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!