Howdy
Hmmm ... what to talk about? I haven't eaten any new or exotic foods.
I did go shopping at E-Mart again. One of the girls who worked at the school, SOng Ae, came with me. Last week was her last week working for the school. She is going back to University. Dong Ae is a very nice person, and a little shy. She is a good friend, and when things bothered me has always loaned me her shoulder. In one of lifes funny twists her boyfriend is actually going to be in Halifax teaching Korean. But I digress.
We did our grocery shopping. I also picked up a small Christmas tree and some lights for it. My students are going to make some decorations for me. I bought one angel to put on the tree, and to give to mom when I return to Canada. She collects Angels, and has always been my guardian angel. They had a few different Christmas cards there, but nothing I really wanted to get for people. I bought a couple of cards and decided I would find another spot to buy more.
Shopping there was a very different experience from Canadian stores. You have to pay for your stuff on EACH level. So before we could go up to the stationary/toy/book area we had to pay for the groceries. I had to pay for the cards on that level before we could go up to the electronics level. They also use people with loud speakers to try and get you interested in buying stuff. It was different, but fun. I actually enjoyed shopping!!!
Oops, I almost forgot, I DID have something new and/or exotic to eat. Dong Ae bought me lunch. There is a McDonalds at the main level of E-Mart. In the lower level, where all the groceries are, there are also several Korean food stalls. She bought me a dish called Zzam Bbong. It is a blend of Chinese and Korean cooking, using noodles and seafood, and is VERY spicy. I have yet to figure a way to eat the noodles without spraying at least a little juice on my shirt. It was a good lunch.
A place opened up a few buildings down that sells sandwhiches, western style. They will have a pizza oven next week and start selling pizza too. They also make fresh juice as well. The husband lived in Wisconsin for a couple of years and can speak pretty good English. His wife speaks some English but not much. They are very nice people. I hope the shop does well, because they are nice and for a selfish reason.
They have a puppy. He is a Jindo, the breed, which is a Korean breed. His name is ChonGun (pronounced Chawn Goon) which means General. He is SO cute it isn't funny. Of course, this means I am getting more than a little attached to him. Unfortunately, my apartment is to small to have a dog. So, I have adopted him. They aren't able to walk him as much as they would like, so he tends to be on a short lead. So, I walk him when I can. I also visit him almost every day, bring him treats. I hope their shop does well so they don't move and take him with them. I miss my dogs, so he is my surrogate. I just hope I don't get too attached. Although it is probably too late to hope for that.
The police have been on a crackdown for drivers using cell phones while driving. It became against the law to use one, unless it has a hands free set, last month. This means they are also catching people who violate other motor vehicles laws while watching. Every day there are several cops at every major intersection. Usually anywhere from 6-10 of them. They will get drivers to pull to the side and ticket them.
I saw one guy who didn't want to stop. Most Koreans are very obedient when it comes to obeying authorities. This guy ignored the cop and kept driving. The cop said something into his radio and before the guy went one block he was swarmed by police who dragged him out of the car. It kind of reminded me of that episode of Seinfeld with the shoplifters. The floorwalker would say "swarm swarm" into his radio, and 4+ other ones would swarm around the person. It kind of made me chuckle.
Talk to you later. :)
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What I left out was that the assholes at E-Mart at first REFUSED to sell me the zzambang. They said it is too hot for foreigners.
Hahahaha .... law and order. Obedient of authorites. Reading that I actually spit out some of my coffee laughing. Man did I ever drink deep of the kool-aid.
Haha. I hate when those pricks decide that your palate is not adapted to something.
ReplyDeleteYeah that always irks me. What gets me even more is when, without even asking, they tone down the spice (or leave it out completely) because it is "too spicy" for foreigners. I like spicy food.
ReplyDeleteDidn't you know that Korea is the only country in the world that uses hot peppers? That's what one of my co-teachers told me once...
ReplyDeleteI have yet to see anyone get pulled over for anything, yet I've been nearly run over in a crosswalk at least five times.
ReplyDeleteMost Koreans are very obedient when it comes to obeying authorities. :)
ReplyDeleteThank God! You put memo at the end of your post.
David tz
ReplyDeleteI was told that once too. They never did understand why i was laughing at them for saying it. And after my research into hot peppers when Koreans claimed to own the Christmas Tree I have something more to throw in the face of anyone saying that. :)
Superfantabulous
ReplyDeleteIt must have been an aberration because I have never seen it since then. I think that happened the 3rd or 4th Saturday I was in Korea. I was still impressionable then. ;)
I have seen nothing like that since.
Ajay
ReplyDeleteI almost took that part out. But I want to show what I wrote and thought truthfully. So I kept it. I haven't edited any of the letters except for names.
Fear of ridicule and laughter made me put the disclaimer up. ;)
I really like that expression; "drinking kool-aid." It seems like you were walking around intent on giving people the benefit of the doubt.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the progression in terms of the tone of your emails.
Unfortunately I wasn't just walking around with that in mind. I wore blinders at time to prevent me from seeing what was really going on. Sometimes they were provided by others (friends,Koreans) and sometimes I put them on myself.
ReplyDelete