Korean Job Discussion Forums

[denz]

all i do is ride in cabs... <den puts down his pint and recalls his story>

<cpugh> during my first tour of duty in korea i was out drinking in jonggak and found myself stuck in the midnight wait for a cab (in the subzero temp of jan). evetually, one cab slows down and gives me the green light to hop in. i jump in the backseat because the front seat is occupied by the usual drunken korean suit.

i'm sitting in the back, minding my own business when the guy starts talking about me in korean: "blah blah... miguk saram... sekiya.... blah blah". as you might well understand, i was a little upset and i knock the back headrest of the seat and say in english "hey, man. shut the -f- up - na hoju saram" (in my bastardized korean).

he then turns around and gives me this 'i'll kill you' look and starts to cuss me out. in turn, i say something like 'shippal omma, babosekiya'. he then decides to punch me square in the leg. i respond by clocking him on the side of the head.

the cab screams to a halt on that big ole road in kangnam-gu and we both hop out and square up. traffic is backing up. lots of drunk korean eyes are staring at me and the guy. i figure that if i down him, i'm probably going to die at the hands of korean unity , so i wait for first contact. instead, we just stand nose-to-nose. the cabbie pulls us apart and then asks me for money, and tells me i can't go any further. i said "this isn't soellung - you aren't getting my money". the cabbie thinks about it for a second and tells us to hop in. he proceeds to drive like a madman to soellung-yok.

i hop out and hand the driver the money, plus a hefty little tip. i thank him profusely and apologise for the inconvenience (in all the korean i can muster) and he smiles and gives me a "kid, yer allright' look.

i then turn to the drunk guy in the passenger seat and smile and bow apologetically. and very softly say 'i fu--ed your mother'. he nods in acknowledgment and i walk home smiling.

denz

[gang ah jee]

[VanIslander]

I sang a song with a Corean cabbie this morning.

It was: "somewhere, over the rainbow..." (from The Wizard of Oz, of all films)

You had to be there. The driver had spent four years in America and loved everything he says in broken English. His singing was right on however.

It was almost like being in Kansas. (not that I've ever been there)

[Jane99]

I once had to get to the airport in Kwangju early one winter morning. I was flying to Seoul and then to Bangkok. I told the cab driver that I wanted to go to the airport. He started driving and he tried to have a conversation with me. I am by no means fluent in Korean, but I tried my best to attempt conversation. He asked me where I was going and I told him I was going to Bangkok. I ended up showing him my ticket to explain. He ended up pulling over off the highway on the outskirts of town just before the airport. I thought he wanted to say something important (he was sifting through my Korean phrase book). I don't think that was the case. He got out of the car and climbed into the back seat. I got freaked out by this point. So I tried to tell him to keep driving and then I hopped out of the car and tried to wave down another cab passing by. The cab driver got the hint and drove me straight to the airport. It was a little frightening. The fact that he was missing a couple of fingers didn't help.

[HardyandTiny]

I drove a taxi in New York City for 6 months back in 1990. If I told you that I picked up Henny Yongman(sp?), Woody Allen, Bernadette Peters and Robin Quivers you wouldn't believe me, but I did. And I didn't speak to them and there's not much to tell.
And no they were not all together. Peters and Allen were together.

[VanIslander]

[wylde]

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=19727&start=0

[girl25]

i have many crazy taxi experiences, but my favorite is the time my taxi sideswiped and ran another taxi off the road adn we ended up on the sidewalk after driving through some bushes!!! it was totaly my taxis fault as he switched lanes with out looking or signaling! the best part was how my driver jumped out of the taxi, leaving me completly dumbfounded in the back and procceded to FIGHT with the other taxi driver. i just sat there, i had NO IDEA what to do.. i just kept looking around..after about 10 minutes, my driver gets back in, drives off the sidewalk, fips the meter back on and we were on our way like nothing happened. he charged me full price too! and i was still too shocked to do anything but pay him.

i've also had a taxi driver reach into the back seat, while he was driving, to touch my leg (summer and i was wearing a skirt).

and the best is when you tell a taxi driver yogio and they say yogi? and keep driving. and you say yeah, yogio and they say yogi? and keep on driving until you're far up the street . that makes me nuts!!!

[Homer]

Took a cab last night.

Somyon to Suyong.

Sat in the front witht he driver. Had a chat. Was your regular, everyday type of cab ride.

This constitutes about 98% of my cab rides here.

[Swiss James]

I had a cab driver over here say to me, pretty much as soon as I got in the car:
"Western p-nis big size, korean p-nis small size!"

[Crois]

So he thought you were Korean then did he???

[jurassic5]

threw up in a cab once....he wasnt happy...cost me a little extra that night....damn you soju and one shots of beer...

[sparkx]

[Thunndarr]

Hmm...My best taxi story is getting in one at around 5 a.m. in Itaewon and heading home. I was pretty drunk, but not incoherent. Anyway, I checked before I got in to make sure that I had enough money to foot the bill. During the ride I had a nice little nap, and woke up when the guy stopped. So, I pulled out my wallet to pay the guy, and, lo and behold, my wallet was empty.

So, now I'm wondering where the hell my money went, and desperately trying to explain to the guy that he's going to have to take me to an ATM machine so I can pay him. So, he drove me a few blocks to a 7-11 and I went in to use the machine. No luck. This was back in 2002 and, IIRC, most machines didn't offer 24 hour service. This particular machine did not, at any rate.

So, now I climb back into the cab and do some of the best pantomiming of my Korean experience, and get across to him that the machine isn't working right now, can he take me home anyway? and also can he write me an IOU.

Luckily enough for me, he did all three. I got home, stumbled into bed, woke up the next day, still wondering where the hell my money had gone, thinking that I couldn't POSSIBLY have been that drunk.

Anyway, I found my money in my left front pants pocket, where I'd presumably put it in my drunken state, so that I WOULDN'T LOSE IT!

And no, I didn't end up paying the guy, and yes that makes me a bad person, and I'll probably get hit by a bus someday driven by that same taxi driver and it'll all come out even in the end.

Edit: It does make me feel better though, every time I get ripped off by one of them.

[palkorea]

ok. this is not a funny story, but a taxi story nonetheless....

i got into a taxi. the driver had a towel on his lap. didn't think much of it. we started driving. his hand went under the towel. saw his hand moving up and down. thought to myself 'nooooooooooo waaaaaaaaaaaay'.....tried to ignore it. whenever we stopped at a light, the hand came out from under the towel so he could smile and wave at the taxis next to us...

my fare came to something like 3500won and i threw a 5000 won in the front seat, got out and SLAMMED the door without getting change. no way was i touching that man.

the more i thought of it, i shouldn't have paid, and should have left the door open so the jerk had to get out and close it himself....

how's that for a taxi ride.....

soon after that, i bought myself a car....no more taxis for this girl.