12 Replies to “Famous Last Words”

  2. Newspaper ad for Korean subway drivers wanted.
    *Those who have less than iron-fast control over their bodily functions, need not apply*.= TG

  7. I’ve ridden the Seoul Metro. Anyone making comments about smell is – um – truly out of touch with reality. It’s impossible to smell ANYTHING other than garlic inside a train – especially downtown. And at many of the stations, the odor of cuttlefish from street vendors is the dominating scent.
    In a culture where toilet paper is optional (and, when it is used, is to be thrown in a trash can adjacent to the toilet) anyone making statements about odors isn’t likely to get a serious hearing.
    (ps – During my time in Seoul, I can remember one thing so clearly. On Sundays, when I’d get up and go out to walk down to the Metro station, I’d be able to breathe – and the air would have a pungent, but acceptable, odor. That’s because every other day, the pollution made the air so foul you *couldn’t* smell anything outdoors, everything had a brown tint to it, and you were forever short of breath.)

  9. Ever empty a coffee or soda cup out the window of a fast moving car? Ever have to clean the car afterwards? Think about it.
    I used to remember as a lad walking along the railroad lines. Then I got to ride a passenger train (remember the Canadian?). It was neat until I went to the washroom and noticed I could see the ground when I flushed. I only walk on abandoned rail lines now.

  11. [quote]In a culture where toilet paper is optional (and, when it is used, is to be thrown in a trash can adjacent to the toilet) anyone making statements about odors isn’t likely to get a serious hearing.[/quote]
    Yes! but don’t you love the reversed role on peeking.
    When you are dining in an upscale restaurant and get up to go to the coed bathroom all the ladies getup and follow you. You just gotta give them a show!
    Those demoralizing tricks, during the Korean war, of air dropping cartons of “HUGE” Condoms marked “Small” must still be working on the ladies imaginations.

  12. To Joey W:
    My family visited Seoul for a week after Christmas about five years ago. We used the subway extensively, and never once found an odour problem, nor any other sanitary problem. No litter, no refuse, nothing. And above ground? We never noticed any kind of air pollution, smell, or litter.
    We found their society very orderly. I remember that on a Sunday morning, going to a bakery near our hotel to pick up breakfast treats, I crossed a small side street against the red light. There was no traffic on either the main or side street; nonetheless, all the Koreans glared at me for the crime of jaywalking, as they waited obediently for the light to change.

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