, though I passed a hospital and nearly had a fright because I wasn’t expecting it and there were patients just chilling on the sidewalk with their IV stands. Now usually I wouldn’t care but MERs has made me a little wary about hospitals for the time being. Though if were honest that was just silly, I was totally fine. I also passed a school with a tree across from it hooked up to IV bags.
After awhile I sent a message to a friend at the party to ask if they could at least tell me if there was anything nearby I’d notice because I was walking past a huge stadium not on the map and was sure I should have been kinda close. She sent me a google map with where she was and I was able to use my phone to figure out how to get there. Which showed me I’d gone in the wrong direction.
Here’s what happened. On the map on the FB event it looks like (or at least to me it looked like) exit 3 spits you out in the direction you needed to go, i.e. South. Instead it spits you out West and I ended up crossing a huge river rather than the tiny one I should have.
Now with better directions (just moving my blue dot towards the red destination dot on my phone) I headed off towards the party. I was hot, exhausted and hungry. And I’d wasted a half hour going the wrong way. It took me a little over a half hour to find the place. So if you’re following and do some quick math, what time did I show up to the party that ended at 7pm? That’s right, after 6pm. I spent about 4 hours trying to get there. Not the two I’d expected.
My agent saw me asked why I was late (In a miffed motherly kinda way) and I almost cried explaining everything but instead of crying just was super relived that they still had food.
In my head I had planned to spend about 3 hours at the party, relaxing, chatting with people I knew, meeting new people and enjoying Korean BBQ. Instead it was much more of an American style BBQ (hotdogs and brats). I just took what they gave me and sat on the edge of the platform they were bbqing on with my agent trying to have a decent conversation while simultaneously stuffing my face. I did meet new people and I did chat with people I know, but it was a lot more rushed and not the way I pictured it. Instead the only people I chatted with were agents.
My agent, I suppose was worried because I had told her I’d meet her there, was super late and had gotten lost, so she offered to take me back to the train station when she went at the end of the party. I had just enough time to cool off, pop into the cafe and order a drink one of the other agents had let me try before we headed out.
Less than an hour at a party you spend 4 hours getting to seems like a bit of a waste of going downtown. But that wasn’t the only thing I had planned for the day. My friend who had to work until 7pm to make up for MERs vacation had invited me over after the party and lived only a couple stops off away. So I met up with her and got to meet her new adopted rescue kitten kimbap (who spent the entire time hiding because he’s still to scared to really leave his hiding spots). I figured I’d spend a short hour with her before having to head home. But I didn’t. I left later than I should have and had to hurry home if I didn’t want to be stranded. I had to catch the last train which meant I had to rush from one train to the next on my 3 different transfers to make sure I caught the train I had to catch if I wanted to get home. It’s something I never ever want to have to do again. I caught it. Then took a taxi home and didn’t get home until about midnight. I spent about 7 hours of the day on public transit.
Overall I probably should have left earlier for the BBQ and maybe should have tried another taxi driver who may have understood the address better, and even though the day was stressful and exhausting I’m still glad I went. As crazy as that may sound. I feel like I got the chance to get to know my agent better, I got to speedily see another part of Seoul and hang out with a friend even if it was all rushed. It’s interesting how polar opposites these parties but how I still had fun at both.