When you think of Korea most people in the United States just think of North Korea and its crazy dictator. Although that way of thinking is not to far off there is a lot more to Korea than just North Korea. The country is split up in two halves and my recent travels to South Korea let me experience cultural differences although not as shocking as I would imagine. In the end there are many similarities that I can identify and respect.
My recent travels brought me to Seoul, South Korea. Seoul is on of the largest city in the world housing over 10 million people in its city district. With such a dense population i would presume that traveling from one direction to another would be very difficult and time consuming. The best way to describe the transportation would be to call it "efficient". There are 3 options when moving around town. Option one: Take a cab. While it is the easiest to just flag one down it will cost you and the time you spend in traffic may not be worth it. Option two: Take the bus. The bus system is very dependable and clean, if you live near a bus stop you will surely use this method. Option three: Take the metro. The metro is the easiest of all, and the most cost effective. Million of Koreans use this mode everyday to commute to work. The only downfall is that they close at midnight. The method of payment for these services are all in sync. One can pay by cash but most just have re-loadable transit card they use. This card is accepted by the bus, cab and metro and is electronic, just swipe it on city scanner and the payment is processed. Very easy and efficient.
