Despite bad luck with sources in the past, I was able to get meetings with 4 different people; all of which seemed to be fairly decent sources. However; all of the realtors except for one, LOVED to veer off the subject and talk about everything but the topic I tried to focus them on which was extremely frustrating. Because of this, I was only able to cover little ground despite meeting with them for a lonnnng time.
The first lady I met with, we talked for an hour (and again, didn’t get through half of the things that I hoped for) but she offered to take me on a housing tour of the city which was quite amusing. Her driver took us around in her car and we went to all the different neighborhoods on my housing grid, and in between tour stops, I tried to get as many additional answers out of her as I possibly could. Though, we visited some properties and I was able to see first-hand the different characteristics of the properties that expats would live in here. We drove around for about 2 hours (after a 1 hour meeting at the café) and she wanted to take me to lunch but I needed to get back for a 2 pm meeting. The people at the café must have thought I was nuts; they saw me sit down with different people 3 different times throughout the whole day, and every time I ordered the same thing and had the same waiter.
The people from the second meeting also drove me nuts. One of them was a guy who spoke no English – (whom I later found out was Annette’s constant companion), and the other was Annette who was so nice and lived in Canada for 10 years, but again it was difficult getting information out of her. These realtors made you wonder if they even knew the market at all; they kept on changing their story, and everyone’s information seemed to be completely different. I met with Annette and friend (his name was Summer) for an hour and a half and I had another meeting in minutes so I wanted to get them out the door before the next realtor came and saw me sitting there with other realtors. Sneaky sneaky, and it all went down just in time. They left and Julia walked in. I needed to run upstairs quickly. Annette had offered though to take me on a tour the next day, I didn’t want to say another realtor had already done that so I said sure sounds great. I had no idea what I was in for.
When I came back down, we sat at the coffee shop (yep my 3rd time of the day and literally, this time I had just gotten up from the table) and I ordered the same thing from the confused waiter. Julia was great. She was to the point and appeared to know her stuff even if she didn’t at all. (I think she was a great source, but not as great as I initially though). We got through the meeting in normal time and she was pleased to meet me; she said she never knew this type of job existed but she was happy to help.
This was it for today. 3 meetings down and I had one more on the day I was to leave Kaohsiung with a loyal source we had met for years. Tomorrow I had a few things that I wanted to do but didn’t know how long my “tour” with Annette would last; well we’ll see!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Welcome to Kaohsiung! (Taiwan)
Kaohsiung was my favorite as far as nice people go, but also my hotel was excellent. There were about 14 restaurants in my hotel alone; none of which I really had time to eat at because I was so busy. The hotel had an older style to it, but very pretty and all the staff were very helpful. The hotel was huge, and even had a mall attached to it which came in a lot of handy for buying realtor gifts.
Everyone I met here was just really pretty awesome, starting with the way over. I met Mr. Lee (who everyone called Tuna) who was in the fishing business. He was Korean, and sat next to me on the plane and talked talked talked, half of which I couldn’t understand at all. He helped me get settled when I went there and asked me if I wanted to meet up with him at some point and get dinner or something, so I said sure, why not. While I was in Kaohsiung, he sent me an email and I sent him one back late at night. We had spoke of meeting up maybe the next night but we didn’t know our schedules so we would see if it worked out. The next evening, he called me when he got in and it was nearly 12 at night and he wanted to know if I wanted to get a drink with him or go to a night market, or something of that sort. I was like, really? Do you know what time it is now? I politely declined but we realized that we would be on the same flight the next day back to Seoul so I would see him then. The next day, once again he helped me get situated – called the hotel to have them come and pick me up and even waited for me until they got there.
Everyone I met here was just really pretty awesome, starting with the way over. I met Mr. Lee (who everyone called Tuna) who was in the fishing business. He was Korean, and sat next to me on the plane and talked talked talked, half of which I couldn’t understand at all. He helped me get settled when I went there and asked me if I wanted to meet up with him at some point and get dinner or something, so I said sure, why not. While I was in Kaohsiung, he sent me an email and I sent him one back late at night. We had spoke of meeting up maybe the next night but we didn’t know our schedules so we would see if it worked out. The next evening, he called me when he got in and it was nearly 12 at night and he wanted to know if I wanted to get a drink with him or go to a night market, or something of that sort. I was like, really? Do you know what time it is now? I politely declined but we realized that we would be on the same flight the next day back to Seoul so I would see him then. The next day, once again he helped me get situated – called the hotel to have them come and pick me up and even waited for me until they got there.
Finally some sightseeing in Seoul
Today, I saw the side of Seoul that I had been waiting to find. I knew it existed but I was too lost in surveyland and the snobby standard Westin hotel to see where its’ life was hiding. I decided to take the “economical full-day tour of Seoul” and it was very nice. The tour included a Buddhist temple, 2 palaces, lunch, 2 Korean outdoor markets, and special amethyst and ginseng shops that they take you to in order to rip you off. I met two Guatemalan women during my trip. The amount of people were scarce because the weather wasn’t that great, it poured during the first half of the day. So, it was just me and the two Guatemalan women who worked for Save the Children. The first stop was seeing my first Buddhist temple; I was able to take pictures of the temple and everyone in it. The colors, and the feel of it were beautiful. We went to the National Museum of History after that and walked through a few of the exhibits. A Chinese guy a little younger than me asked me something in Chinese relating to his camera… could I take a picture of him? I didn’t know what he was asking me. He clearly was getting frustrating and I was too so I just said OK just to see what would happen. With his whole family behind him, he started focusing to take the picture of just me in the National Museum. I was a bit shocked, I wasn’t sure if I should feel flattered or shy or surprised. But regardless, I walked away smiling. We stopped to have a typical Korean lunch at a pre-arranged tourist restaurant but it was nice. We took off our shoes and had lunch sitting on the floor the way a Korean family would normally. I ordered bibimbap and the two ladies had beef bulgogi and we shared a little of everything. Our tourguide and our driver sat at a separate table but the tourguide frequently came over to take pictures for us and check to see how we were. I liked our tourguide, he was a very nice guy who tried his best to make sure we were very happy. After lunch, the two Guatemalan ladies and my tour guide left me, that part was over and only I was continuing on for the second half – a tour all on my own! My tourguide was a young girl who had actually studied in Boston at Berkeley. She was psyched to have a fellow Bostonian with her, (never in her history of tours had she gotten a Bostonian in a tour) and she really took me under her wing and took care of me.
When in the ginseng snack store, I didn’t want to try any of the snacks in fear there may be nuts involved. My tour guide (Heather in English, or maybe she just likes that name because in Korean it’s something like Surin) told one of the workers (who was insisting that we try the snacks) that I was allergic to nuts so I didn’t want to try anything just in case. So, the girl replied, very confused – why are you allergic? Shows how normal allergies are here!
When in the ginseng snack store, I didn’t want to try any of the snacks in fear there may be nuts involved. My tour guide (Heather in English, or maybe she just likes that name because in Korean it’s something like Surin) told one of the workers (who was insisting that we try the snacks) that I was allergic to nuts so I didn’t want to try anything just in case. So, the girl replied, very confused – why are you allergic? Shows how normal allergies are here!
The people you meet: Julie, Linda and Joe
We have had a couple translators while we were here, one of them was alright, the second one was awesome though, apparently (says Edit). I called the international university nearby to see if someone would want to work for us and a guy on the other end named Joe helped out tremendously. When he couldn’t find a student to do the work, he went out of his way to find a friend to help us the very next day. She was alright, but she wasn’t persistent enough, really. She gave up much too quickly so we didn’t get all the information we needed. The second time we were stressing and needing a co-worker, it was 10 pm at night and we were about to give up (or hire one for a minimum $400) when the realtor I was going to meet the next day called me in my room to discuss where to meet. I told her about our predicament and she called 15 minutes later with someone who could help us out. We were so psyched.
Julie is the assistant of a realtor I met with. And, Linda was a real estate agent, one who we had never met before but she is the representative for BP in Korea, so I was asked to meet with her. Both ladies were amazing, and I had an absolutely wonderful time with them. With Julie, we talked about smiling – how Koreans don’t smile at someone they don’t know. The difference in our cultures (they aren’t friendly and warm until they know you well enough) Julie has an “idea” that all Americans are fat, friendly, independent and smart (she said to me, oh so you studied in the US? You must be really smart!) She also said to me, wow it seems like you eat a lot, how are you not really fat? I meet a lot of Americans and none of them are really fat. But your portions are so large! It was really funny, I laughed a lot. She told me that Koreans don’t tell jokes. They were shocked when they saw our president on TV at the inauguration dancing with his wife. That would never be broadcasted in Korea! Also, just as people don’t normally tell jokes, it would be a disgrace for the president or the first lady to say anything sarcastic, just joking around. Also, when I told her about the health care issue we have going on in our country right now, she was shocked that we don’t have some sort of health care reform. I would have loved to continue talking with Julie, it was so much fun to get into the intricacies of the Korean culture.
Linda was awesome, probably one of the nicest realtors I have met. She understands what we do and has never met with us before so she wasn’t tired of my questions. We met at a really cute little French café and she insisted on buying the coffee for us. We sat and talked for 3 hours; mixing between personal talk (again on culture) and housing talk. She confirmed the discussion I had had with Julie that Koreans were very friendly once they got to know you, but cold up front. She had lived in Cambridge for a year so we had a lot to talk about. After the 3 hours, she asked me to go to lunch with her, but I needed to get back to Edit. I was a bit bummed cause she wanted to take me to a typical Korean meal. Then on the way out, after all her help (she was ready for me to keep going and going with questions!) she turned to go back in for a second and I said oh! I think I’ll take some cheesecake for my co-worker (since Edit loves it) and she went and bought the blueberry one; I said is this for me? And she said no. Once the man handed it to her she gave it to me and said “Lauren this is for you”. After buying me coffee, giving me a whole 3 hours and planning on taking me out to lunch after, she bought me a whole scrumptious cheesecake. If I was relocating to Seoul, she would be my first pick as a realtor/relocating agent. Above all, everyone around the world is really the same. We may have different mannerisms and different culture, but deep down we are all the same person defined by our morals and the characteristics that make us who we are. She was genuine, and that’s the best quality you can find in a person, I think.
My friend Joe from the University called me to check and see if everything was OK; he had heard that we had not finished our work and wanted to see if we needed someone else to help out. What a great guy.
Julie is the assistant of a realtor I met with. And, Linda was a real estate agent, one who we had never met before but she is the representative for BP in Korea, so I was asked to meet with her. Both ladies were amazing, and I had an absolutely wonderful time with them. With Julie, we talked about smiling – how Koreans don’t smile at someone they don’t know. The difference in our cultures (they aren’t friendly and warm until they know you well enough) Julie has an “idea” that all Americans are fat, friendly, independent and smart (she said to me, oh so you studied in the US? You must be really smart!) She also said to me, wow it seems like you eat a lot, how are you not really fat? I meet a lot of Americans and none of them are really fat. But your portions are so large! It was really funny, I laughed a lot. She told me that Koreans don’t tell jokes. They were shocked when they saw our president on TV at the inauguration dancing with his wife. That would never be broadcasted in Korea! Also, just as people don’t normally tell jokes, it would be a disgrace for the president or the first lady to say anything sarcastic, just joking around. Also, when I told her about the health care issue we have going on in our country right now, she was shocked that we don’t have some sort of health care reform. I would have loved to continue talking with Julie, it was so much fun to get into the intricacies of the Korean culture.
Linda was awesome, probably one of the nicest realtors I have met. She understands what we do and has never met with us before so she wasn’t tired of my questions. We met at a really cute little French café and she insisted on buying the coffee for us. We sat and talked for 3 hours; mixing between personal talk (again on culture) and housing talk. She confirmed the discussion I had had with Julie that Koreans were very friendly once they got to know you, but cold up front. She had lived in Cambridge for a year so we had a lot to talk about. After the 3 hours, she asked me to go to lunch with her, but I needed to get back to Edit. I was a bit bummed cause she wanted to take me to a typical Korean meal. Then on the way out, after all her help (she was ready for me to keep going and going with questions!) she turned to go back in for a second and I said oh! I think I’ll take some cheesecake for my co-worker (since Edit loves it) and she went and bought the blueberry one; I said is this for me? And she said no. Once the man handed it to her she gave it to me and said “Lauren this is for you”. After buying me coffee, giving me a whole 3 hours and planning on taking me out to lunch after, she bought me a whole scrumptious cheesecake. If I was relocating to Seoul, she would be my first pick as a realtor/relocating agent. Above all, everyone around the world is really the same. We may have different mannerisms and different culture, but deep down we are all the same person defined by our morals and the characteristics that make us who we are. She was genuine, and that’s the best quality you can find in a person, I think.
My friend Joe from the University called me to check and see if everything was OK; he had heard that we had not finished our work and wanted to see if we needed someone else to help out. What a great guy.
We got our nails done in Asia
I am sightseeing tomorrow, and really excited for a day to hopefully have fun and see the culture. Seoul has been a whirlwind of malls for me and I’m tired of it. I’m happy that no one really approached us and got super sketched out by what we were doing, though; it was pretty nerve-racking to have someone watching you every single step of the way, since there was someone on every corner meant to help out. In honesty also, I’m a bit sick of people who don’t smile when you approach them, and are really overall a bit unfriendly and cold; aside from the realtors that I met; all of them were very nice, especially Linda and Julie. Edit called me tonight and she had a wonderful day in Pusan where she nearly finished the survey in one day. I’m really hoping that my last stop in Ulsan will be like that. It would be nice to end with an easy survey and get to look around a bit; see the real Korea that I have heard so much about since everyone should be very friendly here, because that is what I was told and why I wanted to come in the first place. Plus, I haven’t really tried too much of the local food because I have been nervous about what I’m eating. Some of the local stands we have walked by have an awful, awful smell to them that I can’t place. (Reminded me a bit of Taiwan….) Some sort of cooking meat probably, but I thought that food was suppose to smell good. This smells fried, stinky and unhealthy. I really don’t want to accidentally eat it. I have tried some of the local food, and I’m surprised at how unhealthy a lot of it is. Fried, thick and heavy. How do these people stay so thin?
A lady asked me what I was doing (in a Gap, I couldn’t believe we found it, and a Marks and Spencer’s!) I told her I was doing a study. She hesitated and said OK, but no cameras. What made her think I wanted to take pictures? Edit is learning how to speak Korean with her new dictionary. Top of her priority was to learn “may I please have a train ticket to Pusan?” so the lady gave her a student ticket; Edit is almost 30 years old! But, she certainly had no complaints. The department stores here are at least 10 floors with high-end brands branched throughout the floors. If you want to find Tommy Hilfiger, GOODLUCK. And the malls are a pain in the ass confusing. They are usually in some sort of building (an office building) and you need to figure out how to get to the mall. And they are huge, and normally you end up walking around in circles trying to get to where you are going to because they are so confusing. The weirdest thing I found was that availability of many products (including some groceries and random things like DVD players and microwaves) was so much better in Taiwan. Some of these things were just impossible to find in Korea, and they were so spread out. It was so strange; grocery stores were organized in the weirdest way I have ever seen. But at the end of one of our shopping trips, we got our nails done. What a typical thing to do in Asia, but it was nice to pamper ourselves, we needed and deserved it!
A lady asked me what I was doing (in a Gap, I couldn’t believe we found it, and a Marks and Spencer’s!) I told her I was doing a study. She hesitated and said OK, but no cameras. What made her think I wanted to take pictures? Edit is learning how to speak Korean with her new dictionary. Top of her priority was to learn “may I please have a train ticket to Pusan?” so the lady gave her a student ticket; Edit is almost 30 years old! But, she certainly had no complaints. The department stores here are at least 10 floors with high-end brands branched throughout the floors. If you want to find Tommy Hilfiger, GOODLUCK. And the malls are a pain in the ass confusing. They are usually in some sort of building (an office building) and you need to figure out how to get to the mall. And they are huge, and normally you end up walking around in circles trying to get to where you are going to because they are so confusing. The weirdest thing I found was that availability of many products (including some groceries and random things like DVD players and microwaves) was so much better in Taiwan. Some of these things were just impossible to find in Korea, and they were so spread out. It was so strange; grocery stores were organized in the weirdest way I have ever seen. But at the end of one of our shopping trips, we got our nails done. What a typical thing to do in Asia, but it was nice to pamper ourselves, we needed and deserved it!
Gamsa Hamnida
The subway systems here, both in Taiwan and Korea are pretty amazing. We could learn a thing or two from them; especially Taiwan. When you buy a ticket, you are given a coin. The coin goes in and out of the machine when you enter the subway, and you need the coin to get out of the subway (you put it in the machine again), then the coin is gone. Talk about efficient and cost-effective! Not only that, but the subways appear brand-new. They come every few minutes and have very clean, nice-looking gates which open when the train appears to prevent anyone from falling and/or trying to commit suicide. And, don’t even think about chewing gum or taking food on the system; you’ll get a hefty fine. All in the name of keeping it clean. A really nice girl saw Edit and I looking at a map and stopped to ask us if we happened to need any help, she helped us through the whole process of getting a transit card and which stop we would need to go to. It’s people like that who will just make or break your day. She was one of the few people we met who spoke English very well.
Another day, another grocery store. This one wasn’t as spread-out as the last and the manager didn’t think twice about telling us it was fine to write down prices; he was super nice about it. Not as many people tried to question my work or stare over my shoulder; (though a good portion of them still did that). Here, people are much more pushy than in Taipei, and if they run into you they are much less likely to apologize. I may even venture to say that some people were quite rude. I wasn’t expecting that after all the great things I heard about Korea!
I have been told, and have noticed, that products that are created here are not imported; such as soy sauce and rice. It makes it a pain in the ass to record symbols on the survey book though; and it makes for bad comparisons. The fresh food here though is surprisingly amazing. When it comes to baked goods? Move over France. The selection and quality is just incredible, and I have never been so tempted to eat cake. During lunchtime, I walked around the whole mall about 3 times trying to decide what I wanted to eat. Dumplings? Sushi? Some concoction that looked amazing but I didn’t know what it was? The best looking donuts ever? A fruit smoothy? Home-made tarts and cheesecake? Ice cream? A burger from Burger Project? There was too much to choose from so I bought lunch and then got a pizza with Edit (sat down at a restaurant). I decided to save my lunch for later.
If I come home and continuously bow for no reason, don’t be surprised. I think my stomach muscles are getting stronger from the need to show the locals some respect with the simple gesture of bowing a little when saying hello or goodbye, especially since I don’t speak any Korean and I’m not quite sure how much they understand “thank you”. I’ve always seen it in movies but it’s cool to actually experience it and know how important it is in their culture. Many of them say hello and goodbye with a bow so I have tried to do the same thing, without the Korean. “Gamsa homnida” is thank you, but I’m pretty sure I have absolutely no idea how to say it correctly. Korean is a pretty language, they drag out a lot of words and have strange accents for others. It’s interesting how being emerged into a culture can really show you the beauty of the people. I never really found Asians very attractive, but now I am seeing things a bit differently.
I talked to Mom and Uncle Bobby over skype tonight which was very nice. I am somewhat worried that I will find myself a bit lonely when Edit leaves. The more and more I do this job, the more negative sides of it come out, I think. But, I still love it enough to keep it for at least another year. I worry immensely about life after surveyland, I really do. Laurel is passing in her resume on Monday, I wish her great luck, how crazy would that be if she got the job???
Another day, another grocery store. This one wasn’t as spread-out as the last and the manager didn’t think twice about telling us it was fine to write down prices; he was super nice about it. Not as many people tried to question my work or stare over my shoulder; (though a good portion of them still did that). Here, people are much more pushy than in Taipei, and if they run into you they are much less likely to apologize. I may even venture to say that some people were quite rude. I wasn’t expecting that after all the great things I heard about Korea!
I have been told, and have noticed, that products that are created here are not imported; such as soy sauce and rice. It makes it a pain in the ass to record symbols on the survey book though; and it makes for bad comparisons. The fresh food here though is surprisingly amazing. When it comes to baked goods? Move over France. The selection and quality is just incredible, and I have never been so tempted to eat cake. During lunchtime, I walked around the whole mall about 3 times trying to decide what I wanted to eat. Dumplings? Sushi? Some concoction that looked amazing but I didn’t know what it was? The best looking donuts ever? A fruit smoothy? Home-made tarts and cheesecake? Ice cream? A burger from Burger Project? There was too much to choose from so I bought lunch and then got a pizza with Edit (sat down at a restaurant). I decided to save my lunch for later.
If I come home and continuously bow for no reason, don’t be surprised. I think my stomach muscles are getting stronger from the need to show the locals some respect with the simple gesture of bowing a little when saying hello or goodbye, especially since I don’t speak any Korean and I’m not quite sure how much they understand “thank you”. I’ve always seen it in movies but it’s cool to actually experience it and know how important it is in their culture. Many of them say hello and goodbye with a bow so I have tried to do the same thing, without the Korean. “Gamsa homnida” is thank you, but I’m pretty sure I have absolutely no idea how to say it correctly. Korean is a pretty language, they drag out a lot of words and have strange accents for others. It’s interesting how being emerged into a culture can really show you the beauty of the people. I never really found Asians very attractive, but now I am seeing things a bit differently.
I talked to Mom and Uncle Bobby over skype tonight which was very nice. I am somewhat worried that I will find myself a bit lonely when Edit leaves. The more and more I do this job, the more negative sides of it come out, I think. But, I still love it enough to keep it for at least another year. I worry immensely about life after surveyland, I really do. Laurel is passing in her resume on Monday, I wish her great luck, how crazy would that be if she got the job???
Adjusting to Korea
Oops didn’t get up in time for the gym, but hopefully I will tomorrow… I haven’t updated my phone for the current time here in Korea, it’s still an hour behind Taiwanese time. So, when Edit called me at 9:45 the first thing I realized was that it was 9:45 and not 8:45, oops. 2 days in a row I got up late! What’s new. It was rainy and gross out today, we started late (around 12:30 pm!) and we didn’t have any luck with the business center (they wouldn’t do our phone calls for us), so the day wasn’t starting out too well. When we arrived in the mall they had a system so that you wouldn’t get rain on the floor; you put your umbrella in the plastic bag and rip it off, and you have an umbrella cover! Brilliant. We asked for permission and the manager of the grocery store used a lady who spoke English and manned the coffee counter to translate for us. What he told us is that technically we need to go through the marketing department on Monday, but if we wanted to do it today he would “close his eyes” and pretend he didn’t see anything. So, we kinda had permission, at least we knew we couldn’t get in trouble. When the manager was leaving (he appeared to have really important meetings to attend to) Edit and I performed a series of low bows to express “thank you I know it’s not in your place to say that it’s OK to write down prices in the whole mall, but we appreciate that you will allow us to”. Not many managers would ever do such a thing. There were many people who said “no prices” and wanted to know what we were doing, and many others who clearly disapproved, but we got through it without anyone trying to kick us out. A few ladies even stared over my shoulder as I wrote down the information, without saying a word to me. One lady at the counter where we initially asked for permission signaled to me that I had a pretty face. I’m sure she doesn’t see much like it in the sea of beautiful Asian people (they really are quite beautiful).
When we moved into the clothing section, one girl laughed at me as I was writing down the prices, and another one looked pissed when I knocked over a shirt – she reached down to grab it out of my hands and rearrange it herself before putting it back on the hanger; I was taken back by her rudeness. But, no one said I couldn’t write down the prices. There were 3 people at every corner trying to help you out which was quite annoying especially when I don’t even know how to say hello or goodbye or thank you in Korean (it’s really not easy to remember, I swear). Overall, the nice employees outnumbered the rude ones, but it’s so much easier to remember a bad experience. We had a lunch of some weird pumpkin and salad sandwhich, I had a chicken skewer with veggies, and we also shared a squash with cheese and seafood on top. All was very good grocery store food. I also may have had a krispy kreme donut for 2 days in a row (MAN are they addicting!)
For dinner, we tried to find grandmother’s bimbimbap amongst the “business clubs” for men looking for a peep show or maybe even a prostitute, but we found another bimbimbap restaurant after having absolutely no luck with English and striking out after looking for help in a Texan restaurant – (at one point during the explanation he said his memory was clean, whatever that means!). (Seriously, so much less English here than Taiwan!) The bimbimbap was really good. Shrimp in the middle, and a medley of cucumbers, mushrooms, cabbage, egg, lettuce, onions, etc. etc. which I mixed around with some kimchi, rice and pickled jalapenos made for a great meal, and a semi-healthy one too.
I couldn’t get in touch with the realtor today to go out for Halloween tonight, I was bummed a little, even though I really wasn’t in the mood to go out. I think her mailbox was full and her direct line kept on ringing and ringing. Oh well, I didn’t go to bed early tonight anyways.
When we moved into the clothing section, one girl laughed at me as I was writing down the prices, and another one looked pissed when I knocked over a shirt – she reached down to grab it out of my hands and rearrange it herself before putting it back on the hanger; I was taken back by her rudeness. But, no one said I couldn’t write down the prices. There were 3 people at every corner trying to help you out which was quite annoying especially when I don’t even know how to say hello or goodbye or thank you in Korean (it’s really not easy to remember, I swear). Overall, the nice employees outnumbered the rude ones, but it’s so much easier to remember a bad experience. We had a lunch of some weird pumpkin and salad sandwhich, I had a chicken skewer with veggies, and we also shared a squash with cheese and seafood on top. All was very good grocery store food. I also may have had a krispy kreme donut for 2 days in a row (MAN are they addicting!)
For dinner, we tried to find grandmother’s bimbimbap amongst the “business clubs” for men looking for a peep show or maybe even a prostitute, but we found another bimbimbap restaurant after having absolutely no luck with English and striking out after looking for help in a Texan restaurant – (at one point during the explanation he said his memory was clean, whatever that means!). (Seriously, so much less English here than Taiwan!) The bimbimbap was really good. Shrimp in the middle, and a medley of cucumbers, mushrooms, cabbage, egg, lettuce, onions, etc. etc. which I mixed around with some kimchi, rice and pickled jalapenos made for a great meal, and a semi-healthy one too.
I couldn’t get in touch with the realtor today to go out for Halloween tonight, I was bummed a little, even though I really wasn’t in the mood to go out. I think her mailbox was full and her direct line kept on ringing and ringing. Oh well, I didn’t go to bed early tonight anyways.
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