Seoul and it's surrounding areas have no shortage of means by which to get from one end of the city to the other, which means it can be beneficial to look into your options. Living in Hwajeong while there, a suburb not far from the city proper by Line 3, I had a decent assortment of strategies... Taking the trains could, at times, be quite crowded depending on the time of day, as I found during my work commute. Living in the suburbs is a popular choice for many residents, and many of those people, just like myself, had to commute into the urban center for their work or school. Depending on where I was going, it could sometimes be much better to take a bus- Hongdae being one such area. While I could ride Line 3 over to an adjacent station, then transfer to a different line and crowd in with the students headed to class, I found the hard way that it was a little too easy to miss my stop and end up at Seoul station, where to reroute to the place I needed to be would require walking to the opposite end of the rather large building (and up/down so very many stairs). If I was in a hurry, say to catch a doctor's appointment my lovely friend and experienced ex-pat Carmen had arranged for me with an English-speaking woman doctor, taking the bus would drop me off within five minutes' walk of the clinic's front door. This would spare me the potential panic of realizing I'd gotten a smidgeon too absorbed in a story on Reddit and missed my stop, losing valuable time. No transfers to worry about, either. The bus stop for the ride to Hongdae was in front of a large department store complex not far from the train station entrance, so it was no less convenient getting to it, either. There was a handy LED sign displaying the bus routes, their ETA and destinations- albeit in Hangul, but it's not the hardest alphabet to learn and you can start to parse out key words and phrases with a little effort. At least, after being in Korea for a few months at this point, I found my comprehension of Hangul increasing without having to spend an intensive amount of energy into studying it... that is to say, I didn't really study much, if at all... I probably would have picked it up much sooner and more smoothly had I applied myself, but I digress.
Your preloaded transit card works for the busses, as well, so no need to panic trying to figure out pocket change for fair. Just make sure your card is loaded at a train station and go about your day. I very much enjoyed taking the bus into the vibrant, trendy area of Hongdae, and the ease with which it returned me to my area. I took lots of photos because I found the different perspective novel.
Enjoy!
Until next time!
💖
XOXO,
NAU
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