Tragedy

I know that everyone here jokes about the horrible way that Koreans drive. It's true that red lights mean little to nothing to about 99% of Korean drivers. Pedestrians are to be ignored and not watched out for. That said, on the way to Songtan today, Victoria and I were on the bus and we saw an old man dead on the road after being hit by a car.

The accident had been fresh, there was no stopped car. There was a stopped bus (maybe he was hit by a bus?) and a man calling someone for help on his cellphone. The poor dead man laid out all twisted, there was a big pool of blood on the road, and other types of gore laying around (I'm trying to be gentle). It was a horrible sight. And everyone was just kind of driving around him, as if this were just another day in Korea. I really hope that isn't true. It's very hard seeing the way that Koreans tend to disregard traffic laws, it's hard not to think of this as contempt or indifference to pedestrians. I mean, if Korean drivers weren't so "bali bali" (Korean for 'quick') maybe they would stop and think about this poor guy that was killed while just walking down the street, and they'd realize that red lights and speed limits have a point. I won't continue on this train of thought, because it doesn't end pretty as you can imagine.

One of Victoria's students was killed in the same way maybe 2 months ago, while crossing the busy street in front of her school. So, this is not a limited accident. I hope that it isn't as common as I really feel that it probably is.

Now, Victoria is very into the "new age" spirituality. Wether you subscribe to it or not, she does. She said that she projected her spirit to the man, whom she said was just looking down at his own body and confused about what to do. She said that she helped him to find his way. If you believe it or not, it isn't important. But it is very comforting to think that just maybe that poor man had my lovely friend Victoria to help him out in his most desparate time. That doesn't mean that I completely belive, but I'd like to think that in this case it truly happened. Victoria has been such a great help to me, I hope in some way that she helped this man just as much.

This whole experience is one that I hope I never have to have again. Once is more than enough for me.