Lost in Ulsan!

I have to report about the first (and assuredly not last) time I was lost in Korea.  [This was about 1 week ago]  I planned on visiting a music shop to get some guitar stuff.  My co-teacher Jack is lending me his guitar until I get paid at the end of the month, and buy my own.  He hasn't played in a long time so his guitar needed new strings, and I needed other miscellaneous things like pics and a strap.  I learned that there was a music shop nearby in Seonamdong, or 'Old Downtown.'  I had to take the bus for the first time and was excited to explore, but had very limited directions to this music shop.  I did have a map that my co-teacher Jack printed off for me, but everything was in Korean, and all I knew is that the store was a block or two south of a school. 

When I was on the bus, I asked a high school student in Korean (using my handy dandy phrase book) how to get to Seonamdong.  I figured out that that is where he was getting off the bus, so at least I knew what stop to get off at.  When we got off I asked him if he knew where this music shop was and he had no idea.  I decided to just wander and see if I could find it, which worked out because I needed to buy some things at other stores anyways (like a belt, and slippers for my school).  I was about to walk in the complete wrong direction, when I spotted the WaBar, a Western style bar (that is a chain bar in Ulsan) that I had just read about at http://www.ulsanonline.com/ so I stopped in.  I figured they might be able to help me find my music shop.  It took a while, but with the help of 3 employees and a bit of confusion I ended up with a make-shift map of how to get there (pictured below). 

Old Downtown is very cool, it's got this huge outdoor mall type deal.

Picture I took at WaBar.

Picture of the map they drew for me!

I finally found my shop and... it was closed!  Of course, so at least I knew where it was and ended up going with a buddy a couple days later.  It was about 9:30 PM so I walked around to a couple more stores and then headed to a bus stop.  While I was there a high school kid came up to me and started speaking to me in English!  Apparently he had studied English as a foreign exchange student in Chicago for a year, and is planning on going to college there.  We chatted for a bit, then I got on the wrong bus.. NOW FOR THE LOST PART, haha.

Music shop that was closed.

Picture of the street the music shop was on so I could find it when it was actually open.

I get on the 104 bus, that had taken me to old downtown, but apparently I took it going the wrong way.  As time went on I noticed that I was the only passenger on the bus, and I was like "uh-oh."  Believe it or not this is not the first time I have managed to find myself at the end of the line of a bus route, being told to get off (happened once on Lake-tran back home).  At this point I am extremely exhausted; I had been at my school, gone hiking, been exploring/shopping, and now I'm just trying to get home and it wasn't happening.  I figured I would take a cab, but I was not in the main part of the city anymore (at a bus station) and I didn't have a cell phone.  The bus driver wrote 2 bus line numbers on the paper I showed him with my address, but I was still stranded.  Finally a bus driver tried to talk to me, failing miserably, and then had me get on his bus (free pity ride).  I sat on his bus for about 15 minutes while he watched a portable television.  I had NO IDEA what was going on, but after a bit he took off.  We were back in the city, but I didn't have a clue if we were going to be heading back to my area, or when I should get off, so I just thanked the driver, told him "tehk-see" and got off.  Got a cab, and made it home (for 10 bucks instead of 1).  It was crazy!