Lost.

That’s what I was. Lost. Figuratively. And literally.

 

Figuratively speaking… I was lost in life. People have a very limited amount of time here on Earth, and I was doing nothing but wasting my precious time. I had already tried and gone for the stereotypical route. I went to college, did well in my academics, graduated with honors, and got a normal office job right after graduation. To most people, I was living a good life as a responsible young adult. But deep inside… I felt dead. My life had been good, but it felt pointless. I had been going through my everyday routine without a clear direction. I felt like I was just going in circles. So, after a couple of years in the job, I quit. I hoped to find my path, my destiny, but even now, a few months after quitting, I still had no direction in life. I had no clue what I’m supposed to do and where I’m supposed to go. I had no clue what path in life is meant for me.

 

Now, as for the literal aspect… Well, I clearly had no idea what I was doing, and maybe out of sheer desperation, I decided to travel and visit another country. Given my current predicament and my joblessness, some might deem my trip unwise; others would flat out say that it was stupid. But my lack of direction in life was driving me crazy. I hoped (and pleaded to whatever higher being there was out there) that this trip abroad would help me find the right direction in life. Or, at the very least, help me relax and calm down a bit so that I don’t totally lose my sanity… South Korea had always intrigued me, and I thought it would be a good change of scenery… And that’s how I ended up being literally lost right now. Here I was, somewhere in Seoul, with no idea where I am, no clue to how communicate in Korean, and unable to get back to my motel.

 

As if having no clear direction in life wasn’t bad enough, now, I was also literally lost!

 

Great, just great.

 

I walked down street after street, turning around corners and hopelessly looking for a familiar landmark. Something that I had seen near my motel before I had gotten myself lost. But no such luck. And I supposed that all that my walking around was doing was just getting me even more lost. I guess the better option was just to stop and ask for directions. But again, I didn’t speak Korean. And as an introvert, just suddenly coming up to strangers and talking to them makes me want to die inside. I supposed some Koreans here in the streets have a little English in them, but I was too shy to just suddenly talk to strangers.

 

Maybe I shouldn’t have ventured too far from my motel. Ugh. But I had wanted to see some tourist spots! It’s not as if I traveled all the way to South Korea to stay cooped in a room. I already did enough of that back at home… However, at the rate I was going, it looks like I won’t be getting to any tourist destination in Seoul today. I had foolishly thought that the travel guides I had with me would be enough to get me through. The guide books were in Hangul, but when I bought them, I thought that I could at least make out the maps and stuff even without being able to read the Hangul writing. What a ridiculously wrong assumption.

 

Seoul was beautiful with all its hustle and bustle and unique Korean culture, but I can’t bring myself to appreciate what I saw as I walked pointlessly around the city. I was having a slight panic attack now. I was too worried about being lost and being unable to find my way back to the motel to appreciate the city.

I kept walking around for hours. I had left the motel around mid-morning, and it was now late in the afternoon.

 

What do I do?

 

I was quite tired from all the walking. My leg muscles ached and throbbed painfully, protesting from all the hard work that I was making them do today. Not to mention that I was hungry and thirsty. I haven’t eaten or drunk anything since breakfast, now that I think of it. I probably should stop for a while and get some form of nourishment. Collapsing in the middle of a foreign city would not be good.

 

I walked down a few more blocks, and I suddenly spotted a certain café. There were of course a lot of restaurants and cafes in Seoul, but the mouse and rabbit ears on this café’s sign caught my attention. Cute!

 

I slowly walked toward the café.

 

Mouse Rabbit Coffee, the sign spelled out.

 

As I got to the door, though, I was quite surprised with what I saw through the glass windows. The placed was packed. Totally full of customers. Even as I watched in a daze, a few more girls quickly walked past me, giggling excitedly. They opened the door and squeezed themselves into the café.

 

My eyebrows rose.

 

What on earth?

 

Huh, this place must have some good coffee, then, for people to be so excited about it.

 

I deliberated. I was tired, hungry, and thirsty. No doubt that the lines in the café would be quite long. I was probably better off finding another place that was quieter and with less customers. Another place that was at least not close to being so jam-packed with customers that the establishment might explode, unable to take the amount of people in it… On the other hand, I really was quite intrigued. What was it with this café that drew so many women to it (for I could see through the windows that the customers were mainly women of all ages)?

 

I sighed.

 

Well, I hadn’t been able to go to any interesting tourist spots today. Might as well see what’s so special about this place. At least, I’ll have experienced something interesting today…

 

With another deep sigh, I mentally prepared myself to get squashed in the crowd. I went into the café.

 

There was absolutely no chance of getting a table or any seat of sorts. The place barely had standing room, much less a place to sit. However, based on what I can see from the crowd of women, the place was quite beautifully decorated, modern and tasteful. Thinking that I’ll just get some coffee to go, I got to the back of one of the lines for the café’s counter.

 

And the line went all the way from the counter to the very back of the café.

 

Just fantastic.

 

And yes, that was sarcasm.

 

It felt like I was in line for hours. But the long wait was far from boring. If anything, I just became more intrigued. The people in line with me were all chatting excitedly. And giggling. To add to my curiosity, I head various languages from the people around me. There was of course mainly Korean and some English here and there. But I also head snippets of what seemed to be other Asian and European languages. Looking around more closely, there were people of various nationalities in the café.

 

But why?

 

This place was clearly popular to even foreigners. Why, though?

 

I really wished I did more research on Seoul before I went here… Sigh.

 

As I waited, it wasn’t just the presence of various nationalities that caught my attention. The people here were also holding and even wearing merchandise of all sorts. I couldn’t see quite clearly, but the products seemed to have pictures of some kind of boy band. And I now noticed that most of the people here were wearing blue. Oh no, had I gotten myself in the middle of some fan gathering? Were fans having a kind of meeting in this café?

 

I really should just get some coffee to go. Get out of here as soon as I can. I was too tired, not to mention that I still had to find my way back, to be caught in the middle of something like this.

 

To my dismay, though, the line was moving infinitesimally slow. Sure, lines in cafes were always slow, I guess, but the lines in this café were as slow as… were as slow as… were as slow as a turtle! Yes, that would be a good comparison…

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