Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alias]

"No-no-no-no!!!!!"(hands waving in the air or pounding on the steering wheel)
That is my impression of a Korean Taxi driver when you tell him where you want to go.

Overall my experience hasn't been that bad. Still I take the Subway any chance I get and only go by taxi alone as a last resort.

So anyone have a good story about your experience with Korean Taxi drivers? Do they differ at all throughout Korea?

[weatherman]

Maybe you are looking for some good gossip, which I don't have, but in 97% of my rides, I have been more than happy. Taxis are cheap and quick and everywhere. I never really have a big problem getting one, except when it is raining or at midnight, and everybody else has the same problem then as I do. I wish I could tell you something funny, but it is usually business as usual in them for me.

[kimcheeking]

Never had much of a problem getting a taxi, except like alias said, at midnight. As for the driver not taking me where I want to go. I get in the taxi, tell him where I want to go and if he says no I then start writing all of his info down. It's all there on the dash in front of the passenger seat. I always get where I am going. I also watch to make sure he doesn't take the long way.

Let the driver know you've been in Korea for awhile and you shouldn't get ripped off. if push comes to shove call the number for free translation it's posted on all the windows of every taxi.

[The Donkey]

I was in Koje-do last summer and caught a cab at the ferry terminal. I explained that I wanted to find a hotel. We took off and he was a nut. Koje-do, for those of you that have never been there, has a two lane road that follows the outline of the island. It is very curvey and at the time it was packed with traffic. The cab driver kept passing cars at every blind corner he came upon. To which I white knuckeled the handle above the door and said "Oh my god". After over taking 3 cars on 3 different corners, and me saying "Oh my god" 3 times, he got the hang of it. The next car/corner we came to, he turned his head, smiled and yelled out "OH MY GOD" then slammed the wheel to the left and passed the car in front of us. This went on for 45 minutes.
When we got to the hotel I offered him a Pringle after paying him. He took the can, said a broken thank you, got in his car and took off, with all my Pringles...

[Ya-ta Boy]

Once upon a time, back in the days when I was working at a Korean company in Seoul, I needed to go to Immigration. I made the mistake of leaving work at 2, shift-change time. (I didn't think of that.)

I stood on the curb for a while, waving my arm out of its socket. Finally, a taxi stopped and I got in. After telling the driver where I wanted to go, he babbled something at me, then he took off, weaving in and out of traffic. I thought, Oh my God.

Finally, he pulled up beside a taxi that was stopped on the side of the street. He lowered my window and shouted something to the other driver. Then he leaned over and openned my door and kind of pushed me out. At the same time, he shoved his watch in my face.

Getting the message, I got out (without paying anything) and got in the other taxi. This guy spoke more English, and explained it was shift-change time. Then we took off for my destination. This was a chatty driver. His brother lives in Chicago. After driving half-way across Seoul, we arrived at Immigration. When I tried to pay, the guy refused.

Happy day! A free taxi ride in Seoul.

[TECO]

I had huge problems with taxi drivers slowing down, rolling down the window, asking us where we were going and then driving away.

Or, getting into the cab and telling the driver where we wanted to go and then being told to get out.

I'm pretty surprised to read so many fairly positive comments.

Maybe I just had bad luck.

Mind you, these taxi problems were always at night.
Maybe things are better during the day.

As well, I never had a problem with the more expensive, Black taxis.
Those guys were all right.

[simulated stereo]

One day I was in a taxi going through a some congested traffic (in Korea!?! imagine that!). Anyway there was this guy standing in the middle of the road drunk/crazy kicking and yelling at any cars who passed by him. When the taxi I was in passed by him he kicked the side and pounded on the trunk. The taxi driver stopped, got out of the car, began yelling at the guy and then they started fighting. The drunk/crazy guy got in a few hits, but the driver performed like a champ and swiftly knocked the man down hard. He got back in the taxi and drove me to wherever I was going at no charge. So in the end I got a free taxi ride as well as a good show.

[Dazed and Confused]

Got in a taxi once and he asked me if I was going to the local US army base. I said "No, I'm a teacher." The driver then proceedes to tell me his whole life story starting with "I was a KATUSA in 1953. My sergent's name was................................
His English was pretty good and remembered to tell every single detail!

alright............not really funny but bizzare......

[rasta man]

Wildest cab story I have comes from about 3 years ago. We had gotten in from Hong Kong at around 10P on a Sun nite and had to take a train down to Cheonan to get to our uni about 20KM from there. Got to Cheonan at around 12:30AM and managed to get a cab fairly fast. This cab driver once he got out of the city floored it to like 180 KPH or 110 MPH on a 4 lane not divided road. Talk about scary, the only time I've ever driven that fast is on Interstate 10 way out in rural West Texas (wide road, no traffic for miles). After we got there must of taken us 2 hours to calm down.

Moral of the story, never take a cab for a long distance after midnight

[Circus Monkey]

In my first year, a nutcase driver sailed through the intersection, almost colliding with another car. I said, "We almost got hit" while making a crash-like gesture with my hands (my fist slamming into my palm). He understood that and proceeded to say "Cwraaasshhh" "Cwrassshh" "Cwraashh", punctuated with imitating my gestures whenever possible for the rest of the trip.

CM

[mokpochica]

How to Meet a Korean Boyfriend (A 12 Step Program)

These are tried and true...

1. Get into a taxi on Valentine's Day (which is conveniently also celebrated in Korea).
2. Get out of that taxi when the driver stops at a pharmacy inexplicably.
3. Get into another taxi...this time with a young, cute driver.
4. Engage him in conversation after he informs you that he wants to learn English and is a student (Taxi driving is just his part-time job).
5. Lie to him when he asks if you have a cell phone (handi pone here). "Sorry, no phone!" You may, however, accept his cell phone number when it is offered.
6. Look sheepish when your cell phone rings very audibly in the taxi and he glances around to see what *that* sound could be. (Note: Before lying (see #5), it may be a good idea to put cell phone on vibrate. Of course if I had done this, this would all end at number 5 and might be much less fun.).
7. Answer phone while taxi driver looks at you, baffled.
8. Smile at him winningly upon hanging up and then listen to him say things like, "I'm a student! I'm not a bad guy!"
9. Explain to him that your mother (or other relative) told you never to give your cell phone number to strangers. Explain that some taxi drivers back home...and in Korea...are less than desireable characters. Smile winningly again.
10. Look out the window. Oh! You've arrived at your destination. Quickly get out to avoid further embarassment.
11. Say goodbye or keep up the good work "Sugo haseyo" to your driver and smile again at his baffled look.
12. Realize one hour later that the baffled look may have been because you completely forgot to pay him his fare. Call up the poor guy with the phone number you took from him (See #5) and appologize for being a dork. Offer to take him out for dinner and pay him back the fare, since he is a poor student.

And Voila! You are on your way to a relationship with a cute Korean guy.

[Chonbuk]

ahhh- a good idea.

I love taxi driver's, they are the best Korean teachers. They listen to my Korean and are willing to teach me new words.

Also a few years ago I was going downtown at around 11 pm and this taxi driver starting giving me a "Dad complex" and saying it was too late to go out now.

What else....When they ask me my age, I always answer- bi mil- it's a secret, and they start laughing immediately.

Last month I had one taxi driver who had lived in Saudi for 12 years and spoke English with a Arabic accent.

Does anyone know about the foreigner who is driving taxi in Seoul?? I heard about him briefly......

Cheers,

Chonbuk

[weened]

I was at the same schoool for two years and swear I had the pronunciation of the surrounding street names nailed. Everyday after work, almost without fail, I 'd get into the cab and tell the driver where I lived. A clueless stare was my response. This happpened soooo many times that it stopped being funny and became a severe annoyance. I'd storm into the office and repeat the directions to the Kteachers and they'd all agree that I was saying things correctly. I began to practice this with my partner just to soothe my jangled nerves. I know that the white face and korean sounds don't match and cause much confusion but I started walking 45 mins. to avoid the situation.

[Zyzyfer]

I don't have any good taxi stories about Korea, though I don't really like Seoul taxis. But I do have a good taxi story for Bangkok...boo yea.

Me and my two friends were travelling through some of Asia and had just arrived in Bangkok that night. We went to Khao Shan road and got a place for the night, and met some other Irish guys(one friend is Irish, never lonely, he is), put back some drinks, and eventually someone mentioned going to the pingpong show...

After starting to go and stopping again to say some dumb stuff, we eventually got to the corner, and this one dude decides to talk to the boisterous Irish guy we met that night. The dude's crazy, the taxi driver's crazy. All five of us pile in one taxi, sittin' on laps and everything. Next thing I know, we're peeling through Bangkok, the taxi driver and boisterous Irishman discussing every naughty topic under the sun. The taxi driver was bouncing all over his seat, not paying attention to the road, swerving through traffic at lightning speeds. B. Irishman even asked him if he did the big C.

We arrived, watched the show, then came out and the dude was there, waiting to take us back to our pad. Thankfully, he had came down from whatever high it was that he had been on, and the ride back was far less...thrilling.

[elmer]

Moral of the story, never take a cab for a long distance after midnight
--------Unless you are in a hurry! Actually I like the "bullet" taxis.