My My Metro Card

Yet another Seoul-adjustment that I've had to consciously make is lining up for the metro. No longer do I plunge head-down, elbows-up, in to a crush of people all trying to make their way on to a speeding, underground, capsule. Instead, I line up, let the people on the train get off the train and then proceed to get on the train. What is even more incredible than this is the fact that I'm able to find a seat 80% of the time. I think I sat down on the train in Shanghai maybe 5 times out of the whole time I lived there.

These niceties, I've found out, seem to go out the window at 5:00pm on a Monday. It was one such Monday about two weeks ago when Kelly and I were running for the train that just arrived in the station when disaster struck. A man in a proper business suit was much too eager to catch the train and rammed into Kelly from behind at full-speed. This caused her to lose her balance and tumble on top of me in an attempt to regain her balance. All the while accidentally stepping on my flip-flop from behind.

The next thing I knew, I was on the train, Kelly was on the train and the business man was on the train but my flip-flop was not. I ran back outside on to the platform to grab my shoe and looked up just in time to watch the doors close in my face. Kelly and I frantically mimed a "Get off at the next station and I'll meet you there!" conversation in the window while the entire car of the train was in hysterics over the whole situation.

So much for niceties.