Korean Job Discussion Forums

chronicpride · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Obscure thought, but seriously. Is there a small part of you that gets happy or excited when you see one of Korea's well-hidden public garbage cans?

I can't remember how many times, that I'm carrying a bottle or small garbage and I spot a bus stop. Yeah! Garbage can territory. None? Crap. Busy intersection, sometimes there are tiny garbage cans on the corners. None? Crap.

You walk by someone's desk in an office and see this dinky tiny trashcan and you think, 'man, I wish I had some trash to throw out, now.'

You always seem to happen across the garbage cans, when you have nothing to throw out. But when you've got something to toss, they're nowhere to be found.

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

I get happier when a big ten foot long joint of the finest herb actually comes literally flying out of the sky powered by it's own magical fairy wings and lands gently in my hand. But yeah, I get a little buzz when I see a trash can ...

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

It reminds me of home, but then I think of the higher tax rate there and how much I'm paying for that public garbage can. But still, there's a 'garbage can' in the paid bags knotted up resting against something along the street. But one has to tuck it in, or rest it beside, hoping the person who deposited the 'cheater bag' will be a good samaritan and bag up the accumulating pile alongside. Like 'the tooth fairy'. 'The garbage fairy'.

little mixed girl · Joined: 11 Jun 2003 Location: shin hyesung's bed~

i know that feeling.
carrying an empty cup with sticky remnants(sp) of ice cream, a wrapper...

i just don't like littering Confused

Thomas · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

I remember a few years ago when I asked about the lack of garbage cans and I was told that there had been a big program in the late 80s or early 90's to get garbage cans everywhere and "clean up" the towns. The problem was that people would haul all of their trash and fill the cans up to avoid paying trash removal fees at their houses. It became such a big mess that the cans were removed. I don't know how true it is, but that's what one of my co-teachers told me.

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

I've heard the above as well from a few Koreans.

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

batman · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:57 pm Post subject:

tommynomad · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Location: on the move

Of course, there is the argument to be made that litter is good. After all, tucking it neatly away in a can doesn't mean we're not producing it. Maybe if we had to look at all the carp we "consume" for 30 seconds before throwing it away, we'd be a little less inclined to indulge our whims buying sawdust-flavoured burgers, or 10 ml cans of sugar water, or individually-wrapped Ritz crackers in the first place.

skinhead · Joined: 11 Jun 2004

Hey. It's Kermit. Cool.

batman · Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 6:06 pm Post subject:

peppermint · Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 7:07 pm Post subject:

What blows me away here is the amount of over packaging. I've seen individually wrapped jelly beans here!

iiicalypso · Joined: 13 Aug 2003 Location: is everything

When I first got to Korea one of my many problems was figuring out what to do with my trash. I was in temporary housing in an unfamiliar neighborhood and I didn't know how to say "trashbag". After a week I divided it up into small black bags, pounded it into a dense, fist sized unit, and went to the subway station, the only place I could remember seeing a trash can. After I didn't get caught committing this "crime" I went home and did it again. And again. Six times.