Korean Quirks

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So I know I promised pictures of my house. I lied. The thing is, I really wanted the apartment to look cute and fun before ya’ll saw it. However, what with having so much fun, I’ve turned into a bit of a slob. Shocking, right?

Funny story: I seem to have a build up of trash. Why? Because I’m afraid to throw anything away. Why? Because Koreans recycle everything. It is illegal NOT to recycle everything you possibly can. There are about 7 buckets below my apartment for recycables. I can only differentiate between about 3. AND you have to buy special bags to throw away the non-recyclables! It’s enough to scare you into not throwing anything away, as I have done. So yes, there are large piles of trash in my apartment. I’ll try to work up the courage to face this frightening task soon. Sigh.

Other fun/frightening things I have learned in the last week or so:

- NEVER write someone’s name in red. It is a horrible curse. It is more of an insult than using the foulest language. The students love to tease each other with this one. You know, writing all the letters in red except one...

- There are little rocks placed in several places around my office at school. DO NOT touch the rocks. They were put there by shaman-like feng sui people that are paid mega bucks to bless the business when it is opened. There is a post-it above each rock telling you not to touch it.

- Couples like to dress in “couple shirts.” As in, they where the same shirt, or stylistically matching shirts. Sometimes I see couple outfits. It is really quite frightening. According to the students, half really want to have a couple outfit and the other half think it is stupid. Either way, it’s hilarious. Example in pic:

- In Korean, the words “indigo” and “sodomy” have a similar connotation. One teacher told us of how his student was describing the classroom. It had “red chairs, a white board, blue, purple and sodomy posters…” Say what?!

That's all I can think of right now. We have a saying here that is said all too often.
It is: "Only in Korea....."

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