WAITING FOR MY TRAIN

...that would take me home after class.

a red subway..line 1...about 9 pm.

Hardly no one was visible.

Subway Exit....

iseng-iseng saja sambil pulang jeprat-jepret tsngga-tangga saat menuju rumah.

sepi. Tak ada orang lain.

pas menuruni tangga pun demikian.

ketika naik eskalator pun juga sama saja.

한적했다.

But....begitu keluar...terlihat ada 'kehidupan' seperti bapak ibu penjual ini.

oh...bahkan ...tak terlihat orang lalu-lalang menuju atau keluar dari Emart dekat rumah.

입학 축하금 Uang Masuk Sekolah

Salah satu hal yang kusuka dari fasilitas subway di Korea adalah bagaimana stasiun subway pun juga dimanfaatkan menjadi tempat budaya. Salah satunya adalah dipasangnya berbagai karya puisi atau esai pendek yang rata-rata dipilih untuk dipajang karena isi dan muatan pesan yang terkandung di dalamnya.

Kupotret esai singkat ini di stasiun Seoggye jalur 1 pas aku nunggu subway mau pulang. Isinya menarik karena mengungkit tentang bagaimana kekuatan pemilihan kata-kata yang kita ucap dan tuliskan dapat mengubah persepsi kita tentang sesuatu.

Di sini diceritakan ada sebuah keluarga yang mengalami kesulitan ekonomi karena himpitan masalah. Banyak orang berdatangan ke rumah keluarga itu untuk meringankan beban keluarga itu dengan cara memberikan amplop berisi uang sebagai tanda peduli. Ketika sang penerima ragu-ragu dan merasa sungkan karena takut merepotkan, serta merta di atas amplop itu tertuliskan bahwa ini uang untuk biaya sekolah anak keluarga itu yang kebetulan masuk sekolah menengah.

Alhasil, dengan penuh bahagia...keluarga itu menerima maksud baik orang-orang yang berniat membantu mereka.입

National Subway Graphic: The Limited Edition NOT to be Missed!!

I love how Seoul Metropolitan Management found its creative side of portraying the social phenomenon at subways. First, let me get this straight, well..at times I did see couples hugging and kissing (although some would be blietzkrieg-like kiss). Not that I am naive or being hypocritical, but..yest...there are kids too in subways.:)  

and that's what prompted the Subway management to create this public awareness campaign ad.

what a great way to 'nudge' those couples:-) 

Then...the second edition that I like is also about how some people would just behave like the king of the subway..hehehe.:)

Well, some may not be aware of it..but the fact that some do exist....has prompted (once again) the Seoul Subway Management to come up with this brilliant idea of 'portraying' misbehaved passengers as gorilla or Kingkong. 

Then..what about those who sneaked out of the system...get on and off the subways without paying. I was alarmed to find this, too.

Some are just using the children card instead of adult-fare card. (so they say).

but...this is what makes it even more interesting...

these limited editions of National Subway Graphics are what keep me glued to wait and expect more 'insanely' creative ways of 'nudging' those kinds of people out there.

hmmm I hope I am not one of those...:) 

그래, 그렇기도 하겠구나 'Yes, You May Be Right'

I loved the poem that I bumped into at a subway station the other day. 

Once again...the longer interval of subway operation during summer means longer time to wait for subways to arrive.

What's one of the best ways to spend 'seemingly nothing-to-do' time while waiting for subway?

Read the poems scattered along walls of subway stations across Seoul. 

My daughter found a boyfriend like pure cotton. I wanted a son-in-law like pure wood or silk. So I didn't like him. I wanted my daughter to live warmly for life. One day, her boyfriend hoped to come to see me but I refused coldly. Then my daughter shouted, "Is there only winter in life? Why don't you know that pure cotton is best in summer? And when winter comes we can put on layers of cotton!"

Yes, you may be right.

Bicycle Locker

Yep...you read it right. At first..I thought it was just another cabinet or any other lockers. It is not. It's a specially designed locker for bikes. Yes..anyone who comes and goes back and forth the subway and having to lock or store the bikes..they no longer need a long overdue locker coz this particular locker is a kind of modern-day bike lockers.

Just look at the boxes attached in between. 

There are instructions on how to operate or use the bicycle locker like this one. I tried to take a closer look at this but I refrained to.  

This locker room is at Hwarangdae station. I bet there are a bunch others like this one in any other subway station.

On weekends, lot of people are using their bikes to explore the city and I think this bicycle locker is deemed to have a great and multiple uses for the purpose of having fun.