Crowds

Some of you may be aware of where Michael and I lived before we came to Korea.  Here is a picture of my old yard and newly-turned vegetable garden.  Note the absence of people.  I'm sure it was cold that day, but relatively quiet and, of course, beautiful.

Below I will contrast for you the population density.  It did not take any special trips or special occasions for me to encounter humanity in such dense proportions.  This is daily life, although the majority of these pictures were taken on weekends.

The street outside our apartment building.  The intersection is often clogged because drivers inch their way into the intersection hoping to force the light to turn green by being closer to it.  Buses and taxis also believe they are King of the Road and therefore above mere things like red lights.  On Friday nights there is sometimes a traffic director at this intersection.

The subway station

A guided tour

Seoul

And have I mentioned that the sense of personal space is quite different?  When you walk through these crowds, you are subject to being bumped, checked, brushed, or pushed.  The only people who will say "excuse me" for such offenses are Westerners. :-)  So the fun part is that you stick your elbows out, put your head down, and pretend that no one is around.  Bump, check, brush, and push to your heart's content.  No one minds except the Westerners.