Daily Lessons from Life 13 September 2013 - A Rainy Day in Seoul, ROK

Heading home after an enjoyable assignment in Seoul, ROK, with a client for 3 days. Had dinner with my long time friend in Seoul, ROK , last night and he came to fetch me and show me around Seoul in his nice car. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and the rain just kept coming down and coming down. So our plan to hike around the old Seoul perimeter has to be shelfed and we were in a car ride for much of the 6 hours around town. Lessons for me are: 1. the traffic, as expected (not sure if it is 'right' or not!?), was heavy and slow, as in any mega cities in the world, and especially in Asia! The most surprising thing though was: rarely do you hear any 'impatient' driver sounding his or her horns! My friend shared with me that it was not like that in the past. It seems that people has matured and grown to accept that everyone is in the big jam and slow traffic. If everyone follows the rules with some give and take, it is not dead in the still water. It is moving, albeit, slowly but moving traffic!; 2. Singapore is a high density country and city. The drivers in Singapore, whether locals or foreigners, are still a way behind the Seoul drivers that I had witnessed over the course of 5-6 hours in a rainy day. We still read and see drivers arguing and even fighting with each other on our roads. Road rages as some called it. Singapore claimed to be a first world country in many areas, I wondered if we did claim to be first world driving behaviors too or not? :-); 3. While I agree we should not knock ourselves too much. It is important to recognize that whenever we claim to be first world this and first world that, we must be mindful NOT to lure ourselves into believing we are first world. In many areas we are NOT! I am of the school of thoughts that: if we have achieve, fine and well. Move on as there are more things to achieve and keep up the standard on a sustainable basis. That consistency and sustainability are the ultimate measure of if we are indeed first world or not! Reflection in rainy Seoul, ROK.