View on the subway going over the Han River

Subway Floors you can eat off of

The subways here glisten. I see women mop every evening. They even wipe down the walls everyday! Not just a cursory wipe either, like women sitting on the stairs scrubbing with brillo pad and actual soapy water. I have never seen a NYC platform be cleaned in my 8 years of living in the city. Why can't New Yorkers be as civilized?

I was with my friend waiting for the subway and I told her how amazing I thought Korean subways are because they're so concerned with the safety of their passengers. The glass partitions prevented people from accidentally falling on the tracks like what happens to Nyers all the time.
My friend looked at me dead pan, "Um no Lia, it's because everyone tries to kill themselves here"

Oh....yeah. You win some you lose some.

P.S. My friend wasn't trying to be cute nor funny, suicide is a big problem here. That may need to be another blog post.

Techie Nation

Thursday May 20

Korea is a country with lightening fast internet speed wherever you go. The first time I downloaded a winzip file of 150 photos sent to me, I did a double take. In the states I would be watching the status bar switch from 43-44% completed with my eyes rolling to the back of my head.

The best part is of being a techie country is that the subway system takes 3 forms of payment called T money: credit card, T-Money Card (metrocard basically), little plastic thingamagigs. T Money can be used not only on buses and subways but taxis as well. Imagine using your Metrocard for cab fare! Yes, I know we can use debit/credit on cabs but this was installed very recently in NY (2-3 years ago?) I can't recall.

Anyways, the Hello Kitty attached to my cell phone is my subway pass. My friend Jess (who BTW owns a Hello Kitty toaster) is out there somewhere dro0ling all oogley eyed.

P.S. this is Jess' toaster, no joke.