Gas station (source: http://pass-forward.blogspot.com/)

In 1996, I got on a plane that was bound for Vancouver, Canada. Looking back, that was the most luxurious year in my life. I spent several months in Vancouver to study English. “Studying” here may not be correct because it sounds like I spent a lot of time in Library, reading and writing English and memorizing vocabulary. Not really…. But, I did go to the library in Vancouver to meet friends, not to study English. (By the way, the library in Vancouver is so beautiful. So, if you have not been yet, you should try.) OK! Let me rephrase. I was there to LEARN English.

Making Canadian friends and spending time together with them, I was really able to learn English. Mostly, how to speak and engage in conversations without worrying about my grammatical mistakes. One of the great ways to learn English is going on a trip with friends who are native English speakers. One day, my friends and I rented a car to go to the Vancouver Island. It was beautiful and very fun.

During the trip, I learned a few interesting things. Here is the first thing I learned. As we drove the car for a while, our car asked us to provide some fuel. At that time, my friends said, “We need to find a gas station.”

Me…. so puzzled. Why? Well, it was because of the usage of the word, “gas.” Growing up, I learned that gas is anything airlike fluid substance which expands freely to fill any space available, irrespective of its quantity. And, a car needs some type of oil, not gas. So, I thought…. I thought that it should be called, “oil station,” not “gas station.”

So, I asked my friends, “Why do you call it gas station? Shouldn’t it be oil station?” They said, “No, we are pumping gasoline up into cars. So, it should be gas station.”

That is confusing. Then, what about diesel cars? Then, is it “die station?” (Use only the first three alphabets from diesel.) I do not want to go to die station. Regardless of the type of oil, they are all oil. Wouldn’t it be making more sense to call it oil station?

That is still my thought about gas station even though I am so used to call it gas station that I would also feel weird if some of my Korean friends who are new to the U.S. say oil station.

P.S: If you are going to buy or rent a car in the U.S., be ready to pump gas up by yourself. Some states have full-service areas at gas stations but many are self-service stations. In Korea, most of them are full-service.