Walking in an Asian Wonderland

Well hello there. I didn't see you sitting there. I was just about to talk about the blight of the Korean pedestrian. [Note: no, the photo doesn't really go with this post, but here's the view out our side window after a recent snow.]

There's a couple of things you should know before driving or walking in Seoul. It is not like the U.S. I think I might have mentioned this in the past, but let me reiterate. First of all, you should know that Koreans hate sidewalks. Hate them. There is something in the national unconscious that causes them to be diametrically opposed to the concept of walking safely away from oncoming traffic. Mind you, this doesn't mean that they don't have sidewalks here. Hell no! In fact, the city is rife with wide, inviting sidewalks. The intersections often have gentle ramps up from the street to the sidewalk to ease in the pedestrian's transition. But, a typical Korean will walk two feet away from the sidewalk in traffic rather than on the sidewalk. I don't understand it. It's not that the sidewalks are crowded; it's more like they can't be bothered with maneuvering over to the sidewalk. It's baffling. The only exception to this are major roads i.e. greater than four lanes. The pedestrians will typically stay off these. But that doesn't stop the old women or men with the enormous push carts from taking up a lane.
These octogenarians will pull a giant cart, similar to a rickshaw, laden with whatever it is that they're selling in traffic as if they were a car. Cars and city buses just switch lanes and pass right by them without slowing down. I haven't see one splattered out from under their carts yet, but I'm certain that in this city of 12 million it must have happened once or twice.
As a westernized driver, there is a certain unspoken agreement between pedestrians and drivers that I subscribe to. Namely, if you are a pedestrian you will do your best not to step blindly out from the side of the street and into oncoming traffic. Likewise, if you are a driver you will come to a stop and yield to a pedestrian if they are in the process of crossing the street. Clearly, Koreans have no such agreement. While driving, I've had all types of people dart out in front of my car when they clearly did not have the right of way. Old ladies, mothers with children in strollers, members of the clergy. Similarly, as a pedestrian in a crosswalk with a green "walk" signal I've had all kinds of cars barrel on through as if I wasn't there. Taxis, police cars, the Popemobile. The really crazy part about it is that when they nudge you, or you nudge them, they look at you with complete surprise and bewilderment, as if saying, "Holy crap, where did you come from? What are you doing in my way?" But never angry. Always stunned or... befuddled, I guess.

I went out today to buy Jessica a Christmas present. Can't say what, because she reads this and I don't want to give her any hints. Anyway, on the way back home I made a detour by the electronic mart to see what all they had out. I walked out to this one pavilion that seemed to have a lot of activity. Sitting out on this sidewalk was every type of computer component that you could have imagined. Cases, motherboards, power supplies, DVD drives, graphics cards. All of it legit looking and all of it cheap. Like 75% off cheap from what you'd expect in the states. Also, they had some of the ubiquitous bootleg DVD guys out there too. Some guys were selling a box-set of the first four Harry Potter movies, to include the one that's in the theaters right now. I saw one guy playing it at his cart and it looked really good. I think I'll wait a couple of weeks and pick King Kong up on DVD when it's released in theaters. 'Yoink!