An Ironic Twist of Metal

About three weekends ago I went to the city of Cheongju, which is about an hour away from Eumseong. I went with a group of coworkers to see Iron Man 3. After the movie while everyone else went back home, my roommate and I decided to stay in the city to explore the night life and then stay at a jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) for the night. It was a sleepless night of wanderings and misadventures. The next day I realized that I had left my US driver's license at a club.

Yesterday, the 18th of May, I went back to Cheongju with two things in mind: to pick up my roommate's iron that he had dropped off at the Home Plus for repairs, which was ready to be picked up and to retrieve my driver's license . I'd recently gotten a smartphone and so I used the navigation function on it to get me to where I needed to be.

Task one was a breeze. I quickly found parking, went in, showed the receipt that was given me by my roommate, took the iron, got in my car, punched in the next destination on my GPS, and embarked for the RPM Lounge Club, where my driver's license was being held. Being unfamiliar with the roads, it was nice to have the GPS as a guide. But I missed a turn because it was a slight exit right before a bridge. I thought it would be no problem as I had my GPS. But no matter how nice technology can be, sometimes human intuition is better. With this in mind I ignored the navigation's suggestion to make a circuitous left turn and instead turned right once I passed the bridge. This time, I was wrong. I was at an intersection in a two-lane highway and when the light turned green I made the attempt to make the right turn. Hidden from sight was a parallel lane adjacent to the one I was turning from and as I turned into it a taxi was coming at me. Luckily I saw it coming and braced myself for it like I would a hit from a linebacker.

I didn't see my life flash before my eyes. I wasn't angry, sad, scared, or anything. I think in my head I might have said, "crap." The taxi ran right into the left front wheel and it was no insignificant hit. Considering how old the car is, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it were totaled.

I got out of the car to check on the passengers in the other car. Three women were in shock but seemed to be fine otherwise. The taxi driver would yell at me a bit. Literally within seconds, a tow truck was there. It and another were actually parked at that particular intersection, waiting like vultures. Apparently, this intersection is very accident-prone. As a foreigner I didn't know what to do. Yes, I had an international driver's permit but I was not the slightest bit aware of the procedures for accidents in Korea. I'd never even been in an accident in the states but for a slight scratch I made once when I tried to park in the church parking lot when I was a novice driver. I called the police and they came some minutes later. We were in the middle of an intersection and there were a couple of city buses trying to get through. The tow truck driver asked me if he should tow the car away. I assumed he meant to pull it to the side so that traffic could resume but he ended up taking it all of 800 meters to the police station.

I rode in the police car. On the ride over I called one of the staff at the school whose job it is to help us foreign teachers. He happened to be in Cheongju at that very moment and would meet me at the police station. In the car the cops asked me where I was from and whether I had insurance or not. They asked me if I had my passport and driver's license. He was talking about the international driver's license but for some reason when he asked me, I mistakenly thought that he was asking for my US driver's license. As it was exactly what I was on my way to get, I asked them if we could stop at my intended destination to pick it up on the way to the police station. My GPS was still on and as I looked at the map we were just passing the RPM Lounge on the left. The cop said that we would have to go to the police station first. Seconds later, in an almost cartoonish twist of fate, we pulled into the police station right across the street from the RPM Lounge. I couldn't help but notice the irony in that I got in an accident while I was on my way to get that very document which allegedly proves my qualification to drive.

The other teacher came and we sorted things out. This was all a scene in and of itself. He was angry with the tow trucker for the bill of 133,000 Won that he had left me to pay for towing the car a mere 800 meters. I consoled him, telling him that tow truckers are hated in America too. Before parting ways, the taxi driver and I exchanged information. He, however, didn't have a cell phone so he asked the police officer to call my phone to ensure that I gave him the correct number to which the officer replied, "Get a phone! How do you drive a taxi without a cellphone?" The taxi driver gave an embarrassed grin.

I took out some valuables from the car glove compartment and took the iron under my arm. I got into the other tow truck, which took us an hour away to Eumseong. And for that he charged only 70,000 Won. So I was down 203,000 Won from a stupid and costly mistake. But at least I accomplished what I set out to do.

I'm fine, by the way.