RED. Traffic lights work just fine, but a red traffic light does not necessarily mean STOP - and if you happen to want to cross the street, you need to make sure you look first!!
Korean people in shops love it when you are obviously not Korean, but really make an effort to at least speak some Korean to them - the only problem is they answer back!
There is soup served at every meal.
It's possibly best not to each kimchi at every meal when you first arrive in Korea.
You can buy yourself a stag beetle for a pet from 'home plus'. In fact you can buy just about anything from home plus. Other pets available include huge black beetles, hedgehogs, baby iguanas that look like geckos, mice and turtles.
They have a brand of sports and outdoors wear including clothing and shoes with the brand name 'The Red Face'. I like it!!
Bus rides are a cheap form of entertainment, closely resembling a roller coaster ride at an amusement park, just without so many hills and valleys!
Suwon's summer festival has outdoor dramas, and this season they have one called 'My grandmother is and alien' and 'Shit Rain'. Really. I kid you not.
Ajima's (older ladies) seem to have the idea that they rule the world, and will often try to queue-jump, and often no-one stops them, only very occasionally, and then the look they give would be enough to drill holes through you!!
The smell of the silkworms being cooked up to sell to passers-by...not one I'm ever going to find tantelising to my tastebuds.
Some people wear facemasks around once it's autumn, seemingly to avoid catching colds and flus from all the rest of us...
In fact, if a 'waygukin' (foreigner) sneezes, it's like the parting of the red sea - locals don't like the idea of catching bugs off foreigners. (sound familiar?!)
Bus drivers often wear white gloves. You can pretend you're in a limo with a chauffeur. (ok, not really.)
'Ne' is the word for yes. It is quite disconcerting - it really sounds like 'nah' said with a really broad kiwi accent....
If you're really canny, you can stock up your household furniture from the recycling depot at the back of your apartment block. People put what they don't want there, and it's yours to take. We have a fake leather lounge suite, (admittedly somewhat worn, but it's more comfortable than the other one), a steam vacuum cleaner, and two mattresses for guests. Not to bad!
While living in Suwon, we often walked home through the back of the school and past the market gardens and rice paddies. It was a pleasant walk, a short cut through to our apartment block, Acropark. On the way we often met and greeted people as they worked - and were surprised one day when a young man about 25 or so spoke in fluent English, talking about plantings and seasons and so on. It has amazed us how many Korean people know a little bit of English - it does help us make ourselves understood!
We also were impressed with the array of chilli peppers being dried ready to make chilli paste to make kimchi. This scene is seen often at this time of year.
One day we went for a walk up a path nearby and found ourselves at a gate that required a swipe card to get through. We followed a group of people going through it, but of course, getting back out again was going to be an issue! Luckily we managed to convince another lady to let us out again. After admiring the hanging garden of pumpkins and gourds, the mini golf course, and the flowers in hedges, we realised that most people walking around were of a certain age. Finally, a man we had passed by twice told us it was the 'Silver Hair Estate' with a twinkle in his eye! That explained a lot...
But, following are a few shots of this beautiful place...
The Korean countryside around this area is mostly steep ridges covered in trees and bush, with most of the flat parts of the valley taken up by either cities with masses of apartments, or vegetable gardens and more traditional style houses. We enjoyed the sights on the way to the white water rafting venue one Saturday.
Now for the view looking the other direction:
