Ever since I moved to my new neighborhood I've had to use the public transit system on a daily basis. This is a blessing in disguise because it gives me the opportunity to experience 'life in Korea' as the average Lee, Kim or Park (45% of last names in Korea). Whether I am on a trip to/from school or venturing to Dunsang-dong for a chai latte at The Coffee Bean or shopping at Costco in Eunhang-dong, it is liberating to know I can survive without a vehicle!
Check out this map of subway lines and stops in Seoul... first time I saw it I laughed out loud =) Believe it or not, it is remarkably easy to use! Fortunately the cost of transportation around here is minimal -- you can take the subway and city bus for 90 cents per trip, taxis start at $1.80, three hour bus fare to the airport is only $14, KTX train travel across the country costs approximately $20 and, of course, walking is free. All in all, a fairly inexpensive country to travel.Already I have some 'vintage travel moments' while living in Korea that I definitely will not forget any time soon. Here are a few entries from my journal:
August 2008: Part of living further from school means I have a commute: some days I take the city bus, other days I'll hop aboard the school bus that comes by our apartment complex to pick up TCIS staff and students. Well, I had to laugh on my way to school last Friday. I'm sitting on the school bus packed with a bunch of Korean kids of all ages (K-12) and here we are making our way to school to the sounds of the Bee Gees blasting over the bus speakers... "Oo, oo, oo, oo, stayin' alive, stayin' alive..." I had to pinch myself to see if I was really on a bus packed with a bunch of Korean kids jivin' to the Bee Gees on a rainy Friday morning on my way to school =) Too fun.
September 2008: I looked in my wallet and realized I only had 10,000 W bills without any time to get exact change from the local kagae. So instead of missing my bus I figured I would play the dumb foreigner and ask the bus driver if he could give me change. The 711 pulls up and I am the last one to get on the bus. I search for the Korean word for "change" and remember they understand the word if we sound out the last vowel, so I hold up my 10,000 bill and ask the bus driver "changie?" He gives me this look and then clues in that I'm wondering if he can make change for the bill stretched out between my hands. He crosses his wrists which is the Korean sign for no and waves me on the bus as a favor. There was an empty seat behind him so I sat down and gave him the only change I had in my pocket, not quite enough for the bus fare. He counted the coins, nodded a 'thank-you' and chuckled as he put it in the fare collector.
Since that moment my new friend and I have had numerous interactions whenever I get on his bus. The fact that we can communicate at all amazes me since he doesn't know English and my Korean is limited to about 50 words. So far he knows I am from Kanada, I know he's been driving the bus for over 30 years and we give each other words to practice in our native language. The best part: whenever I get on his bus he smiles and says "ah changie" as his greeting to me.
October 2008: Today I thought I was going to die on the streets of Daejeon. The only thing that soothed my troubled soul was knowing that the taxi driver didn't want to wreck his source of income (car) any more than I wanted him to. So here we are traveling in the right lane on a busy 6 lane city boulevard and I notice cars parked in our lane ahead. The lanes next to us were jam-packed and my driver decides he is going to speed up toward the parked cars instead of slow down and merge! So here we are headed toward the back end of a parked car at 80 km/hr and I am not seeing any way out. Then, in typical Korean driving style, the cars in the next lane miraculously edge over within their lane so there is just enough room for us to squeeze by. Honestly, we must have had only inches on either side of us. And not only did he pass 1 parked car with us straddling lanes but the driver passed at least 8 cars that way! I think he wanted to impress the foreigner in his back seat with his driving skills... well I definitely had an impression!
I haven't seen a stop sign yet while in Korea. The main traffic controls are street lights at major intersections and men wearing uniforms with white gloves directing traffic into parking areas. It really is a nice touch to have personalized attention when driving in parking lots and garages but maybe more of these traffic cops could be placed on the streets where it counts? Seems like anything goes on the streets of Korea -- even the traffic lights at intersections are mere 'suggestions' judging by the number of drivers who cruise through red lights (buses included). Hang, I even witnessed a car making a U turn crossing ALL 8 lanes of traffic during rush hour. No guts no glory.
So how does one stay alive while driving in Korea? Well, there seems to be an unwritten rule of the road where large vehicles have the right-of-way. In other words, huge transport trucks can cut off buses, buses cut off flat bed trucks, flat beds cut off vans, vans cut off cars, cars cut off motorcycles, motorcycles cut off scooters, scooters cut off bikes and no one cuts off pedestrians because they are the least protected! Any wonder why I walk so much?
