Korean Courtesies that I just LOVE!

Ever since we moved here, I've noticed little things that show me just how much people and the government cares about the well-being of others.  They are little courtesies that help everyone.  I'll put a spotlight on ten of these courtesies in today's post.

1. Foam on your car door.  These are sold in the dollar stores and many people have these on their cars, so they don't hit the car next to them in the parking garages.  Or if they were to hit the next car over, it wouldn't leave a dent.

2. Large shade umbrellas at crosswalks.  It is so nice to be able to wait in the shade on a hot day, for the crosswalk light to turn green.  And, speaking of crosswalks, there are three other features I love.  

• The first is the yellow bumpy squares for blind people, to indicate the sidewalk ending or turning, or stopping.  
• The second is diagonal crosswalks.  When an intersection has a diagonal crosswalks, you know that all street lights have to be red first, then all the crosswalks lights will be green at once.  
• The third is that there are separate crosswalk paths for bicycles and pedestrians.  This helps avoid collisions. 

This umbrella is over the median of a large road, where you cross halfway, then stop before crossing the rest of the street.

Notice that the bike crosswalk path is red with a dashed white line, while the pedestrians cross in the large white hashed area.

This corner not only has shade, but also benches!

3. Digital readouts at bus stops.  Not only do most bus stops have shade and benches, but they also have a monitor that displays which buses stop there and how long you'll have to wait for each bus.  All the buses must have GPS trackers, so that you know exactly how many minutes you'll have to wait and you can see if it gets slowed down by traffic or something.  This has helped us when we arrive at a bus stop, so that we can see if we have time to run into a shop and buy a drink while we wait, or put more money on our T-money cards.  Some monitors also show the weather and current time.

4. Designated seating areas for pregnant women on the subway.  They are marked with pink labels, and when you find out you're pregnant, you get a pink card from your doctor to carry with you.  That way when the subway is crowded and there are no empty seats, a pregnant woman can flash her pink card and get a seat without question.  It doesn't even matter if she's not visibly showing a baby bump yet.  

5. Free bug spray dispensers at all parks.  Who hasn't gotten to the park, planning a nice hike, and realized they forgot bug spray?  

6. Outdoor exercise equipment at all parks.  There is no excuse to not be fit here.  I've seen these everywhere, and they are usually near the playground, so your kids can play while you work out!

7. Simple grooves next to the steps down to the subway, so you can get your bike up and down the stairs without carrying it. 

8. Call buttons at restaurants.  These are amazing.  Your waiter will not hover waiting for you to finish your meal.  You can make a meal last hours if you want to.  They will not come and refill your coffee a million times over.  They will not come and check on you and interrupt your conversations with your friends.  They will virtually disappear until you push the Call button, at which point they appear out of nowhere and will help you with whatever you need.

9. Panic buttons.  I hope to never have to use one of these, but they are everywhere.  I remember seeing them when I was in college, but not since then.  These panic buttons are on lamp posts, in every stall of public restrooms, at crosswalks, everywhere.  Sometimes they say SOS on them.  

10. National helplines for everything including translating.  We've only tried the translating service, but the lady on the other end spoke English fluently and was very kind and helpful.  

This is just a sampling of all there is available as free courtesies to folks in South Korea.  I think it makes everyone feel like someone is looking out for them and wishing them well.  They certainly make me smile!