On the roads

I was a bit nervous before my first ride to work last week, but now I am getting pretty comfortable with it. The ride takes about 15 minutes, plus 1 to 5 minutes for traffic lights. There are a few small hills, so even if the temperature is in the 40s, I get pretty warm.

When we first got to Korea, the plethora of 50+ story buildings with helicopter landing pads on the roof and crazy traffic patterns all seemed overwhelming, but now it is old hat. After a few weeks of observation, I feel pretty comfortable on the road. I now know when to stop at a red light and when to ignore it.

I got my Korean driver's license from the Army base last week and drove a car for the first time on Wednesday. My boss and I had a two hour drive after a meeting and I took my turn at the wheel. I warned her that I don't drive as fast as she does, but I do tend to get places safely. I figured out that if I drive slowly after a traffic light, everybody else zooms ahead and then the road is empty just for me. My boss laughed when I shared this observation.

My daily commute takes me along an industrial area, so I wear a mask to keep some of the fumes out of my lungs. In the morning, most of the trucks are sitting on the side of the road waiting for the ports to open and I can race by them to work. In the evening, most of the trucks are sitting in the road - stuck in traffic - so I can race by them and go home. Either way, the traffic that cars get stuck in tends to disappear when you ride a bike.