Persistence and Korean Drivers
Quick Note: In a prior post, I suggested Identity Guard through Costco was a 
nice marriage of quality and price. Several people commented they might try it. If you haven’t yet done so, consider this. Yesterday, I received a Costco flyer. In it, Identify Guard is offered for 60 days, free, instead of the usual 30. On day, 59, you must cancel or you’ll be billed for the upcoming month. To cash in, go to identityguard.com/costco/idcoupon3.
Please note as of this writing, (the 11th) the link is inoperative. Probably because the offer is valid, 12-29 November.
My first book Takes Place in Korea, Land of the Morning Calm. From 1976 to ‘78, I lived in and around Seoul. One memory that stands above most is about Korean drivers. They made such an impact, so to speak, on me, that I included them and their traits in my novel. It was all true and great local color. For example…
True story. I was in the back seat of a Korean taxi when–tired of waiting for the traffic logjam ahead of him to breakup–the driver pulled up on the sidewalk. Yes, you read the correctly, the sidewalk, drove about a block, and made the right turn he’d been waiting to make.
I sat in the back seat, mouth agape and in disbelieve, shocked past speech. What might have been most amazing was the pedestrians acted as if it happened all the time! They barely gave us a second glance. They simply stepped aside. No anger. No yelling. They just kept moving around us as we passed unencumbered and unvilified.
Perhaps the driver was emboldened because, in Korea, the passenger in a taxi is responsible for any accident the driver might encounter. The theory goes that, if it weren’t for you, the passenger, the taxi would not have been where it was and therefore tempting fate…a very big thing in Korea.
In that spirit, please take a second or two to read the following. I have no trouble believing this at all. None.
By Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver’s license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time.
The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test.
Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers’ license agency in Jeonju, 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of Seoul.
Police said Cha took the test hundreds of times, but had no specific total. Local media said she took the test 950 times.
Now she must pass a driving test before getting her license, Choi said.
Repeated calls to Cha seeking comment went unanswered. She told the Korea Times newspaper she needed the license for her vegetable-selling business.
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Choi Duc! Ops, that’s Vietnamese. (A slang expression of surprise or amazement, among about a hundred other things.)
Thanks for stopping by, see you again on Friday!
Themocracy
That story about Cha Sa-soon is scary! I’ve no doubt she’ll end up on the streets, terrifying the pedestrians.
Driving on the sidewalk….with no one acting shocked. That’s really something. And I thought Charlotte drivers were bad!
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
Funny story about the driver on the sidewalk — can you imagine the angry pedestrians if that were to happen in NYC? And speaking of NYC, I rode in a cab there once, and ended up asking the driver if I was going to die during that ride (his driving was manic). He just laughed.
Wow, even though she passed I’d still be a bit afraid of her driving.
Too funny, we both posted about drivers today!
I have seen taxis drive on the sidewalk in NYC. Not for long distances, but to get around a stall. That’s not the craziest thing I’ve seen there, though.
Having lived in Korea and Taiwan, I know exactly what you are talking about. My life flashed before my eyes more times than I care to remember when I was a pedestrian walking on a sidewalk! I began to always carry an umbrella and when a car invaded my territory I’d wop the hood or fender. Didn’t do any good at keeping them away but it did make me feel better.
The weird thing about that woman passing the written exam on her 950th try is that may husband and I both passed on the first try with neither of us speaking or reading the language. It must be a different, much easier exam for foreigners!
I believe you one hundred percent. Americans who have never traveled outside out own country just don’t understand how crazy and zany the world is. Germany for example, is a crazy place to drive around in. While they don’t drive on the sidewalks (as far as I know), they do see just how fast they can get from point A to point B. Nice post, Galen. Oh, and Happy Veteran’s Day from one Vet to another.
If nobody cares about taxis on the sidewalk, maybe they won’t care so much if this (obviously excellent) driver plows into stuff.
That makes me nervous:) Is it really that bad? Wow! My husband went to Haitti last year and said they drove as though there were no rules. Makes me glad I’m not in it. Have a good day!
She only had problem with the written test, it didn’t mean she would have problem with the driving test.
Steamy Darcy
Galen, plenty of drivers like her where I live, regardless of their country of origin. I’ like, where the heck did they get their drivers license. Light turns red and a dozen cars plow through the intersection before its safe to go through.
Stephen Tremp
Good lord – lends new and special meaning to the old phrase, “If at first you do not succeed, try, try again!”
The Old Silly