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Published: August 23rd 2009
As I near the end of my time here in Korea, I have become a hundred times more confident in my ability to navigate the streets and subways of Seoul. But I spent a couple of hours in Seoul on Friday that I won't soon forget and they have taught me a few lessons about myself and traveling in general.
On Friday after language classes and before cooking class, I went to the souvenir shop on campus and bought some gifts. This left me low on the last of my original stock of Korean won, so I went to the Global ATM in the Student Union to get some more. But it rejected my card, saying it was stolen. Needless to say, this sent me into immediate panic mode. I had 22,000 won in my possession and some odd change. That's it, except for $40USD in my room.
I went back to KLI to use the computers and figure out what was going on. When I looked at Bank of America's website there were no unknown charges to my account. Then I went to look at the settings on my check card and found the answer- BOA has sent me a new bank card while I've been away. I don't know why, so I will have to figure that out when I return. But that left me with no way to get money out of my account.
An alternate plan quickly formed in my mind- buy won at a money exchange. Of course, this was Friday afternoon and banks and exchanges were closing soon. And I didn't really know where any exchanges were. So I took the subway down to the city center and started visiting the big hotels, knowing that they at least would have English speakers and money exchange counters and would be open. Unfortunately, you have to be a guest with a room number to exchange money.
By 4:30pm, the banks I was passing were all closed. The only thing I could think was to contact Florence, my KEI colleague who is in town for a conference. She was staying down at a big hotel in Gangnam, so I could maybe go down there and she could vouch for me to the exchange desk. But Florence wasn't picking up her phone. I sent her a text explaining the situation and asking her to call me.
At that moment, when I couldn't reach Florence and I had very little money and no one would let me buy any and they were telling me in a foreign language that I still barely understand- that's the lowest point I've reached in a long time. I mean, I knew rationally I would be ok. I had a credit card- I wasn't going to starve. I could probably borrow some money from friends. But I also felt very alone, a very long way from home. Not only that, but I also had my first moment of hating Korea. I was fed up with it, done, ready to get out. Hate's a strong word- perhaps frustrated is a better way to describe it.
I let myself have a few minutes of despair, and then got back to work. First off, food. I went to TGI Friday's for a big greasy burger, because I hadn't eaten since breakfast and I knew they would take credit cards. As I waited for my food, Florence called me back. Yay! She was going to dinner soon, so she couldn't meet me immediately. But she gave me her room number and told me to try with that, or she could meet me in the evening at 9pm.
I now had a bit of hope, that at least by 9pm I might reach salvation. I headed down to the hotel in Gangnam, the COEX International, to try out the room number first. Wow, that place was big. And really nice. I felt underdressed to even be in the lobby. Mostly because all the Korean men and women were walking around in power suits and pearls. Usually in an American hotel, even a nice one like the Willard, you'll see guests in shorts and T-shirts. Not here!
I found the exchange counter with no problem and put on my "I belong here" attitude that has served me so well in France. I said I wanted to purchase won using my credit card, would that be alright? "Yes" (First hurdle crossed- some places didn't like credit card transactions) Was there a withdrawal limit? "No" (Also good, some places only let you get out 200,000 won a day) The moment of truth was when he asked for my room number. I gave them Florence's and held my breath while I gave him the credit card. I didn't know what they'd do if they noticed the name on the card wasn't the same as the room reservation.
But he calmly took out a pile of won and gave me a receipt to sign. I was home free, although I kept expecting him to snatch it back from me any second with a look of disgusted revelation on his face.
It was only when I thanked him and turned away from the desk that I really felt safe and back to normal. The nightmare was past. I had enough money to last another 2 weeks if I wanted. I was going to be ok! And you know what, I was happy to be in Korea again. I know that's fickle and petty, but the sun definitely shown brighter, the people seemed happier and the world was a little less cruel when I walked out of that hotel (or maybe that was because I was in Gangnam- newer and very chi-chi area of town). I was grateful too, because only in Korea do I have enough contacts and friends to ensure that I would have been alright no matter how it turned out.
So that's my story of a few hours in Seoul. I met up with Andrew and Karl in Itaewon for a few drinks before curfew and then hit the hay early in preparation for my tour of the DMZ the next morning. Life continues as normal.
A couple important things from this experience:
- I like to get things fixed right away, instead of waiting for a convenient time. I obsess otherwise.
- Money is a safety blanket in a foreign country.
- You never appreciate things until you don't have them anymore.
- It could always be worse.
- Take traveler's cheques.
- Freak outs are ok, as long as they're constructive freak-outs.
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Birgit
non-member comment
I can understand!
Hey Sarah, What a nightmare... I would have done the same thing... run around town until the issue was solved. If your future travels (or for any of your friends who read this blog), some things I do before I travel include: --Give one of your parents or siblings access to your bank account (put them on the "ok" list with your bank so they can call the bank in reference to your account), so in a situation like this, they could call and say "don't deactivate the old card just yet"... this happened to me once to, and my Dad called and got them to reactivate the old card. --Before you leave for a trip, call (or email) all of your banks and let them know where you are going and when, so they don't deactivate your account by accident after noticing international transactions. --Set up a new bank account and keep just $500 in it and keep your main bank's ATM card hidden away. Just use the $500 atm card around town and have your parent/sibling refill the account periodically (give them money ahead of time to do this). This way, if the card is stolen or lost, you don't have to worry about possibly losing tons of money and you have an extra ATM card (your main one) in case you need backup. --And, yes, travelers checks are great to take along. And, If you don't use them, you can just deposit them in your bank account when you get home for no charge, just like a regular check. (I usually do it in person at the bank though, just to make sure there are no questions.) Cash is also good to take. In some countries, they will only take $100 bills and they have to be newer clean bills (seems unfair, but they won't except dirty, old, small bills everywhere)