As mentioned previous, my main recommendation on driving in Korea, at least in cities, is don't. This is of course assuming you are used to driving in the USA or Canada (I would assume a lot of European countries too, but not having been there I can't comment). I will attempt in this post to explain why, and why I have called driving in Korea “bat-shit insane”. I will start off by giving you some advice that I was given when I started driving, “Always expect the other drivers on the road to do something stupid.” I have driven by this rule all over the US, but when I got here I learned “stupid” is a relative term.
I will start by explaining roads in Ulsan (I can't guarantee that this will hold true all over Korea, but I've been told by reliable contacts that it does for the most part, although it doesn't hold to the same degree away from cities). The first type of road in Ulsan is the big arteries. These are usually at least 6 lanes wide and intersect each other with roundabouts, although sometimes with standard traffic lights. These main arteries sometimes have other roads intersect them with lights, although the main purpose of these lights seems to be cross walks, and they have many places where there are lights for cross walks without any intersecting roads. The roads themselves look just like you would find on any big arterial in the US, with lanes and the like. The biggest difference is the actual driving on them, I will hold off comment on the actual driving for now.
The second type of road is basically everything else. With some exceptions, non-arterial roads do not have any lights, stop signs, yield signs, or really anything else. Another feature of these roads is that, despite the fact that they have two lanes (a yellow lane divider goes down the middle of a lot of them), there is usually only room for one car on the road at a time. This is due to cars parked in legal spots down the road. As such you will have long lines of cars stopped at a wide spot on the road, usually an intersection, while cars from the other direction squeeze through the narrow spot (it should be noted at this point that most such streets do not have sidewalks, so you are squeezing by with the cars as a pedestrian). You also find people trying to turn on to another street, only they can't fit because there is a car on that street trying to get onto their street, often trying to turn left. The first car turns partly onto the second street making it difficult for the second car to turn left, which is the only thing that will allow the first car to get onto the street. Sometimes you have this situation from all directions, and one or more of the directions is stuck due to the before mentioned problem of narrow roads. Thus you have 3 or 4 cars in an intersection all trying to go different ways at the same time) As such everything comes to a standstill. This sounds bad, but this is one of the few times pedestrians can easily get across the street.
Allow me to defend my last statement. The first thing I noticed about the roads in Korea is that pedestrians do not have the right of way at intersections, or cross walks (unless there is a light), at stop signs, or really anywhere without a green cross walk sign. This is an important point, and I assure you that I am not exaggerating at all in anything I'm about to say. If I go to a marked cross walk (without a light) and I try to cross with a car anywhere nearby, the car will not stop, they may honk, they may swerve, but you do not have a right to cross that street while a car is coming. To add to this, let me ask you a question. You are driving down a small street (no lane dividers, like a residential area or a small commercial area), no lights, no stop signs, and lets say you see a kid(maybe 7-9) getting ready to cross the street, he's obviously checking both ways and such and he's at a labeled cross walk. Do you stop? If you were trained in the US, I'm going to assume you would, if not you're probably a jack-ass. In Korea it is expected that you won't stop (yes, even for young kids trying to cross a small street at a cross walk), even if you multiply that one kid by a dozen, and include kids that are younger. If you are a decent human being trying to keep young kids safe and you actually stop you will be honked at, even when the other driver can see the kids crossing. If you are the adult in this situation bravely standing in front of the car so that the kids can cross quickly in safety, you will be honked at.
Okay, so those are the two main types of roads here in Ulsan, now allow me to explain the actual driving style of Koreans. Basically Korean driving is based on a big game of Chicken. If you're driving down one of those narrow roads, whoever stops first is the one who is stuck until the traffic lets up. If you're driving down a big arterial and want to change lanes, whoever keeps moving over gets the lane. This explains why pedestrians are the low man on the totem pole since most pedestrians will give up when there is a car coming down the road right for them. Another thing to note about driving in Korea is that they are always looking forward. This may not sound like a bad thing, since you are supposed to keep your eyes on the road, but they are actually trained to always look forward, never turning their head. If this doesn't strike you as a bad thing, just think about what you (hopefully) do when you change lanes. Yeah, Koreans don't do that. Some cars have extra mirrors on their cars to reduce blind spots, but most cars don't have these. As such there is a lot of honking on Korean roads, not out of anger, but to let other drivers know that there is a car in their blind spot. To make it worse, if there is an accident due to a car changing lanes without checking their blind spot, whoever is farther back is at fault. Thus, if you are driving along and a car is a little ahead of you, enough that you are in his blind spot, and he decides he wants in your lane and moves over and hits you, you are at fault. Another thing to note is that lanes are not strict things, often cars will drive along in two lanes at a time, I guess they're just keeping their options open (I know this sometimes happens in the states, but this seems more the norm instead of the exception). Given all of this I have a hard time watching while anyone is driving, especially while I'm in the vehicle.
Thus far I have only spoken on driving, but parking isn't much better. It is not unusual to see cars double, tripled, or quadrupled parked. The worst I saw was at a bank with two rows of cars 7 deep with a building on one side and a high sidewalk on the other. This basically means the first car in wouldn't be able to move until at least 6 other cars moved. This was a bit more extreme than I normally see, but literally every day on the streets or parking lots I see cars double or tripled park. Sometimes I look at parking lots and am reminded of bad car lots, the kind where they have lots of cars jammed into their lot (probably due to some sale they're having), and you can't get most cars out without moving several others. Seeing this has often make me ask “Why” and “How”. If you are a faithful reader of this blog (and I assume you are) you will know that I shouldn't ask “Why”, but I couldn't help myself. Fortunately, as I felt the blood getting ready to burst forth from my head, there was an experienced foreigner nearby that I could ask. As it turns out, in paid parking lots the keys are often left with the attendant, and this person moves cars around as needed. On the street or in other situations where there is no attendant, the cars are either left in neutral with the parking brake on ( manuel transmission cars at least) and people just push them out of the way and then back. In other situations, all cars have cell phone numbers on them. If they are blocking you in you simply call that number and tell them to move their car. This stopped the blood from shooting from my brain, but it still makes me shake my head in wonder when I see it.
I'm sometimes ask what I miss most about home. It may sound stupid, but the thing I miss most about the USA is the driving system they have. I miss not having to dodge cars on my way to work, I miss not having to close my eyes when I get on a bus. I miss walking down the street and not marveling at the insanity of the roads at where I live. I miss not having to squeeze through moving cars in order to get somewhere. I miss all of this and I don't even drive here. I miss this most even though I haven't used an oven, a microwave, an oven, a clothes dryer, a TV nor been able to talk to anybody at a grocery store or restaurant in 2 months. While I certainly miss those things, I don't miss them on a daily basis.
On a final note, especially given my last paragraph, I want to make it clear that I have not exaggerated in anyway in this post. All of the examples given are ones that I have actually experienced or witnessed and reported as faithfully as possible. While I'm sure I'll come to get used to the roads in Korea, I doubt I'll ever find their system in anyway equal to the traffic system in the States.
(P.S. Please excuse grammatical errors in this and future posts. I know I'm college educated and all, but it's amazing how quickly your grammer goes when speaking with kids who are trying to learn English as a second language and you're trying to communicate with them. After a few hours of teaching it becomes perfectly appropriate to say "I good" or "they is happy" or "I was excitedly". Also you learn that you don't need things like "the" "a" "of" "is" "are", or any of the other "throw away" words, and dropping the "s" at the end of words should be expected. Sometimes I think my kids teach me more than I teach them. {To further this point, I read through this last section a couple of times before I realized I was missing a "s" at the end of a couple of words, it's amazing what you can miss when you're used to not hearing it})
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thoughts on Various Things
Sorry for the delay in posts. I've been meaning to update sooner but I have been preoccupied trying to send money home after my payday. I won't go into the gory details, but it took longer than I thought and too most of my time and thoughts. Also, I know I've promised a post on the driving in Korea, and that is coming, I'm trying to get some good pictures to show, but for now just know that if you are coming here, don't bother renting a car, I don't care how good you think you are, if you've only driven on US roadways, or other sane roadways, then you are not qualified for Korea. In short driving in Korea is bat-shit insane. Also, for this post, instead of having a unifying theme I will just talk about random things about life in a different culture and language.
First on language. After nearly 5 weeks in Korea I can speak 2 phrases in Korean, “Hello/Goodbye” (the same phrase can be used for both) and “Thank you”. I can also usually understand when someone else says these phrases. The rest of the time I can only assume they are actually saying something, although they could just be making random sounds for all I know (and that is usually the way it sounds). I learned a little Spanish in high school and when I went to Mexico for a while, but the Korean language is vastly different from English. The sounds that they have are different from we are used to make with our mouths. Thus even then I try to speak Korean I am laughed at (only by my students and Korean teachers though, when I'm in shops and such they are very friendly). To give you an example say the word “Pucca”. No matter how you are saying it I can almost guarantee that it is wrong. It is the name of a Korean cartoon character here. In one of my classes it was written in English and I read it as it looks (and I'm sure that's how you read it). The class erupted in laughter and “No teacher, “Pucca””. I didn't hear much of a difference between what I was saying and what they were saying, but it was enough that they insisted that I was wrong. It reminded me of one of my classes. In this class I have a student who has the name “Ally” and one named “Elli”. Obviously these are different names, and I can only assume that I could walk into any class in America and the students would know who I was talking about if I said “Ally”. In this class though, I have had to resort to saying “Ally with an A” or “Elli with an E”. I have the same problem in another class where I have a “Jinny” and a “Jannee”, although it's not quite as bad, they are only confused if I talk a little fast.
Anyone who has taught grade school has probably started to unconsciously adopt their “culture” if you will. You laugh at things they find funny, at first it's just so you can be a more effective teacher, relating to those things they like, but then you start to actually internalize it. Then the end of the day comes and you can talk with adults and it's like a breath of fresh air. My teaching experience is a little like that, but not only do I adopt what they find funny but how they talk too. For instance I'll find my self saying “I no Korean” instead of “I don't speak Korean”. It's worse than that though because most of the Koreans I encounter who do speak English don't speak much more proper than this. To try to keep my ability to speak English I translate what they say, which is sometimes a guessing game since they don't always use proper tenses. You don't always know if they are talking about the past, the future, or the present since they will use all three within a couple sentences on the same topic (and I'm saying not to criticize, just to note my difficulties, my lowest level class, which are 6 year olds, can speak better English than I can speak Korean). Basically I don't know if I would be able to speak English at this point if I didn't have my foreign teachers to talk to after classes and on the weekends.
Another note of the Korean teachers. They are all very nice, although as mentioned they like to tease. Not only do they tease my Korean speaking (although they are more than happy correct and help) but also my chopstick skills. I use chopsticks all the time now, even in my apartment just to get better at them, but I'm still not good enough. The other night while eating dinner the one of the Koreans pointed out my lack of skill and challenged me, all in a teasing manner of course, and in good fun. You see, these dinners (as do a lot of Korean cuisine) consisted of my individual bowl of rice and several things also seaweed to roll the rice in. I say things because most of the time I don't actually know what I'm eating, I just know that most nights at least some of the Korean teachers are laughing at me because I find something very spicy. These “things” are in the middle of the table and everyone just reaches with their chopsticks and grabs what they want. As such one's chopsticks skills is always on display. One teacher brought forth a bowl of beans and wanted me to pick up an individual bean without dropping it or squishing it. Somehow I was able to do it. The next challenge was to roll rice in a square of dried seaweed using only chopsticks (many of the Koreans make it look like a tight sushi roll, and somehow they do it all with their chopsticks, never touching the seaweed or rice). Yes it is possible to do such a thing since I've seen it done many a time, but I didn't even attempt it. I realize that I'm making the Korean teachers sound cruel, but that is far from the case, they are nothing but kind and helpful, but they do enjoy poking fun.
Another word on language. Immigrants to America are often criticized for not speaking English, or only speaking a little English, but now that the shoe is on the other foot, I can fully understand their position. Learning another language is very difficult, especially when you get older. If your job doesn't require it, there is little need to learn. I've been here 1 month and able to shop for anything I want or need, opened a bank account all by my self, and gotten around town. This is in part due to people I know who speak English or people at the bank who spoke some English, also pictures on menus at restaurants. But in part that is my point, in most major cities in America you can find people who speak your language and English, and especially if you speak Spanish, you can certainly find a bank who has Spanish speakers. Another point I wish to raise is that Americans are sometimes criticized for only speaking English, no other language. We're given examples of Europeans who speak more than one language, or Asians who speak both their local language and English, but I don't think that's quite fair. Yes, our education system could emphasize second languages more, but really what's the point? I don't even mean that as English speakers, we have the near universal language due to our economic and political might. The bigger point, especially when compared to Europe, is that there is no need to learn another language. If you live in Germany and want to visit beautiful coast lines you have no choice but to go to France, or Italy, or something. If you live in America and want beautiful coast lines you go to Florida, or California, or Hawaii, if you want to ski you go to Utah Idaho, Oregon, or Washington, if you want to experience deserts you go to Arizona or New Mexico. Want frozen tundra? Go to Alaska or Canada. Want a one of the largest most active cities in the world? Go to New York. Want the fruited plains? Go to the mid-west. What do all of these places have in common? You can experiences while speaking and hearing nothing but English (well, maybe not in New York). In other places you have to leave you country (and often your country) to experience significant different terrain or life styles. In America all you have to do is hop in your car and drive a few hours. Speaking only English you can experience vastly different cultures and climates all within the borders on America. As such Americans feel no pressure to learn another language. That isn't to say that I'm not going to try to learn more, but if I wasn't living here for the next 11 months I wouldn't feel compelled to learn much more than a few basic phrases.
To answer the most basic question, I am doing well after 5 weeks. Yes, there is odd odd things here and some things that are just bat-shit insane, but I'm adapting (I constantly remember my parents mantra “the flexible shall not be bent out of shape”). Korea is a first world nation so they have all of the amenities that you would expect, and whenever I feel homesick I can always find a hamburger or pizza to make me feel better (so long as I ignore the Korean way of doing such things), or I can write an e-mail or write a blog post. I have a nice routine going for work and making it through the day, as well as the weekends. Speaking of which, I am really enjoying having weekends. It's been a while since I've had normal weekends or a consistent schedule. I'm really liking that part. Basically, don't worry about me, I'm doing alright, although I enjoy hearing from friends and family from home so don't be afraid to write.
First on language. After nearly 5 weeks in Korea I can speak 2 phrases in Korean, “Hello/Goodbye” (the same phrase can be used for both) and “Thank you”. I can also usually understand when someone else says these phrases. The rest of the time I can only assume they are actually saying something, although they could just be making random sounds for all I know (and that is usually the way it sounds). I learned a little Spanish in high school and when I went to Mexico for a while, but the Korean language is vastly different from English. The sounds that they have are different from we are used to make with our mouths. Thus even then I try to speak Korean I am laughed at (only by my students and Korean teachers though, when I'm in shops and such they are very friendly). To give you an example say the word “Pucca”. No matter how you are saying it I can almost guarantee that it is wrong. It is the name of a Korean cartoon character here. In one of my classes it was written in English and I read it as it looks (and I'm sure that's how you read it). The class erupted in laughter and “No teacher, “Pucca””. I didn't hear much of a difference between what I was saying and what they were saying, but it was enough that they insisted that I was wrong. It reminded me of one of my classes. In this class I have a student who has the name “Ally” and one named “Elli”. Obviously these are different names, and I can only assume that I could walk into any class in America and the students would know who I was talking about if I said “Ally”. In this class though, I have had to resort to saying “Ally with an A” or “Elli with an E”. I have the same problem in another class where I have a “Jinny” and a “Jannee”, although it's not quite as bad, they are only confused if I talk a little fast.
Anyone who has taught grade school has probably started to unconsciously adopt their “culture” if you will. You laugh at things they find funny, at first it's just so you can be a more effective teacher, relating to those things they like, but then you start to actually internalize it. Then the end of the day comes and you can talk with adults and it's like a breath of fresh air. My teaching experience is a little like that, but not only do I adopt what they find funny but how they talk too. For instance I'll find my self saying “I no Korean” instead of “I don't speak Korean”. It's worse than that though because most of the Koreans I encounter who do speak English don't speak much more proper than this. To try to keep my ability to speak English I translate what they say, which is sometimes a guessing game since they don't always use proper tenses. You don't always know if they are talking about the past, the future, or the present since they will use all three within a couple sentences on the same topic (and I'm saying not to criticize, just to note my difficulties, my lowest level class, which are 6 year olds, can speak better English than I can speak Korean). Basically I don't know if I would be able to speak English at this point if I didn't have my foreign teachers to talk to after classes and on the weekends.
Another note of the Korean teachers. They are all very nice, although as mentioned they like to tease. Not only do they tease my Korean speaking (although they are more than happy correct and help) but also my chopstick skills. I use chopsticks all the time now, even in my apartment just to get better at them, but I'm still not good enough. The other night while eating dinner the one of the Koreans pointed out my lack of skill and challenged me, all in a teasing manner of course, and in good fun. You see, these dinners (as do a lot of Korean cuisine) consisted of my individual bowl of rice and several things also seaweed to roll the rice in. I say things because most of the time I don't actually know what I'm eating, I just know that most nights at least some of the Korean teachers are laughing at me because I find something very spicy. These “things” are in the middle of the table and everyone just reaches with their chopsticks and grabs what they want. As such one's chopsticks skills is always on display. One teacher brought forth a bowl of beans and wanted me to pick up an individual bean without dropping it or squishing it. Somehow I was able to do it. The next challenge was to roll rice in a square of dried seaweed using only chopsticks (many of the Koreans make it look like a tight sushi roll, and somehow they do it all with their chopsticks, never touching the seaweed or rice). Yes it is possible to do such a thing since I've seen it done many a time, but I didn't even attempt it. I realize that I'm making the Korean teachers sound cruel, but that is far from the case, they are nothing but kind and helpful, but they do enjoy poking fun.
Another word on language. Immigrants to America are often criticized for not speaking English, or only speaking a little English, but now that the shoe is on the other foot, I can fully understand their position. Learning another language is very difficult, especially when you get older. If your job doesn't require it, there is little need to learn. I've been here 1 month and able to shop for anything I want or need, opened a bank account all by my self, and gotten around town. This is in part due to people I know who speak English or people at the bank who spoke some English, also pictures on menus at restaurants. But in part that is my point, in most major cities in America you can find people who speak your language and English, and especially if you speak Spanish, you can certainly find a bank who has Spanish speakers. Another point I wish to raise is that Americans are sometimes criticized for only speaking English, no other language. We're given examples of Europeans who speak more than one language, or Asians who speak both their local language and English, but I don't think that's quite fair. Yes, our education system could emphasize second languages more, but really what's the point? I don't even mean that as English speakers, we have the near universal language due to our economic and political might. The bigger point, especially when compared to Europe, is that there is no need to learn another language. If you live in Germany and want to visit beautiful coast lines you have no choice but to go to France, or Italy, or something. If you live in America and want beautiful coast lines you go to Florida, or California, or Hawaii, if you want to ski you go to Utah Idaho, Oregon, or Washington, if you want to experience deserts you go to Arizona or New Mexico. Want frozen tundra? Go to Alaska or Canada. Want a one of the largest most active cities in the world? Go to New York. Want the fruited plains? Go to the mid-west. What do all of these places have in common? You can experiences while speaking and hearing nothing but English (well, maybe not in New York). In other places you have to leave you country (and often your country) to experience significant different terrain or life styles. In America all you have to do is hop in your car and drive a few hours. Speaking only English you can experience vastly different cultures and climates all within the borders on America. As such Americans feel no pressure to learn another language. That isn't to say that I'm not going to try to learn more, but if I wasn't living here for the next 11 months I wouldn't feel compelled to learn much more than a few basic phrases.
To answer the most basic question, I am doing well after 5 weeks. Yes, there is odd odd things here and some things that are just bat-shit insane, but I'm adapting (I constantly remember my parents mantra “the flexible shall not be bent out of shape”). Korea is a first world nation so they have all of the amenities that you would expect, and whenever I feel homesick I can always find a hamburger or pizza to make me feel better (so long as I ignore the Korean way of doing such things), or I can write an e-mail or write a blog post. I have a nice routine going for work and making it through the day, as well as the weekends. Speaking of which, I am really enjoying having weekends. It's been a while since I've had normal weekends or a consistent schedule. I'm really liking that part. Basically, don't worry about me, I'm doing alright, although I enjoy hearing from friends and family from home so don't be afraid to write.
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