Transportation
The transportation system is great here, especially in larger cities. We live out in the country, so we see a lot more cars around here. Everything is so spread out. We actually rent a car from the school with 2 of the other teachers. Whenever we go to Seoul, we hop on a bus which costs about $8 one way. There are also trains and subways. Around Seoul, the subway is awesome! Seoul is one of the largest cities in the world, but the transportation is very efficient. We are very happy to have that.
Cars are a different story. People drive cars like they are race cars here, zipping in and out of lanes, cutting people off. But what's funny about all these driving maneuvers is that they are often preceded by hazard lights. If someone starts slowing down in traffic, they'll often turn on their hazards. If they are about to cut you off, they'll turn on their hazards. If they run a red light, they turn on their hazards.
Red lights are another funny part about the roadways here. Red lights seems to be more of a suggestion rather than a law-especially outside of larger cities. The police don't enforce traffic laws here, at least not that we've seen. We've seen cars go directly through red lights in front of a police car, and they don't get stopped. We've seen cars speed past police cars, going WAY over the speed limit. We've actually done that ourselves. I told Taylor the other day that I think I'm losing my healthy fear of police cars. I've never seen a car pull anyone over here for traffic violations. As a result, we have begun running through red lights occasionally and speeding.
You might wonder how traffic is controlled if the police aren't doing anything. Well, there are traffic cameras. If the camera catches a car speeding, it takes a picture of the license plate, and you'll get a ticket in the mail with a picture of your plates. Most of the cars here have GPS, which comes with a camera detector. The car we rent from the school doesn't have a GPS, so we just follow the other cars. Everyone speeds, but when a speed camera comes up they all break. As soon as you're past the camera, well it's time to speed up again. Don't worry, grandmas, we don't speed very often (or run red lights)- I promise.
Oh yeah...about policemen. They often drive around with their lights on. One of the other Americans that has been here for awhile said that all the cops do that when they are on duty. So, how do they pull someone over if they need to if their lights are always on anyway? Hmmmm. One of the girls that shares the car with us actually pulled over once because a police officer drove up behind her with his lights on. She pulled off the road, and the officer drove right past her. I hope she doesn't read this blog because that's an embarrassing story. :) We were scared when we first got here and saw the cops driving around with their lights on, but now it's perfectly normal. And we don't even slow down when we see cops. We just keep right on driving, even if we're going a little over the speed limit. It's great.
Construction- they have fake construction men everywhere. I guess it saves money. The scary thing is- these guys look real! When you see them from far away, it really looks like a real man is standing there waving a wand.
Speaking of construction, a few months ago there was a huge outbreak of Hoof and Mouth Disease in South Korea. This was a big deal. Apparently over 2 million, some sources say over 4 million, pigs and cows have been killed because of this outbreak. That amounts to over 20% of the pig population, and about 4% of the cow population in South Korea. Even more disturbing was that the animals were inhumanely being buried alive, and the Korean government refused to vaccinate against the disease. One of the attempts to stop the spread was to spray off cars and vehicles that could transmit the disease around the country. So about every 30-50 miles, depending on where you were driving, there were checkpoints where your car would get sprayed down. This went on pretty much all winter long. On one of our more recent trips, I noticed that the sprayers weren't there, so maybe the outbreak has ended.
Gas Stations: Gas stations here are not self-service. An attendant is always on duty to pump your gas. In fact, you don't even have to get out of the car. They don't have convenience stores attached to gas stations here like the States, so there's really no reason to get out of your car. If you're paying with your card, you hand it to the attendant, they'll run inside, and come back out with your card and a small gift. They call it "service." Sometimes it's a free bottle of water, often it's a pack of wet wipes, or simply a pack of tissues. We usually go to the same gas station, and they always give us tissues. We've got about 8 packs in our car right now.
Well, this post is already getting long, so I think I'll stop with transportation.
2 comments:
What's the purpose of the fake construction workers??
First of all, I'm shocked that you figured out how to comment! To answer your question- I guess it is to save money? You don't have to pay a fake guy.
Post a Comment