Charpie's Travels

I woke up to the sound of a street vendor broadcasting his sales over a loudspeaker. I've heard many a foreigner discuss this sort of wakeup call, but it was a new experience for me.  A couple hours after the wakeup call, someone outside was blaring Pomp and Circumstance. That's not a September song.  The trees between my home and the subway station are tall and skinny. You wouldn't guess they could hold much more than the leaves attached to their branches. Perhaps that explains the baby birds that dropped to the road a couple feet in front of me. They were bright green and beautiful. I'll spare you the details of their demise.  The man working at the SK store wore a shirt with a picture of a hot dog and the words "Spicy Dairy Queen." I love clouds more than I love coffee. I've been in Korea nearly ten months, and the sky's been gray and characterless the majority of those days. Ever since the Chuseok flooding , however, it's been stell...

Chuseok Flood

Koreans are quick to pull out their umbrellas at the slightest hint of rain. I thought carrying an umbrella was more work than it was worth for this morning's semi-drizzle. When I arrived at work (wetter than expected), a coworker explained it to me. Seoul rain is acid rain. Particularly on a day like today, when the rain is just beginning, the drops are loaded with nasties that no smart Korean wants on their skin, hair, or clothes.  When I first moved here, one of my students asked me for an A4 paper. I had no idea what he was talking about. When I realized he just wanted a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper, I felt a little stupid. It occurred to me the other day that "8 1/2 x 11" now sounds like a really long and dumb name for a thin, little piece of paper. It's the little things.... My apartment building charges an elevator fee, and so I feel obligated to use it as often as possible. I'm not paying a stair fee.