Today I went grocery shopping... Ah the beautiful experience of going to our multileveled grocery store.. For those who associate Asian grocery with a sketchy slightly dirty section in China town, this is quite different. Four (five?) flores with ramp-escalator things in between... Electronics and clothes and pretty much everything you need is there. One floor is for food, and they have mostly everything you would ever want except for cheese. I like the Asian preferences more...Soy milk, ginger and mushrooms are just alright with me.
I actually bought some frozen chicken ginseng soup, I think it is the real thing. (this is the land of ginseng.. you can see huge roots that cost hundred of dollar's in the markets. I am trying it as a substitute for coffee.) Plus got some dumplings one of the many grocery store girls with crazy white boots up to the knees convinced me to buy. Ahh its surreal here, especially where transaction of money is concerned. When you go someplace for the first time, whether it be Internet cafe, restaurant, or grocery store, you are given a little special treatment.. free coffee, extra dishes of kimchi, etc. In return you are expected to come back as a loyal customer. There are some cool things here- for example, everyone is required to compost, so everyone buys the same regulation bags at the supermarket. I like this for the earth but under my sink is starting to smell a little like a science experiment.
Anyways, daily life is good, I like my one room apartment which is on the 8th story of an apartment building.. heated floors are Korean tradition, and I have a key pad so I never have to keep track of keys. I cook for myself a lot, and go out for one meal a day usually, or Danny and Diane buy me one at work. I can rent videos for cheep from JiHay (sp?) and can get up really late as my classes don't start till 4:30. Once I get my apartment and class prep strategy ironed out I think I will have even more free time!
The Kids here have it rough- Its a very different way of bringing up kids than I am used to. I am across from a bunch of kids who are all plugged into the same racing game, its kind of eerie... Kids are expected to study hard in Asia as you've heard, and I've just learned that they are probably being mildly abused in their everyday Korean schools by authoritarian teachers; its still acceptable to beat kids here. I am glad that they can come to our school and get a break from that. Its no big deal in most cases, still I think back on my liberal education and am glad I didn't grow up here.
They really like dressing up Dogs here. Little dogs, not the kind for eating. And dying their ears different colors. And the Christmas tree is still up in the PC room... and the chips taste like squid. Still, I like it here much and can't wait till It get warmer so its a little easier to explore the city. Cheers to Hunter S. T. <3 annie
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