One of the first challenges I had here was public transportation. My dad used to work in Ilsan which is about 2 hours away from mine. Monday mornings, I take 2 bus rides and a cab from Ilsan to Gwangtan. That's from Ilsan to Geumcheon, Geumcheon to Gwangtan, and Gwangtan to Yuram Sam Go-Ri. I follow a strict schedule with this 'cause the rides will delay me 30-40 minutes from any of the bus, should I be late with one of them.
It was getting late and I still wasn't completely sure of the bus schedule. But what's confusing me that morning was where the proper bus stop should be. Some bus drivers are very strict with stopping on the proper bus stops. And yes, some bus stops are not meant for other buses. The buses are also color-coded but I haven't memorized which colors go where. That morning, I was waiting at my regular stop when my next ride just passed by me and went straight to the other stop. So I thought to my self, "maybe this is the wrong stop." And walked to where that bus picked up the other passenger. A few minutes passed by and I'm starting to doubt my decision. I know the terminal is near by but I don't know where in particular. I also questioned myself for waiting at this "other stop" when I've been picked up by the bus twice, where I usually wait.
There are also two buses that go to my destination. One is the regularly sized blue, and the other was a huge green. But both have their own routes. I was waiting for the latter, but time was really pressing that morning, I was considering on taking the other bus or even take a cab from here. But since it has a different route, I will be forced to walk about 2 blocks. A taxi will also cost me more than 10 times a bus fare, and it'll take me another block to walk to the taxi stand. What worries me is if any of the two buses pass by their designated stops, just as I'm in between them.
As this confusion goes and being worried of getting late at work, I decided to walk back to the middle of both stops. The one where I usually wait, and the one where the bus stopped that morning. If in case, I'll just run towards where the bus driver decides to pick passengers up. Both stops are about 50 meters apart. While doing this, a rock, about twice the size of my fist, was rolling past in front of me. And then another behind me. Second one was just 2 feet away from me. I looked at where it came from and I saw a Korean guy standing near the top of a construction building, staring at me rudely. He was just staring at me. Rudely. I didn't know how to deal with this. But I'm sure it was him who threw those rocks towards me. Good thing I have my job that I'm more worried about.
About 30 seconds after this incident, the bus appeared and stopped at where the earlier one passed me by. So I ran towards it as fast as I could, but I saw the Korean guy threw one last rock at me. I wasn't hit at all, and I'm just glad the bus showed up. "I think I can make it to work on time," is all I thought of.
So why did the earlier bus passed by me at the proper stop, then picked up a local passenger at the wrong stop? I don't know. And why did that Korean guy threw rocks at me 3 times? It's up to anyone's guess. But since that day, I decided to find the bus terminal and planned a different schedule for my Monday morning trips.
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