7 Months Today!!

If I have survived this long, the next 5 months should be cake.

More pro/cons as promised... :)

TRANSPORTATION BY BUS

PRO: It is SOO easy to take buses here and quite cheap as well. You only need to know the name of where you are going and the ticket ladies almost always understand. Another plus: every city has a bus station and if you want to get there all you have to do is say "Bus-uh term-eenul" to a taxi driver.

CON: Bus comfortability is rather inconsistent. While express buses like those which go to Seoul are often nicer than economy class on an airplane, local or rural buses often have broken seats, are hotter than hell on a sunny day and usually smell. Let's not forget that driving down country roads is a burden too. (Have you ever been stuck in a hot and humid bus packed with people, bumbling down a pot-holed road? Read about my adventure here.) In addition, there are only two windows that open on Korean buses (both express and rural) and they are in the very back where seats tend to fill first. Bus drivers are also known to be a little crazy. (For instance, The time one pulled over on the freeway and went ballistic on Jamie and me for "talking too loud." Another time, while coming home from Sangju with Courtney, our driver fell asleep at the wheel, nearly resulting in a head-on collision; we spent the next half hour yelling at him to wake up!)

TRANSPORTATION BY CAR

PRO: Koreans, whether officially or unofficially, have done away with silly driving rules like waiting at stop lights when no one is there and not driving on the shoulder in heavy traffic. They have also developed a way to communicate with other drivers that doesn't involve blinkers, hand signals, or even the finger. It's really simple: the system is called "hazard lights" and the beautiful part is that there doesn't need to be a hazard to turn them on. Need to turn? Put on your hazard lights and everyone will wait. Accidentally cut someone off? Turn on your hazard lights and all if forgiven. Want to stop in the middle of the street and run into a store real quick? Turn on your hazard lights and everyone will go around. Need to get somewhere quick like the hospital or the grocery store? Turn on your hazard lights and you've got a free pass through all stop lights.

CON: Korean roads operate on a "me" based system; there is no "right of way" concept. For example, Koreans still haven't really grasped the idea of taking turns when it comes to four way stops or narrow streets. Instead, they like to push ahead at will, which often results in two people stuck in an alley somewhere, bellowing at each other and pounding on their horns, with neither person budging. It also means there are a lot of traffic accidents. You may wonder, "How does one settle an accident in Korea?" Oh, that is simple. Whoever yells the loudest wins. And I'm not exaggerating. This is true. It doesn't matter if the loudest person caused the accident--if they are the loudest, they convince the crowd, and the crowd convinces the police. I've seen it happen on numerous occasions. Alternatively, while Koreans have not yet grasped "right of way," they have, however, grasped the "right to tv and cell phones" concept. Every taxi car in Korea has a tv in it and I can't tell you how scary it is to ride home at midnight with a driver who's been drinking soju on the street, has a cell phone in his hand, is cracking up while he reads subtitles to Friends, and drives at the same time. If you decide to ride in taxis while in Korea, you really should start looking into life insurance policies. A parting thought: Pedestrians beware: cars will not stop for you (as some of my unlucky friends have learned...).

FOOD

PRO: Most Korean food is pretty healthy (kimchi being one of the healthiest in the world) and delicious too (this however, is one thing kimchi is not). I am quite fond of their chicken dishes like dakkochi (bbq chicken on a stick), sam gae tang (boiled chicken in broth with ginseng, onions, and salt), dakkalbi (spicy chicken stir fry with rice cakes, cabbage and sweet potato), and galbi of any kind (Korean bbq).

CON: Eating out with Koreans is like participating in an "all you can eat" contest. There is usually three or four courses... During first dinner. Second dinner (usually around midnight) is only one course but who can eat a second dinner after a Korean first?? And while there are lots of delicious Korean foods, there are plenty of disgusting ones as well such as live octopus, dog, eel, the pig intestine, whale, lots of anchovies, whole cloves of garlic, kimchi radish, and pickles... Lots and lots of pickles... (I still can't eat yellow pickles after that bad kimbap back in September...) One of the most disgusting things I've ever seen though happened at Costco. You know those onions you can put on your hot dog in the food court? The ones that come out of the little grinder? Well, Koreans think of those onions as a meal by themselves... Yes. They will fill an entire plate with those onions, cover them in mustard, and eat them with a fork. All of them. And then scrape the plate clean when they are done. They also really like this stuff called acorn jelly which has the consistency of jello, looks like solidified baby poo and tastes like burnt coffee beans. It's disgusting. Oh, and another thing worth mentioning: Koreans don't differentiate between breakfast, lunch and dinner foods which means you could conceivably eat kimchi and seaweed soup three times a day... Sounds like an alternative to water boarding, huh?

HEALTH CARE

PRO: Most employers pay for 50% of your national health care plan (usually about $4) and you get the other half. Pretty cheap, I think. What's really great about it is that everyone gets it. No one has to be sick and without help. And despite what all the Universal Health Care critics say, there aren't any lines. If I want to see a doctor, I just walk into any of the numerous clinics on the street, state my problem, and I can be out of there with an examination and prescription within 15 minutes.

CON: Korean national health care will only help you so much. There are lots of things it doesn't cover like physicals and x-rays, and if you get in an accident, you better have extra insurance. And just because the system is rather efficient doesn't necessarily mean quality care is provided. Korean doctors have gone a little crazy with medicine. If you're sick with a common cold, they will ask you to come in everyday for a shot in the butt until you're better. Or (the other option) is to take pills, which I recently learned aren't really that scientific. Apparently, if you have a cough, there is a special pill for a cough. If you have a runny nose, there is a special pill for a runny nose. If you have a headache, there is a special pill for a headache. Etc. Doctors here don't really give you a diagnosis or an evaluation. They just assign pills to corresponding symptoms. That means you could be taking up to 20 pills a day. The idea of comprehensive antibiotics hasn't caught on yet... And thus Koreans return to the doctor over and over because they never really get over whatever it is they have.

I've run out of things to pro/con. I think I've just been blogging too much today. Maybe I'll think of more later...