Interesting Ride--Well, the Middle Part, Anyway.

I was riding a highway bus today, and we were cruising along at a good clip, when I--sitting at the very back of the bus in the raised 'clear view' seats--happened to glance at the front of the bus, out the windshield--just in time to see a tire on the big dirt-hauling truck (also moving at a good clip) directly in front of us blow. Did I actually see the tire blow? No. I heard it. An explosive sound, so loud outside that it was clearly audible inside the bus. What I did see was an immediate large, gray-black cloud engulfing the space between the truck (where it had once been visible) and the bus, where, for a second, I sat thinking, "We're gonna wreck on the truck. Shit."

We did roll over the blown tire treads and roll through the cloud of smoke and debris, but fortunately the driver of the truck had his (I have never seen a female construction truck driver in Korea) wits about him, and maneuvered the truck to the side of the road as we cruised past.

I was glad then that I do choose to wear my seatbelt on highway bus rides (the city buses having no seatbelts).

10 minutes later I was asking myself, "Are we there yet?"