Korea's Little Pleasures (by Leslie)

I have decided there are some things that I am really thoroughly enjoying about living in Korea.  Here is a list (in no particular order) of a few:

1.  Ooey gooey waffle snacks.  Often, walking down the road or even in a grocery store, you will see food stands with waffles waiting to be smothered and eaten!  They fold the waffle over and slather one half with a creamy frosting (multiple flavors to choose from) and the other half with honey, then smash together and eat!  I think I could eat one every day.  For 1,000 won (less that $1 US), you can't beat that kind of treat!

MMMMMM!!

2.  No tipping.  Here in Korea, you don't tip for any services.  Not in restaurants, taxis, hair salons, etc.  If you do, it is kind of a sign of disrespect.  They won't take it from you.  Koreans also will not let you help them do anything, such as moving a chair or opening a door.  They do it all themselves.  Kind of reminds me of myself before I met Michael. :)  Oh, another thing is the sales tax is already added into the ticketed price, so what you see is what you pay, which seriously makes life sooo much easier.  No worrying about if you'll have enough to cover the tax.  It's already figured for you.

3.  Fancy schmancy toilets.  Now, don't get me wrong, you don't see toilets of this caliber all over Korea (sometimes you just see a little porcelain hole in the floor that you have to squat over).  However, the really nice restaurants, or pretty much any of the big western chain restaurants have these special toilets in the restrooms.   I was a bit afraid of them at first, but one afternoon, in a Bennigan's in Insa-dong, I worked up the nerve to test one out and was pleasantly surprised!!  haha  So, if you look on the left side of the toilet, there is a panel of buttons to push.  WARNING:  This may contain TMI (too much information) for your liking.  I will be very tactful, though. :)
Now, look closer at the Fresh-Let.  :)  I didn't try all of the buttons, but enough to get by.  Okay, the red button at the bottom means stop.  Stop what, you might ask?  Move up one button.  It looks like a sideways rear-end with a fountain spraying.  Well, that's basically what it is!  When you push that button, a little tube mechanically slides out and sprays your behind clean, until you press the stop button!  The next button up looks like a picture of a woman.  That, obviously, is for women to use.  The sprayer extends even farther so that women don't have to use toilet paper either!  Then, the button above that one, is a flow of warm air to dry your wet backside off.  Haha  Those are the only 4 buttons I have tried.  The first time, I have to admit, it kind of freaked me out.  But since then, whenever I see one, I have to use it!  They are just so refreshing!! :)  Michael has learned that if we go into public restrooms that have these toilets, it will take an extra 2-3 minutes for me to come out.   Is that weird of me?  Many of you may have used toilets like these in the US or Europe, but this has been my first encounter with them.  They are very eco-friendly as well, since you don't need any TP!!
4.  Cute Korean kids.  I've decided that Korean babies are the cutest in the world.  They are seriously so adorable, I keep telling Michael that I wish I could have a baby in Korea that would just pop out and be Korean, since they are so stinking cute!  A lot of them have the chubbiest little cheeks, and they all have this thick, black hair.  Many times their hair sticks straight up and their parents carry them around in their little slings and they are just too cute for words!  They seem very bewildered by westerners though.  Most of them are very shy, and if we smile or wave at them, they look away or sometimes start crying.  One exception was at the beach last week, this ADORABLE little girl, who was probably maybe 3 years old, saw us and started saying "HIII!  Hello!!!" and she kept waving and smiling and saying hi to me.  I heard her say something to her parents about "miguk" (american) and so I knew she was excited to see us.  Her dad came over to me and said, "excuse me, can we take picture with you?" and of course I was all for it, so the cute little girl and I got a photo together.  Unfortunately, Michael somehow did not snap the photo in time with MY camera, and so all I have are the memories, no evidence to share the extreme cuteness of the moment.  Here is a photo of another adorable little boy we saw at the beach.  I'm getting good at sneaking photos of people.  hehe
5.  Over-the-top Koreans.  We went to see Jason Mraz-eh (as they called him) in Seoul on Saturday night.  He had played the night before there as well, and had just been here back in March at the same venue.  The Koreans LOVED him!  We had standing room only tickets, so we were amongst 1600 Koreans packed into this concert hall even closer together than sardines, or a crowded subway/bus in Seoul.  It was a little uncomfortable, but well worth the experience.  They even had little papers, "Sing Along with Jason," that had the song lyrics to 2 of his songs so you could sing along.  hehe  The silly Koreans kept screaming every two seconds and putting their arms up in the air like they were praising Jehovah!  It got a little old after a while.  But like I said, it was a once in a lifetime experience I was glad to have experienced.  Jason Mraz was WELL worth the 77,000 won tickets.  He is so talented and fun.  

6.  Socialized medicine. 

While I don't believe that it will work in every country, including the US, it certainly is pretty awesome here in Korea. I went to the doctor a couple weeks ago because I was having some flare ups with my colon. I was able to go to any doctor I wanted (they are ALL over the place, there is pretty much a doctor of some sort in every building somewhere), and thankfully, my co-worker recommended me to a gastroenterologist that is literally in the building across the street from mine (work) and he speaks very good English. His name was Dr. Choo. So, I had a doctor's visit, and wanna know how much it cost me? 3,500 won (less than $3.50 US). Then, he prescribed me 4 different medications, a weeks worth for 3 and 15 days worth for the other, and guess how much all that was??? 13,000 won! Barely $17 for a doctor's visit and prescription medication! Pretty sweet, huh? Also, if you don't have your medical card with you, they can just look you up in the computer database, which is very handy. And, the best part is, they don't give you bottles of pills. They divide your meds into little water-proof pouches (I know this because it rained all in my bag after I left the pharmacy) according to dosage, and the pouches are connected about 10 in a row. This was just 4 that I got a photo of. Not bad!

7.  Getting to spend more time with my dear husband!

One of the best things about being in Korea is the amount of time that Michael and I get to spend together outside of work. Our work is such that we really don't have to do much outside of the office, and that comes as such a relief after working as American school teachers/ministers, where we NEVER got a break from our jobs. Not that we regret having those jobs, because they certainly were part of God's plan for our lives, but it feels like right now we are able to really just rest and get to enjoy each other's company and explore new places and enjoy life without feeling like we always have some commitment to go to or other things to keep us from spending quality time together. It could not have come at a better time for us! We know that we will never regret this time that we have with each other, especially a few years down the road when we do have children and a family.

God bless!

~Leslie