Airing the Dirty Laundry

I intended for this blog to read like a journal. A daily account of life here in Seoul written and posted in the order the events occur. I did have a full day of exploring Seoul's most famous landmark which I can't wait to tell you about however, since even the most normal and mundane activities of human existence are having to be re-learned, like doing the laundry, I thought everyone might find it interesting to see how Koreans do it.....so let's air RCP's dirty laundry.

We have this beautiful, brand-new Samsung washing machine. It looks like it's missing it's other half, the dryer, but the two are all part of the same unit. I've always wondered how this works, since it involves water and then somehow hot air has to be blown, assuming out of the same place the water comes from. Strange. However, we won't be exploring the engineering of the machine this go-around, since we purchased that clothes drying rack at E-Mart a couple of days ago.

I was a little intimidated, especially because there were no helpful drawings accompanying the Korean buttons....so I chose to start with a load of RCP's boxers. This way, in the event of a mishap, the only loss would be underwear. Below you can view a step-by-step pictorial of doing the laundry with a Korean washing machine. The highlight of the process? A wonderful 30 second, video game-esque jingle when the spin cycle was complete. It was so uplifting and happy that it actually got me really excited to hang all of the boxers up, one-by-one, to dry.

At the end of this RCP's boxers will either be clean

or shrunken and bleached.

Hmmm.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Laundry cheat sheet.

Lights are good.

I love that the "play" means "start".

The airing of RCP's clean laundry.

I wonder if I will be able to dry ALL of the laundry like this for the next two years.

A new appreciation for laundry has definitely been cultivated.

The Super Wal-Mart of Seoul

After "The First 24 Hours" it was time to get down to the serious business of procuring some necessities for the apartment. RCP had to blaze the trail in the home goods and grocery department before I arrived and did quite an amazing job in finding the equivalent of a Super Wal-Mart. So we did have some toilet paper, one roll of paper towels, toilet bowl cleaner, a floor mop (still unopened), one pot, three plates, three bowls, silverware for four (not sure what the fourth person would eat on though), four glasses, and a coffee mug when I arrived. When I asked "Why did you buy an odd number of plates?" he answered "Because they came in a pack of 3."

As for the food that I found in the kitchen, RCP had also obtained only the bare necessities (for a boy): Pepsi, orange juice, a pack of chicken breasts, a package of spaghetti, a jar of sauce, pepper, oregano, basil, instant coffee, a pack of lemon verbena tea bags, and some "Chewable Eye Vitamin" (a.k.a. vitamin A).

Obviously it doesn't take a lot for boys to live in a foreign country for two months. 

Time to go to E-Mart!

The Super Wal-Mart Equivalent

E-Mart is part of a large mall-like complex called I-Park, somewhat West of where we live and a short 10 minute cab ride. The mall part is very similar to malls in the states, except they very logically place ALL discounted merchandise on the main floor at the entrance. So you enter into tables lining the walls and racks of clothes....everything from discounted bedding to kitchen supplies to furs. This is where RCP purchased his pot (he then went back and purchased the rest of the set when I asked him over the phone why he only bought one pot). The sales associate in the discount bedding area actually remembered him and he had told her I was arriving soon, so I met her and we had nice little exchange.

I-Park Mall

Before beginning the shopping, we decided to have some lunch. On each floor there are about 4-5 restaurants, either Korean, Thai or Chinese. No Western typical mall food court chains here. Certainly no Chick fil A :-( (Koreans do love fried chicken, so I wonder if they'd entertain the idea of putting one in.....hmmmm......) All of the restaurants have beautifully colorful window displays of each dish they offer, all made out of VERY realistic looking plastic. It is actually all quite appetizing and enticing.

After checking out each window's offerings, we opted for bibimbap.

If you aren't a culinary risk-taker like myself, bibimbap is the perfect dish to start developing a Korean palette with. For those of you not familiar with it, the word literally means "mixed meal." It is served in a heavy ceramic/stone bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating with a long spoon. And as you stir, the heat of the bowl continues to cook the ingredients. Vegetables commonly used in bibimbap include julienned cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, doraji (bellflower root), and gim, as well as spinach, soybean sprouts, and gosari (bracken fern stems).

Also interesting to note regarding service in a restaurant and Korean eating habits; some places will seat you but some you seat yourself, the waitress won't come up to you and ask for your order, you have to flag them over, except for maybe in a very expensive restaurant, and they don't really drink anything with their meal. They will usually eat their meal first, then have something to drink, and it's usually only water. However, in fast places like here at the mall they brought us a jar of water and two Dixie-cup sized aluminum cups. And you don't pay at the table. You also don't tip.

 Visual aids are extremely helpful when the menus are not in English.

 

Totally real but fake.

Bibimbap menu.

Korean fast food at the mall.

Not 100% sure but optimistic.

The result from mixing it all is a lot more appetizing and extremely delicious.

Now it's time to attack E-Mart

With some bibimbap in our stomachs, we headed back the escalators to E-Mart! E-Mart is like a Super Wal-Mart with a little bit of Target mixed in. One part has everything from housewares to hardware to school supplies and the other part has groceries. Imagine Target in Times Square (if there were a Target in Times Square) on a Saturday afternoon...that's exactly what this first E-Mart experience was like.

Now we weren't here for everything needed to set up an apartment or kitchen. We just needed to get things like small basic kitchen utensils, a few more place settings, an ironing board, hair dryer, etc....and then some basic groceries. Before arriving, I had made a trip to Sam's Wholesale back in Texas for any possible toiletries that we'd need because Western products are a little difficult to find here and if they are here, they're completely outrageously priced. So in addition to only 3 suitcases of clothes and shoes, I checked one large suitcase and one large duffel bag stuffed with everything from towels, deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes, mouthwash, basic spices (including some Salt Lick Rub when we're missing that Texas bbq flavor) etc...and then when our stomachs need something from home? A 12 pack of Kraft Macaronni and Cheese....the blue box....THE BEST.

Everyone loves E-Mart!

The contraption in the basket is a clothes dryer.

Washer and dryers here are all in one unit and the dryer apparently takes forever
and uses lots of electricity, so most people let them air dry.
I haven't done laundry yet, but it should make for an interesting post
so stay tuned for pictures of the laundry drying rack in use!

Checking out in a store in Korea

You have to pay for your bags. Whether they're just plastic or an ecological, earth friendly bag that's reusable. We bought two reusable bags. And you have to bag everything yourself.

Grocery Shopping at E-Mart

Shopping for housewares was a little chaotic but nothing like what awaited us in the grocery department. We took the escalator up and check our full cart of housewares at the door and got a new cart and headed in!

For those of you reading who are from Texas, particularly Brenham, who grocery shop at H.E.B., E-Mart was like H.E.B. on Friday afternoon. Out...of...control.

Our trip resulted in a giant bag of garlic....not sure how much I will have to cook to use it all, but Koreans put garlic in everything so we will too!....a bag of apples, some broccoli, a bag of cucumbers, a couple of onions, olive oil, apple vinegar, sugar, box of cherry tomatoes, bag of beans sprouts, yogurt, pasta sauce, iceberg lettuce, couple of potatoes, a pineapple, and some chicken and beef....basic but perfect for quite a few meals...especially when accompanied by a box of Kraft Macaronni and Cheese. (Note: No blue boxes were to be found at E-Mart...good thing I brought a 12 pack).

Notice all of our purchases were fresh things that don't really come in packaging or basic ingredients that had illustrations on the label...this was a result of pretty much all of the products at E-Mart being Korean and us having no idea what the items were that were in the packaging. Perhaps we'll get more adventurous with each trip there.

Boxes of peaches.

We didn't have a good season of peaches in Texas....but looks like they certainly did here!
I'm not sure where the peaches actually came from, but I'm thinking somewhere outside of the country because they were $22 a box.

We'll get peaches from the fruit guy on the street corner at a slightly more reasonable price.

Note to self - No need to grocery shop on a Sunday again.
Unless it's like this every day...which is possible.

 

These fish were close to $300.

No that is not a typo...and I'm assuming they're not from the local river.

Again, not sure what makes them special but as soon as I find out I will let you know!

Fresh kimchi anyone? Anyone?

It was actually really delicious. Crunchy, little spicy, very very fresh.

Kimchi by the bushel!

And then there was the Spam isle. 

There were actually multiple isles of Spam...Spam paired with free Spam containers, Spam 6-packs, Spam gift sets....Koreans LOVE Spam. In an attempt to understand why, I Googled around and found the following article from the Seattle Times. It might be time to celebrate and embrace Spam. Slowly.

 

After the shock of Spam....

The Deal-Master has located his first deal.
2 for 1.
"Now that's a deal."

"Now how do we get all this home?"

Just like in NY. Wait for a cab.

The First 24 Hours

In order to get everyone informed about my first 24 hours in Seoul, this first real post will be quite long! But full of pictures!


The Neighborhood

I arrived only 2 days ago and have asked the question "so where do we live?" at least 3 times a day to RCP.....for two reasons....A). I rarely listen the first time RCP answers a question of mine and B). It's SO much more difficult to remember the name of your neighborhood here and what it means in Korean....So if you're interested in a little geography lesson on South Korea and if you want to understand a little more background about our neighborhood and where we're located please read on!

Seoul Geography 101

Let's start in the immediate neighborhood and work our way out in terms of geographical area. Our apartment building is located in a guarded complex known as U.N. Village. The U.N. Village contains residences of several high ranking Korean officials and many foreign ambassadors and is nestled on the side of a rather steep hill, so driving or walking home is much like being in Colorado....wonder what happens when it starts to snow....It's a VERY quiet, private feeling enclave....definitely a far cry from 92nd St. and 2nd Ave back in NYC! Our building name is Villa Nova. All of the buildings seam to be "villa's" of some sort. Next door is a residence known as Peacock Villa. While these aren't exactly "villa's" in the traditional sense of the word, our place is amazing and a welcome change from the 900 square feet we used to live in in NYC. (Interior pictures will be posted as soon as I unpack and removed the exploded luggage from the living room).

 Entrance to U.N. Village. 

You take a right and wind up the steep hill to get to our building.

Villa Nova!

Our balcony is on the 2nd floor.

Up the street and to the right is Villa Nova.

The street is much steeper than it appears.

 Dry cleaning just down the street. Just like in NYC.

Yay for convenience!

"Don't forget to mention 'discount'!" said RCP.

Seoul Geography 102

Now that you've seen our compound, we'll expand the radius a bit and discuss the actual area of Seoul where we reside. The area that U.N. Village is located in is called the Hannam-dong area. Hannam-dong has long been the domain of ambassadors, U.S. Military officers, and the old Seoul elite. The larger "district" in which Hannam-dong is located is called Yongsan-gu or "Dragon Mountain" district. Yongsan stretches from Namsan to the northern shores of the Han River (the river that separates Seoul into two north and south parts). Yongsan has been the heart of Seoul's international community since the United States set up its main base here during the Korean War. Because of this, the district has a heavy concentration of embassies, international schools, and expat-friendly stops and eateries.

There are other areas within Yongsan that I will no doubt discuss once discovered, such as the famous Itaewon where most expats like to hang out.

 Map of the neighborhood

 Main street outside of U.N. Village.

Feels a little like NYC with various cafe's, bakeries and even a cupcake shop!

I must meet Lynn.

 

 In our old neighborhood in NYC we had a wine shop/liquor store

that we lovingly referred to as "the ghetto wine shop".
RCP particularly liked the place because of the "Bargain Barrell"

located at the front door with no bottle over $5.00.

Cheapest bottle of wine in Seoul starts around $25.00.

Happiness.

Wonderful fresh-baked French pastries all the time.

Double-Happiness.

French macaroons!!!!!!

Now we just need to buy a toaster....and find something similar to Miracle Whip....

and find something similar to honey maple-roasted turkey lunch meat....so many things

to do in order to make a sandwich.

I love to cook. And I take pride in the fact that I never bake.

So RCP will continue to have gourmet birthday cakes, even over here,

lovingly hand-made by someone else.

The Neighborhood Bodega

Back in NYC, we had bodega's or deli's on every corner that carried a tiny selection of groceries. The ones here are very similar and the one in our neighborhood somewhat caters to the expat community with offerings such as Doritos, Cheetos, Picante Sauce, and pre-packaged vegetables....they also cater to us in terms of price. The Lipton Instant Ice Tea was $10....Lipton Instant Ice Tea is just so fresh! Why wouldn't I pay $10? And Aveeno Lotion? $19.00 

There are also whole pig's feet available....actually it's a whole pig's leg. Oh, and there are eggs a plenty, some kept in cold storage (like they should be) and some on a shelf next to the olive oil. When I figure out why these eggs are special enough to not be refrigerated, I'll let you know.

I actually happen to LOVE instant ice tea. Seriously.

$19. Seriously.

The room temperature eggs.

Minute Maid.

Aloe Vera flavor.

I'm sure it's great for the skin, but we'll stick to Minuet Maid Fruit Punch.

 

Field Trip to RCP's Place of Employment

Samsung is a short 10-15 minute, two-bus ride from home. Buses are one of the main modes of transportation here in Seoul and are extremely clean, just as crowded as NYC buses, but come so frequently, the longest you wait at any stop is 5 minutes. The area where Samsung is located feels very much like mid-town Manhattan with a multitude of Western brand stores like Adidas, Nike, Smoothie King, and Jamba Juice.

There are 3 buildings that belong to Samsung, all pictured below. Note to anyone visiting: DO NOT take a picture of the lobby of the main building. A security guard will come running up to you and ask to see the picture and make you delete it.

First Meal in Seoul

During my first full day, after the field trip to Samsung, we walked to an area very similar to the West Village or Nolita in NYC. Lots of small boutiques, young fashionable people and small eateries with their own takes on Western sandwiches like turkey and cranberry sauce on ciabatta and BLT's...all served with pickled turnips.

I know a turkey sandwich isn't very authentic, but I'm slowly working my way to more traditional dishes such as Bibimbap and Korean BBQ.

 

"Ade's" of all flavors can be found on many menu's in the summer.

This refreshing ade was lemon with cherries.