The Land of the Morning Calm...

Date: Sun, September 2, 2007 9:19 am

Hi,

Korea is known by its sobriquet "the lanf of the morning calm".. Quiet contrary to the name, its one of the busiest places i have ever been to. The important point is that there is NO pollution though there are loong lines of cars and other traffic here. An interesting thing about S.Korea
is that one does not need to follow any traffic rules as long as he is driving a bike. That is how i have come to know about it.. Not really sure but as far as i have seen it, its like that.. Everywhere you see, there are sky scrappers and really huge huge buildings.. The roads are well maintained and marked with indicators. Wonderfully ordered traffic with multiple lines. There are no bikes and cars which try to get in front of you through a miniscule space the way we have in india.

The public generally commutes using subways and buses. If you are going on a long journey, then these provide the cheapest transportation @ 900 korean won (about Rs. 40) for 12 km and additional k.m. charge is @ Rs 5 for every 5 k.m. Quite understandably, these forms of traffic are the favourite for the people. We dont pay money and travel and there are NO conductors and ticket checkers here. We have something like a cell phone tag (as light as a sheet of paper and 1 inch square in size) which is shown at every entry and exit gate. Based on the distance travelled, it calculates the amouunt to be deducted and subtracts that from our balance.
It used the RFID technology.

One important thing i noticed about Koreans are thay they trust everyone very easily. At any point where we have to show the RFID tag to enter or exit the subway station, there are NO police or security. Even if we jump the obstacle or squeeze through it, no one will say anything ( not that i have tried it :).. i have seen some people doing that and going thru the gates without being stopped by anyone. When you enter any shop, its really easy to take anything from the shop without the owners notice. There are many unattended and expensive things kept outside the shop too where the owner cannot reach her eyes. Even then they are safe and no one seems to be interested in stealing them. Moreover, though the female sex is really fashionable here, i have not seen ANY ONE flirt over here who tries to make fun of her or stare at her.. I really respect the people here. Imagine such a fashionable Korean Girl coming ot india and walking on a busy street.. I dont need to say further.. right ?? :)

Yesterday we faced the first Korean Rain. It was like ice faling on us.. Soooooo cooold the climate is.. Its said that it snows here heavily during winter and that snow skating is commom here. Excited and looking forward for it..

Going to Seoul Center now.. With chinese friends... Wanna buy a cam too.. Will post pictures once i get the cam.. :)

Phew.. a loooong mail.. :)

Pardon me for spelling mistakes in this mail. I am using a friend's laptop and i had ot hurry through this mail..

Bye,
Kiran