A New Years to Remember

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
My friend Joanne and I left for Seoul Friday afternoon with plans to meet up with Martin, Damian and Orla when we arrived. Since it was New Years Eve the buses were booked up and we couldn't get out before 4pm. We arrived into Seoul just after 9:30pm and made our way to Iteawon to meet Martin and the others.
We had a quick bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant and made our way to one of the pubs in the area, called Geckos. By this time it was 11:30pm and we rushed to get some drinks to ring in the new year.
We ended up leaving the pub later to go clubbing and somewhere along the way I lost my purse.
All my money, my passport and alien card were gone!
Thank god for the kindness of friends - as Jo and Martin made sure I didn't go without food or drink.
Jo and I met a couple of nice American lads...(not GI's but still military) who let us crash in their hotel room for the weekend (they were staying at the Ritz Carleton.....nothing but good Christian fun..right Jo? ha ha).
The rest of the weekend was spent in various pubs/ restaurants while fruitlessly trying to contact my bank in Canada to get my cards cancelled. 'Miss Duggan, we need your credit card number to verify your account'... what the...? but I lost my credit card?? 'Sorry Miss Duggan, we can't help you' ...hmmm...nothing is easy here.
Sunday morning, I was planning to go to the police station to file my report - I had previously called the police but language barriers were too great and they asked me to come in to the station to file my report.
My cell phone rang and a Korean voice was on the other end...generally I hang up when this happens since I don't speak Korean and often it is just a wrong number...however, something in her tone made me wait...I told her I didn't speak Korean...she sighed heavily and slowly said my name and the word 'bag'. I quickly knew someone had found my purse. I ran to the lobby of the hotel and asked a front desk manager to speak to her in Korean. They arranged for my bag to be courriered to the hotel within the next hour and a half.
Truly, the gods must be smiling on me...what luck?
Although all of my money and my digital camera were gone, my passport and cards were still there - along with my house key (ahhh what a nightmare). Relieved to get most of my belongings back, we grabbed a starbucks (oh God bless America) and headed to a little Italian restaurant for some pasta and red wine to celebrate my good fortune.
After our late lunch our new found American friends had to leave to get back to north to their base and Jo and I had to catch our bus back to Ulsan..so we said good bye and made our way to the bus station.
unfortunately, we realized we did not have enough money to take the bus home - so we trekked back to Itaewon to find Martin and gang to beg for more money from him (thanks again). By this time, the buses to Ulsan were sold out so we resorted to taking the bus to Busan then doubling back on a local bus to Ulsan.
Ahhhh the fun.
Anyways, Seoul was amazing...we are hoping to go back as soon as I can scrounge up some money. I wish I had pictures..the mountains were beautiful!
It was to say the least, a New Years to remember! I think it may be a forshadow of my year...the good luck just keeps on coming.
I hope everyone is well back home and you have a great 2005.
Ciao
Colleen