Shopping Trip to E-Mart

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Today, Monday, I had the day off because of Chusok, the Korean Thanksgiving. I got up around 9 o'clock to talk to Mom and Dad from about 9:15 to 9:45. They gave me updates on Hurricane Ike and what’s going on in the States. I’ve noticed that foreigners who have been here a long time didn’t hear of some events back home and when I mentioned them, they didn’t know what I was talking about. So, I’m doing the best that I can to keep up on things. I try to read the headlines daily, but I want to know local stuff, too, so they fill me in. After we got off of the web cam, I tried to do some writing and then I watched some YouTube and fell asleep for about two hours. Then I got up and felt refreshed.

I decided I should go take a walk to the dreaded E-Mart. So, I put my tennis shoes on and started my hike. It only took me about ten minutes or so to walk there, but I took a cab back because I had too much to carry. I actually got a cart this time because I had quite a bit on my list. I just ended up running into people and pushing their carts with mine. It’s just how things are done here. Weird, I know. Normally, it would bother me, but Tom did warn me that the people here don’t move, you have to nudge them out of your way. So what did I buy today? Well, I bought a rug to go outside my bathroom door, so when I get out of the shower, I don’t get everything wet. I bought some Clorox, yes, they have Clorox here! I also got Frosted Flakes (I know, I’m excited too.), orange juice, lemonade, cheese, bread, California celery (again, I’m excited too - even though I paid almost $3 for it!), bananas, Yoplait yogurt (and again, excitement), tuna, sponges, rubber gloves, a block of note paper, a binder, some stationary, a lamp, and my most important buy of the day, besides my M&M’s, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone…in Korean! I’m hoping to get all of the books before I leave. It’s weird how they do it here. They separate the chapters into smaller books. So in The Philosopher’s Stone, chapters 1-9 are in the first book and chapters 10-17 are in the second book. Each book was marked at 7,000W, but I got them for 5,600W, which today was about $5.05 each. Depending on the exchange rate, things cost different amounts every day.

I finished my shopping and checked out. I only used three bags today. They make you buy bags at the E-Mart, and they’re around 5 cents each. I then left and hailed a cab. The cabbie actually knew what I was talking about this time when I said Bone-beyong-won, and then used my directions of orange-jo shin-ho-jin (right at the light), when-cho (left), and yogi-yo (here). This time I actually ended up right outside my apartment! I went upstairs and put my goodies away. I then blogged some and made a tuna sandwich for dinner. I actually have already lost some weight here - you may have noticed in my pictures. But I’ve basically been walking everywhere and eating mostly fresh fruit and natural things. I’m now just sitting and waiting for Mom and Dad to call in about an hour or two. I’ll probably watch some Scooby-Doo or something. It’s dark out, and after 9, so I’m not going to be going out tonight. Well, tomorrow I go back to school and cover some of Joni’s classes while she’s vacationing in China and Bali.

Until next time! An-nyeong-hi-kye-se-yo!

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Comments

[Pam]

Shopping!
It seems to be old hat now..HAHAHA. Waiting for pics. All others have come through. Til next visit, Love Mom.

[Patricia]

Fantastic blog and pictures!
I am applying for teaching jobs in Korea. I really like your blog. You cover some of the everyday concerns - like shopping - that is/are something I was worried about - how to recognize food cans and such. Now I am not so worried. Very informative and fun to read. You can email me if you have time. Patricia