I've been really confused about pedestrians here. The traffic drives on the right, but the people walk on the left. I mean, all traffic should go the same direction, intuitively, right? I thought that maybe people didn't follow ANY direction while on the sidewalk-kinda like on the road. Many a time, I've found myself running into a complete stranger because we try to avoid each other and end up going the same way. Yes. It's awkward...every time. For a while, I thought that Koreans were just stubborn and expected me to move out of their way, whichever way that may be. However, I just discovered that Koreans are SUPPOSED to walk on the left. It was like that in the "old" culture. In fact, in the subways, there are little signs on the ground that say, "Korean cultural people walk on the left." In schools, children are scolded when they ignore the posted notices instructing them to walk left. Dude. I've been thinking about this for the last week.
First, I felt it strange that walking and driving directions were different. I mean, it just feels unnatural to an American who's always gravitated to the right side. What was strange to me was the fact that the people walked on the left.
Then I thought, I should think of this from another angle. If it is traditional to walk on the left, then the strange thing should be driving on the right. "Ah! This question will be easier to answer than I first imagined," I thought. When posing a question about current Korean custom, I always compare pre- and post-WWII. While Japan was occupying Korea, Koreans drove on the left. After the Japanese were kicked out and the American armed forces flooded into the country, Koreans drove on the right. Simple enough to understand, right? ^^
But wait...
In Korean culture, there's a stigma against "left." You shouldn't drink out of a cup with your left hand, for instance. Left-handed kids used to train themselves to use their right hands because it was considered weird and backward to use chopsticks or write left-handedly. (Not really anymore, though I've experienced some Koreans using "left-handed" as a remarkable distinguisher when describing another person.) So, why is it embedded in their culture to walk left? Shouldn't they be walking right? Is this a leftover from Japanese occupation? And if so, why in the world would they post signs about true Korean cultural citizens walking on the left. Koreans hate the legacy of Japanese colonization so much that it they probably would have changed their walking direction to shed off more Japanese baggage. And if this custom predates Japanese occupation, why would it conflict with the ingrained taboo against the left side?
Still mulling this over...
