The Market

I live in a small apartment building directly beside the 'number one' train, which can bring me to the airport or to the capital, Seoul, depending on which direction I take it.  In my first week here I decided to explore the city on the other side of the tracks a bit and was wonderfully surprised when, in the process of crossing the tracks, the sidewalk I was on dipped down a large flight of stairs into a bustling marketplace!  The market is essentially a long alleyway, maybe a good 5-10 minute hike, with a half cylinder glass roof stretching its length and shops lining left and right.  These shops all have big metal pull up/down doors which are used to safeguard merchandise when vendors close up shop for the night.  All shops unpack their stores every morning so that their goods spill into the alleyway on wooden boxes, tables, and sometimes just blankets. You can find just about everything at this market: Produce, live seafood, butcher's shops, preserved and packaged goods, shoes, clothing, umbrellas, toys, restaurants, coffee wagons,  and there is even a pet store. 

But by far, the most awesome thing about the market, is that you can find many strange edibles.  I have found leafy greens and fruits I have never seen before, butterfly chrysalises, every part of the animal - including whole BBQ pigs heads -, 'mud fish', eels, lots of live crabs, barks, strange roots, dozens of types of Kim Chi (Spiced fermented cabbage), and most recently chunks of honeycomb with live bees and bee larva included!  I will try to make make a video of the place sometime... 

The market is always cheaper than the massive shopping centers, which deserve a post all to themselves some time.  Plus, at the market, although there is the occasional gagging stench of rotting fish, at least you don't have to put up with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNPLVOk-nj8

The oddness of ALWAYS being 'nice'

Before coming to Korea I read lots and lots about the cultural perception of what is and is not socially acceptable, rude, and polite in Korea.  On my second day here I went out to eat with an office worker from my 'Hagwon' (Private School) named 'Eddy'.  Over a sizzling stir fry, which was cooked on a pan built right into the dining table, I told Eddy about the things I had read concerning politness in Korea and asked him if they were all true.  I figured he would have something to say that was worth hearing as I had already witnessed him defy a couple 'polite practice'.  Namely, he poured his own drink before he poured mine and he neglected to use two hands when passing me a bowl and chopsticks, both considered impolite things to do based on what I had read.

"No, it's ok" he ejaculated, "You don't have to".  I responded by saying something along the lines of "Ah, what I read must have been wrong" to which he gave a nervous laugh and replied "Yes". 

 Only much later, after having been assured that I need not observe the cultural practices I had read about, did I have another more meaningful discussion at my Hagwon with an Phillipino English teacher and a couple of her students.  Janice, the teacher, explained to me that Koreans always say yes to you, no matter if they understand you or agree with you.  This was a trait I had begun to be suspicious of myself...  Furthermore, a student with the English name Julie went on to explain that when someone asks you for your opinion in Korea, it is standard practice to always reply nicely.  Nicely meaning, you always agree, you always compliment, and you always positively reassure. 

For example, if I were to sport a pair of ass-less leather chaps and ask a coworker or a friend about how they looked, they would always reply that the ass-less chaps looked good on me, were stylish, ect...  If I asked whether or not they would be publicly acceptable in Korea, I would be reassured that they were fine.  The only people who might tell me otherwise would be elders, having earned an esteemed status with their aging, or a boss of mine, being an authority figure. 

Lesson learned.  I now strictly abide by what I have read on blogs and forums concerning politeness in Korea.  If these mannerisms do not elicit friendly responses, than empathy will usually do, as a warm smile and gleeful disposition will often be replied to in kind - this is true no matter where you are in the world. 

The Korean Landscape

The Korean landscape around Bucheon looks as if a continentally proportioned bucket of dirty water was dumped across the landscape and that, where the water came to rest, cityscape grew.  This leaves every hill and mountaintop resembling an unspoiled island rising up from a sea of buildings and streets.  However, a climb up one of these islands reveals hiking trails, which are scattered with Korean women all wearing the same visor and the same jogging jacket, 'exercise parks', which are really just excuses for older Koreans to goof around on playground-esque equipment, and strange open air buildings and courtyards which appear to serve no purpose.  The areas not occupied by these recreational developments are utilized by farmers to grow squash, beans, persimmons, and cucumbers.  Furthermore, at each mountaintop I have visited, there is a derelict military instillation surrounded by chain link fence that is topped with barbed wire.  In one instance, the formidable appearance of the fence is moked by a gap so wide in the main gate that a cow could pass through.  Hence, despite the illusion of unspoiled mountaintops, every bit of land as far as the thick smog will let you see has been plotted, divided, and developed.  In this part of Korea there is no wilderness.

does this dang thing work or do i gotta kick it a few times!?