A random list of things that surprised me in Korea.

Pretty much everything I have written on this blog so far has been about things that surprised me in Korea or that I was not familiar with. But there are many more of them in my everyday life here, except that I can't write a full post about them  because they're just "small things". So I decided to devote a post to a collection of "small things" that either don't exist in my country or that we don't see that often, for whatever reason.

I wanted to start with something that I don't dislike even though it's far from beautiful (not to say plain ugly): wires. There are a lot of overhead power lines in Korea. Actually, I don't know if it's electric cables or telephone wires. What I do know is that in some places, all these wires are VERY messy. But it's no without a certain charm, I would even say there's something hypnotic about them. And it's quite unfamiliar to me, coming from a country where most lines are subterranean. It seems that old lines are now being replaced with newer and neater yellow lines. I've seen more and more of these lately. And I have now idea why they're yellow... Anyways, maybe this topic will get a full post on this blog soon, because I'm realizing I have a lot to say, and a lot of pictures to post about them.

Korea seems to have the knack of making things convenient, as I already mentioned here. Again, sometimes it's just small things that make me realize this. It goes from the reading glasses available at the post office (last time I visited a post office in France, no one could even find a pen for me), to the possibility to cancel a floor request in an elevator (simple, but I don't think I've ever seen that in Europe or in the US), to those umbrella sleeve dispensers that you can find in most stores, subway stations,  and buildings on rainy days in order keep the floor dry.  I really miss these now when I go back to Europe and I have to carry my wet and dripping umbrella indoors. However, they will soon disappear it seems, but that's for a good cause, as Korea is trying to cut down on the use of plastic bags. This doesn't mean Koreans will go back to dripping umbrellas. Apparently, the plastic bag dispensers will be replaced by umbrella dryers or carpets that can absorb water.

Umbrella sleeve dispenser

Umbrella dryers

And now for something completely different this next picture was taken in the small streets of Yangsan, when I once ran into a truck-mounted thermal fogger, aka the "mosquito truck", which fogs the streets  spraying pesticide during the summer. It kills mosquitoes, but I just don't know how toxic it is for humans.  

After the mosquito truck drove by

In Yangsan,a truck with a loudspeaker also drove through our neighborhood every day at the same time, the driver repeating the exact same catchphrase at regular intervals. It took us over two months to actually make out what the guy was actually saying (even Her had a hard time, until she realized that he spoke in local dialect). It turned out he was selling traditional clam soup ("jaecheopguk", or 재첩국), which we never tasted unfortunately (if it was impossible not to hear him, it was much harder to actually locate him!). Still, I found that a little quaint, because we don't really have such street vendors in French cities anymore. But I have a feeling there are fewer and fewer of them in Korea too.

Speaking of trucks, they can also be used during election campaigns here. Most candidates for local or national elections use trucks for campaigning and canvassing. They can  be close to the people, move from one area to another easily and deliver speeches using the truck as a mobile stage. They park on roadsides or criss-cross neighborhoods to attract the attention of passers-by with catchy slogans, hooky songs and loud music, sometimes dancers or cheerleaders.  I read that online campaigning is gaining momentum, but truck campaigning is still pretty big in Korea. It's hard to imagine what it's like if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, so you might want to check this video. I particularly like the Moon Jae-In song at the end.

 

That is pretty much all I have for this random list, but it's quite likely that a few others will follow every now and then, as Korea certainly has more surprises in store for me.