(Jennifer Brewster is living in the Republic of Korea (South) with her military
husband Matt and children Hannah, Lilly, and Margaret)

After much procrastination, here is the second edition of the "Little

Apartment on the Han" chronicles--a few notes and thoughts on Korean life, as

experienced by me, an Army wife and mother of three hooligans.

I worry about my ability to drive as an American again after living here.

Even Matt has noticed a change. I grew up in Texas--home of the friendly

driver. There is no hurry in Texas; you'll get there eventually. It is most

important that you give you're fellow driver his due space and time to get

where he wants to go.

I cannot imagine a place more different from Texas than Seoul, Korea.

Here, we like to see how many cars we can pack into a lane. Speed limits are

posted and noted, but soon disregarded. Sidewalk make for convenient parking

spaces. Turn lanes are really for U-turns. Red lights are optional......

Hannah was literally in tears one day because I would not run a red light.

"Daddy says no one stops for red lights in Korea! You have to go! You have

to go!"

Turn signals are for merging and changing lanes, not turning. Use the

expressway if you want to sit in a gridlock. Never, never make eye contact or

wait patiently--nose your way in to wherever you want to go. Traffic lights

go from Red to Yellow to Green, so as soon as a Yellow appears, everyone revs

their engines and goes. Police cars always have their lights flashing, and no

one yields the right of way to them, so I have no idea what happens in a real

emergency.

Perhaps my favorite part of traffic is the moped crowd. Most Americans would

not think of transporting a family of four on a moped, but it can be, and

often is, done. They are also popular for moving furniture, large boxes, fast

food delivery and dry cleaning. They do not have to obey traffic signals or

drive on the right-hand side of the road, and they can go wherever they can

fit.

One more thing (and this pertains to Korean pronunciation), there are only a

few consonants in the Korean (Hangul) alphabet, so each consonant is

pronounced differently depending on where it appears in a syllable. But

Koreans pronounce English letters as they would Korean, so consequently, my

daughters' names are Hahn-nuh, Rilleean, and Maugolet, and I am married to

Mathur.

Until next time,

Jennifer