No money, no credit, low battery. I stood dumbstruck as I tried to decipher the map on my phone. Yet, it was obvious that it was no use at all—I had no idea where I was, and where I was heading towards. Trying my best not to panic, I looked around for any signs or directions. Nothing was familiar, and I began to wonder…would I ever make my way out?

It was during summer break and I went back to my home country, Korea just for a short visit. Since I’ve lived most of my life in Thailand, it was always exciting to visit Korea and visit my relatives and also travel around. I loved to get on the subway and go to stops that I’ve never been before and travel around by myself. Because I was concerned about my deteriorated skin from the hot blazing sun in Thailand, I wanted to have a treatment or therapy; and thankfully, one of my mom’s friends wanted to take me to a skin care clinic.

After receiving directions from Mrs. Shin (my mom’s friend), I headed out. Since the public transportation facilities were advanced in Korea, I could easily travel to any location in Seoul. However, this time it was quite a challenge for me, because to get to the specific neighborhood where Mrs. Shin lived, I had to take a bus after taking the subway. Still, I was determined and ready to do it, and skipped happily toward the subway.

Since I was at the subway during the morning rush hours, the subway was packed with people—ranging from young to old. I sensed the students who seemed to be my age eyeballing me curiously and wondering why I had no uniform on. Inside the subway, there were no seats for me to sit on so, I had to stand. I looked around. Everyone had their own electronic devices, mostly touch phones. They were all watching, reading, or listening. Although this was a completely common thing in Korea, I was once again amazed at how many heads were staring at the screen and how many diverse types of devices each of the individuals were using.

As the train marched on, gradually more and more people left and I was able to find a seat. It was a long way and so I decided to listen to music myself and observe the people around me. At the very next stop, a man entered with a big suitcase in one hand and a CD case it another. He began to advertise the CDs arranged with the all-time favorite classics with his professional persuasion skills. This was another common scene; sometimes umbrellas and raincoats were sold during the rainy season or mittens would be sold during the winter. When the next stop came, the man left leisurely after selling few CDs.

The train contained so many interesting people of various looks and actions. Occasionally few tourists would come, and I was pleased to hear the familiar sound of communications in English. The train went about five more stops before I reached my destination. Out in the station, many shops containing different accessories, clothes, and food attracted me but, since I had to get to the clinic in time, I had to force myself out.

I came out of the fifth entrance of the station and an unfamiliar scenery unfolded before me. The streets, the road were different and outside; I waited for the right bus to come. 5521...5523...506... Finally! The right bus came and I got on, quite nervous because I wasn’t sure if I would get off at the right stop. “The next stop is, Namgang Middle School.” I put my transportation card (which could be used in both subways and buses) on the reader and got off. Mrs. Shin was waiting for me and we went to the clinic and I got to receive some treatment.

After the treatment, my face felt clean and smooth almost like a babies’ skin. Mrs. Shin took me out for lunch and a dessert before I headed back home. This time, I was confident that I could go back to the subway station from the neighborhood. Without any worries, I hopped onto the bus and started to go back...when suddenly, I realized that I didn’t know which stop I was supposed to go to.

The bus went on, and my hands started to sweat like running water from a faucet because I was afraid I might end up stopping too late or too early. I felt like I was near the right station and absent-mindedly, I just got off the bus. However, it was nowhere near what I expected it to be. When I got to the neighborhood in the morning, it felt like I was in the city…as in the busy and bustling city. The place I stopped had no visible figure of any human being and I began to panic. All I had was my phone, my transportation card, and few coins.

I calmed myself down and tried to find a Wi-Fi signal but I realized I was running low on battery. The transportation card probably only had enough money for one more trip and I didn’t want to waste it on catching another bus. I decided to call my mom, but the phone just notified me that I didn’t have enough money to call. Uh, oh.

Feeling helpless, I began to walk down along the road hoping to be able to follow the same path the bus took. I walked and walked for what seemed like eternity and before long, it began to rain. First, the cool breeze and sprinkling rain felt really good against the hot sun that I had to face while walking. After a short while, rain began pouring like stones falling from the sky and I started to run, unable to recognize any signs or buildings ahead. I finally reached some building to catch my breath and yes! Wi-Fi was free! I messaged my mom telling her that I’m lost and she started to worry a lot. I told her I would try to figure out where I was and started to walk in the rain some more. I began to pity myself for getting lost in my own country. After all, this was my passport country and I could communicate which was a relief; however, it may have been the rain or whatever it was, I did not see a single head appear for twenty minutes of walking. Communication wasn’t even a problem for me, but I had nothing that I could possibly get an idea of where I was.

By the time I had walked almost for an hour more, my legs began to wobble and I felt like melting ice. The rain poured heavily and even with my umbrella, I was soaked with water. After what seemed like an endless journey, I came near a place which was more “urbanized” than what I have been seeing for the past few hours. There were lots of people roaming around like busy ants and I just knew that somewhere near there had to be a subway station. Soon enough, just as what I have expected, I found a sign and dragging my exhausted body, I hopped on to the escalator down the subway station. Oh, yes! I could go home now!