That Day I Got Trapped Inside a Subway Station for 40 Minutes

 

At first glance, the Seoul subway map looked like spaghetti. Colorful, pretty, and totally useless to me.


I stood there for like 10 minutes. People were walking past me fast. I felt like the main character in a movie where everyone knows the secret except me.


I finally got on a train. Felt proud. Then I got off. And realized I was in the wrong part of the station. There were like 20 exits. I picked one. Wrong. I walked outside, walked back in, went downstairs, came back up. 40 minutes later I was still in the same station. Just on the other side of the street.



A busy Seoul subway station platform, clean white walls, digital display boards, commuters waiting in orderly lines marked on the floor


The Little Card Thing Saved Me But Also Stressed Me Out

Everyone was tapping a card. I had cash. The machine yelled at me. I don’t know what it said, but it felt personal.


A guy behind me tapped his card for me. I tried to pay him back. He just smiled and left. I still feel bad about it.


Later my friend gave me a card. I just tapped it on everything. Doors, gates, taxis. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t. I still don’t know how to check how much money is on it. I just tap and pray. If it beeps, I walk. If it doesn’t, I panic.


A T-money card being tapped on a Seoul subway turnstile reader, green light activating, station interior visible behind



I Didn’t Know Buses Could Just Drive Past You

I was waiting at a bus stop. A bus came. I made eye contact. It slowed down. Then it just... kept going.


I thought the driver hated me. Turns out you have to wave? Or press a button? I don’t know. My friend later told me “you didn’t signal.” Signal what? I’m not flying a plane.


I got on the next one. Pressed every button I could find. The bus stopped at every single stop until my destination. Everyone on the bus was staring at me. I wanted to melt into the seat.

A blue Seoul city bus stopped at a bus stop, passengers boarding through the front door, clear route number displayed, daytime urban setting

Summary


I thought I was good at subways. I was wrong.


The map wasn’t the hard part. The exits were. The cards were. The buses were. The fact that everyone else knew what they were doing and I didn’t was the hardest part.


📌 Things I Noticed


  • People stand in lines: I didn’t. I got a lot of looks. Now I copy them.
  • The left side of the escalator is lava: I stood there once. A guy behind me said “excuse me” 3 times. I almost cried.
  • If you’re lost: Just follow the crowd going to the exit you need. I still do this. It works 60% of the time.

This is just what happened to me. I don’t know how the trains actually work. I’m not a transport expert. Don’t ask me for directions. I still get lost.

👉 Discover more Korea guides here

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👉 [Next in this series]:  The Day I Left My Laptop in a Cafe and Thought I Was an Idiot

👉 [Previously in this series]: That Night My Empty Bowls Just Vanished From the Doorway

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