NORMAL LIFE

NORMAL LIFE

Today's blog will feature some of the hum-drum, daily activities and sights we experience on any old day.

Junk collectors are very common! Usually they have one cart with big wheels, and they walk around all day collecting items to be thrown away (recycled). Many older people collect cardboard, and other things, starting out early in the morning and working all day.

Vendors are everywhere. Usually older women sitting on the ground will spend all day peeling garlic, separating green onions, sorting through lettuce, or rearranging the mushrooms to entice buyers. We pass five every day on our short walk to work. No license necessary - you can sell anything anywhere you want!

BUSINESSES

Every day we walk by this business several times on the way to and from the Mission Office. It has a metal frame with a tarp on it, a hose, bucket, rubber gloves, and it smells really bad. We decided to be sure to always cross the street before we reach this point, thereby avoiding becoming ill on the way to work.

After a while, we realized that it is a restaurant, and wondered who would go there. A week later, a Korean friend of ours recommended a "noodle shop" that she said was near our apartment. She said that she takes her mother there all the time and they love it. When she described the location, we were slightly horrified. "It's one away from the corner", she said. 

Sure enough, here it is, the "favorite noodle shop"! 

MISSIONARIES

We are riding the subway with Sister Lee Handa and Sister Lee Hongbee. The last name always goes first and always has one syllable. The first name always has two syllables. One-third of Koreans have the last name Lee, Kim, or Park. When a woman marries, she doesn't take her husband's surname, but keeps her father's last name. So Mrs. Kim is married to Mr. Jung, etc. Also, there is a law in Korea that a Mr. Kim cannot marry a Miss Kim - no marriages if you both have the same last name! 

We love the missionaries, and we love the subway!

CHINESE RESTAURANT

After the Wednesday English class, some of the "friends" in the class asked us to go out to dinner. "Do you like Chinese food?" they asked. "Sure!" we said. The Chinese/(Korean) food was good and tasted a lot like an Italian/(Korean) restaurant we went to a few months ago.

HATS, SWEATSHIRTS, AND MORE



The NY Yankees and LA Dodgers baseball hats were just too cute, so we asked to take a picture.  Baseball caps donning various MLB logos are seen all over!
Mickey Mouse stuff is also prevalent.



LANTERNS



Buddha's birthday is May 14, so between now and then, there are colored lanterns all over, and they are often lit at night. Many people go to see the "Lantern Festivals".



BRIDGES AND STREAMS


The serenity of standing on a bridge, watching ducks and fish in the water, and surrounded by trees, flowers, bushes, and stones - quintessential Asian!

You might be thinking, "Why do Brenda and Bryan always wear the same clothes?" Answer: These are the only clothes we have!

WORLD'S BEST, BIGGEST, WEIRDEST

Haven't we all had a fascination with the Guinness Book of World Records? Admit it, you've spent (wasted) time looking through an old book or reading something about "Man who can juggle the most objects", or "Woman who has given birth to the most children", or "Longest fingernail". These superbly superlative facts can be instantly impressive (longest time skipping rope while keeping a soccer ball in the air), unbelievably unconscionable (longest time spent in a tree), or they can be largely ludicrous (longest kiss)!

Surprise! Busan, South Korea, holds four Guinness World Records.

SHINSEGAE

Shinsegae in Busan will be registered as the world's largest department store in the Guinness Book of Records. Before the Busan store, Macy's in New York had been the world's largest. A Shinsegae press release said according to the measurement by Guinness the floor size is 293,905 square meters, 95,405 square meters larger than Macy's. Inside there are movie theatres, an ice skating rink, many restaurants, and a spa.

We haven't totally checked it out yet...but we have stood across the street and taken a picture!

WORLD'S LARGEST CANTILEVER ROOF

The Busan Cinema Center, hosting the annual Busan International Film Festival, is a building whose architecture defies rationale. The 163 meter long cantilever is supported by a "double cone" construction - from far away looks like criss-cross straws, but close up they are steel beams. 

The architecture in this city is pretty amazing. We were invited by some of our English Class friends to go to a restaurant which was located on the little walkway that takes off from the cone.

At night there are "light shows" on the underside of the roof, which is supposed to look like an ocean wave. The reflection in the water is beautiful.

HAEUNDAE BEACH UMBRELLAS (beach parasols)

Haeundae beach has the most beach umbrellas (called parasols here) on a single beach in the world. The fourth world record I will divulge after visiting.

SURPRISES CONTINUED

MORE SURPRISES

The words "bursting" and "exploding" are the usual trite adjectives used when talking about flowering trees, but both words precisely describe the rapidity with which a blossom goes from being a tightly bound little bundle to a fireworks show! Each blossom is a miracle - knowing the exact date and temperature to unroll, unfold, and parade its petals. 

There are so many cherry blossom trees. Is the beauty in the number of trees, the density of the blossoms in the trees, or is the beauty in the simplicity of a single branch?  Is the real winner a close up of one blossom, or even closer inside the blossom (a la Georgia O'Keeffe)?

THE NEXT SURPRISE - CHRISTMAS IN APRIL

One evening, someone brought two large bags of groceries to the "office missionaries".  The contents were joyfully received - American food! It was a gift from the missionaries at the Army Base in our Mission. Thank you to the Dustins for Campbell's soup, chicken broth, tortillas, and root beer! We posed for an "excited" picture.

 NOT MUCH OF A SURPRISE

It was not much of a surprise that Easter is not celebrated in any way in Korea, including on Sundays at church. There are no bunnies in the stores, no Easter dresses for little girls, no egg hunts. No Easter hymns were sung, and there was no special Easter program. In the Mission Office, however, the Easter Bunny did come! Chocolate eggs were hidden in very difficult places, and it took the Elders about 45 minutes to find most of them. Some weren't found until the following day.

THE SPLENDOR OF CHERRY BLOSSOM SEASON

Cherry blossoms are everywhere! Inadequate fumbling for words... I invite you to LOOK:

From our tenth floor apartment window

Cherry Blossom Festivals take place in many places in Korea, this one is about a half mile away. There were lights, lanterns, music playing, and shows all the way down the river. About 100 booths were set up to serve food, vendors sold toys and souvenirs, but the real treat was flowers and trees.

Lights hanging across the river and their reflection

 

This bridge is lit up and changes colors every ten seconds.

 The reflected lights are so beautiful!

 Daffodils!

When the blossoms start to fall, pink "snow" is everywhere!

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More cherry blossoms and more surprises to follow!