Blog. Blog. Blog. Why won’t I do it? I don’t know why. I’ve started many blog entries. For some reason I haven’t finished them. I suspect it’s because I am secretly intimated by friends and family who keep asking me about my blogs. And so, like any good perfectionist, I procrastinate….
And frankly speaking I don’t know what to write about. I could tell you about doing military training for a company outing and paddling directionless-ly out to sea. I could explain how the grocery store is unnecessarily overwhelming. Or we could discuss how the millionth day of rain here is proof of global warming and my hair’s intentional rebellion against staying in place. I could talk about a lot of things: Korean food, Korean people, Seoul and its cab drivers. But to get my feet wet after a long hiatus, I will start where I started last time: a list of observations about living and working…in Seoul.
1. Seoul has elevators like in the US. However, when you push the “close door” button, it really closes the doors… like immediately. (Please take note elevator technicians in the US. We know the doors aren’t really closing when we push the button. I think I speak for many when I request that we too would like doors to close when we push the “close door” button). It even works for the "open door" button too!
2. People take dental hygiene here to an Olympic level. We all know we should brush our teeth after we eat, but none of us actually do it, except Koreans. For real. My office bathroom has a dozens of toothbrushes and lots of toothpaste. And if they aren’t in the bathroom, everyone keeps their toothbrushes in little neat cases at their desks.
3. And people don’t brush subtly even though we're in a public bathroom. They go to town with mouths a' foaming and minute after minute of furious brushing. I doubt my dental hygiene will go beyond amteur levels.
4. Goodbye to SweetnLow, Equal, etc. We are now in the land where only sugar can be found. After thorough searching I carry little packets of Korean nutrisweet with me every where I go. You never know when you'll need quick dissolving sweetner. (You'd be surprised how often that is).
5. Imagine if Disney took over the hip-hop and pop music industry and required that everyone actually sing and dance, but only in single gender groups of 4-8… and that is KPOP (Korean Pop music)! I am addicted! I have no idea what they're saying, but I love it! Surprisingly, there are some bits of English and a “hard” rap section, which I always appreciate.
6. People strut around the office in slippers. I am not exactly sure why, but if one feels comfortable enough to brush teeth at work, why not wear slippers.
7. No hording post-its, pens and highlighters like I used to. Office supplies are under lock and key. Literally. If you wanna pen, you must ask for a pen. L
8. You wanna know what Korean pizza is like. Well, you could basically put a whole thanksgiving dinner on pizza dough and have a best seller. Oh, and don't forget the octopus.
9. At the movies, there are few snacks besides the traditional popcorn, drink and… dried octopus.
10. Koreans seem to like really like octopus. In case there was any confusion SKCarr only likes octopus that is deep-fried with a side of marinara. And I certainly don’t like octopus when it’s in little pieces that move around on the plate. Apparently, it’s just a funny happening if the octopus crawls back up your throat. EWW!
