BED BUGS?!

20.10.2012

Sam woke up early and left in the morning, but Alex and I slept in. We went to get some coffee and then came back and took another nap. Suzanne never showed up at the party, so I tried to find her, but I couldn't figure out where she was trying to tell me where to go, so I didn't bother. I went off on my own with a little walking tour I downloaded from National Geographic.

So, I went up on the cable car to the top of Seoul Tower, then walked all the way down to Itaewon, the shopping/foreigner area. I didn't manage to get out of the hostel until 2 p.m., so it took up the rest of my day.

On the walking tour that I was doing, at the end, it was supposed to bring you to the red light district, but I think it's gone now. I walked around and around and around and still couldn't find it. I read that in 2005 Korea finally made prostitution illegal. So, that's a good thing maybe, unless the whole thing just went underground, which would be worse. As tourist, these are the types of things you are unlikely to find out. Yes, I still consider myself a tourist, and I think I always will.

After I gave up looking for "Hooker Hill" I went and had a giant hamburger because I was STARVING. Something you probably wouldn't guess: Koreans know how to do a good burger. I have never been disappointed... except that time they put a pineapple and some sort of barbecue sauce on my burger...Every other time was awesome. Not cheap however, but awesome.

As I was eating my burger, my foot suddenly became itchy beyond belief. I started scratching and scratching and thought nothing of it. From there, I took the subway home, completely exhausted. As I was walking back to the hostel, I heard some shoegazing type sounding music. This is the kind of thing that I cannot pass by. So, I descended into the basement to take in some atmospheric jam rock??? I dunno what I would classify it as, but it was a really nice end to my day.

It got worse though, when my arm started itching out of control just like my foot! I was trying to enjoy the music, but could not keep my mind off of my insanely itchy arm... I could feel a ton of bites all over the place, but it wasn't until I got home (and Steph told me that they sounded like bed bugs) that I looked in the mirror and I realized they were ALL IN A STRAIGHT LINE. Oh no, yep, telltale bed bug sign. I slept until 4 a.m. and woke up to the crazed urged to just itch all of my skin on my arm and ankle off. It is probably the side that I was sleeping on that got all the bites. So I immediately bagged up all my clothes and left a note, telling them to please throw it out without paying for the last night at the hostel. Sidenote: It's too crowded here. Ugh! The cable car was packed, the subways were packed, the park was packed and the bar was packed. Too many people in too small a place. STOP HAVING BABIES KOREANS!

Housetay