Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

me!

It has been a glorious spring day here in SE Seoul/Seung-Nam. Any self-respecting barbarian would have been outside, cavorting in the spring sunshine, soaking up the rays. Only us highly civilized and educated beings would spend inside, and did. But on the topic of sunshine, did you know that our skin gets �weak� in the winter and spring sunshine is not good for us? In fact, there is an old Korean saying that goes something like this: In the spring, the mother-in-law sends the daughter-in-law outside into the sun; in the fall, when the sunshine is soft and healthy for us, she sends out her daughter.

I finished classes at 2:50 and was out the door by 3:10 and on my way up to Garak Shi-Jang to the bank to pay bills. Once that mission was accomplished, I decided to stroll around the street vendor stalls. Even on a day not as nice as this one, I like poking around the stalls. It�s always entertaining, looking, smelling and listening�It never ceases to amaze me how many different designs the human mind has come up with for food traps for the sink�usually gray plastic, but also pink or aqua blue for the truly daring housewife, as well as various shapes and designs in stainless steel. I like looking at the fruits and vegetables: oranges, onions, strawberries, those long green things that I think are leeks but others claim are giant green onions, apples, all sizes of bananas, piles of garlic, heaps of bean sprouts�and all the weird and unidentified weeds and barks. I can pick out cinnamon bark, but that�s it. A friend told me that the chunks of wood with the long spiky thorns is good for keeping ghosts away, but since I�m not inordinately afraid of ghosts, I haven�t learned how to use the stuff.

Among my favorite places to slow down for extended eye-shopping are the ajumma pants stalls. I�m aghast that anyone would design the material for those abominations and even more that people by the hundreds of thousands buy and wear the pants, so I slow down so I can enjoy the feeling of superiority. Lo and behold! On the same table as the ajumma pants display was a pile of boxer shorts. Today was payday, and I�m a chronic impulse buyer, so I decided to indulge myself with some new boxer shorts. The ajumma had every color and design imaginable, for only W3,000. What a bargain. I found my very first pair of plaid boxer shorts, with which I�m pleased, but the real find was a pair of nice blue ones with lighter blue, white and gray stripes with tiny red leaves. I think I�ll save them for the next time I go to the mok-yok-tang. I�m sure to be the hit of the day there with those undies.

As I was paying up (W6,000) I noticed that the stall next door was the apron stall. For those who are new to Korea, you might be interested to know that aprons are a fairly new item in the markets. I didn�t see any when I first arrived, but today we had a great selection. �Cherries Part�; �This is How I Fall In Love With�; �Puppy Day�, something about a teddy bear�but off on the left, hanging on the fence were red, yellow, gray, lime green and day-glo pink aprons made of some shiny stuff that would look OK on a Star Trek escapee. I was tempted, but then I saw three really fine aprons. One black, one dark blue and one fire engine red. No tacky designs or cheesy dogs. No Konglish. A Velcro strap thing at the top. Not sure why that�s there. Only W7,000. I decided the black and blue would show flour when I bake, so I went with the fire engine red one. Even if I never really wear it--and I�ve never ever worn an apron before in my life--it looks sharp hanging on the gas pipe next to my stove. Call it a fashion accessory. Finally I can say that the Naked Chef no longer has anything on me.

I had exhausted the thrills of the street market, and wasn�t ready to go home yet, so I decided to head up to Jamshil and treat myself at Quiznos. Someone on here raved about the Gangnam Quiznos and I decided to give it a try.

However, I was sidetracked. I came up out of the subway right smack in front of the Jamshil Kyobo Bookstore. I am a weak-willed sort of guy when it comes to bookstores. I�ve rarely in my life been able to walk past a bookstore without checking out what they have. You just never know what treasure they�ll have stashed away on a bookshelf. Today was a bonanza. Who would ever have thought I�d find:

1. Black Hawk (the Indian who fought against being exiled to Iowa).
2. The Divided Ground (Iroquois in the Revolution)
3. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (recommended by someone here on Dave�s�if this turns out to be as stupid as that one with a similar title about how the Chinese discovered everything, I�m hunting down that poster and pulling his fingernails out.)
4. Wild Ducks Flying Backward (Tom Robbins� short writings)
5. Greek Lyric Poetry (a new translation)**
6. The Adventure of English (a history of English)

Total cost: W106,000 before my discount. W92,000 after, because I have a Kyobo Bookstore discount card.

So far, it had been a pretty productive afternoon�got my bills paid, bought some spiffy underwear and a hot red apron and stocked up on some weekend reading. My luck could not hold, could it?

Quiznos turned out to be a disappointment. The sandwiches (Turkey and Swiss�4 paper thin slices of turkey and 2 slices of cheese = W6000. I was still hungry, so I tried the Honey Mustard Chicken with Bacon (bits) for another W6000.) Both were tasty enough, but I don�t want to spend that much money and still be hungry. I�m sticking with the meatball sandwich at Subway Sandwich Shop. It�s filling. And they have the outdoor area that�s made for days like today. Next time, I�m transferring to the green line and going to Gangnam.

When I came out of Quiznos, it was around sundown and clouding up. Seung-Jin says it is supposed to rain again tonight. Ah well, I�ve had my excitement for the weekend.

**(For the �300� crowd, here is a sample of ancient Spartan lyric poetry)

So cast off whatever fears arise at the armored legions
they�ll muster before you, hedge yourself round
with hollow shields, and learn to love death�s ink-
black shadow as much as you love the light of dawn.

[Kim Jong Jordan]

why does the naked chef have nothing on you, you didn't cook anything?

[matthews_world]

There's 2 minutes of my time wasted.

Although this post is basically about nothing in particular and I imagine some like Yata's quirky style, a post like this would certainly be better on a personal blog.

[vox]

I'd like to hijack this thread and move it in the direction of sayings from other countries.

Your opening line about that Korean expression reminded me of a similar expression I heard from Portugal (or was it Spain?) warning people not to get a tan from the spring sunshine. The reason?

The sunshine of the first hot days brings sickness from other countries.

Precious!

But it would fall in line with that whole weak-skin-spring-sunshine theme. Interesting that the same wisdom makes its way into folklore halfway across the world.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[The Bobster]

[seoulman1]

is this an email that you have sent to your relatives?