My Passion. My Curse

Life over the past two months has been relatively hectic. In that time Jenn has gotten a job, gotten Sora enrolled in Chinese school, (yes, you read that correctly. Sora is going to Chinese school in Korea) Sora is also taking dance classes from a semi-famous Ukranian guy, Sora and Deuce are both in art classes, and Deuce is enrolled in Korean pre-school. The kids have already begun and finished summer English camp, I've been on a couple in-country deployments and endured an exercise, Jenn's parents moved in with us and moved out into their own place, and her brother is a stone's throw away from getting engaged. In short: it's been a lively summer here in Korea.

The entrance to Sora's Chinese School. Yes. It's only one room. Yes there is a picture of Confucius on the wall.

It's also been HOT. And WET. Today the second of four forecast typhoons breezed past Korea. The last one hit Seoul with some pretty serious wind but the one today barely touched the peninsula and really just soaked Cheju island in the East (Yellow) Sea. The days that it isn't raining it's hot, and it is always humid. Even my mother-in-law (~60 year veteran of Korean summer weather) has been complaining about the length and the severity of this year's summer. The way the weather has been working is that we'll have one relatively nice day (for example today) followed by a very hot and sticky day, followed by two - three days of rain and then the cycle repeats. This plays hell with planning trips to Seoul, golf, meeting friends, and traffic - which brings me to the subject of today's blog.

See the bolt on the left side of the plate? It's a security bolt. For some unknown reasons Koreans are paranoid about having their plates stolen. What it means for me is a complete PITA of a license plate install.

Those who know me know that I am a big fat nerd when it comes to all things car. Ever since that fateful day in October of 2002 when I bought my WRX I've been irrevocably drawn to all things automotive. So it should be no surprise to anyone that knows me that my second blog update is all about automobiles. I've never claimed to be unpredictable.

In my last blog I mentioned my intent to purchase a second car and I spoke about getting a Daewoo Matiz. I test drove one and really enjoyed it but due to some financial issues I didn't buy it right away. By the time the money came in for the car the Matiz I wanted was sold and I couldn't find another suitable model. So I took a trip to Seoul and found something better. I would like to introduce my 1998 Hyundai AtoZ (pronounced A-to-Z by everyone except Koreans who call it an Ah-Toes). It's almost the same as a Matiz except it's better. It has a higher roofline and it's made by Hyundai as opposed to Daewoo/GM. It still has an 800cc fire-breathing 51 HP motor, it still gets 50mpg (when driven by a normal person. I get about 40 since I drive it like I stole it), and it is roughly the same gloss baby-poo yellow color as the Matiz I almost bought. This is quite a change for me since my last daily driver was my M5, a 5-Liter 400 Horsepower interstate shredder with every option available in 2000, was a bit more well-apportioned than my current barebones-lunchbox of a car. But I like it. A lot. The reason I like it so much is that it is purpose-built for dealing with Korean city traffic.

If you need a car, any car, to drive around in Korea I highly suggest a Hyundai AtoZ.

A few days ago I was sitting in traffic waiting for my turn at a 6-way intersection in the middle of Pyeongtaek (평택 경찰서 오거리 on the map but if you look that 오 (5) should be an 육 (6)) and my daughter was asking me why traffic is so bad in Korea. The first thing I did was point to the 6-way intersection and explained that in any other modern nation this would have been turned into at least a roundabout. But her question got me thinking and I think the conclusion to the question of, "Why does traffic suck in Korea so badly?" is "Rapid modernization coupled with very little space." By the end of the summer of 1953 the entire Korean peninsula was trashed, broke, and in complete disarray. By the time I first visited in 1998 (only 45 years later) the population had increased over tenfold and the number of cars had jumped astronomically. However, all of those cars and all of those people were still traveling on a hodgepodge of trails and cart paths that had been widened and paved not nearly fast enough to accommodate the rapid urbanization of South Korea. Add to that the complete lack of city planning and the random planting of traffic signals and you got Korean Traffic.

See where the five roads come together? Now add the fact that it's on the same corner as the police station. If you mis-time the lights you can sit there for a LONG time. Sora and I discovered that earlier this week.

With rapid urbanization and rapid wealth came a whole slew of first-generation drivers and coupled with a lack of city planning, knowledge on how to control traffic flow, and general unfamiliarity with the infrastructure requirements for dealing with lots of people and cars in a very crowded environment and suddenly you had chaos. I remember riding on buses and in taxi cabs that completely ignored all traffic signals and used the "might makes right" and "I can get around him" ideologies respectively. It was very likely to see at least one mangled vehicle a day while riding around Seoul and the resulting blocked streets would cause gridlock for miles in every direction. When returning to Korea this year I was a bit nervous about driving here based on my previous observations and that is why I bought the car I did. The good news is that traffic (especially in Seoul) has gotten a lot better. There are still some interesting... idiosynchracies here but despite that hodgepodge of multi-lane and multi-road intersections, tiny side streets, over-crowding, disregard for the law, hyper-aggressive drivers, hyper-passive drivers, tiny lanes, poor (or non-existent) labeling of roads and junctures, random placement of traffic lights and other ills driving in Korea isn't all that bad. In fact I rather enjoy it. I will touch on a couple of these obstacles and explain what I think the cause is and how I've overcome them.

This is normal. There is enough room without people parked on the side of the road for two lanes of traffic. You will still get two lanes of traffic up and down this side street. Even though it's technically a one-way road.

The first rule of driving in Korea is "When in Rome..." DO NOT try to follow American driving customs or habits. Examples of American driving rules that will get you killed or arrested are left-turns on unprotected green lights (unless the Korean Sign says otherwise) are prohibited and the left-lane/fast-lane rule is completely thrown out, here. In fact those lines on the road that we as Americans would normally associate with "lanes" are more of "very general guidelines" here. When you observe traffic you'll notice that Koreans rarely use their turn signals to change lanes. Turn signals are more often used to signal an abrupt stopping maneuver. Also when you observe Korean drivers you'll find that the vast majority are extremely pragmatic when it comes to driving laws (with a couple of notable exceptions.) Since it's overcrowded Koreans park on the street but man can they park! I've seen a full BMW 7-series parallel park into a spot with just inches to spare on either end. Additionally that whole "lack of lane awareness" thing works out pretty well when you need to squeeze a second lane onto a road but don't have the budget to widen (or repaint) it. the pragmatism extends to dealing with the random dropping of traffic signals, too. If there isn't a lot of traffic and the driver can see down the roads then the Korean driver won't bother stopping. However when there is crazy traffic everybody is pretty good about stopping for lights. Especially at large intersections.

The problem of hyper-aggressive drivers is balanced out by a multitude of hyper-passive drivers. No one seems to get very angry about the guy zipping in and out of lanes and cutting people off (if there was an environment for road rage it is here) as most people are quite happy to accelerate slowly up to speed and breeze through traffic signals if it doesn't look like they're going to stop in time. Running the first few seconds of a red light here is the norm. Not the exception. The biggest problem that foreigners have (in my opinion) is that NOTHING is labeled here. Roads have names but no one knows what those names are. Since cities have grown into each other you (especially as a foreigner) are not sure where one ends and the other begins and thus finding "The Lotte Mart in Songtan" can be a problem since there's a Lotte Mart in Pyeongtaek and one in Songtan (which is part of Pyeongtaek) and one in Osan (which is often what people say when they actually mean Songtan) which are all within about 15km of each other. Since no one knows the name of the roads (except the expressways) you can find yourself navigating off the wrong known point (e.g. using the Lotte Mart in Songtan as a reference when you should be using the one in Osan) and end up COMPLETELY lost in a foreign country. My solution to this is to get to know my friends better and have them accompany me when going to new places. Either that or get out the google maps. I have learned to overcome most of the issues with Korean traffic through hyper-vigilance, going with the flow, and buying the right car. I've also developed my ESP and sixth senses and can usually tell what another car is going to do based on body language.

I love my little car. In the little alleys it can get through just fine, on the downtown roads it zips in and out of traffic, it gets good gas mileage, and parking it is a breeze. I don't really care that it looks to be a clown car and the kids love riding in it because the window ledges are below their eye level and they can see out. Who needs power windows or locks. Or power steering. Or power brakes. Or a radio. Or A/C that works when it's over 85 degrees outside. Fortunately for the A/C problem fall is coming. Eventually. The forecast is saying more hot and rainy weather until the end of September but after that it should get absolutely gorgeous. I cannot wait.

Mini? I've got your "Mini" right here.

Welcome to Conservation -or- How I Learned to Love the Planet

Our Apartment Complex

The family has finally settled down in Korea. After almost a month of travel between Plymouth, MN and our new home in Pyongtaek City we finally have a home. It took 3 planes, innumerable taxis and buses, 2 hotel rooms, 3 realtors, 29 days, 4.33 million Korean Won (Just in rent and deposit - there was much more money in both Korean and American denominations spent up until now) and at least one pair of sandals used up to get us to this point. All of that and we still have one cat still stuck in the US until the average daily temperature in Minneapolis, Detroit, Tokyo and Seoul is below 85 degrees Fahrenheit for the two days required to ship said cat from Minnesota to Korea. (Dear Mom and Dad, thanks for dealing with the whiny and mass-quantities of poop-producing cat. As soon as we can get him out of your house we will) But for the most part we're here and what a "here" it is.

It's summer time in Korea and we're in the middle of the monsoon season so my typical day runs something like this: wake up and look out my 13th floor window and realize I can't see more than 200 meters due to fog/99.9% humidity. Get out of bed and take a quick (and mostly pointless) shower only to be covered in a thin coating of sweat the moment I set foot out the door. Walk to the bus stop and pray that the light sprinkles I am feeling do not turn in to a deluge. Take the Number 20 bus from in front of my house to the front of Camp Humphreys all the while taking note of the locals doing their best to pretend to ignore the fully uniformed 6-foot tall, blond American soldier riding the bus before 6am. Walk from the gate to my office and most likely get completely soaked by the rain that couldn't wait 15 minutes for me to get in the office. Meanwhile back at the apartment Jenn and the kids get some breakfast, study some Korean or some math, run to Lotte Mart/the gym/the commissary/Seoul/etc. and wait for me to get back home. After work I usually attempt to catch a ride back to our house with a co-worker. The family then sits down to a nice meal of hybrid American/Korean cuisine or we'll order in some Chinese food and when I cannot stand it anymore I'll shut up the house and fire up the Air Conditioner. The reason that I wait so long to fire up the A/C is the main reason behind today's blog: Conservation.

Before I start I have to admit that I am one of the most non-conservation-minded people I know. Whether it's the 3 cars that all averaged less than 20mpg, the 4,000 sf house that I attempted to keep toasty warm in the winter and ice-cold during the summer, my inability to separate the trash into recyclable/non-recyclable, long hot showers, watering the lawn even during near-drought conditions, buying too much perishable food from Costco and then tossing more than half of it, buying too much junk and then tossing it in the trash... you get the picture. I am a wasteful person. Or at least I was until I moved to a country where space is at a premium and wastefulness is saddled with an HEFTY financial penalty. So, welcome to the new and improved environmentally-conscious Etchy. Wait... let me be honest: welcome to the new and improved FINANCIALLY-conscious Etchy. The environment is just benefiting from my unwillingness to pay a crap-ton of money MORE in order to be your stereotypical wasteful American.

It started with the air conditioning and that's probably the hardest pill to swallow. I am a hardy Minnesota-grown boy and if there's one thing I always had when growing up it was a cool place to hide out in the summer. Our basement was always 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the house and on the brutally hot and humid days in July and August the basement was the place to get some respite from the heat. Once I got older and started to make some money I always made sure there was ample cash available for environmental conditioning i.e. A/C in the summer. But Korea is not the United States and whereas in the US we have flat rate electricity costs that are relatively low Korea has relatively high rates that are on a ramped-up scale. So if I use 100kWh I may be charged 200,000 Korean Won. But if I use 200kWh I could get charged 600,000 Korean won. That is because at certain levels of usage the cost per kWh goes up - and it's not just one bracket. There are five or six brackets (so I've been told. I'm still waiting on my first electricity bill so I can see this scale on the back) and each one is significantly higher than the one below it. So I save the A/C for cooling our room for sleeping or when we're entertaining guests. But it's not just electricity. Water is expensive (despite all of it hanging out in the local atmosphere), natural gas is expensive, fuel for the car is expensive (I spent the equivalent of $35 on gas to get 1/2 a tank of gas), transportation is expensive (the family has easily spent over $300 on transportation fees getting to and from Seoul and around town in Pyongtaek over the course of the last month), and garbage is expensive. Yes, you read that right: garbage is expensive. And time consuming.

I live in an 18-floor apartment complex. Each floor has at least 4 apartments and there are at least 12 different buildings in my complex. This is pretty normal for most of urban Korea and since about 90% of Koreans live in an urban environment this could be considered THE standard way of life here. If this was the United States there would be a giant series of dumpsters located somewhere on the property and every few mornings I would take my big bag of trash down the elevator on my way to work and toss it in the dumpster for the nice garbage man to take away. But this is not America. Here there is a shack on one end of the parking lot outside my building. In that shack there are over 20 different garbage pails and each pail has a specific purpose. Some are for food wastes (neatly discarded in 5L orange plastic bags that you buy from the local grocery store), some are for Soju bottles, some are for beer bottles, some are for other glass bottles, some are for general plastic, some are for plastic soda bottles, some are for plastic drinking yogurt containers, some are for paper. Some are for aluminum cans, some are for tin cans, some are for plastic bags, and some (these are the important ones) are for "general trash". The general trash bins are not inside the shack and I think the reason why is either shame or fear. You see the general trash is to be thrown out ONLY in white plastic bags purchased from the grocery store. These bags are regulated in price and there is a nearly $1,000 fine for throwing out trash without using the bag. So "shame or fear" involved is that you will feel shamed by your neighbors for being too cheap to buy the bags (You can get a package of 15 bags that are 10L in size for 5,000 Korean Won which is around $4) or fear that your neighbors will rat you out and you'll be forced to pay the fine. Either way the general trash bins are in a high visibility area whereas the financially less/un-important bins are inside the shack. (A word about the food waste bins: Yes, there are bags that you are supposed to use for food wastes. We have been diligently using these bags and getting extremely messy and irritated while get the food wastes from our dehydrator into the tiny opening of the 5L bags. Today I went out to toss the food wastes into the proper bin and discovered that no one actually uses the food waste bags... I feel a moral dilemma brewing.) The amazing thing to me (the lazy non-recycling American) is that for the most part people actually separate their trash properly. The yogurt-container bin had yogurt bottles, the Soju bottles were in the proper bin and the other glass was in that proper bin. Other than the non-use of the orange bags for food wastes everything was in proper order. Wow.

So I am learning. I am adapting and the family is adapting with me. Jenn grew up here and is familiar with the trash sorting ways and pointed out the trash bags in the grocery store and the kids are young enough where it's not too hard for them to change. The only stubborn one is me and I'd like to think I am coming around rather quickly. I am trying to be as "Korean" as possible when dealing with my neighbors and this is one way I feel I am joining the collective. In fact right now it's 9:36 pm and all my windows are open and no A/C is running despite the really high humidity and 85+ degree temps. I am also seriously looking at buying a Daewoo Matiz as my daily driver (think Chevy Aveo and shrink the engine from a 2.4L to an 800cc motor, take away significant crash safety specs and you have a Matiz) since it gets an easy 50MPG in city driving. It's one more way that I can start to abandon my wasteful past and embrace a more economical, environmentally friendly, and respectful way of life - or at least save some cash.

The white plastic garbage bags. Use these or garner the ire of your neighbors and local authorities

For the first time in my life I care that my A/C is environmentally friendly because that means it's wallet-friendly, too.

This is a food-waste dehydrator. It's an amazing device that turns banana peels into banana crusts overnight with NO smell. There was quite a bit of faith put into practice when I started dumping all manner of food waste into this thing.