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Koreans don’t jaywalk.

It was one of the first things I noticed when I arrived in Busan. It could be the dead of night, zero cars within a 5 mile radius, and that lone, little old man standing eagerly on the edge of the curb will wait as long as he needs to for that darn light to change colour.

Accustomed to downtown Toronto living, I thought this whole no-jaywalking thing was incredibly unusual behaviour, particularly for a culture that prides itself on efficiency. In Toronto you cross the street when and where you need to, we are all so busy and important - those precious moments waiting on a curb can put a serious dent in your transit time! And besides, don’t crosswalks exist only to humour concerned city planners and confused tourists?

I stayed true to these beliefs for my first 12 hours in Busan. Just enough time to notice Korean driving.

I’ve travelled to many countries before with questionable, some might even say ‘crazy’, driving practices (i.e. New York City, Nassau, Madrid, etc.) but nothing measures up to Korea. Watching the traffic from my apartment window 16 stories high, reminds me of a scene from Super Mario Karts (if you aren’t familiar, click this link for reference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJGay0Kq_RE. Incidentally, this is also the soundtrack playing in my head while I watch). The tiny cars below zip along well-lit streets, swerving in and out of lanes, making flagrantly illegal turns, and completely ignoring red (and sometimes green) lights. Just the other day, I watched a Korean man sit through an entire green light, staring straight ahead, off in a daydream. By the time he realized he could go, the light was red again. I did my best to hide the fact that I was laughing at him while I crossed the street.

In short, Korean pedestrians might be onto something after all. Luckily I won’t have to spend any time driving during my stay in Busan, but I’ll be sure to look both ways and always make use of crosswalks. However I’m not quite sure what to do about the daily whiplash I receive taking the bus to work each morning...