426: Seoul Station

If you could physically transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?

I would catch the train at 426: Seoul Station.

I would stop at 420: Hyehwa.

A little of the appeal does come from it's subway stop number. I won't lie.

I would stop for coffee shortly after walking my up from the subway. Maybe hit up a street vendor or two for a cheap t-shirt and a pair of socks or earrings.

And then wander. To a shoe store. An art store. There was a Salvation Army. The smallest store tends to contain the most excitement and fashion in Seoul.

Take a book into Changyeonggung and rest.

And doze through the ride from 420 back to 426.

Like the rest of South Korea, Seoul is a place where I feel trapped and completely free. I'm trapped inside my tall stature and western features. I'm trapped inside my knowledge of only English. And yet I'm free because I know almost no one. I don't speak Korean. The culture is somewhat unknown to me and I'm 9,000 miles away from any debt, any guilt, any responsibility.

I would hail a cab outside and enjoy the Korean music or the GPS voice that accompanied me on the Beltway ride. Seoul is unbelievable from there. It goes on forever. The neon purple, blue and white glow that rises off the city is beautiful.

I would land in Itaewon and call the only people I know. We'd meet for drinks at Dolce. Think about Gecko's but end up at East and West. After a while, I would leave.

I would wander the streets alone on my way back to Seoul Station.

And that's how I arrived at and departed from the one place in the world I wish I could be transported to.

Seoul Station, Seoul, South Korea.







(Outside Changgongyeoung Palace in Hyehwa.)