As I walked along the streets of Uijeongbu tonight, I considered how much time I spend waiting on the lights to turn green.
This is not to say that Safe Walking lights are not necessary or appreciated—because with the amount of traffic that is moving on these streets, these signs are a life saver or at the very least, allow the walkers to cross the street at all.
Here in Korea, I do not have a car. In fact, I probably would not use it much if I did. International traffic laws and customs are different and most of the places I go are accessible after a short walk or a walk and train ride. I ate at McDonald’s tonight which was only a mile or so away. Then if I had to drive, I would have to park, which is another topic altogether. I am not alone there are many people on the streets every time I go out. The safe walking lights do much to allow this population to get around.
The consideration, however, is how much time I spend waiting on stop lights. I wait at two lights both on my way out and back every morning that I run. Tonight, on my walk, I had to wait for four lights both ways. This is just a different life that I am used to in the Southern States. We do have walking lights, but we don’t use them very much. However, we all have a car.
It is amazing to see how different my life is here in Korea, even the little things like traffic light effect my life every day.