I think if you do not consider intercultural
situation, someday you get some trouble.
I am sure
that you have to care this difference. Unless, you will have some trouble likes
me.
-This is my personal example-
Two weeks
ago, I had a terrible experience due to opposite traffic system
You guys know that Singapore’s pedestrian system is left
walking. However, Korean system is obviously opposition. Because of this
different, I almost would be dead.
When I finished shopping with my friend in the department
store, I wanted to go to my dormitory. At that time, I was shopping 3hours and I
had some bad cold. So my condition was so bad. Because of my condition, I would
like to go earlier to my room, and at the same time, I saw taxi the other side.
So I just
watching left side and I checked that any car doesn’t coming. After the
confirming, I started walking to road. But as soon as walking to the road, I
heard a very loudly horn and almost melt down. It is very lucky incident to me
because driver saw me very fast and quickly reduced his speed.
Because
of intercultural situation, I got a big lesson. If you want to across the road,
look at the other side comparing to Korea! Actually this case is very specific
story, but if you do not consider difference of culture, it will be bad… So be
careful and always think about intercultural situation!!!
Nice story Yujin !
ReplyDeleteYou explain very good the reason of this incident!
The structure is clear and you draw the conclusion of your problem.
Personally, I have the same problem than you! In France, it is the same thing than in Korea: you drive on the right side! I am here since 2 months but when I have to cross the road, my first glance is always for the left side! What a bad habit!
To conclude, I think that when you are new in a country or in a group of people, they have to understand how your new environment works and what is its behavior. If they make this effort, their adaptation will be very good!
Thanks for sharing this story!
Maxime.
Hi Yu Jin,
ReplyDeleteI hope you have recovered from your cold and you are feeling better now :)
A concise post that fulfills the 7 C's criteria.
Your experience sounds terrifying. I hope you have learned your lesson on looking out for traffic before crossing the roads, or alternatively, you can use the traffic lights or overhead bridge. They are definitely safer! :)
It would be good if you could observe how the locals cross the roads. That was what I did when I went to Beijing alone as part of a school trip. Or you can always adopt the "follow-the-crowd" attitude - cross the road when you see a lot of people crossing :P
PS: It is so much easier to navigate your blog now that almost everything is in English :)
Hi Yujin!
ReplyDeleteYou should be more careful next time. That sounds really dangerous. Anyway, nice post! It's crystal clear yet concise.
In my case, since crossing the road in Indonesia is rather 'life-threatening', I've always been taught to look for vehicles from both sides (my parents could give an hour lecture on this topic haha).
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Yujin, for this post. You describe quite succinctly your experience with the near collision due to your forgetting that traffic flows in a different direction (following the British system) here in Singapore. The story does illustrate well the way that even traffic norms differ from one country to another.
ReplyDeleteI had a Japanese student who was an avid cyclist. In Japan he would regularly drive on roads, where the traffic is usually quite slow compared to in other countries. In Australia, he had just begun a cross country bike trip when the saddest thing happened: he was struck by a passing truck, one that was flying on the road. That was a case where a misunderstanding of the norms had fatal consequences. Luckily, you learned your lesson without mishap.
I really appreciate your effort.