Some observations...this is a doozie. Doozie is a strange word...

OK! It's been awhile kids! The length of this blog may make up for it. We'll see. You can stop reading at any point if it becomes boring, rambling, or just downright ridiculous. *wink*

Men's purses or.. murses?: They exist. Everywhere. Literally almost every male in this country has one. They look good too! No joke. They are hip, handy, fashionable and make perfect sense. Also, if men are with their significant other, they hold their purse too. How kind!

Tax: There isn't any. It's so GREAT! Oh hey, I need some milk, but only have 2,000 won. The milk is 2,000 won. Can I afford it? YES! Because it's 2,000 won. Not 2,015 won with tax. What the price tag says is what the price is. Fantastic!

Tip: Again, there isn't any. They will literally not take a tip. It's not expected, and it's not given...anywhere. So great.

Squid: Koreans love dried squid. It's like beef jerky to them. Being dried, you'd think the smell would, maybe, not be as strong, but it is...and it's disgusting. yuck!

Sleeping on the Subway: The percentage of people falling asleep on the subway is amazing. I just watch as people hop on, sit down, and are asleep before we get to the next station, which is usually not more than 3 or 4 minutes away. Koreans fall asleep really well in moving vehicles anyway I have heard. It's interesting to observe someone who is asleep, jump awake to check what station we have stopped at, and after confirming it isn't their stop, precede to fall back asleep. lol. Every once in awhile, they will wake up too late, sprint to the closing door, and end up having to stay one station too many because they missed it. I should wear a sign that says, "For 1,000 won, you can tell me what station you need to get off at, and I'll make sure you don't miss it!" hahaaa....or not.

Flavoring for fries: WOAH! I went to a resturant at the airport and they give you a bag of fries. Then you tell them what seasoning you want. They hand you a package that your pour into the bag, shake, taste, and yum! "It's shake and bake, and I helped!" Ok so it's not shake and BAKE but same concept. Pretty delicious!

Dreams: They take dreams seriously here. If you have a pig in your dreams, it's good luck, run to buy a lottery ticket! One of my students told me that he had a dream with 3 pigs in it. He went to buy the lottery ticket and got 3 of the 6 numbers right. he said that if his dream had 6 pigs in it...he would have won. Also, if you don't have any dreams, that means you are healthy...well I guess I'm not a healthy person then! lol.

Blood Type: "What is your blood type?" someone asked me. This someone was not a doctor, or nurse. Some Koreans judge personality by blood types. I am O positive, apparently that is a good type to have. "We like O positive! They are happy and easy to get along with!" Oh good! I'm not sure what personality goes with the other blood types but I heard, "strange and short tempered." Boy was I lucky on that one. Thanks Mom and Dad! :)

Moonpies: The Korean version, stick them in the freezer, delicious. My boss's wife bought me a box. It would be great if she never did that again...because I have no will power against them. They were gone in less than a week. Yikes!

Interesting instances:
-using "chicken" instead of "kitchen" in class
-one student keeps say he has a "Good body" instead of "Healthy body"...ha! I keep correcting him, but he has this grin on his face when he says it now and everyone laughs...ornery Korean!
-asking questions in the form of statements...it's hard to get used to. "Kaley, I think you miss home." "Kaley, you go to Jeju for holiday." "Kaley, you have friends in Bundang." These are all asking something...but what!?
-"Have you eaten?" this is a way to ask "how are you?" My boss asks me this, he explained that in the small town where he grew up, that's what they asked. He informed me of this after I, confused as I was, told him what I had eaten for dinner a few times. Embarassing. lol. He has since started asking me "how are you." Much easier to answer. ha.

And...that's it! I'm typing another about my vacation to Jeju Island...but I wanted to let you guys breath before having to read that one..... :)
love!