Miscellaneous (Dust, Trash, Shops/Market)

Date: May 31, 2008

**Congratulations Peggy and "C" for your beautiful new addition-- Elim Song!^=^

Dust Dust Dust!! so much dust here!! They are everywhere in my apt. and my classroom; in addition, they multiply FAST! It's better on rainy days b/c it's wet and sticky, but on a nice sunny day, you literally have to clean every min no kidding! Back in the U.S. I can just clean every week, sometimes, even 2 weeks if i'm really busy or lazy, but here, you seriously have to clean everyday (sweep, mop, or vacuum and wipe) if you do not wish to be devoured by dust (btw, that's my fear). It's a little better these days cuz I know a little better how to "fight" them and plus i've been turning on the AC in my classroom, so the windows are closed. So, the way to defeat dust is just "H2O" Yup! water! wet the entire cloth, not just "damp" but wet the entire thing but not too wet that it's dripping. Then wipe off the dust. Most places have floors, it's very rare that you see carpets, so normally you either sweep or vacuum the floor first, and then use a wet mop for the floor. This should be done everyday to keep the environment clean (but sometimes, if i'm too tired after classes, I just sweep ). Especially in my classroom, kids come in and out and they bring in a lot of dust and also other stuff (u know, messy kids stuff).

The garbage management here is different as well. You have to buy the desginated trash bags in a city (for exmaple, the trash bags i get says "Gunpo" on it) and put the recycled stuff in a different bag (any bag) and there's also a different designated bag for left over foods. When the trash gets full, you just take it to a designated area by your place (any day any time) and somebody will pick them up. The garbage bags come in 3 different sizes: 10, 15, and 20 L, and they are fairly cheap. There's a designated garbage pick-up area at the back of my building, so it's pretty convenient. Garbage bags can be purchased pretty much at any convenience stores (such as Family Mart, GS-25, 7-eleven, Buy the way).

There are couple shops/market I normally go to; they are all fairly close to the school and to my place. One is called "Kim's Club". It's like the grocery stores in the States (such as Vons, Safeway, Albertsons, Food Lion, and Farm Fresh). The other one smaller and is more of a traditional market. One interesting phenomenon I discovered is that there's always a like "sales" person speaking through a mic non-stop repeating the sale items and good deals (I don't understand what they're saying, but i think this guess is fairly accurate).There were times I saw people line up with their shopping baskets wrap around an entire aisle; i always wondered what they were doing. Yesterday, when I watched a korean drama and something similar happened, and it was because there were special deals offered to the first 30 or 50 customers. I think that's what they were doing. Also, in markets, they normally have like a small "food court" area where you can buy already cooked/made stuff. The most common stuff they have are tak-bok-ee (it's 3-D rectangle shaped rice cakes with round edges in spicy sauce, it's actually pretty good) and they normally have other fried stuff on the side (like fried yams, veggie cakes) some have corn dogs, boiled fish cakes and some boiled intestine stuff (not sure what it is exactly, but looks gross). Also, there's a bakery i often visit, it's called "Tous Les Jours" (the name is French). I heard it's a famous chain stores in S. Korea. It's close, so I go there when I crave good tasting breads.

[As most of you probably already knew, Koreans like spicy food, so almost EVERYTHING and ANYTHING is made to be spicy. They also eat their meals with lots of small side dishes. If you go out to eat, the small dishes are normally refillable w/out charge. In addition, there are couple dishes I found interesting. One is the "cold soup"; it's just normal soup with ice cubes in it ( I didn't like it too much, i'm used to hot soups; it seems more normal). Another is "cold noodles", same idea, cold nooodles in cold soup with the spices.]

The above 3 places are great for me since it does not require much conversation. I just go in and grab the stuff I want, and pay at the cashier. Of course a lot of times, the cashier would ask me something, but i would normally just smile and either nod or shake my head. I prefer those check out lines have the cashier screen face out (toward the customers) so i can see the amount, but sometimes, they are not, so i have to listen really carefully for the amount. I know numbers in Korean, but sometimes it's still hard to catch. Oh! also, here, you would actually have to pay for the plastic bags for your groceries if you want a bag. It's really cheap, but still you have to pay for it. Unlike in the U.S., it's free. So sometimes people bring their own shopping bags or i sometimes bring my backpack or a bigger purse so i wouldn't have to pay for a bag every time.