A few more things...

Just a few more things about Korea that i forgot in my last posting. As i've written before, the culture here is so different. Like the US, women here are so focused on beauty, only they have different ideas of what exactly beauty is. Here, the lighter your skin is, the more beautiful you are considered. Because of this, women go to extremes, such as heavy makeup and powder to make themselves lighter, and even bleaching their skin. Women walk around with umbrellas a lot to prevent themselves from getting sun. Also, brand names are popular here, but they sell replicas everywhere. When I was at my motel, i was staying in a pretty rich area near a big mall, with stores like Gucci, Prada and Chanel, which are unbelievably expensive. On the streets, however, in a lot of areas of the city, they sell copies of these designers for pretty cheap, so EVERYONE is walking around with fake brand name bags and clothes.

Also, it is custom to take your shoes off when you enter a room or apartment. I wrote about my kids having slippers for school and having to change out of their outdoor shoes while inside. Even when I go into my apartment I take my shoes off just so I get used to the idea. I walked into a restaurant and completely forgot...even though there were tons of shoes by the door. Kind of a disrespectful mistake to make, but they completely understand that foreigners have to learn and adjust.

Also, there is a wierd way to hand things out, such as money and food. You always have to give money, and most things with your right hand, and put your left hand on the inside of your forearm. I guess it's a sign of respect also, but kinda strange!

Since this is a city, there is obviously more pollution in the air than some places. Koreans take it to the extreme and you see people all the time walking around with medical masks covering their nose and mouth to avoid breathink in the air. It looked silly at first but I got used to seeing it.

The apartment I live in, which is actually a flat (just one room for everything), came with only a gas burner to cook with. That's what all of the kitchens i've seen have had in them. No oven or microwave so it's been hard to cook things. It's so cheap to go out to eat, and the food is extremely healthy, so that's what we usually do, but it was frustrating trying to cook simple things like frozen corndogs in a frying pan! I finally bought a microwave today so i'm pretty excited!

There are also washing machines in the apartments but no dryers, which not many people at all have in Korea. We wash our clothes and then have to hang them in the kitchen to dry. There is a big rack that raises and lowers to hang your clothes on to dry. It's not the same as fresh clothes out of the dryer, but was the same in Spain and Chile, so i've gotten used to stiff clothes that have to be thoroughly ironed!

A little on the weather, we have been very lucky since we've been here. It has only rained once in two and a half weeks, which is unusual, and almost every other day has been in the 80's. However, the official rainy season starts at the beginning of July and lasts until the end of August, and supposedly it is complete downpour for the entire time. That should be interesting and something I will have to get used to! It's a good thing I moved so close to the school!

That's all I can think of for now but i'll write more later!