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Driving Away from Korea
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The day has finally come. I finished my contract in Korea, met my
family and said goodbye. It was a lot harder to say goodbye to
Korea than I ever thought it would be. I complained a lot, but it
holds a special place in my heart. To sum up my take on Korea and
its people I will use an example of a typical day driving in Korea.
I did not think of this idea all on my own. I was inspired by an
author named Michael Breen. His theory goes that any observer can
summarize the main features of a country's culture, politics and
people, by driving on the roads for 30 minutes. So for example if I
were to drive to the Korean version of Meijer's called Emart, this
is what I would see.
First thing that is noticeable about driving on Korean roads is that
a large majority of the cars are new and Korean-made. Hardly
anyone, except for me, drives pieces of junk older than 5 years
old. Plus they are all shiny and well taken care of. This shows
how Koreans present themselves: if you look like you are good than
you must be. Koreans are pretty superficial. People can be hired
or fired based purely on looks. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary
to hear you aren't attractive enough to be hired or you should have
plastic surgery and then we can hire you. Also this phenomenon
shows how everyone wants to be like the rest. If your neighbor has
a shiny new car than you can't be outdone, so you will do anything
possible to also have the same or better shiny new car. Plus it has
to be Korean made to support all of your country men. Rarely do
people drive import cars because the taxes are exorbitant on them.
After reaching the first major intersection, your life will have
passed before your eyes twice. But after driving for another couple
of days this death flashing phenomenon will pass and it will all
just be run of the mill driving. Basically the rule of the road is
chaos. There are no rules and that is what works best. Simply
think about your safety and keep driving full on ahead. This is how
the country is motivated. Progress is the only focus of
everything. The goal is to accomplish everything and don't think
about the consequences behind or to the sides of you. I have heard
that in the driver's license test if you look in your mirrors or in
your blind spots you fail the test.
I had to take a test with all the Koreans to receive my Korean
driver's license. They gave me a book (in Konglish - mostly English
but with funny spellings based off of Korean) about 100 pages long
with all the rules similar to home. It was hilarious to read
because every rule written I had witnessed being broken at least
once. So I studied my little book and tried to memorize the legal
height one can pack things onto the back of a scooter and other such
ridiculous rules.
However, at the testing facility all the Koreans were studying the
test. You could purchase the test early and answer all the
questions using a book and then memorize the test. This is exactly
the way the middle schoolers study for their tests. For the exams
students would come to our academy where we had the test printed out
and memorize the answers we told them. Luckily this was all done
with the Korean teachers because I found it outrageous. I don't
understand how an entire country can be taught everything by simple
memorization. Nothing involves thinking, simply finding ways to
pass a test. Again the same idea is present: mind at the task
ahead, blinders to the side and finishing fastest.
After driving on the road for about 10 minutes you will see a
traffic accident. Because Korea is the 10th most densely populated
country in the world, there are a lot of people, cars and scooters
to run into. People get along best with all the strangers by simply
ignoring them. No one else is there so it is possible to do
whatever you want. If traffic has 5 lanes and you are in the far
left lane, it is not uncommon to watch someone from the extreme
right lane cross the other 4 and cut you off. However, the most
annoying thing about an accident is that people simply leave their
car wherever it stops. If two cars have a head on collision in the
middle of the intersection, they leave the cars where they crashed
and all the debris laying around. They have to take pictures and
argue about whose fault it is. It basically means a mess for
traffic.
Because of construction, accidents and simply heavy traffic many
people drive scooters. These allow people to zig and zag through
the traffic easier. Even though it is more difficult for cars to cut
to the front it is possible. If there is a white line for where the
traffic should stop for a red light, most people stop there.
However, 2 or 3 people at least will pull up in front of the line of
cars and wait past the line. This is so typical of Korean
mentality. Why wait? If there is a way to cut to the front, do
it. This is typically done by asking your network of people to help
out.
Professional drivers, taxis, are the most lawless. Even though they
are low on the totem pole of success, they rule on the streets.
They are similar to the politicians. According to Confucianism, the
legal tradition developed for the benefit of assisting the ruler in
the endeavor of leading by moral example. Koreans see law as
something given from above, not created by the people. Koreans
mindset hasn't changed with democracy to figure out that the laws
are created after debate by people who are elected. Laws don't
govern life as much as relations between people do. Laws are simply
a last resort. That is why networking is vital and people rely on
family, alumni and hometown friends. Even politicians cut to the
front of the line to pass laws for friends to receive something in
return. This sounds strikingly similar to some circumstances
involving the war in Iraq and Cheney. However in Korea it is simply
understood that it will happen and something that has to be covered
up.
Now arriving at Emart it would be necessary to park in the parking
structure. The funniest thing is the people that flag you into the
structure. There is usually one person in the road, one on a
circular platform under an umbrella and one inside the structure
flagging you in. Now this is not a simple wave, it is an elaborate
dance that I think involves training in an after school academy. If
I had all the time in the world and the patience to drive forever, I
would pull in and out of these parking garages just to watch these
people flag me in again. I tried to record it, but it didn't do it
justice. Just take my word for it.
So on our trip we would have seen the patriotic, chaotic,
persistent, determined, superficial, lawlessness and pure
entertainment about the Koreans. Even though these things all sound
bad it is all just misunderstood. They are different from me and
every way that I grew up, but still fun to observe on the streets.
The way they are demonstrates what they have gone through in their
history and where they are trying to go.
Some people when driving get road rage; I would just have fits of
laughter. It is inconceivable what they can do in the streets and
still have so many people living. It is also inconceivable to me to
think about how much they have done in the past 50 years. I will
always follow what is happening in Korea, because the next 50 years
could bring even more changes to these people. I just hope it is
for the best for them. I am sure though they will plow ahead as
fast as possible passing the tests any way possible wearing their
blinders.
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