random things in korea

i don't have my own refrigerator, so i keep the milk on the windowsill. its so cold outside that it works and i am able to feed my cereal cravings

when i run out of clean socks, i just buy a new pair at one of the street vendors

sometimes i overhear people talking about a foreigner and i try to listen in and eavesdrop on what they're saying. although my korean isn't that good yet so i usually can't understand.

there are some korean restaurants where you kind of do some of the cooking yourself at your table. but because i'm a foreigner sometimes the worker will come do it for me and serve me. maybe because they think i don't know how? or they just want to be nice?

when i see other foreigners i'm never sure if i'm supposed to greet them, and if i do whether i should greet them in english or korean.

two of my nicknames when i was working with kindergarteners were pinocchio and dracula.

in relation to the previous one when people tell me i have a big nose, i ask them why their nose is so small.

in korea, there is always a sauna or jjimjilbang around. they're a cheap place to relax and spend the night. so one time i couldn't get home because it was too late, so i just took a taxi to the nearest jjimjilbang and slept there and then went home the next morning.

i live with a family that has six children - five girls and one boy. the father is korean and the mother is japanese. the kids wake me up every morning for breakfast "samcheon samcheon bop mokja!" (uncle uncle lets eat)

the starbucks in korea is actually more expensive than in america (as is virtually every coffee shop in korea)

dunkin donuts and baskin robbins are really popular, and krispy kreme is rising in popularity

addresses aren't in order by location, but rather by the order in which the building was constructed (at least in some areas)

i you want to get a seat on the bus or subway, you have to be ready to push and shove. especially against older women.

when riding the subway and especially the bus you need to have a good sense of balance. there is a lot of jerky movements. its always fun to watch the mass of people sway in the same directions.

some shopping areas become so crowded that i literally had my arms shoved against my sides and was awkwardly pushed against the person in front of me and could not move for 5 minutes. this was only resolved by the people behind us pushing so hard that we were forced forward.

there are as many words and signs in english as there is in korean.

when i take a shower i lift up the toilet seat so that when i'm finished the toilet seat isn't covered in water

instead of heating through the air, heating comes through the floor. and it gets so hot that my butt will start to feel painful