Sights around the city

I swear this city gets crazier and crazier everyday, which means that it becomes increasingly more difficult to keep a straight face wherever I go.

Crazy drivers:

Remember when I mentioned the audacity of moped drivers and motorcyclists, who think it's totally fine to drive on the sidewalks? They are very much a staple here. I see them everyday. The majority of these fools seem to be delivery guys. The other day, I saw a trio of school boys racing down the busy streets of my district in their flimsy bikes, recklessly daring the onslaught of city traffic. I thought, now why can't the moped dudes follow their example and not be wusses on the sidewalks? Before the biking boys flew out of my sight, a moped zooms down the pavement adjacent to the boys, looking very wussy indeed in comparison. Other folks have confirmed that while mopeds tend to dominate the sidewalks, helpless bikers take to the mean streets.

The heavy rain brings a new low in extreme sidewalk behaviour: motorcyclists who drive one-handed on the sidewalk while holding an umbrella in the other hand. No helmets here. I have seen at least two of these idiots. I thought Stanford students were bad enough for talking on their cell phones while biking!

Plenty of hilarious sights when you go shopping

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Myeongdong, which is one of the busiest shopping districts in Seoul. It also happens to have the largest Starbucks in the world (four to five storeys, I forget). I went for the distinct purpose of getting myself a coveted tornado potato - a bizarre delicacy that I'd seen in a New York Times slideshow of street food in Seoul. I nabbed myself one of them after a long day of walking, browsing, and speaking terrible Korean. It was a worthy reward.



Right after I got my beloved tornado potato (and new shoes, as the ones I was wearing fell apart - how convenient that I was in such a premiere shopping district!), I spotted some fools wearing Santa Claus outfits. They must have missed the memo that at the time it was the end of June!



Bizarre clothing takes a different turn in couples. In Seoul, couples love having their outfits match. I don't know what kind of person dreamt up such an idea. But there you have it: boyfriends and girlfriends declare their love (or the fact that they're whipped! ahem) for one another by wearing matching clothes. I don't have a picture of a couple, but I've seen many, and have photos of "couple tees" from Myeongdong.



I brought this up to my host mom, who pointed to her family picture - and oh yes, she, her husband, and two kids were all decked out in matching t-shirts.