So one of the more ironic moments in business practices throughout Seoul is that while many bars and clubs literally stay open all night, all banks are closed on the weekends.
I’m not sure if this has to do with any particular law (like Blue Laws in the South) but it doesn’t seem like a very efficient way at reaching customers who may be unable to visit bank locations during normal business hours.
Other interesting things:
- I haven’t seen anyone with a smartphone, PDA, or Blackberry which is also an observation noted in a recent NY Times piece; I also haven’t seen either the Ultra Smart F700 or SCH-B450 mentioned in the piece
- PC Bangs are all over the place, probably even moreso considering I can’t understand 99% of the signs; most of them have game posters hanging from doors (e.g., World of Warcraft)
- Gyms exist, but they are nestled away in seemingly hard to find areas. The one that I visited last night requires men to wear blue shirts and women to wear red. Just like these guys found out. And it is relatively pricey compared to the health clubs in the West (e.g., $60/month here versus $30 at either Gold’s Gym or 24 Hour Fitness)
- Konglish is prevalent everywhere, it is basically bastarized English used in haphazard ways (e.g., “Rice Burger”)
- Smoking is apparently über cool as everyone does it, especially young adults
- The drivers are perhaps the most aggressive ones I have ever met. Red light does not mean stop, it is perfectly normal to park on sidewalks, and honking on the horn is used liberally. Oh and double parking is very much en vogue.
- I haven’t seen a fat person and sunlight is persona non grata
The driving sounds similar to that of the Philippines. The horn was used for lots of things: Get out of my way, I am merging – give me room, I am turning so watch out, etc.
A few questions:
How is the pedestrian traffic?
Do people jaywalk a ton or use cross walks?
To get accross the road, do the pedestrians just start walking infront of cars hoping they will stop (like in the Philippines)?
Are they many people who use bikes or mopeds?
Are their traffic cops at intersections?
Do the drivers go fast (In the Philippines, even though the traffic was all of over the place as far as chaos, they didn’t go above 40mph)?
Comment by Nathan — July 7, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
Answering in order:
Lots of people work around, just like you see in movies
Nearly everyone uses cross walks and waits for the “go” sign
And yea, once they get the “go” sign, they’ll walk no matter what
Lots of mopeds, though, alot more cars
Not many traffic cops, but I haven’t seen all of the city yet
Lots of quick acceleration/deceleration on the roads, but not super fast speeds
Overall: don’t be surprised if you’re cut off at any point in your transit
Comment by Tim — July 23, 2007 @ 8:07 pm