Korean Job Discussion Forums

[philipjames]

A Korean cop stopped me today for violating a traffic law. Jaywalking!!! I was flabbergasted. He said he would ticket me if I did it again. I wanted to ask him about how many tickets he had recently issued to the following categories of people.

1. Mortorcycles who speed along the sidewalk expecting pedestrians to leap out of the way. (Not to mention the one that zoomed by behind us as he was expressing his displeasure at me for jaywalking!!)
2. The idiots who drive their cars on the sidewalk (often in reverse) honking at people to move.
3. The ten extra cars that push through an intersection after a red light, threatening the safety of pedestrians.
4. The jerks who come within an inch of hitting pedestrians crossing at each and every crosswalk.
5. The morons who don't even stop at crosswalks.
6. The obnoxious half-drunken adojies who drive their motorcycle with their two-year old daughter on the handlebars.
7. The schockingly irresponsible parents who let their children play at the back window of their speeding car.
8. The lawless dlivery drivers who swerve left and right at high speed as they zoom down a one-way street - in the wrong direction!!
9. Bus drivers who drive like maniacs threatening the safety not only of pedestrians and occupants of other cars, but their own paying passengers
10. etc.
11. etc.
12. etc.

Noooooooooo. Let's not ticket these people. Let's ticket the waygookin for jaywalking!!!

[PaperTiger]

If you get busted for jaywalking, pretend you don't understand a word of Korean, if he speaks English pretend you don't understand a word of English. Remain polite, pleasant, and plead ignorance.

I lived in Kimpo where the number of moving violations by cars and motorcycles (this is just on the sidewalk, mind you) were only outnumbered by the people running across the four-lane (two if you count all the morons parked on the curb) like it was a giant game of Korean Frogger (one of the first Atari games). I guess I was more noticeable because I'm dayglo white and two meters tall...I got yelled at in Korean. "I don't know what you're saying, ko-mop-soom-needa".

Another time, I managed to jaywalk this as a group of six Korean cops, they yelled in Korean and I just yelled in English "Huh??? Is everything okay???" They were too full of kimbab and ramyun to give chase.

I was also randomly quizzed about where I work and live as some cop was waiting for his pal to finish buying porn and 40 ounce malt liquors. Be polite, be stupid. It works everywhere.

[joe_doufu]

Are you kidding? Obviously none of you have ever been to Taiwan. There, the rule is, biggest vehicle gets the center of the road, smaller vehicles drive on the right, as in America, motorcycles drive on the sidewalks, any sidewalk is considered a parking lot unless a squatter has constructed a home or business on it, and the smallest vehicle or pedestrian is at fault in any accident, for "not getting out of the way".

Korean drivers are sissies.

[Derrek]

Joe, American motorcycles do not drive on the sidewalks, as a general rule.

[mindmetoo]

[hellofaniceguy]

[peony]

take a breath and re-read the post dude

[On the other hand]

[On the other hand]

[Freezer Burn]

[On the other hand]

[schwa]

Whatever else goes on, most Koreans seem to have a fairly deep-fixed disinclination to jaywalk. Koreans do get busted for it too.

Maybe because its easy to ticket.

[Cedar]

I know several Koreans who tell me "Don't jaywalk, I got ticketed --- time ago".

of course, that doesn't excuse the fact that other more dangerous people are not ticketed. it just means it's not a single out the foreigner thing.

[stumptown]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Thank you for the post about jaywalking. I always enjoy hearing from someone who broke a rule/law that other people are also breaking rules and therefore "I" should not be punished.