You know that means something CO3?

Interesting,
Tradition and Culture,
Science and Technology.

I like Daejeon as I live fairly close, as a proud Chungnamian 

My favourite so far has been...

I know the ITS thing, but I'm one who delves in. hahaha, I imagine most waygs don't.

SamrtAsan is amazing. hahaha

Meh, it's just Sangju.

Absolute legend. That's my favourite one.

As soon as I move out of Gunpo, they change from Gunpo With Book to................. .......



hahaha

Not really crazy but interesting observations.

Again in Suwon, was waiting for the bus. If you know Suwon Station, in front is like a big circle, and there are like 5 different places to catch a bus. It's kind of chaotic now, but imagine how it was around 2000, the station was still the old one probably built in the 60s. Basically a concrete block. It was maybe 8pm, and I was waiting for the bus, then I hear some little girl crying whining to her mother that she had to pee. So the lady moved her back onto the grass right in front of the fence and made her drop her pants to pee. Coming from Canada never really saw anyone pee right by a busy bus stop like that in an urban area.

Also, was fascinating to see some of the old farmers coming in from the countryside. One that came to mind were these two old ladies, maybe in their 80s or 90s walking up the very, very crowded stairs to catch the subway, or train. Was at some major subway station on the edges of Seoul, can't remember exactly. Both of them were well under 5 feet tall, and both were walking hunched over basically at 90 degree angles, and both wearing backpacks. I was just thinking how hard their lives must have been to have resulted in their posture being that way.

Came to add my cities ridiculousness - Energetic Dangjin. XD

Stories - I have also seen a slow-speed car chase. But the cop when they came by where I was standing was just hanging out his window shaking his fist and yelling obscenities at the guy going 10 mph. I wasn't sure why someone didn't just jump out of the cop car and go open the dude's car door. It was sure slow enough to do so.

An ahjumma cursing out the library building and shaking her fist as she pee'd on it. It had to have been the building as she was gesturing to the side wall and no one else was outside.

A student last year deciding one girl annoyed him so he took his scissors to her hair from behind while she was doing class work and cut off a massive chunk. She was devastated when she realized and all the kids were angry at him. Her short haircut the next time I saw their class looked great on her though.

A girl outside of a CU outside of my apartment. She was WAILING as loud as possible and repeatedly asking where someone was. The person working the CU kept angrily coming outside and demanding she leave, neighbors yelling out the window's for her to shut up, 5 guys and a girl went outside to talk sense into her until they got fed up and just left. Til 6 am she was out there. Not sure if she was drunk or just broken up with or what, but I don't think anyone called the cops. We just all had bags under our eyes leaving our apartments that morning. How she managed to cry and scream that much/long is beyond me.

I have a few more shorter stories.

1. This was a few months after I moved to Korea. I was on the train (AREX line!), standing in front of an ajumma, who was seated. She says something to me and I figure out she is trying to tell me that my fly is down. I wasn't embarrassed, so I laughed and thanked her. Before I could do anything, she zipped up my pants for me! Then she patted my lower torso, just above my crotch, twice, I guess for good measure?! I felt like a little kid and my grandma was getting me ready. That was my first experience with an ajumma. Some live up to their reputations, don't they?!

2. There is a small river in my area and it has a walking/cycling path on it. I lived close to the path, and further down from my place there was a church. I was walking home one day and I saw two guys, who I assume were members of the church, and one of them peeing in the grass off of the path. I lived in Japan before coming to Korea and once in a while I would see guys peeing on the side of the road because I lived in the countryside, so I was kind of used to it, though I live in a much more urban area here. I decided to look straight ahead and continue walking home. As I passed them, the guy's who wasn't peeing apologized to me for his friend. I didn't expect that! I smiled and said it is ok. Even though I didn't care that he was peeing, I appreciated the apology.

3. This happened at the DMZ. I had been to the DMZ twice; once on a private tour, and the other was the Koridoor tour. I wanted to experience the DMZ train and it was fall, so I decided to go to the DMZ to look at the change of color. The DMZ train goes to Dorason station and from there you transfer to a bus that stops at different locations on the DMZ. We were at the 3rd tunnel and I decided to stay outside and take photos because I have already been to the tunnel before. When I finished, I went inside and sat in the waiting area next to the souvenir shop. Most of my group had finished touring the tunnel and they were also waiting in the same area. I was sitting there just watching everyone when I see this older woman (maybe in her 60s), and a man (maybe in his late 40s), collide and they both fell flat onto the floor. Neither one of them were paying attention to where they were going. Then the woman's son (?), a bigger husky guy maybe in his 30s, comes and comforts her for a moment, but then he gets angry! He gets up and shouts at that other guy, who has gotten up. The husky guy gets in the other guy's face and is tearing into him. The other guy just looked him in the eye and took it, he didn't move or anything. It got really quiet in the room. There were a lot of children there and they were watching this too. Then, the husky guy starts to swing at the other guy, but bystanders held him back, and his mother, now up on her feet, tries to calm him down. He calms down and they walk away. It was over just as quickly as it had started. The more I thought about it, I wonder what would have happened if the husky guy had succeeded in punching the other guy? We were at the DMZ, there were soldiers everywhere!  They probably aren't trained to break up a fist fight at the DMZ!

Actually, this one has me kind of scratching my head.  I have the mountain that I walk up very often just behind my house.  They've just made a nice road up to it, walking through a field before you can hit the track up the hill. I noticed on Saturday that someone has lined up about 20 bee hives about 10 metres to the side of the path in the field.  This field is not this person's field.  Anyway, I walked through there on Saturday evening and was chased about 100 metres by some angry bees.  And on Sunday was the same.  They've hidden the hives so you can't see them from the main road.  Who the fukc puts bee hives next to a hiking path on an area they don't own?  I'm gonna do some research this week to find out who I can alert to this, because it's ridiculous.  Not just for me, but other people's safety too. 

I've been here so long...the stories have certainly added up through the years. Reading this thread has jogged my memory. Haven't though about many of these in a long, long time. After reading through these stories I see that Korea was a much stranger place back in the days.

I'm going to contribute as well but not all at once. Too much typing.

Here we go...

First story that comes to mind took place within a few weeks of arriving in Korea back in 2005. I lived in Isu then and that's where the majority of strangeness took place. I wonder if it's still like that?  Anyway....I was about to head somewhere on the subway and just before I get to the string of turnstiles I see an older couple screaming at each other. They were likely in their early 60s. She was on one side of the turnstile and he on the other. They continued to scream for a bit, and then he grabs her by the hair and somehow manages to pull her completely through. She is no longer on her feet at this moment and he just drags her down the corridor. All the while they are still yelling at each other. My first instinct was to intervene but I was so fresh off the boat and there were loads of people around and they weren't doing shit. As he continued to drag her a crowd encircled them but didn't get involved, just walked along with them...gawking. Was so f***ed up.

Ok I have a new one to add and it’s by far the craziest thing I’ve seen. I was with some friends in a park about midnight and we see a dude beeline in to the bathroom, no biggie thinking he has to take a leak or dump. But instead of going into the bathroom he goes around behind the building. Ok still not a biggie maybe he has to puke. About 20-30 minutes later I walk to a trash bin to toss my beer away. From this spot i can see behind the bathrooms. So now there’s another dude on his knees giving the first dude a *******.... my friend who was just behind me tosses his beer into the trash and immediately turns back to gather up our stuff. I say something like dis you see that? He didn’t but doesn’t want to go and check now. We hurriedly get our bags and get the f outta there. My friends didn’t believe me at first but then when we’re leaving  we see the dudes peering from around the corner. We leave without any issues but I was honestly a little shocked to witness that. I don’t care what people do with consenting adults but out in the open??! We later here from some locals that park is known to be weird and it’s best to avoid it.


Craziest thing I’ve ever seen here and hopefully the last!

Oh! I just remembered something sorta crazy! This summer at my apartments complex I heard yelling. and for a moment I thought, oh cool, the kids are back playing soccer or something. so I went and looked to see what the commotion was about. turns out it was actually some guy in his car driving all crazy. first on the playground, then he started hitting cars. someone was yelling at him and trying to get him to stop. then others came out, yelling. eventually the cops came and boxed him in and took him away. the tow truck drivers got here faster than the cops did!  it was pretty intense for a few minutes. I was worried someone was going to get run over.

Yongsan station circa 2012/13, platform 10 or 11 around 8pm...halmoni pulls down her trousers, squats and starts peeing. Then the solids started coming out as well...right in front of (more like beside) about 5 totally unconnected strangers trying to ignore her in horror.

I worked at a middle school where one of the (female) teachers had a full blown sexual relationship with a male student. He dumped her, she was heart broken and tried all sorts to get him back.

A pal worked at a hagwon where the owner married one of his ex-students...he was in his 50s, she was in her mid-20s and had been at the place since she was a teenager.

An adult ex student of mine was involved in the student riots of the 80s. He regularly got arrested (but not tortured), and would be locked in an overcrowded cell overnight or for a few days till his family could bail him out. Sometimes the police would just pick him up from campus or home even if he hadn't been to any protests that week and would take him to jail.

I know of newbie teachers who were housed in the middle of a RLD, in a building with literal brothels where the walls were paper thin. They could hear when the Johns would come in and leave...and everything inbetween. An apartment I rented in an officetel building was a stay-in brothel run by the previous tenant, who was a "10-pro" girl. The real estate agent and the building manager at the viewing were discussing it...not knowing I could understand them. I didn't mind, but it became a horrible place to live in for other reasons (huge space, loft style with floor to ceiling windows which meant it was a bitch to keep warm in winter, and sky high utilities).