We went over to my mother-in-law’s house. She had made kimchi for us, and since we have nothing in the way of side dishes to eat with rice, we needed to pick it up as soon as possible. It’s been a lazy week, with my wife working late and me getting home extra early due to my split schedule. I’ve reverted to bachelor cooking for myself. I’ve fought the urge to order pizza and live like a complete bum, but we haven’t had a decent dinner together all week.
Anyway, we hung out with mom for a while. She immediately got up and started cutting fruit for us, even though we had just arrived from dinner stuffed. When pressed about why she was trying to stuff us further, she admitted she was just “bored” and wanted something to do with her hands while she talked. I fought down a peach and some other fruit, but couldn’t finish off the plate.
While we were hanging out watching some overacted Korean television drama, my brother in law dropped by the house too. He’s living with the parents for a little bit between jobs. He and I chatted a little bit, he asked about Europe, and the dog. The plan is for him to reside in our apartment while we are away. He’s going to be a live in doggy-sitter. It’s not pure altruism on his part, I’m sure he’ll relish in being out of his parents house but still staying rent free.
When it came time to go home, he offered to drive us with his mom’s car. He’s got a license, but he isn’t driving much because he doesn’t own his own car. The license was a requirement for finding and applying for jobs.
A few weeks ago, when I was riding in their family car, I saw they had a “navigation device”. My mother in law had gotten it for free for using a specific bank card to purchase gas. Since she drives a lot at work, she got this sweet prize.
Navigation devices are fairly ubiquitous here. In polling just the parking lot outside the apartment when I walk Yoshi, roughly 40% of the cars have some sort of computer assisted driving device mounted on their windshield.
If you’ve ever driven to a new place in Korea, or needed to find a specific address, it’s easy to understand why they are so useful. There are so many signs, and so many poorly marked buildings, these sorts of devices are essential to prevent getting lost. Korea’s assignment of building numbers and addresses is nearly random. It’s assigned by order of completion in the area. Also, most streets don’t have NAMES. Streets are usually referred to as “Next to this or that building” or “Intersection of these apartment complexes” Yeah. It’s rough getting lost if you aren’t familiar with the city.
Anyway, my mother in law’s sweet navigation system isn’t a first generation model by any stretch of the imagination. These devices are highly evolved in Korea, and they have a wealth of features. This gadget had a large, 4.3 inch touch screen. It could plot a course in any major city from anywhere via GPS. It could receive both antenna and digital broadcast television, as well as had “well being radio” that had calming music that was supposed to help you quit smoking.
There was also a Norebang, or singing room feature! Choose a song, and it would connect to a database and pull up the lyrics. They are all organized in a national song database, so if you go to a location to sing, the same number would pull up the same song, whether it’s in the car or in the singing room itself!
Imagine, not only can you sing in the car, but you can pick the song, it will provide lyrics, and grade your performance afterwards. Any you can do this while driving. Even while you are singing, the directions from the navigation device will cut in telling you when to make turns or change lanes. Really, really awesome.
This sort of entertainment is for bored passengers, and not for the driver. I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road as the passenger. I was having too much fun with this neat toy. If I ever end up getting a car in Korea, this sort of thing will be a must purchase for me.
