Story Time in Sanbon

“I walked the death curves” I read the line again, puzzled. She couldn’t possibly mean what she had texted. It simply wasn’t possible. But to quote adidas “Impossible is Nothing.”

The trip from Sanbon to Bundang is a short 20 min bus ride, all highways—the highlight being the infamous death curves. At this point the (maniac) Korean bus driver usually accelerates, the old standby of decelerate before entering a curve and accelerate through it apparently unheard of in Korea. Here, the general rule is accelerate. The light is green. Accelerate. The light turned red. Accelerate. A car is merging into your lane. Accelerate. It is the answer to all road situations, just as Jesus is the answer to all Sunday school questions.

The best seat on the bus to fully experience the death curves is in the back row, which is raised a foot above all the other seats (for more effective bouncing). Let out a scream, a giggle, raise your hands, really anything is appropriate because as the driver speeds through these curves its as if you are transported to an old wooden rollercoaster, without the constraining “safety” bars.

As you picture buses careening down the curves you can imagine the importance of being inside the vehicle. So brings us to the text. “I walked the death curves”

Katy’s adventure began with catching the bus in Sanbon on a Thursday night- her goal, Bundang. She had the misfortune of a bus driver who had either not slept for the last 48 hours or had had one to many. This translated into a lot of yelling by fellow passengers to jolt the driver back to the road as he drifted in and out of reality and lanes. The bus driver wasn’t the only one confused however. Katy was on another adventure of traveling in Korea- put simply- you never really know what’s actually happening around you or when to get off the bus. English teachers in Korea become seasoned guessers. Katy listened carefully to the announcements from the voice recording, heard her stop and dutifully pushed the “stop” button to notify the driver to pull over. Unfortunately for Katy her madman bus driver was unaware of the world. He pulled over, in the middle of the highway, stopped the bus-NOT at an actually bus stop (yikes!) and let the poor little white chick off. She looked around and evaluated the situation. It was dark. There was construction on the side of the road but no construction workers. Behind her a 15 min highway ride to Sanbon. Bundang lay 5 minutes (by careening bus) in front of her. But between her and Bundang were two obstacles: the death curves and another highway cutting her off from the safety of Korean Suburbia. She had one option; it was time for a walk.

And so she did. She shimmied between the cement wall that bordered the highway and the low cement divider that lined the lane. No sidewalk, definitely not designed for walking. She bravely clutched her umbrella in one hand and her purse in the other. Buses roared past her- passengers visible, with hands raised as they experienced the death curves. Eventually she made it to the next obstacle, the dreaded intersection. At this point she has to cross a good 12 lanes of crazy Korean traffic (remember, all cars are accelerating). Her immediate goal: the lane that separates the two directions of traffic. She looks left, then right. Then left again. RUN! Stop. Breathe. Left, right. Left again. RUN!!
At long last, her saving grace- a sidewalk.

She did indeed, walk the death curves.