Korean Expat Community for National Disasters

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There are many ways of moving around Korea as there are also many places that one may need or want to visit in such country: one can either ride a bus, or a train, and even rent electric scooters or bicycles—with the latter two being novel for me because we do not have such yet in the Philippines last time I checked. To be honest, I really want to ride them, especially since Chuncheon is peppered with places of varying elevations. But as a foreigner in Korea, I find it daunting to apply for a license, which, according to several persons I talked to, is required to ride such technologies (e.g. language barriers, paper works—you name them). I am also either too busy or too lazy or too cheapskate to apply for such or use them along with the aforementioned public transportation modes. Thus, I find solace in a hand-me-down bicycle that I got from a friend who graduated last year.

This is a good practice of several foreign students that I heard of and personally experienced: instead of bringing such huge contraptions back to their countries which may cost them money, or just leave them to rust in a bicycle rack somewhere, or wait for someone to buy them like in Carrot, graduating foreign students often give their bicycles to their friends. And therefore, after a little bit of cleaning and tightening of stuffs and other fixes to be done to ensure that the bicycle is in good riding condition—not to mention educating myself of the basic road rules for cyclists in Korea—I no longer need to just walk or spend money just to get to relatively near places or buy a brand-new bicycle, and in the process I reduced my carbon footprint for the planet. I can also now manage to go to more distant places if I just put a little more effort in it, see new sights and even have access to cheaper shops. Of course, riding or carrying my bicycle uphill of course is still a slight additional burden, but the thrill of riding downhill more than compensates for that—and oh! to feel the wind caressing your face, your hair, and body! Chuncheon has a lot of bicycle lanes also and have an abundance of places where it is calming and beautiful to pedal to like the paths around Soyang River.

If you are a student like me, but still has no bicycle but have a graduating friend or even acquaintances that has a bicycle, don’t be shy to ask for it! Sometimes all we need to do is ask and it shall be given.