Everyday Adventures

Bee and I went out today for a few different activities. On the subway we decided to take the more adventurous, less known way to where we were going for dinner rather than the simpler but slightly longer way. As we were leaving the station where I thought we were going to get off we ran into a spontaneous adventure. The escalators at many of the subway stations are motion activated to save energy. This particular stop was not all that busy and the escalator was not on as we approached it. The sensor to activate it and set it in motion is located 3 or 4 feet in front of the escalator on the corral fence that funnels people into the narrow escalator steps. The sensor beam is about two and a half feet off the ground. It is easy to see the sensors if you know what they look like.

So I decided I would see if I could step over it. Have you ever tried to step over an invisible laser?! If you have ever ran out of your garage after pressing the button for it to go down and had to step over the safety sensor you have. I pulled one leg up and over but I was not tall enough to set it on the ground on the other side without disrupting the sensor so I had to do a little hop to switch which foot was off the ground. Then it was easy getting that trailing edge over the beam. Success! I made it over. I feel like a spy! Now it was Bee's turn to get through. Of course she is much shorter than me so there was no way she was going over the top. She decided to go underneath. She gets down on the ground and high-crawls underneath the laser. I did not fully expect her to do so. She is so awesome! I love her!

After we both successfully made it to the other side without setting the escalator in motion I kicked the laser to turn it on because I felt like being lazy and not running up the whole escalator. Half way up we look back to see another person stepping on. If only we had known he was coming; we should have left it off and walked up it to confuse him. Would he have taken the steps seeing that we were on a not moving escalator or would he have just looked at us strangely after tripping the sensor with us already being half way up? We will never know!


Another part of our underground adventures today was several yellow and black signs we saw saying: "Please don't step on it!" That's right, don't step on it!

I am sure we have all seen the warning signs that say "Do not step" or "Stay off" or "Do not climb." Well we are in Korea and it is not uncommon to find sentences and advisories a little off than what we are used to seeing. For instance, I bought a small trash can the other day to use for food waste but on it it says "A new broom sweeps clean windy." I have no idea what it is supposed to say but that is Korean English for you. Every now and then you will see a young Korean wearing shirt with English writing on it and spend ten minutes trying to figure out what the shirt is supposed to be saying. It is rather entertaining.

This warning sign in the subway is just another example. It may look like this ledge needs to be stood upon but "Please don't step on it!" (Don't worry mother, I did not step on it.)