The Toll Gate Dummy

As I was leaving the house today, I was debating whether to bring my umbrella or not. It's been so unpredictable, this weather. It was sunny but I saw a lot of dark clouds. Not even 5 minutes after I got on the bus to Seoul, it started pouring. I was kind of happy in a strange way, and even though it was pouring the sun was shining. I noticed that a lot of people didn't have their umbrellas, probably sick and tired of carrying them everywhere. I don't blame them. It's been raining almost all week. The rainy season is over but the warm weather from the south and some cold weather from the north have collided so it's been causing a lot of rain, winds and thunderstorms. It might last until this weekend as well so going to the beach might be out of the question!

This traffic dummy can be seen at the Seoul toll gates. Their hands automatically wave up and down to get the traffic to slow down. There is one lane that is designated for 'Hipass' users which lets cars go through with a sensor card so they don't have to pay cash every time they go through the toll gate. It's kind of like a toll gate debit card. Anyways, all the buses go through there and even a lot of cars. The other day I was driving to my morning class and after passing through the toll I preceded going to the inside lane (fast lane). I noticed a car behind me and it was driving quite fast. (I noticed with my peripheral vision it was coming beside me as well!) He started honking, I tried to speed up then just let him pass me. What a moron, I thought! Just because he had a 'Hipass' card and I didn't!

Another thing that happened to me the other day was when I was getting onto the bus. I had a coffee in one hand and an umbrella in the other. I guess I was too slow to get out my 'T' money card because the bus driver was frantically waving his hand gesturing for me to get on the bus. Then he started honking his horn! (out of habit probably) It was pretty irritating but I got on the bus and found a seat. About 5 minutes later I had to laugh about it. It was another story to tell to my friends about the kinds of things you run into as a 'Wae-gook-in' in Korea!