Korea unforgotten

I'm on a roll here. Like butter. Unfortunately, as per, I managed to...defer...my blogging until I had a sizable pile. Since I want to do these chronologically, I had to type some up as I went along (the last Korealists), and I have to finish these before I actually get to "today's."

So, yet another list, this time of things I miss about Korea. I actually typed this up on my Word processor on the plane, so...it's pretty old.

10 July
I was supposed to have written this before. Unfortunately, there were extenuating circumstances that prevented me from doing so. I've been really busy in the last two months: we had a demo lesson in mid-June, which meant that the first two weeks of June were spent preparing it. After that, my time was spent getting my documents together, as well as dealing with a fiasco between my school and our real estate agent over my housing. It was a mess. With school over, my last 9 days in July were spent meeting people, conquering a mountain, and transferring funds between bank accounts. And I’ve been internetless. Survival was doubtful for awhile. In a word, Hectic.

Let's move on. Things I'll miss about Korea. I’ve gathered a few lists, and I’ve lost just as many. So I spent a few minutes of my plane ride developing a new list of things that I’m going to miss about Korea. (It’s about 1am Korea time here, and a large percent of the plane is asleep. I accidentally put my earphone jack into the microphone outlet, and turned my mute off. It was loud. oops hehe)

There’s no particular order to this, with the exception of numbers one and two.

1. 김대용: He was definitely the hardest to leave. For days, I’ve been crying every time I thought about him (I never witnessed a single tear come from his eyes, but he called when I was boarding and I could hear the tears in his voice). He’s the most gentle, affable, contented and patient man that I know. I know I don’t deserve him, but somehow I got lucky.
2. My “family” and friends: There are so many wonderful people, I can’t even begin to go through them all. Some have already left, while others I’m leaving. I just hope that we can stay in touch so that we can meet up when I return to Korea. Or so, wherever they might live in the world, I have a sofa to sleep on if I come a-knockin.
   
3. Food: Korean food is, in my unbiased opinion, one of the best cuisines in the world (along with Indian, Thai & German. yum). There are so many things that one might miss about Korean food: 닭갈비, 떡만두국 when fighting a cold, 삼계탕 or 콩국수 on a hot summer day, or my favourite black sesame seed cereal. And need I mention fruits? I’ll never eat watermelon or strawberries with the same gusto. Luckily, mom & dad have Korean pears and persimmon growing in their garden. Perhaps what I’ll miss the most, though, even more than 한식 or 김밥, is a simple snack of 떡복기 순대 at midnight from the cart outside.
4. 술: What’s food without drink? Most gyopo Koreans think soju when they think Korean drink. I’ll admit I’m not a big fan. During my tenure, I tried to sample the traditional drinks, and think that I’ve experienced a fair bit. Give me a bottle of 백새주, 복분자 or a bowl of 막걸리, and I’ll be super happy. And bamboo wine, with its spicy cinnamoniness, is a new flavor that I doubt I’ll find outside of Korea.
5. Wonderful places: Seoul is home, but need I admit that Seoraksan tops the list of places to take a short holiday? Beautiful scenery, great exercise, 20 minutes from the beach, and rife with happy memories… Another thing I’ll really miss is seeing Namsan Tower. To me, that defines Seoul. Seoul is not Seoul without those beautiful lights piercing the haze. Also, Jeollado, with its rolling hills and farmland, and down-to-earth natural people -- it's weird knowing that I can't hop on a train for a weekend trip to that rustic area.
6. Urbanity: Officetels, where I head downstairs to the 24-hour convenience store at 2am to buy toilet paper. 100 Mb/s internet connection at $40 a month, instead of 30 Mb/s connection at $60/month, like the US. Mobile reception EVERYWHERE. It’s great sending a picture to friends of a mountain conquest…at 1700 metres. Obviously I wouldn’t feel this way if I didn’t live in the Seoul MA. [after being in the US for a month, cell phone reception is driving me nuts!! And yes, everything closes by 10pm, even 'convenience' stores]
   
7. Low medical costs: I got quality medical care without getting robbed. Wicked.
8. Low crime rates: This didn’t really come to mind immediately, but I think it’s something that I’ve grown to take for granted. Leaving my purse at the table while I grab my coffee or walking through a low-traffic area at night just doesn’t scare me anymore. I guess I should change that attitude pronto, before I get mugged.
9. Speed cameras: What a simple, effective solution to speeding. Now, if I'm correct in assuming that the purpose of a speed limit is to lower accidents/fatalities/injuries, and not to increase any slush funds, the idea of speed cameras is perfect. In Korea, they place cameras in dangerous areas, and warn drivers about the cameras with pretty yellow signs. The driver slows to the appropriate speed, and once the danger area is passed, speeds back up. Simple. Efficient. Purposeful. Contrast that to the US, where tax dollars are wasted with cops sitting in gas-guzzlers, gunning down speeders. Instead they could be walking the beat, assuring citizens that their neighbourhoods are protected and watched after by a thoughtful and caring police force, building repoire with their communities, and deterring crime simply by their presence. Even worse are speed traps, but I'm not going to mention slush funds again because that's unfair.
   
10. Movie theater seating: I don't care how much a movie theater "hypes" up a movie by making people wait in line, WE NEED THIS! How stupid is it to arrive at a theatre 4 hours early? Or to have to sit apart from one's friends because there aren't seats together? Just let me pick my seat when I buy a ticket, because my time is more valuable than a line, and if I can't share overpriced popcorn with people I care about, I don't want to spend 10 bucks on a ticket.
    
11. Restaurant simplicities: I loved getting a buzzer when I went to a coffee shop. But what can top that? A service bell on the restaurant table, so I can buzz the server. I don't have to waste the server's time, and the server doesn't have to waste mine. Culinary bliss.

Now that I'm back in the US, let me go ahead an add some more as they come to me.

• Electronic selection: I'm sorry, Best Buy, you're just not what I need at this point in my life. All I want is a simple outlet converter. $2, maybe $3. Just a 220 to 110 volt. I don't need the $20 international switch-out-the-gadget-roo premium pack. And if I want a wire to connect my DS with my PC, you should have it. And seriously, nobody in the US makes car stereo faces that play off of SD memory cards? Who wants a flash drive sticking out, ready to stab somebody in the eye? Also, no, iPod is NOT the only music/video player available. I miss Yongsan.
• Did I already mention DaeYong?
• Public transit ease: Maybe it's just DC. I want metro busses that have their major stops written on the bus. Or at least at the bus stop. Or somewhere besides a massive online .pdf. I wanna know where these things are going before I get on them.