Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

I noticed when we were in Korea that they take their energy saving measures seriously. When we entered our room in Sang Nam International House, we immediately noticed the electric fan placed on top of the dresser. Uh oh…no air conditioning. But on the wall we saw a temperature control pad but even though we tried to lower the temperature it remained constant. So when we assembled in the lobby again we mentioned it to Ms. Lynn, the IACE staff in charge. We were then told that air condition was centralized and turned on only at night.

We then proceeded to eat lunch in one of the restaurants near Sang Nam. It was also kind of hot inside the restaurant. There were two electric fans to give relief to the heat. After eating, we went back to our rooms to rest. At four o’clock, we went to the Hall where registration took place. Here, there were two stand alone air condition units but these were not able to fight the heat. One of the things included in our kit was a fan. I guess, we should have taken heed of its meaning.

The next day we continued to complain about air conditioning in our room since the room temperature reflected in the thermostat was 28 or 29 degrees. We took it to mean that there was no air conditioning in our room. It was only when we started the first round of our field visits did we finally realize that it was really a policy and not just inefficiency of the hostel. The bus was almost comfortably cool but still not quite especially after a hot and sweaty tour around the institutions we visited.

It was only when we checked in in our hotel in Seoul during the last three days of our stay that we experienced honest to goodness air conditioning.

I can only admire how obedient Koreans are to such a policy even though the heat was already uncomfortable since it is summer season. They really do their best to contribute to the energy saving measures of their government. I guess it must be because they can see that in the long run it also benefits them. I believe that one of the reasons why Filipinos do not believe and seldom obey the policies of the government is because they know that only very few will benefit from these policies. The money that the Philippine government will save from energy saving measures will just add to the money that already line the pockets of corrupt politicians and government officials. So why suffer when only a few will benefit.