I realize sometimes that I really am experiencing culture shock and that I don't understand the way things work here in Korea. No where is this more evident than in regards to traffic.
One of my first mornings in Gumi, I was walking to school at around 6 am I heard a lot of beeping and I thought "Wow, traffic must be bad." However, since I was walking on the sidewalk I ignored the beeping and kept on walking. I heard more beeping but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just then an old man grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the way as a motorcycle roared by on the sidewalk. I felt the breeze as it zoomed by and I know if he hadn't pulled me out of the way I would have been run over. I bowed to the man to thank him but he just shook his head at me as if to ask "Why are you so dumb?" I continued on my way to school and told some Korean co-workers the story. They were all calm about the incident and only seemed to be surprised that I was so indignant that a motorcycle [they call a motorcycle an "autobi"] almost ran me over on the sidewalk. I told them in Canada bicycles and motorcycles aren't allowed on the sidewalks and that they are called side WALKS not side DRIVES. But, I still don't think they understood...
I took this picture of a motorcycle [autobi] in the market in Waegwan. I snapped this photo just as this biker almost ran me down. I think he was surprised and a bit embarrassed I took his picture cause after I did it he bowed his head to me maybe to say, "Sorry, I almost ran you over."
I now am extra careful walking on sidewalks and in markets for I know that in Korea motor vehicles seem to have or at least take the right of way.
Korean streets are very narrow and cars and trucks park along the sides of them. This means that in most neighborhoods cars can only drive down the major streets. In my neighborhood I have to walk to the corner store and take a taxi from there as the taxi will not even try to navigate the narrow street to my apartment.
I find it interesting that if it's bad weather raining or snowing etc. which is when you want to take a taxi so you aren't exposed to the weather you still have to walk to a big street to get a taxi. This sort of defeats the purpose. Yet, if you order Korean or Chinese food it is not only delivered to your door [by motorcycle] but it is brought on real dishes making it necessary for the restaurant delivery person to come back an hour or so later and pick up the dishes. All you have to do is leave the dirty dishes at the front gate or just outside the door of your apartment. Wow! Quite a paradox, eh?
The thing I notice the most about traffic here is all the honking. Since I am partly French Canadian I was always a bit of an aggressive driver back home in Canada and I used my honk a fair amount [more than anyone I know] but in Korea EVERYONE uses their honk. I noticed that drivers honk at other cars at intersections in warning, "Don't pull out in front of me". If a car stops in the middle of a street [blocking the street in either direction] and the drivers goes into a store if a car comes and needs by the driver honks and the person in the store will run out and move the car. Honking seems to mean everything from, "Thanks", "Don't open your car door while I am driving by your vehicle", to "Get the heck out of my way" and yet in some strange way it works and makes sense to the people here. They seem to understand perfectly. I just watch in amazement!
One evening I was walking down a street and I saw a big truck parked in the middle of the street. A car pulled up behind it and honked. I stood there watching and almost laughing at the driver honking. I thought to myself, "Stupid! There's no one in the car. It ain't gonna move itself!" When all of a sudden the truck driver runs out, bows to the honker and quickly moves the truck. The honker bows his head back and drives away. I stand there in shock. Honking works! Even at an empty vehicle. WOW!!!
This is a photo of a Gumi street showing the same kind of big [bongo] truck I saw parked in the middle of the street blocking traffic in my story above. It, also, shows how narrow the streets are and how with vehicles parked along the street anyone stopping a car will completely block traffic.
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