The Norm

I was walking home after class last night around 7:45pm.  The fact that it was 7:45pm and I was walking home is already abnormal.  I am normally walking home around 10:45pm.  Middle school testing (think FCAT x 1000) has taken precedence over English hagwon class and thus, my middle school class has been canceled.  Anyways, I was passing the sportswear store (called “Indian”),  next to my building when another abnormal thing occurred.  The norm for walking the streets is usually a constant cacophony of various KPop tunes being blasted from the stores out to the sidewalks, but tonight, something was not normal.  As I was nearing the store I realized that what was being emitted from the speakers was not the latest Big Bang single or a classic hit from Super Junior nor a 2AM smash or even Girls Generation, but it was the unmistakable strains of Ke$ha.  To be specific, "Your Love is My Drug".  I used to hear this song at least 3-4 times a week back in the States between spin classes and the radio. It was at this moment that I realized I have reached the point where the abnormal was now normal and the normal was now abnormal.  It was so out of the ordinary that I had to stop for a moment outside the store to listen.  I even danced a little a bit, I'm pretty sure the Korean businessmen with their pitcher of beer outside the Chicken & Beer restaurant next door just dismissed me as another crazy 외국인 (waegukin-foreigner) as they gave me the sideways stare. (I've gotten used to the stares as well-that is also the norm.....as well as the random "hellos" from schoolkids on the street--any attempts to continue the conversation with the kid will be answered by shy, confused smiles) As I rode the elevator up to my floor I reflected on this small milestone I have reached during my sojourn.  Other things that are now the norm:

  

1. My daily schedule:  I wake up between the hours of 10:30am and 11:30am most weekedays.  I leave for work between 2:30pm and 3:00pm.  I teach my first class (elementary students) from 4:30pm to 7:30pm.  Then, I teach my second class (middle school) from 7:35pm to 10:30pm.  I am then usually leaving work around 10:40pm.  Sometimes, I will stop at the Lotte Mart for groceries on the way home.  Yes, there are usually quite a few people grocery shopping at this time of night.  The only downside is, all the fresh bread is gone from the bakery and the sushi counter is closed.  I will then arrive home at 11:30pm which is when I will proceed to make and eat my dinner.  Then, if I am working tomorrow, I will crawl up to my loft around 12:30pm and proceed to work on my homework (catching up on my dramas-this is important homework!  if you know the dramas, you are automatically cool with most of the kids).  I usually fall asleep around 2:30am.  If I am not working the next day, then sometimes I may go out with some of the other teachers.  If this happens I usually don't get home until 3:00 or 3:30am and will fall asleep around 4.

2. Not buying a lot of groceries at once.  As I am walking to the Mart around the corner,  I do not have the luxury of a car trunk to load a lot of groceries into.  Therefore, I must only buy what I can carry in 1 or 2 bags.  Sometimes, that turns into a box.  Next to the registers at the Mart is a counter for people to load up boxes with items so that they can be carried easier.  The boxes are provided free by the store as they are the boxes the products are delivered in to the store.  There are scissors and tape at this counter as well as many spools of paper twine so that once your box is packed, you may tie a carrying strap onto the box.  Exhibit A: This past Sunday's groceries

The twine carrying strap is quite prevalent.  I've seen tied onto many things.  People on subways carrying newly purchased appliances, like rice cookers, electric fans (선풍기-seonpungki), and electric kettles.  They will also put twine on pizza boxes for carryout pizza.  It makes carrying a box a little more convenient, actually.

3.  1.5 L sized bottles of beer.  These are quite common in convenience stores.  It will almost always be Cass brand or Hite brand.  These are the two big domestic brands here. Hite is brewed from barley malt and rice while Cass is brewed only from rice.  When you go to a restaurant, you just ask for "maekju chuseyo", and they will always bring you one of the two (in a liter bottle which will be shared among the diners in small glasses, soju is a frequent accompaniment in even tinier glasses)

4.  Drinkable yogurt.  I don't know why this was so fascinating to me as I'm pretty sure we have something similar in the States (Gogurt?).  This seems to be the most common form of consumption for yogurt here.  But anyways, I now buy my yogurt in a 500mL bottle which I can pour over cut fruit in a bowl or use instead of milk in my cereal.  (my favorite combo so far: freshly cut chamae melon with strawberry yogurt poured over...soooo refreshing) 

My coworkers are planning a trip to Hongdae for another birthday celebration.  Hongdae is a popular nightlife district in Seoul.  I went to Hongdae a couple weeks ago to visit the Coffee Prince coffee shop.  A night in Hongdae means taking the train out in the evening and then having to catch the train back the next morning after they start running at 5am which means getting back home to Yeonsu-gu around 7am.  That's fine.  We're going on the weekend.