'Stay Alert – Stay Alive'

It has begun to be hot in earnest. Though the thermometer today only reads 33°C (about 91°F), the humidity is stifling. It's been a challenge trying to accustom myself to the metric system, its logic and practicality notwithstanding. I found an online metric converter that performs equations for everything I've need so far, as well as for some things I haven't. I use it often. However, I use the temperature conversion so often, on everything from the weather to cooking, that I've since memorized the equation for conversions between Celsius and Fahrenheit, and now can calculate the difference in my head pretty quickly. (For those who are interested: C°(9/5) + 32 = F° & (F°-32)5/9 = C° )

This afternoon I decided to disregard the heat, and went out for walk after lunch to get some exercise (I get a headache from sitting all day, if I don't take a break). By the time I got back to SCG a half an hour later I was drenched with sweat, and never so glad for the AC!

But there is nothing wrong with sweat. To support this statement I am compelled to revert to what by now must be a topic worn thin. Food is such an integral part of this society that, while I heartily apologize for subjecting you to such past and present analysis as I have, I can hardly avoid the discussion thereof. So I state that the temperature of all food served is proportionate the temperature of the given day. Honestly, the more blistering the weather, the hotter and spicier, by default, the food must be. This is not random coincidence; it is deliberately premeditated, the logic of which may be stated as follows: The more spicy one's food, the more profusely he will sweat. And the more profusely one sweats, the cooler he will (of course) become. Thus some of Korea's hottest dishes are reserved for such weather as this. I have avoided eating out lately, for obvious reasons.

Only two more 'food' observations, and then I'll move on to less worn out topics. Both are short.
Food Observation #1: Yesterday, after shopping, the Dubes and I lunched at Costco. I was heartily enjoying an enormous, hot, cheesy slice of pizza. Beth nodded her head for me to look at the table across from us. I couldn't tell what she was referring to, unless it was the huge amount of corn piled up on one of the plates. 'Know what that is?' Adam grinned at me. My stomach turned as he explained that what I had mistaken for corn was diced raw union and mustard. 'You'll see that a lot. Wherever there's pizza or hot dogs.' Oh joy!
Food Observation #2: Now that I've been here for some time, I'm no longer treated to the delicious American version of Korean food. Real Korean food is very different, and much more difficult to get used to. One taste that Koreans seem addicted to is green tea. This flavor can be found in anything from soda crackers to breakfast cereal to ice cream. They even have green tea doughnuts, for crying out loud! And what can't, by some ill chance, be found in green tea, can surely be found in red bean: pastries, fruit smoothies. . . you name it. I really have to laugh.

Easier than the food, for me to adjust to, has been the traffic. In fact, I've come to heartily enjoy what various modes of transportation there are. Subways, trains, taxis and busses are the most frequently employed. The latter two I have the most fun with. A few evenings ago the bus for which I been waiting about ten minutes came lumbering massively into view. I squeezed myself in as it rolled to a stop, reaching around and between a mass of hot, jabbering bodies for a hand-hold. The buss lurched crazily back onto the road, and my countenance remained as impassively disinterested as that of those between whom I was wedged. . .but inside I grinned. It's something like a carnival ride to be packed in like sardines, while endeavoring to maintain one's balance as the bus veers crazily around pedestrians.

The pedestrian – traffic merge is one that still startles me, though I have come to find it quite convenient. The road is primarily for wheels (though it precludes not feet), and the sidewalk primarily for feet (though it precludes not wheels). This practice at first appears quite cacophonous (forgive my misuse of this word – I'm merely attempting to be consistent with this 'primarily but not precluding' logic, as I apply a discordant sound-adjective to sight), but after a while one grows accustomed to darting across the street between moving vehicles, or to jumping aside to avoid those motorcycles that race between cars parked on the sidewalk. The horns that are so frequently and blaringly employed seem a sufficient safety measure, because so far I haven't witnessed any amazing catastrophes. 'Stay Alert – Stay Alive' would be an appropriate axiom.

Parking is a real problem in Seoul, home to 10.3 million people, a quarter of South Korea's population. That's 43,700 people per sq. mi. There just isn't enough room for parked vehicles to stay at ground level. The various solutions to this problem still amuse me. One resolution could be most aptly described as a 'car-carrousel'. Adam likened it to those glass-enclosed rotating chicken or hotdog ovens that one would find in a supermarket. I have to agree, as I watch the parked cars rotating vertically in their respectively stifling garages. The other solution is to park below ground. The parking garage at an ordinary supermarket sometimes goes down three or four levels. Still, there often isn't room enough. Once all the marked parking spaces are filled, cars will be parked where one would suppose they should be driving, perpendicularly blocking in all the parallely parked cars. But don't be misled, courtesy is still a must. If one's parking blocks another's exit, the former will leave his car in neutral so that the later can easily push it out of the way.

Not only is Seoul the fifth largest city in the world, it is also the most expensive, second only to Moscow. I can easily believe that. Walking through Costco yesterday I saw cuts of beef going for W710/g (that's over $280/lb). Notwithstanding the excellence of the cuts, I was blown away. Adam and Beth laughed at me, 'Oh, you'll get used to it. You'll have to.' I hope I get used to it soon. I still feel sick whenever I think of how much I spend every time I go shopping.

Other than this unwelcome sensation, shopping is an amusing experience. Just about every stairway in Seoul is a moving one. Those found in shopping centers are no exceptions. Most centers are either several stories high or else under ground. Space-conservation, and all that. These all have several escalators to carry shoppers and their carts from one floor to another. Just another of the many conveniences taken for granted.

Apparently to counterbalance every other expediency, one greatest of all inconveniences daily derides me. I still don't know where I'm to live. I've been here for a month and haven't yet unpacked either of my suitcases. I have no idea when this frustration will be remedied. Until it is, I shall remain very much unsettled. There's been much discussion regarding where my apartment will be, but so far not much action.

Well, I'm going to wrap this up now, despite that rather unenthusiastic last paragraph. I don't like to end on a negative note, but time is inexorable. I think my emails have been mainly composed of little cultural absurdities, and not much of my daily life. Hopefully next time I write I'll feel inclined to include some more personal happenstances.

Until then, may God bless and keep you as He has me,
Elisabeth