Comparing Korean Rest Stops and American Rest Stops

In Korea, there are a lot of places to stop and rest when traveling throughout the country. These rest stops are another aspect of Korea that many people find attractive. When I first heard of the rest stops in Korea, I didn’t think much of them because, in America, a rest stop is usually a gas station or some rest area with only bathrooms and maybe some vending machines. But, in Korean rest stops, there are bathrooms and vending machines and a whole variety of delicious snack food, and even restaurants. So, today I will briefly describe what a rest stop in America is and its purpose and then compare that to the rest stops in Korea.

 

The American Experience

Many people in America, including me, do not have any particular feeling attached to hearing the phrase ‘Rest Stop.’ There are many of them throughout the country, and if you include gas stations on that list, there are quite a good amount. But a rest stop is not exactly something that strikes excitement, nor is it a place many want to go. If we look at a couple of examples, an ordinary rest stop in California looks like this.

These are what one thinks of a rest stop in America. Not all have grass and trees like these, but there is usually a walking trail, places with shade, and a couple of restrooms. These areas are generally used when traveling long distances and can be found in barren areas.

 

An ordinary gas station looks like this.

When going on either long or short trips, people typically use a gas station because of the variety of services available in one place. A gas station in America, as opposed to one in Korea, serves gas and usually has a mart inside the facility where you can buy snacks and use the restroom. There are also areas where you can wash your car and put air in your tires if necessary. Near gas stations, there are also usually fast-food restaurants that you can go to if you are hungry.

 

Both can be considered a rest stop, but only the first one is officially called the one. The two of them are similar in that they both have restrooms and an area for you to walk around and maybe buy a snack. There are a couple of exceptions to rest stops not having food. This being that truck rest stops (stops where big rigs come) have a larger area with a mart and, on occasion, a restaurant that serves hot meals. But these kinds of stops usually only cater to truck drivers, or many other people do not know much about them.

 

The Korean Experience

 

In Korea, a rest stop is where one goes in between traveling to other parts of the country. There are a lot of rest stops, and each one has something that the other one doesn’t. Just looking at the differences between each rest stop is exciting, but looking at what makes the rest stops in Korea fascinating is, in my opinion, fun. Because there are many rest stops in Korea today, I will introduce two of some of the more interesting ones.

 

Usually, two rest stops of the same name run in two directions. I will introduce the two rest stops: the Eonyang Rest Stop and the Gyeongsan Rest Stop. The two stops that I chose run from Seoul to Busan and vice versa, and these are stops that you would take when traveling toward Seoul.

 

Eonyang Rest Stop

Eonyang Rest Stop is one of the more newly made rest stops in Korea, so the exterior and interior of the building are modern. There are even charging stations for electric cars, which still cannot be seen commonly throughout Korea. There is, like other rest stops, in this rest stop, the standard assortment of street food. As seen in the pictures below, you can order a wide variety of food, including sausages, spicy rice cakes, corn dogs, etc…

At many rest stops, there is a special menu at each location. One of the unique things in the Eonyang Rest Stop is the Pork Stew. There are two options of pork stew you can choose from. One is Kimchi Pork stew, and the other made out of soybean paste. The food all tastes amazing, and the price is also amazing.

Another thing that I think is a cool addition to this rest stop is, as shown in the pictures below, the area where one can learn about the prehistoric period of Korea. The facility’s outside walls are decorated with different markings from that time, and inside there is an area with a replica of a piece of rock wall found from this period.

 

Gyeongsan Rest Stop

Another rest stop I wanted to include is the Gyeongsan Rest Stop. I wanted to mention this because, at this rest stop, there is a cultural heritage site that, while resting, you can explore.

This site is known to have tombs (the hills shown in the pictures below) that may entomb historical figures from the Three Kingdoms Period. They are not sure if these tombs were made in the Three Kingdoms Period. Still, because of the structural similarities with tombs from that period, it is assumed that they were created during the Three Kingdoms period. Who is entombed is unknown because the graves were never touched by archeologists or the like.

The rest stops in Korea show that the saying ‘some things can be found in the most unexpected of places’ is highly accurate. That is one of the beauties of visiting a different country and experiencing that country’s culture and living within its society. Not one country is better than another, but they all have distinct qualities that make them unique. I hope that you all find the beauty within the differences and go out and experience the things that make each country special.

 

 

Written by : Mariah Abdelfattah
From Southern California, United States. Currently a senior B.A Candidate in Korean Language Flagship at the University of Hawaii Mānoa. Attending Korea University as an exchange student and a Intern at VANK(Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)