1. To say driving here is crazy is an understatement. Andy is the only one with a license right now and I would be very okay with it staying that way! On post is very much like driving in America and in a way reminds me of New Knoxville as they only have one stoplight on post. Off post is a different story! Side note: We brought my Hyundai Santa Fe and it was like it was meant to be - she fits right in here :). The streets are much smaller than we are used to as well as the laws they have for driving. They have larger highways here that are no big deal, but when you get into a city, watch out! For instance you enter the narrow street cities where motorcycles (more like top-notch mopeds) rule the roads. They will come flying from behind dodging in and out of traffic to get to the front. In their way you think? Think again - they take the sidewalks! After dodging the cyclists we came upon a red light. We of course waited patiently for it to turn green. Apparently these are caution lights. People were turning left on red, turning right on red, going straight even! To blow my mind even more when the light did turn green, no one would turn left on green unless there was an arrow! So, you can do anything when the light is red but god forbid you turn left on GREEN? Ayiyi - I have lots to learn!
2. Korea is not very handicap friendly. Nothing but an elevator, if there were more than 3 floors in the same unit, to help those with handicap needs, strollers or trouble going up stairs. We walked some of the streets to get to the Nike Store and it is just store by store by store with only stairs available to get in. It was a struggle getting the stroller everywhere. I will be taking the baby carrier from now on! Below are pictures of the streets across from AK Plaza.
3. I have learned first hand part of their culture - not being very courteous. There were multiple times Andy and I were and had been waiting on the elevator at the mall. We stood there just back from the doors so people could come off when it stopped. Just as the doors opened people flew up from behind us, filled up the elevator and left us standing outside to wait for, yet another elevator. We also experienced the door policy. No holding open the door for someone here. If you so incline to be so generous you will be holding the door open until the person who turns the light out exits. Also, make sure to watch where you are walking so you do not walk straight into a door thinking the person who just opened for themselves will leave it open for you, not so much!
4. They have a neat system for their parking garages. They have several people who actually work the parking garage. As you enter you will put on your hazard lights signaling that you are looking for a parking spot. (We did not know this, so a garage worker had us put our window down to tell us to turn our "triangles" on! Cracked us up!) When it is time to leave, no hazards means you are just trying to exit the parking garage. Very helpful as you are searching for your spot. When you chose a spot, be careful! They do something called a "double-park." If you are double parking, parking in front of someone so they cannot get out, you will place your car in neutral so the person can push your car up in order to get out and then push it back when they have gotten out. CRAZY!!!
5. I need to lose about 50 pounds and make my feet shrink before I will fit into any of their clothes or shoes. We entered a Nike store and I loved a pair of shoes. Only problem - the largest size for shoes was 6.5 and on occasion they have an 8. haha. I will need to do a lot of online shopping! I also looked at some very cute clothing they had in the mall and asked the sales clerk if she had a large. She smiled and kind of giggled while saying, "Oh no ma'am, we only have small or medium." This may be my final motivation to get in shape!
These are the things I have learned so far. I'm sure there will be a lot more to come and I look forward to figuring them out! We are starting to fill our calendar up with trips to Seoul, Thailand, Taiwan and China. Can't wait :)
Here are some more pictures of our trip out:
Streets along our route to Osan.
AK Plaza - shopping center
At the top of AK Plaza they have a rooftop view. It was a gorgeous garden area where you could see the city.
A large duck statue on top of the roof. Not sure exactly what it was for?!
Cooper with Daddy with the view of the city behind them!
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