A little over a month ago my wife quit her job. Whether this had more to do with low job satisfaction (she worked for a keypad manufacturing company when keypads are quickly dying out to touch screens, in Korea at least) or her desire to follow her dreams (she’s now studying Korean education and working at becoming a translator) is of little consequence.
Of much more interest to me is that she no longer has need of our car to drive to work every morning. So instead, I’ve been driving to work!
Now instead of two hours a day spent serenading bus drivers with my gentle snoring I whiz to school and back in a tidy fifty minutes – twenty five minutes each way depending on traffic.
This is the first time I’ve ever been able to drive to work regularly (I only got my driving license last August), and I’ve discovered it has both good and bad sides. For example, if I drive to work:
+ I can get up half an hour later in the morning. Get home half an hour earlier. Yes!
– I actually have to concentrate on what I’m doing, and certainly can’t snooze while driving.
+ I can listen to music / Korean radio wiithout worrying that I’m that annoying person who shares their favourite songs with everyone in the viscinity.
+ I can also sing along without anyone giving me funny looks.
– I have a much higher chance of being in an accident.
The only thing I really miss from catching the bus to work is that I now have much less time to read and ponder life. When I wasn’t sleeping my journey to work used to be the time I would take to devour a novel, read a thought-provoking article or just think. Now that I’m driving I don’t have that space any more.
Instead, driving has given me a new focus: I have to be much more aware of what’s around me. It’s just too dangerous if you don’t notice that red light or the car suddenly skidding to a halt in front of you. It’s definitely worth staying on the ball when you’re bumper to bumper on the motorway.
The time I would have spent introvertly thinking about myself and my literature (or sleeping) I now spend observing and perceiving.
I’ve observed, for example, that most people in Korea don’t follow speed limits. I guess that’s not too unusual, but this tendency to break the rules continues through many other traffic regulations as well. Koreans don’t seem to like to follow the rules of the road. That’s probably why Korea has one of the highest road fatalities per billion kilometers driven in the world.
As well as the road I also observe a lot more of my surroundings, when driving at least. The most interesting of these is a rock I pass on the way to work. It stands proudly between the flows of commuters with an inscription which reads “바르게 살자” (Baleuge salja), which I roughly translated as an encouragement to “live morally” or perhaps to “lead an upright life”. An interesting sign for the side of the road.
My interpretation wasn’t far off, and it turns out this is an old phrase which has many different and deep meanings depending on the context.
Apparently these stones (it turns out there are a number of them) were placed around the city during the 70’s and 80’s after a string of corruption in high places as an encouragement to do things properly.
However, it’s literal meaning is apparently closer to “go by the book”, and is often pasted on the walls of prisons as advice for those aspiring not to stay under lock and key too long. Seeing it this was might make the sign nothing but a warning to those drivers engaged in keeping the road mortality rate high.
A warning to motorists or moral encouragement? It turns out there are a number of these large rocks placed around Seoul.
But I can’t get the wholly more profound and deep understanding out of my head. Live correctly. Don’t be tempted to cut corners, cheat people or neglect you responsibilities.
Every time I pass it I can’t help but think about what I could do to make sure I’m living right? What can I be doing to benefit this society? How can I best go about providing for my wife and future children?
I want to be more involved in the community and develop my talents. Whether this be on radio, on stage, behind the keyboard or getting into the local international community doesn’t matter. I just want to be involved in something that betters people and the community. I should be using my life to do more than eat, sleep and work.
It’s just finding the time to do it all.
Cunning Culture 