Another Thursday...

Its my second thursday in Korea, and I'm still alive (and relatively sane!). Today I chatted with the parents, and I think my dog could here me through the speakers (which I was happy she recognized me, but sad I couldn't hug her!). Then I went on a trek to find the infamous E-mart, apparently Koreas popular answer to Walmart (I heard on the web that walmart tried to get started here and went out of business...). I found it pretty easily, but Walmart/Target it is not. There aren't as many things, and they definitely don't have the off-brand alternatives I was looking forward to. In fact, in comparison to walmart/target, it seemed pretty upscale; there were attendant people in almost every aisle, asking if you needed help (which always annoys me, in any language), and the stuff seemed pretty expensive. I did get what I was searching for, batteries, but I think I'll stick to the "Kim's Club" that I get my groceries and etc at; its closer, and seems to have the same things anyway. After that, I walked home through the park the long way (its even better out now; there's a nice cool breeze blowing pretty constantly, and I saw the skateboarding guy again! though he was not surrounded by little Korean children this time).

Today as I was walking around I notice that there is NO grass any where around the city; even the grass in the park is pretty sickly. Places that should have grass, where grass would probably grow naturally without any help at all, have been covered with poured concrete. What's up with that? I thought Koreans were all into nature and hiking and stuff, but I guess not.

And two things have been going on today (well, maybe three) that haven't put me in the best mood; one, there seems to be someone somewhere nearby with a loudspeaker and a drum. I don't know if its just a crazy individual, or some kind of planned thing; either way, not cool. And lets just say it better stop by bedtime, cause tomorrow is the ONE day this week I actually need to get up on time. The second thing is also a sound issue; somewhere on the floors below me (sounds like directly below me) some hardworking person is using a high powered drill, and a hammer. yay. And to top it off, the internet I'm using has been on the fritz every five minutes. So, while apartment living looks fun on tv, maybe not so much fun in real life...

(so I just re-read this, and it sounds increasingly depressing as you read! It wasn't THAT bad a day, I think its just getting close to dinner time :) though the loudspeaker guy is still going at it...)