On Parking

The wide-open spaces of the USA sometimes have parking issues (ask anyone trying to park on a college campus!).
So what do you do in a city of millions of people piled on top of each other?

Parking is an issue in Seoul - so much so that it was one of the reasons Jarrod was reluctant to get a car.  He was used to parking his motorcycle wherever he wanted (on the sidewalk), noting that he would often have no idea where to park if he had a car - since is appeared that parking spaces were always full.

They are almost always full.  Even when there are 5 or more levels of parking below buildings.

So then, how do we park when we go out anywhere?

Here are a few tips:
1. Open the store.  It is much easier than it sounds.  You will almost always find parking if you get there around 9am-10am.  Koreans get going late and stay out late! The worst time to go out is... anytime after noon -especially on weekends!

2. If you don't go early be creative with parking spaces.  Most often this will not land you a parking ticket, but sometimes it will.  (This is just one of the benefits of having a compact car!) If all else fails, park perpendicular to other cars and leave your car in neutral so that they can push it out of the way when they need to leave.  I have pushed many cars out of the way when parking at Costco and Emart.

3. If you don't go early be prepared to wait an indefinite amount of time.  It amazes me how long the lines of cars can be and how people just wait for parking places.  It is definitely a lesson in patience.  Since I don't particularly want that lesson, Jarrod will wait for the parking spaces to open up and I will go into the store with one or both kids to start shopping.  Thank-you, honey!

4. Leave your phone number on your front windshield so people can call you to move the car if pushing isn't working.

5. It is really, really helpful to know where you want to park.  Alternatively, it is really, really frustrating when you try to go somewhere and can't find a parking lot. They do exist - you just have to know where to look. That is usually why the first time going anywhere is most difficult.  So for that first time - give yourself grace, a lot of extra time, and some extra money.

Thankfully, Korea is very service oriented and most stores have parking attendants (dressed in fun outfits) to help direct you to open spaces - and - at times - help push a car out of the way.

Parking in Seoul. It really isn't so bad. You just have to adjust.