Lesson Learned: The last train to Chuncheon does not actually go to Chuncheon...

I lured Michael out of the house one weekend with the promises of a burger. I told him it was just dinner and then I threw in the idea of a movie as we were leaving the apartment. It looked fabulous in my mind. I looked up the times of the trains (although I still wasn't quite sure which ones were express, which I do now: the red ones) and I looked up movies at Mega Box in the Coex Mall, just in case. There was a movie playing at 8:25 and I figured that at 1 hour and 40 minutes, we had plenty of time to make the 11:03 train or if needed, the 11:23. My mental math should have included packed subway cars, running up several flights of stairs, and waiting for trains to come (sometimes they are 20 minutes apart!).

We got on the 4:43 train to Seoul, filled with people who got on at Chuncheon station (we get on the second stop, Namchuncheon). Not an express train, we had to stand for about an hour and twenty minutes only to get off and stand on two more packed subway cars for about another hour. After purchasing tickets to the movie, we went clear to the other side of the mall to TGI Fridays. We went primarily because Michael remembers there as the best burger he has ever had in Korea.

This time around, Michael was disappointed and so was I because I was forced to order some noodles doused in cream sauce (there was some guise on the menu of there being vegetables in it, but all I saw were a couple of onion pieces). A good time was had though, because we were able to enjoy some food, even if it wasn't the best. After our dinner, we hustled back to the theater. Ordered some cheese popcorn and a pepsi nex and got to the movie just in time.

We saw The Be All and End All and it was pretty fantastic. It's about a 15 year old boy who finds out he's dying and his final wish is to lose his virginity. Predominately a comedy, I was extremely happy with the choice.

Here's the part of the night were some mistakes were made: First, we went to the bathroom after the movie. This slowed us down about ten minutes. Next, I pulled us off the train at the right stop, then Michael decided it was the wrong stop. We got back on the train and he realized it was in fact the right stop, just as the doors closed and the train pulled away from the station. So we had to get off at the next stop, cross to the other side of the tracks and wait 10 minutes for another train to come. By this point, Michael was getting upset and we realized that the last train to Chuncheon (according to the schedule we picked up) was not 11:23, it was 11.

We continued to Sanbong station anyway and ran up the twenty flights of stairs finally to the departure gate. There was a train, still there! It was about 11:10 when we got on and it departed about 5 minutes later. We were so excited to be on a train back home and were surprised about 20 minutes later when a message came over the loudspeaker. The next stop was the final stop of the night and the train would be ending services.

We scrambled off the train as everyone else was and kind of just stood around the train station for a couple of minutes, trying to decide what to do. We were in a town that we didn't even know the name of, and we didn't know what we should do. A couple that was on the train with us came up to us and told us they were going to the sauna (jjimjjilbang). Our previous experience at the 24 hour sauna was not very pleasant, so we decided to go the other way, toward some neon lights of the small town. We walked around and saw some standard Korean city things: a movie theatre, some restaurants, and many closed buildings since it was now nearly midnight. We were able to locate one motel, the M motel. It was located on the 9th floor of a dingy building. This didn't seem like a good sign, but we didn't have many options.

Long story short, we stayed in a seedy motel for 6 hours. At 6 am, we woke up and caught the next train to Chuncheon. Our taxi driver could barely keep his eyes open as we went on a wild ride back to our apartment. A short time later, we were fast asleep with our cuddly kitten.