Sunday, July 15

The trash is collected at my apartment complex twice a week. Everyone brings their trash bags out the night before and pile them up in the corner. All trash must be in specific garbage sacks that are designated for your neighborhood. You pay for the trash pick up service by buying these specific bags.

Also, you can see some small red bins. That is where we must put all of our food trash. There are only 3 small bins for my apartment complex (20 apts). I always try to take my food trash out on Thursday so there’s still room found the bin.

Thursday, July 12

Buy a kitchen knife (or scissors), get an eyebrow razor free… Makes sense.

Wednesday, July 11

There’s an intersection near my apartment that only has flashing yellow lights for all 4 directions. You hear a lot of honking in intersections like these because that’s how people signify that they’re going to go through first. I was always really surprised that I’d never seen a wreck here because it seems so dangerous.

Today, it finally happened. Maybe it was the rain or maybe it was the weird 4 way yielding intersection, but the black SUV and the white car were getting a lot of honks this morning.

Tuesday, July 10

Have you ever seen these Korean melons before? They are called cham way (참외) which means melon in Korean. They are very popular in Korea, but I’d never seen them before I came here.

Monday, July 9

I’ve lived in Busan for just over 16 months now. Sometimes it’s strange to think about that. Before coming to Korea, I moved around at least once a year. I never stayed in any one place for too long. I’ve been living in my tiny apartment in Busan longer than I’ve lived anywhere in a long time. I do love it here in Busan and I’m going to be a bit sad when it’s time for me to go.

Sunday, July 8

On Sunday, Dave and I did some shopping in Insadong. It’s this great area of Seoul where you can buy street food, souvenirs and traditional Korean furniture and pottery. There aren’t many places to get souvenirs in Korea so I always try to stop by Insadong when I’m in town.

Saturday, July 7

On Friday night Dave and I flew up to Seoul for the weekend. We woke up really, really early on Saturday so we could go on a tour of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.

We were able to go to the JSA (joint security area), walk through a tunnel that the North dug in the 1970’s to be able to enter the South undetected, and Dorasan Station which is the last train station in South Korea. If the North and South unify, they hope to expand the railway all of the way through to Europe.

I took this photo in the JSA while I was standing on the end of the room that is in North Korea. This is a South Korean soldier that was selected to be a guard in the JSA based on his height weight, intelligence and the fact that he is an expert in at least one form of martial arts. They must stay in this “ROK Ready” stance. They are so still that they look like statues.