The Dangers of Commuting in Korea during the Winter Season

Me getting cold -- Korean Winter 2006

The thing I probably dislike most about Korean winters is not the cold itself. It is the extreme artificial heating one experience on the public transportation system. Imagine being cocooned in layers of insulating garb: a vest, a shirt, a cardigan or sweater, a jacket, all covered with a down-feather jumper, and add to this a scarf, earmuffs, and a beanie. The description seems excessive only to those that have not been outside on Korea’s coldest days, easily dropping to below -10° Celsius. Picture yourself nuzzled in such apparel, safely protected from the bone cutting coldness outside, and then boarding a bus or subway train that is heated far above what would even be considered moderate summer temperatures. The contrast from the outside is immediately noticeable; it is like stepping into a sauna. But what would be a lifesaving haven for the scantily dressed frostbitten fashion slave that doesn’t know how to dress warmly during the cold season, or for the unfortunate poor that cannot afford clothing, such heated "comfort" becomes a hell, in an almost literal sense, for those that are already dressed warmly.

Lest you become a barbecued chicken—for that is the feeling one gets, steaming away in your layers of clothing—undress is your only salvation. But taking off ones clothes in the confines of a moving vehicle is a task that is in the worst case a dangerous endeavour, and in the least case disturbing for oneself and ones neighbour. Dangerous, because it requires the dexterity and balance of a gymnast to contort oneself out of your cocoon in a vehicle which is continually accelerating and decelerating. Unless you are seated—and in Korean public transport a seat is not guaranteed—undressing while in perpetual motion one can easily become unbalanced and fall, hurting oneself or an innocent fellow commuter. And disturbing, as such stripping often entails flaying limbs which, although accidently, tend to poke and hit those around you—all squeezed together in a confined, incessantly rocking carriage. Apart from the dangers of being cooked alive, there exists also a secondary risk of catching a cold because of the extremes of temperature experienced when coming in and out of the piping hot transportation vehicle.While the Korean transportation system is in one sense one of my favourite things about the country, in another sense it is the context for one of my greatest irritations.