I love talking to taxi drivers. They are an integral part of any culture, with their knowledge of the ins and outs of the city. I've always learned something interesting from cab drivers and how they literally drive the whole city. The ones in Seoul have immediately been able to determine that I'm not a local girl, and that always gets the conversation going.
Taxi Driver: I don't understand why the U.S. troops are moving their base to the south of Seoul.
Me: What don't you understand?
Taxi Driver: If the North Koreans attack, then who's going to protect us?
Me: You're going to protect yourself. It's your country.
Taxi Driver: Why are the U.S. troops doing in Korea if they aren't going to protect us from the North Koreans?
Me: You really think the Americans are going to just sit there if South Korea is attacked?
Taxi Driver: The troops are so far away that Seoul will be annihilated by the North before the Americans help us.
Me: They are only moving like 20 miles south of Seoul. And they probably aren't going to complete the move til closer to 2020. Look, you guys didn't even bat an eye when the North Koreans were going to test their long range missile last week.
Taxi Driver: Because they were aiming at the sea.
Me: You really believed that the missile would even get to the sea? I mean if the missile fell short, it would have landed in South Korea. Are you going to excuse their real intensions just because they are incompetent?
Taxi Driver: You need to tell Obama to keep the U.S. troops in Seoul.
Me: And you need to tell all the commies in the National Assembly to stop with their Anti-American sentiments.
Speaking of North Korean missiles, I received an email yesterday morning from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul informing Americans that the Korea Civil Defense Agency was going to conduct a nationwide earthquake drill at 2pm. This is no Tier I National Level Exercise where bureaucrats get to blow smoke up each other's woo-woo. When the siren goes off for one minute, everyone is expected to participate. Pedestrians are expected to walk, not run, to an open area and all vehicles are supposed to come to a complete stop. Thank goodness that I signed up for Smart Traveler program, because if I heard the siren without any prior warning, I would have ducked under the desk waiting for the fake North Korean missiles. Too 1950s Cold War? Maybe.
I try to explain to people that 9/11 is still fresh in our minds. Furthermore, upon hearing that the crazy guy up North with nuclear capabilities wants to annihilate Seoul because they disrespect his authoritah, I err on the side of the insane.
FYI - I received a text message at 3:27pm about the earthquake drill from the Korean authorities. Now you see why I'm skeptical of Korea's Emergency Management Agency? They are 1h 30m late to the game.
Taxi Driver: I don't understand why the U.S. troops are moving their base to the south of Seoul.
Me: What don't you understand?
Taxi Driver: If the North Koreans attack, then who's going to protect us?
Me: You're going to protect yourself. It's your country.
Taxi Driver: Why are the U.S. troops doing in Korea if they aren't going to protect us from the North Koreans?
Me: You really think the Americans are going to just sit there if South Korea is attacked?
Taxi Driver: The troops are so far away that Seoul will be annihilated by the North before the Americans help us.
Me: They are only moving like 20 miles south of Seoul. And they probably aren't going to complete the move til closer to 2020. Look, you guys didn't even bat an eye when the North Koreans were going to test their long range missile last week.
Taxi Driver: Because they were aiming at the sea.
Me: You really believed that the missile would even get to the sea? I mean if the missile fell short, it would have landed in South Korea. Are you going to excuse their real intensions just because they are incompetent?
Taxi Driver: You need to tell Obama to keep the U.S. troops in Seoul.
Me: And you need to tell all the commies in the National Assembly to stop with their Anti-American sentiments.
Speaking of North Korean missiles, I received an email yesterday morning from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul informing Americans that the Korea Civil Defense Agency was going to conduct a nationwide earthquake drill at 2pm. This is no Tier I National Level Exercise where bureaucrats get to blow smoke up each other's woo-woo. When the siren goes off for one minute, everyone is expected to participate. Pedestrians are expected to walk, not run, to an open area and all vehicles are supposed to come to a complete stop. Thank goodness that I signed up for Smart Traveler program, because if I heard the siren without any prior warning, I would have ducked under the desk waiting for the fake North Korean missiles. Too 1950s Cold War? Maybe.
I try to explain to people that 9/11 is still fresh in our minds. Furthermore, upon hearing that the crazy guy up North with nuclear capabilities wants to annihilate Seoul because they disrespect his authoritah, I err on the side of the insane.
FYI - I received a text message at 3:27pm about the earthquake drill from the Korean authorities. Now you see why I'm skeptical of Korea's Emergency Management Agency? They are 1h 30m late to the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment