John’s Diary – Pt 11 Chuseok and Miscellaneous
Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving although its timing and purpose is different from the
USA version. We were told not to go anywhere over the preceding weekend and over the following Monday to Wednesday holidays (totalling 22nd – 26th September) as 70% of Koreans would have to travel to join the 30% who would stay at home – hence collecting together in large family groups. South Korea is small enough that two of this country will fit into Victoria, so the thought of 35 (of the 50) million people being on these roads, etc, all at the same time, was a good reason for us to stay at home.
As in Australia, a holiday period coming up is a good reason to sell “special” products. To show one’s love for one’s family Koreans can buy lots of goodies for them – these are often shown off by Korean sales-ladies wearing their different forms of traditional dress. (I guess it’s a bit like check-out-chicks in
Australia wearing Santa hats and stuff like that at Christmas.) Gifts could include canned foods and cooking oils, fresh fruit (apples and pears are shown here – pears, here, look like yellow apples, very different to those in Australia), traditional wines, packages of toothpaste with soaps and hair products.
They seemed to charge exorbitantly high prices for their pretty gift packages. Korean Ginseng (a root which is said to be good for your health) is always expensive and these packages ranged between Aus$120 and $240.
You might fancy offering your elders a plate of octopus at Aus$40 to $75 per plate. Or maybe these giant prawns at Aus$120 to $220 per “set”.
Gail snapped this little girl (the two boys didn’t want to miss out) in traditional costume for Chuseok. They had just collected some ice-creams from the freezer at one of our local supermarkets – like cigarettes, ice creams are very cheap here.
More Generally:-
Near our home (10 minutes walk) are about a hundred “factory outlets”. Just a couple are seen in this photo, but it’s interesting that the concept also exists here. Most of the brands are familiar, too. We see very few shoppers there so I wonder how prosperous these businesses really are.
Everywhere we go we see lots of Koreans males in uniforms – from 20 to 22 years of age males have mandatory military service. I guess they have standard times that they must check in at their bases, so sometimes there are hundreds of them on our local trains. Although there are lots of US troops stationed here they are never seen in the streets in their uniform – perhaps that is a requirement. The last two photos are of very new vehicles (most jeeps etc are relics from the second-world-war and they somehow keep them going) and “new” means American – the names of SGT Johnson, SPC Wolf and PVT Biggs is a second giveaway as to the nationality of the occupants.
Streams abound and most have bike paths, walking tracks and exercise stations along their banks. This one, near our apartment, is half finished with its second side still under construction.
Supermarket checkouts are similar to Australia – one difference is that, where items require weighing, this is done before checkout – another variation is that if you pay by credit card then you sign on this electronic pad rather than on paper. Live fish and other live seafood are in supermarkets as well specialty restaurants. Prices for fruit, vegetables, meat and fish are (almost) always quoted per 100gm – so that these crabs (no, these are not alive) are listed at 1980 won – about Aus$2.70 – are really going to cost you $27.00 per Kg. Of course, goods look cheap when priced per 100gm. Occasionally they will list items as weight per 10, 000 won and this is similar to Australia – for example, you might be encouraged to buy 3 Kg of potatoes for 10,000won – Aus$13.
Walking tours are popular in some areas. Groups seem to be in distinct separate age groups – teenagers, retired, young adults, etc.
If you don’t have enough space for more freeway lanes, just build them over the edge of the river – the rivers are very wide and nobody needs that space for anything else.
Toilets are a mix of Asian and western (number 3 in this photo). If you get the Asian squat toilet it looks like this second photo, with a bin for your used paper. Whichever toilet type you choose, you needed to collect fresh paper on the way in; if you forgot until afterwards then ……
At each rail station there is a map of the entire subway system. You can select your destination and next to its name is the fare (cost) to travel there from where you are.
Lotteria is the Korean version of McDonalds; it’s usually a lot better than Maccas and there are hundreds both store types in the main cities (also Subway, Seven Eleven, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut, to name but some of the internationally better known food outlets). My personal favourite is this monster-sized burger, coke and fries combination (they call all such combos a “set” as in a “set menu”) for Aus$6.50. When in Korea, Teena was also impressed with this one.
School crossings (except at senior high schools) are supervised at morning, lunch and after-school times – even if there are traffic lights with a pedestrian crossing component. Protective doors are a feature of the newer subway stations and these open and close synchronous with the train doors.
This time we have a role reversal with John being photographed with the autumn flowers. Gail didn’t miss out though – here she is with some freshly shaped ornamental trees.
Our apartment – here is a photo of a grey haired man in the window of a grey building which is framed against a grey sky. Up closer, then, the same guy is with his “garden” and Sharron’s sun catcher. Inside is our bottled water dispenser (boiling hot or chilled are the two options) and the water costs Aus$5, per bottle, delivered to our door, approximately every 10 days (we will miss it). Just outside is a small blue truck being towed away after an engine break-down.
From this window we now see a building being constructed at the end of this very narrow laneway. The lane comes to a dead end only about 50 metres away. Down there went a digger, a truck with metal rods and a tanker. (Many concrete loads also went down there as well as loads of wooden planks and soon, no doubt, there will be bricks.) It was hard to imagine how they could fit down such a narrow space.
I was not happy about this sequence relating to my back – about to get a needle in the you-know-what, being aided in and out of the hospital by Mr Chon (shares Gail’s office) and interpreter Michelle (Gail’s immediate “boss”) and, finally, with tablets in daily tear-off sachets. (Almost all my weight was being rested on the fridge as my legs and back would not support me at that time.) For an extended stay in a foreign country you need “native” friends or lots of good luck.
Happier this time, regaining mobility, we had a trip to the Outback Steakhouse and then, back at home, I have a birthday candle (it’s not on a proper cake as I don’t really like cake).
Recently we saw two free events at the local stadium (less than 10 minutes walk). Firstly there was a health festival which was conducted in the walkway around the outside of the stadium and included, amongst other things, a concert, pony rides and having your hands stuck with dozens of tiny needles (much smaller than the standard acupuncture type) probably intended to aid sufferers of arthritis.
The second event was a fun run and was conducted in lots of different categories so that the finishes continued for several hours. There was a soccer game as well (actually there were two) although one side of the stadium seating is completely empty. It is a nice venue, although underused.
On her way to and from school each day, Gail observes changes. The area is semi-rural so a small rice field should not surprise – it altered in two weeks from beautifully green, then it was cropped and finally only dry stubble remains, although there is still residual water which was essential throughout the growing season.
Also on her daily walk Gail recently observed sweet potatoes being dug-up, pepper plants still growing in mid-autumn and some onions.
She also passes this middle school which is still under construction but is clearly making progress and then sees her own school framed by the mountains in the background. Almost there and these red peppers have been placed in the sun to dry; flat and hard surfaces to do this are at a premium so these were placed on the road and the traffic simply drove around them.
A photo taken from an upper window at Gail’s school shows the semi-rural aspect that she passes on her way here; the divided roadway you can see is actually the entrance up to the school. Then there are these pictures with students in the two different labs that are used for all their English lessons.
