moving snapshot in seoul
So, today after work Eurie, Dan, Jason, and I went out for California rolls and also went to a trendy, cool hookah bar with a nice Indian/meditation/funky shit ambience. Both in Apgujeong. Then we all left around 10:30 because we all have to work on Saturday! Morning! Tomorrow!
So Eurie and I, reppin' Bundang now, got off at Gangnam to catch the 'long distance' buses that go into the suburbs. Mind you, the main roads between Apgu and Gangnam are friggin jammed at almost any time between 7 and 10pm at night, it is just the way traffic works in Korea. So we both ended up catching our separate buses a little after 11. I got on my bus, and it was surprisingly full. Well, I guess not that surprisingly as it was past 11 and lots of people were going home from their dinner/one beer rendezvous and stuff. So all the seats were taken and people were standing in the aisles, myself included.
I have to say, having lived 7 years in Seoul and always taking public transportation, I really do think I have developed some kind of 'special radar' for people who will get off quickly and give up their seat Of course this doesn't always work but I always kind of scan people for clues that they'll be getting off soon and usually things work out well in my favor. What can I say, it is one of my many special talents.
Anyway, today I decided to stand near this one sort of youngish guy, probably between 22-25, talking on his cell phone. I mean, he's not asleep, right? And he was talking and talking, not particularly loudly or obnoxiously, but talking, and the whole situation was kind of frustrating because there was such a goddamn traffic jam that even the "express bus lane" (where only public buses are allowed to run on) wasn't moving. It took us 15 minutes to move about 3 km, maybe. Anyway, this younger guy was just talking away, the guy sitting next to him started talking to him, basically saying he had been talking for a long time and if he could get off the phone because it was bothering him. He also told him to put his shoes back on, because, well, the younger guy had taken his shoes off. It's Korea, man.
So the younger guy acts a little pissed but gets off the phone and puts his earphones in. I'm just standing there, looking over them, not really having a lot else to do. Then about 5 minutes later the younger guy takes his earphones out, looks over to the guy next to him (I will now call him 'older guy' since he was clearly in his 40s.. this age difference means quite a bit in this heavily Confucian-influenced culture) and basically asks him, "Why are you so easily bothered as to bother me?//What is your problem?" Keep in mind that I'm not exactly fluent in Korean so this is just kind of what I surmised from tone and the vocab I do know. This conversation (more or less) ensued:
Younger guy: What is your problem?
Older guy: What is YOUR problem? Why can't you just be respectful of other people on the bus late at night?
YG: Learn to deal with it (muttering to himself.. fucking asshole, piece of shit), why don't you just get off the bus?
OG: You should get off the bus
YG: No, YOU should get off
OG: No, YOU get off you piece of shit
YG: I'm not fucking getting off if you're not getting off
OG: Well why don't we just get off together? (Here, I am thinking.. YES!!! I get their seats!)
YG: Yeah, let's get off together!
Luckily and finally the bus finally pulls up to the next stop and they both pick up their shit and get off the bus. As I settle into my serendipitous seat, I can see them both getting all up in each others faces and shit. Just as a side note, the whole conversation they were having on the bus was all in low tones and very respectful of all the other people on the packed bus trying to sleep.. then they get off and hopefully all hell broke loose.
Seoul--traffic jams, bus seating politics, raging testosterone, and struggles in modernity vs. filial piety.
So Eurie and I, reppin' Bundang now, got off at Gangnam to catch the 'long distance' buses that go into the suburbs. Mind you, the main roads between Apgu and Gangnam are friggin jammed at almost any time between 7 and 10pm at night, it is just the way traffic works in Korea. So we both ended up catching our separate buses a little after 11. I got on my bus, and it was surprisingly full. Well, I guess not that surprisingly as it was past 11 and lots of people were going home from their dinner/one beer rendezvous and stuff. So all the seats were taken and people were standing in the aisles, myself included.
I have to say, having lived 7 years in Seoul and always taking public transportation, I really do think I have developed some kind of 'special radar' for people who will get off quickly and give up their seat Of course this doesn't always work but I always kind of scan people for clues that they'll be getting off soon and usually things work out well in my favor. What can I say, it is one of my many special talents.
Anyway, today I decided to stand near this one sort of youngish guy, probably between 22-25, talking on his cell phone. I mean, he's not asleep, right? And he was talking and talking, not particularly loudly or obnoxiously, but talking, and the whole situation was kind of frustrating because there was such a goddamn traffic jam that even the "express bus lane" (where only public buses are allowed to run on) wasn't moving. It took us 15 minutes to move about 3 km, maybe. Anyway, this younger guy was just talking away, the guy sitting next to him started talking to him, basically saying he had been talking for a long time and if he could get off the phone because it was bothering him. He also told him to put his shoes back on, because, well, the younger guy had taken his shoes off. It's Korea, man.
So the younger guy acts a little pissed but gets off the phone and puts his earphones in. I'm just standing there, looking over them, not really having a lot else to do. Then about 5 minutes later the younger guy takes his earphones out, looks over to the guy next to him (I will now call him 'older guy' since he was clearly in his 40s.. this age difference means quite a bit in this heavily Confucian-influenced culture) and basically asks him, "Why are you so easily bothered as to bother me?//What is your problem?" Keep in mind that I'm not exactly fluent in Korean so this is just kind of what I surmised from tone and the vocab I do know. This conversation (more or less) ensued:
Younger guy: What is your problem?
Older guy: What is YOUR problem? Why can't you just be respectful of other people on the bus late at night?
YG: Learn to deal with it (muttering to himself.. fucking asshole, piece of shit), why don't you just get off the bus?
OG: You should get off the bus
YG: No, YOU should get off
OG: No, YOU get off you piece of shit
YG: I'm not fucking getting off if you're not getting off
OG: Well why don't we just get off together? (Here, I am thinking.. YES!!! I get their seats!)
YG: Yeah, let's get off together!
Luckily and finally the bus finally pulls up to the next stop and they both pick up their shit and get off the bus. As I settle into my serendipitous seat, I can see them both getting all up in each others faces and shit. Just as a side note, the whole conversation they were having on the bus was all in low tones and very respectful of all the other people on the packed bus trying to sleep.. then they get off and hopefully all hell broke loose.
Seoul--traffic jams, bus seating politics, raging testosterone, and struggles in modernity vs. filial piety.