Cross Walk

As in many places there are to types of cross walks in Korea, those with signals and those without signals.

In the case of a cross walk with a signal a foreigner in Korea may spend their first week looking for a button to push so that the signal will turn in their favor. (stupid foreigners) On the first day the foreigner will look quite avidly for a button at every light they happen upon. Eventually the foreigner will give up from frustration and hope that the cross does not require a button to indicate that pedestrians should cross. After the first day, the foreigner will look more casually for the remainder of a week until they can accept that Korean magic cross walks do not have buttons, they simply turn on their own.

Now I realize that the downtowns of big cities in the States also have magic cross walks that turn with the traffic, however Soegwipo is a small city so I was caught off guard. Additionally the cross walks don’t always turn with the traffic lights so the foreign pedestrian often becomes impatient when it seems that it is safe to walk, yet the cross still indicates to stay. After a week of acceptance and growing comfort with the whims of the crosswalk a pedestrian will suddenly cease watching the world pass on their extremely long wait. The pedestrians eyes will lock onto the cameras sitting just above or below the signal which allows for crossing. How many times was that camera scene and not registered by the brain because a pedestrian was staring so ardently at the signal?

In the case of a cross walk without a signal one should never wait patiently for a speeding car to stop, because it won’t. No, a pedestrian should step boldly into the crosswalk, at which point the speeding car will slow just enough to let the pedestrian pass and then it will go speeding off again without a stop. Perhaps a really nice and conscientious driver will notice a pedestrian a block or two away and begin slowing well in advance. But, if the foreigner waits for a complete stop before stepping into the cross walk the driver will become agitated, press forward, and give a dirty look. This only leaves the foreigner to wonder, why did they slow down so much, but not stop to let me cross. Clearly the foreigner is naïve to the 1^st law of crossing Korean walks “A driver in motion must stay in motion, but will slow to let a pedestrian cross.”