Dumpster Diving

So you might be thinking, how do American teachers at a small international school find food to eat and get supplies to set up house in Korea? The answer: we go dumpster diving. We prefer to call it "Junking for Jesus," just because stealing other people's trash seems better when you make it sound spiritual. Evidently that's how ICS has accumulated most of the furniture for their teachers (and administrators)... they rescue it from the side of the road and pass it from teacher to teacher through the years. See, when Koreans get something new, they throw out their old one even when it is still perfectly nice. There is no such thing as secondhand stores here. But we Americans don't care if something is slightly used as long as it's clean and in good shape. So the excitement and hilarity of yesterday afternoon occurred when I got a call from the director, saying that a couple girls had found a nice couch out by their dumpster and were now sitting on it to claim it for my apartment. He came racing over in the van, picked me up, and roared off to haul away our treasure. Koreans were staring at us the whole time like we were insane. So we now have a fairly warn but very comfortable leather couch, small, but not rock-hard like the some of the ones here. The ugly green musty one we had before is now sitting out by our dumpster.


But don't worry, that's not how we get our food. For that we have several options. I first tried going to a small local grocery store. One evening after school I walked in one, and after wandering around for 5 minutes looking like an idiot trying to find rice (remember I can't read yet), I hear a voice in English say "can I help you find something?" The school director's wife was there to get groceries for their dinner and arrived just in time to help me out. You can get the basic things you need at a local grocery store, but for fruits and vegetables and other grown things it is better to wait for market days. They have market here every 5 days, where people set up umbrellas on both sides of the street in certain sections of the city (down the road from me) and sell anything from fish to peaches to blue jeans. There isn't much variety in fruits and vegetables, though, not like in my dear tropical countries or in the US. And unfortunately for me, Koreans evidently don't like to barter unless you buy in bulk so it takes some fun out of going to market. But I still enjoy it... it's like sensory overload.



If you want foods they don't have in grocery stores, you can go to E-mart, which is like a SuperWalmart in the States. And if you want American things, you can go to Costco in Seoul. A group from school went last weekend, and we stocked up on things you can't get anywhere else: cheese, salsa, cleaning supplies, cheaper toilet paper, frozen vegetables, meat, etc. You can get meat at market but by the time we get home from school it has sat out all day. Prices here are about equal or slightly above what they are in the States, a lot more for American things. I'm still trying to understand the economy here... it's very strong and so different than the other Asian countries I've been to. For example, Korea can't grow enough rice for it's people, so they have to import it and it is very expensive. And they are very partial to Korean things, so when they can't sell Korean chicken because of bird flu, they jack up the price of American meat. I'll try to understand it more in time.

But don't worry, I am eating fine, and I'm liking Korean food more and more (but still not kimchi). Korean food has kind of an odd taste to it compared to the rest of Asia, but some things are absolutely delicious, like kalbi, sweet and sour pork, and this brown thick stuff over noodles. I hear Korean food is an acquired taste but I'm okay with most things I've tried. I'm also doing a pretty good job cooking if I do say so myself, even though I just have 2 stove burners to work with for now. Maybe someone will put a nice oven out by the dumpster someday...

I love you all! Leave me comments and let me know how you are! I know more than 3 people out there read this! ;^)