First day in Seoul

For the first excursion to Seoul, we decided to do something low-key.  This was a test run to make sure we could successfully navigate the subway system and get in to Seoul.

The first thing we saw when we got out of the subway? Chuar! (or, at least the Korean equivalent).  It was so delicious.  Sam was in 7th heaven.

We were looking for a little stream and on the way we found this street full of hardware supplies. It went on for blocks.  We're currently remodeling our house so we were salivating, trying to figure out what we could fit in our suitcases.

We did find the stream.  It was underground until a few years ago when it was restored.

We went down to the stream and met this guy.  We asked him to take a picture and he proceeded to do a full photo session. 

Out of kindness to you, dear reader, I'll only post a few.

Here's me pretending to eat some poisonous plant. I didn't really eat it. Don't worry.

Cool orange-clothed-man walking along the stream.

Would you bank here?

I loved these signs.  No doubt here that the store is having a sale.

We made it to Seoul and back safely and in good time, ready for our next adventure.

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Veggie Embarrassment

After exploring Incheon, we decided to buy some vegetables.  No problem, right? At least that's what I thought ...

Can you see the baskets full of tomatoes?  The price listed is for the entire basket.  You can't buy small amounts.  The bananas have to be bought by the full bunch.  So if you want only one or two bananas? Tough luck. That goes for all of the veggies, too.  So you have to buy five green peppers or 5 cucumbers or 10 tomatoes.  There was one woman I saw who bought at least 20 cucumbers at once!  What does one do with 20 cucumbers? I couldn't tell ya. But apparently that's how they roll in South Korea.

This guy sits out in front of the vegetable stand.  Here's a close-up:

Notice the microphone? Well, he sits out front of the veggie stand and yells into the microphone.  I can only assume he is talking about the veggies and prices and tries to convince people to buy.

Except when I went in and began picking up my vegetables the American way, he decided he needed to help me understand how to buy in bulk. Really loudly. Over the microphone.  He talked louder and louder and then he finally came over to show me.  Remember the microphone? Yeah, all of this was over the microphone, of course. 

At last I understood. And everyone around the veggie stand shared in my epiphany.  Red-faced, I picked up my veggies in bulk, paid, and left.  Every time I bought veggies after that, this guy gave me a chuckle.

Sometimes I wanted to say to people that I'm not a stereotypical American who only speaks English.  I can understand and speak a little Chinese and a lot of French.  Just not Korean.  Which was on full display today.  *blush*

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