Saturday, July 16, 2011

Getting Around Town

Since I was fifteen, I'm not sure I've ever gone this long without driving.  This, indeed, is interesting.  But I've managed just fine getting around town here.


By Bus
I usually take the bus to work.  My bus stop (shown to the right) is about one block from the apartment.  Finding your bus route, too, is easy, as there's an interactive bus-route map here, on which you enter your locations or click the map on where you want to begin and end, and you are provided with routes and bus numbers.

To get from my stop at LG to the City Hall bus stop, I learned two buses that went that route.  Granted, there were others, but they stopped at places around City Hall just a bit different from where I was accustomed to.  I was learning enough, so I decided to stick with familiarity with my two bus numbers:  150 and 506.
(This proved to be best as last night I actually tried to take a different bus from one area back to the apartment; alas, it was the wrong bus, and it took a different turn.  The good news is that I realized that immediately, and we got off the bus at the next stop.  Serendipty, though, as I was able to show Brian where the mall was and just how short a walk it was from there to the apartment.)


Once I arrive to my City Hall stop, it's a short walk to the crosswalk, shown to the left.  Warning, folks, do not cross against the light!  One statistic I read indicated that of traffic fatalities, over 30% are pedestrians.  I read a warning never to be the first person to step off the curve nor the last to leave the intersection.  And indeed, I've seen many a red light run.  (I've also been in a car running a red light.  It seemed to me in those intersections that if the intersection was clear, the car proceeded---after slowing, but just a bit.)



If you'll use the bus or subway a lot, you'll want to buy a T-Money Card (available at subway stations and in convenience stores.  Yes, now that IS convenient.)  You can recharge the card, and on the bus and subway, it can even be scanned through a purse or wallet.  You scan it getting on the bus and getting off.  (get on at the front of the bus, and always exit at the rear exit.  It's much more streamlined and you don't get the goofy look as I did when I tried to exit the front door.)  Also, if you transfer from bus to subway or subway to bus or bus to bus, you don't pay for the second trip if it's less than ten kilometers and within a certain time space from when you got off the last mode of transportation.  (This, of course, is only if you use the T-Card.)  Further, by using the card, you get a 100 Won discount.  Thus, the entire trip costs less than one dollar.  This, my friends, is the way to get folks on public transportation!

By Subway
Speaking of subways, I will say this is the best system I've ever seen.  (Admission:  I've seen and ridden only a handful:  Munich, Atlanta, New York, DC, and Paris.)


The stations are bright and clean, and maps are easy to find.  (And yes, the tracks are behind these glass doors.  No falling onto the tracks here! (No, the US is not the most innovative country in many, many respects.  We need to get over ourselves, folks, and start learning from our global friends.)  Further, most maps are quite easy to read.  I've always found maps in subway stations with both English and Korean (unlike bus stops; those are usually only in Korean), so as long as you know where you want to go, you can get there.  (Okay, confession time, I three times got turned around yesterday, although I never had before.  I was working on four hours' sleep, and four weeks' extreme work schedule, so that's my excuse.  Still, at no time was getting turned around a reason for panic or tantrum.  We just turned around and got back on track.  Hey, that's life, yes?)


 Similar to the bus website, there's an interactive Subway Map here.  You can also easily see where you can connect to another train as the stations with connections are marked with the Korean tri-color swirl symbol.  And just in case you get distracted while riding, when your train approaches a station where there is a connection available, a short tune plays and signals that.  (And in all cars I've been in, there is an audio announcement of what the stop is, played in Korean and in English.)
















And I especially appreciate the map that indicates where the exits lead.  Most places in guidebooks also tell you which exit to take, and the exits are clearly marked in the station as "Way Out."
 

I can say, though, that my favorite part is the music.  In most stations, when your train is approaching, a snappy little tune plays.  It reminds me of the beginning of the melody to "The Farmer in the Dell" followed by a fun, upbeat trumpet flourish.  Makes me happy---not just because my train is arriving, but because it's just so darned chipper!




By Foot
I've done a great deal of walking too.  There was my Lonely Planet suggested route for my night tour, many walks along the Han River, and walks through various shopping markets.  I sometimes take the long way in getting to a destination, as it seems directions to some places seem to confuse left and right occassionally, and on other occasions, perhaps I do as well. 




Ah -- but one final word of warning:  Motorcycles often travel on the sidewalk.  So if you hear one behind you, look out!  Then again, what a great way to deliver pizza!







By Bike
I am sad, but I never did get the opportunity to rent a bicyle for a cycle along the Han River.  But they are available -- for only about 3,000 Won.  Most of my days, of course, have been devoted to teaching.  But the other hindrance was the weather.  I have been here during the rainy season.  And what an appropriate name that is!  I would guess that of the 30 days I'll be here, about five were sunny.  Yes, only about five.  No surprise, then, that a gift from a student during our last class was an umbrella---probably the nicest I've ever owned at that. 

By Boat
There are cruises along the Han; alas, I did not get to partake in one of those either. 

By Train
Korea has a high-speed rail, and word on the street is that if you want to get to the southern part of the country, that's ideal.  (Okay, so I don't really know if that's "word on the street" as I cannot understand most of the words on the street.  But it sounded good.)  Should I get to return to this land one day, I will surely take a train to the south or to the mountains to find a beautiful place for a TempleStay.
(And yes, I do believe a high-speed rail will join Seoul and PyeongChang before the Winter Games here in 2018.)

By Taxi
Finally, today I road in a taxi.  The rain was heavy, and I had quite a load to carry back to the apartment, having given my Criminal Procedure exam this morning.  The administrator here insisted that I take a cab (which he paid for).  The cost was relatively inexpensive, in my opinion:  8,500 Won (about $8.50) to travel three miles.  A student who had joined me for lunch flagged it down for me and provided the address.   (Several of us went out for a meal after each exam; they say that's tradition.)

No worries, though, if you don't have a student handy to do that.  ;-) 

International taxis are available; they are solid orange.  The drivers have had to pass a language exam in both English and Japanese.  If you call for such a cab, there is an extra charge.   And even in my taxi today, there was a sign that an interpretter was available upon request to the driver.  If I said, "Free interpreter," the driver was to call an interpreter who would help me tell the driver where I needed to go.  Ah, but don't stay out late:  That service is available only 7am-11pm weekdays and 8am-6pm Sat, Sun, and holidays. 


It's a grand city.  And it's totally navigable---even without my happy, red convertible   ;-)

No comments:

Post a Comment