“Wait, what? I can’t understand you. Speak louder, how will I commute again?” I shrieked at my mobile, annoyed beyond doubt at the really pathetic service I was getting. My older sister’s more annoyed reply was simply a buzz in my ear due to the bad reception and since I was just simply wasting money by calling her from Korea to Manila, I decided to end our conversation and just opted to email her my question on directions around Seoul. I gave her a hasty goodbye and made my way to the hotel which thankfully was not far from the café I went to for breakfast and coffee.

Hi, my name is Rie and I’m a tourist here in Seoul, Korea. I just arrived a couple of days ago and my routine so far for the past few days consisted of me staying at the hotel for breakfast, lunch and dinner, going to this café across the street from the hotel for good coffee (and wonderful internet service for a really cheap price) and staying inside my hotel room. I admit, it’s not exactly the ideal tourist’s adventure but with the spontaneous decision of coming here in the first place combined with lack of knowledge of good tourist destinations, I didn’t really expect much from this three week long trip. I’m just glad I got a break in the very first place. The trip was just an excuse to break away from the hassles of work and home. It was lovely being on my own even for awhile. So with that in mind, I booked a flight to Korea as soon as possible (I didn’t want to go THAT far, yet, so plans to go to Europe is on hold and besides who in their right mind will tour Europe for only three short weeks?!) as well as a hotel in Seoul. I didn’t really think of going outside the city since as I’ve said I’m not really expecting much from this trip. And besides I wouldn’t get easily bored when I’m in the city due to the busy and hyped up atmosphere and the many wonderful places I could visit.

Did I mention that I’m also scouting to see hot male Korean idols during my stay here in Korea, hence the decision to stay in Seoul (where they are most likely to be seen)? No? Well I am.

My train of thought was cut short, however, when someone approached me while I waited for the traffic to clear up in the intersection heading to my hotel building. “Hello, there.” Said a twenty – something Korean girl in cracked English as she appraised me from head to toe, her once over more curious than insulting (as it usually is when done by women her age). She was the same height as me but seems smaller by how she handles herself, I noticed as I turned to address her. “Hi, can I help you?” I asked a bit oddly considering out of the two of us, I’m more likely to be in need of help being a tourist while she’s a local. She nodded her head, “Yes.” vigorously and said, “I’m an assistant at a variety show of a local television network and I was just wondering if you would like to be an extra for a shoot that we’ll be having. We’ll pay you of course.” She said hastily at my surprised look. “The shoot will be taking place here you see, and we’d like to hire extras but we were given such short notice so instead of having auditions we just opted for approaching random people around the area that we think would be interested but would not cause much problem to the director and the guests as they film here. I’m afraid we even had to shoot down fan group’s pleas on coming along when they got wind of the news we need extras. It’s much better for the director you see to have an enthusiastic but a sane audience compared to an audience who goes crazy  at the sight of the idols.” She was rambling now as she pushes up her thick rimmed glasses up her button nose then promptly twisting and uncurling what looks like to be a script in her hands as she continues to explain to me the director’s orders for recruiting an audience for this shoot. I held up my hand to stop her from continuing on and told her that I’ll go, she’ll just have to tell me the location of the place and what time. “Oh, well it’s a block away from here, in a café called, SKOW. You have to be there for call time which is around 1 o’clock since shooting starts at 2 pm sharp. We’ll be listing your name during the call time you see so we could address you properly on your pay check, as I’ve said you’re being paid for this afternoon.” I nodded reluctantly to what she said, unsure on how to reply to her continuous ramblings. “I’m Hani by the way, just look for me when you get there.” She added as an afterthought at the same time the traffic light turned red and the pedestrian lane was signaled to green. “Sure thing, I’ll see you then Hani.” I called back over my shoulder with a wave as I walked across the lane. “See you!” she called back to me and I gave her another wave. I smiled to myself while recalling her proposal and wondered if I had any clothes fit for a television show as the first snow of the season started falling on me as if on slow motion in a black and white movie in the 20’s.