Seoul searching

A bit on my experiences with transportation and getting around Seoul, South Korea:

I'm currently studying at the main Gwanak campus of Seoul National University, located in the southern part of Seoul. Though there's a subway stop called "Seoul National University", it's actually 1.5 km away from the actual campus. The sprawling campus is situated in a rather mountainous area, close to Mt. Gwanak (don't think I'll ever get used to the 25 minute uphill treks to class...I bust my ass every morning). The student dormitories are actually located near the back gate, closer to the Nakseongdae station than they are to the Seoul National University station. Still, getting across the Han River and into other Seoul neighborhoods requires a bit of effort.

With classes only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I find myself heading into the city frequently to hangout, shop, and eat. This usually involves me taking a 5-10 minute bus ride from the dorms to Nakseongdae Station, then taking the subway. As with most public transportation systems in Asia these days, the Seoul metro is hugely efficient, and has multiple lines spanning the entire city, with more lines being constructed as we speak. The subways are clean, smooth, and fast (even offers wifi if one is a paid subscriber), but given the density of the population here, one will usually be hardpressed to find a seat.

A trip across the city of Seoul, consisting of multiple transfers, can easily take two hours -- this gives you an idea of how expansive the city is! One can usually estimate about a two-minute ride between each station. Once having arrived at one's destination, the trick is then to figure out which exit to take out of the subway station. Subway exits are numbered, with some stations having as many as 13 or 14, and one may end up at complete opposite ends of a neighborhood, dependent on the exit taken. Sometimes an exit will determine which side of the street one emerges from upon leaving the subway. This is important, because in some cases, a busy street is cross-able only via the underground subway station, unless one is willing to walk quite a distance to reach the occasional pedestrian intersection. Jaywalking is a pretty bad idea in this city, considering that vehicles have priority over pedestrians, meaning they don't have to yield to you!!! If you're struck, you're held liable...

Of note: the entire Seoul public transportation system ceases services at approximately midnight every day, and does not resume service until nearly 6am. This is surprising, and almost counter-intuitive, given Seoul's infamous nightlife! Late night is prime time for taxi services in Seoul - it keeps the industry in business. 3am is an especially profitable time for taxi drivers, who swarm the Apgujeong, Gangnam, and Hongdae neighborhoods (filled with bars and clubs) to negotiate with drunken clientele and demand exorbitant rates for trips (they are not always inclined to use meters during these hours).

I experienced this first-hand one night when my friends and I, after having boarded the last sub from Hongdae headed to Gangnam, were suddenly forced off the train at a random stop when it halted service. At nearly 1am, we found ourselves in Shindorim, a neighborhood devoid of nightlife and yet quite far from the SNU campus. Some taxi drivers were demanding ₩50,000 (nearly $50) for the trip back to the dorms and others refused to take us altogether (drivers will readily decline passengers if they are not interested in traveling in that particular direction). Black taxis in Seoul are designated "luxury cabs" (from what I can see, they just offer a couple extra inches of legroom) and charge a good deal more for their services, so those vehicles were out of the question. We gave up on getting to Gangnam, but it didn't help that the SNU campus area seems to be a hugely unpopular destination for cab drivers due to the relative lack of stranded people to be found once in the Gwanak neighborhood. We were resigned to kill time in a "chicken and beer" restaurant, rather popular establishments in Seoul. It was past 2am when we found that the taxi drivers had finally chilled out a little and were willing to make the trip to Nakseongdae station at a much more reasonable rate.

On another occasion, I wrapped up some late-night shopping at Dongdaemun market at around 3:30am, at which point my two friends and I decided it would be a brilliant idea to forego the expensive taxi rates and just wait it out until the subways began running again at 5:40am. We killed two hours eating street food and loitering in the seating area of a cafe, exploiting their wifi. Let me just say, that was probably the most random way I could have spent my first ever all-nighter (yeah, I tend to prioritize sleep over much else...like studying...). I arrived back at my dorm at 7am and, even then, forfeited sleep because I had to leave for an 11:00 lunch appointment. A high-strung, awake-for-30-hours Esther was a grumpy one.