That uncomfortable Couchsurfing experience

-- This is my first post on Steemit. This post was originally published on my blog www.wesnomad.com--

I sat down at my laptop contemplating whether I should write this post or not. Some people might freak out unnecessarily while others may just chuckle while others may reflect on their own odd experiences traveling. Anyway, I decided to go ahead with posting simply based on the following set of premises:

• Its always important to make readers aware that travel is not always a bed of roses. Sometimes there are strange occurrences in the journey.
• Thinking back about it, it was funny to have gone through that ordeal and therefore worthy of sharing.

That said, I have met with some wonderful fellow Couchsurfers in the past so don't let this anecdote deter you from joining the site please.

It was Sunday and I was due to leave Seoul for London on Monday. It was a bittersweet moment for me. Although I wanted to head to London to sort out some other pieces of business, I also did not want to leave Seoul. The people were generally really friendly, and I made alot of new friends both backpackers and locals. Initially when planning this trip, I tried reaching out to some Couchsurfers to either meetup or to stay with. However most of them were either unable to host, out of the country or just didn't respond. That was not a problem. I made arrangements to stay at Kimchee Hostel near Hongik University while in Seoul. Without veering away from this anecdote, it was a friendly and clean hostel. Whenever I head to Seoul again, they would be in my top choices of budget places to stay.

While in Busan the week prior, this particular Couchsurfer reached out to me to meetup when I come to Seoul. This was due to a public posting I made stating that I will be here and willing to meetup. I thought to myself, hey how nice that this person reached out. So I responded. I checked her profile and saw that she had some friends but no reviews. I didn't think anything of it since I know of others that don't have reviews yet but are really nice legit people. We chatted about meeting her in Suwon which was some distance away from Seoul. This was not an issue as it was an opportunity to learn travel greater distances than the metro's reach. Initially, I had some opportunities to meet this person before but I prioritised my plans and did other stuff I knew I would not be able to do any other time. I decided to make some time that Sunday to meet her. She had suggested that I could meet her at her place then head to either a spa (Jimjillbang) or a pool which I was cool with.

So, I got the directions from her and took the metro and then the bus to reach to her place. That Sunday was really overcast and rainy but I decided to still proceed knowing this was the only day to do so. I got off the bus at the destination, - her apartment complex and instantly, I felt an uncomfortable energy/vibe. For those that don't know me, whenever I get an intuitive feeling about something or someone, I'm 95%-100% correct about it. Every time. I trust my intuition.

With this bad vibe, I considered turning around and getting the next bus back down, but that wouldn't have been for quite a while so I decided to walk up the steps through the entrance regardless. At the top of the entrance way was an eery setup like out of a Silent Hill scene; dead silent playground and a foggy overcast look due to the weather. Eventually she came down and opened the main door to the building for me.

As I saw her, I got a second level bad vibe. Not good. It seemed as though she may not have been all there mentally. We exchanged pleasantries and she pointed to a box on the ground. She asked that I help her carry it. Sure, so I picked it up and got in the elevator. Of course, I expected that her spoken english would not have been as good, so no surprises there. She asked to confirm whether I was from Trinidad to which I responded yes. She mentioned, "Like Rihanna?"; I corrected her informing her she was from Barbados. She then said "Like Nikki Minaj?", I responded Yes. The elevator opened up and we walked out to a parking garage of the apartment complex. While walking she explained that she does not travel anymore but instead meets fellow CSers instead. I asked how come and she responded by saying she does not work anymore. Understandably, I didn't pry further into it, though I sensed there was more to that. After some more small talk we entered a building that seemed to handle mail for the residents. By then, with the bad vibes still there, I started to wonder whether she really lived there.

There, I saw a man that she spoke to. I though to myself, okay, this seems legit. I dropped the box on the table and she signed some documents and went to another room to pick up another, smaller box. She then asks me to hold that box and follow her. In my mind, I started to wonder what was going on here. We reached the common trash area and by then the box was opened and in it was two packs of shampoo/conditioner. I threw the box there with the rest waiting to be picked up. "People order things online everyday. That's normal", I thought. I then followed her and she typed in a code to the other part of the building at the ground level. "Ohh she knows the code. She must live here"...but..."What if she just works here and knows the code?" I followed her through as she walked in rather hastily then making her way through the male and female washrooms then to the janitorial/washing room in the middle of the two where there was a big sink.

She signalled me to come in. I asked, "Why?" she responded, "please, come; come". At this point I start to look around to see if there are any cameras that could witness this. There were none. Oh dear. I thought to myself that I am stronger than her and still have the power to exit at anytime. Chuckling in my throat, uncomfortably, I proceeded through the door.

She closed the door and asked me to shampoo her hair...WHAT?, she repeated the request. At this point I said internally; you know what, just do this and see where it goes and what happens after. If things escalated, then leave. I proceeded to wash and shampoo her hair. All the while, I'm thinking "what the hell are you doing, Wesley?" saying this I'm laughing at myself thinking about the situation from an external perspective. Yea; I tend to do that at times, to view situations without biased judgement. I tried to rationalise that maybe because of her apparent mental state, she needed assistance with that, hence the uncommon request. In between this thought, she asked to scrub harder. She demonstrated how hard in quite an awkward manner, however, I proceed. I was reaching my limit. Time seemed to slow down and my discomfort quotient was rising faster. Somewhere in between I even heard a moan. This was getting too weird. Then out of nowhere she pushes her hand out to me and asked me to suck her finger. "What? No, I am not doing that"; "Please?"; "NO. this is very uncomfortable and I need to leave".

She said okay, and shortly after that, the shampooing situation was over. At that point I was concerned and wanted to exit. She had no towel to dry her hair and the water was extremely cold adding to the already cold weather. She gathered her things and proceeded to tell me to follow her. The coldness did not seem to affect her. I am not the kind of person that would just walk away from someone without closure. So I did not walk away from the situation instantly. I waited for a better exit opportunity. We then went up the elevator and she asked me to hold it. I tried to see if she really had an apartment but still uncertain, as the room she opened was right next to the elevator and she just threw the remaining shampoo into it. For all I know what could have been a utility closet :/

I was prepping myself to make my exit at that point. She kept saying we could check out the nearby pool. I wasn't sticking around for that at all. While trying to tell her I need to leave, a father and son came in the elevator. Yaay, witnesses. We're going down the elevator and she and the father proceeded to converse in Korean. I wondered what was going on and then the elevator opens and he and his son exits then she follows signalling me to follow too. I was wary as to what was happening here. We all approached his vehicle and he opened the door and he seemed to be signalling her to get in. However, she walks behind the vehicle and almost trips and falls. She then speaks to the guy again and walks away from the vehicle. I asked what just happened and she said he was going to give us a drop to Seoul but the pool is not in Seoul. "What the hell?" That was a confusing situation.

I proceeded to inform her again that I am really uncomfortable with this and I must leave now. I even said I have to meet a friend earlier than expected and must make my exit. She then pulled out a cream from her handbag and then asked me to rub the cream on her legs. Mind you, she had on a long pair of pants. "No!, I am leaving I can find my way out, no need to assist me". While trying to say "nice to have met you; bye", she insisted on following saying she will walk me out. I said okay but continued walking my own way. She asked if I wanted something to eat...No- She asked if I still wanted to check out the pool...No- She asked if I wanted to see a nice dress she bought...No. I made it back to the 'Silent Hill' playground and said goodbye as quickly as I could and left.

I pumped down those stairs through the doorway and across the road to the next bus stop with pace. At the bus stop, while I'm messaging a friend about the situation, she messages "are you mad with me?" I responded "No, I am just very uncomfortable and just have to leave. When I have a feeling about something I'm usually right..I hope you understand." No response after. It didn't matter to me. I had an odd feeling that she was watching me from across the apartments though.

Shortly after, the bus came and it turned out to be the same one that dropped me off in the first place. Funny. I got onto the bus, hands smelling of fresh shampoo, laughing quietly at what went down thinking what a funny situation it was. Ahh, the joys of traveling - the combination of ups and downs are what defines the adventure you have in your journey.

I wrote a negative review on her CS profile when I got back to the hostel and therefore saved three lives from experiencing that ordeal. One guy still went ahead to meet her although I told him about the situation and he had a similar experience but left very shortly after arriving and left a second bad review as well.

Talk about uncomfortable. *1Cringe*