Silly sights in Korea

-banana puff chips
Craving a salty snack after classes I went to the market and picked out what I thought to be cheesy imitation Cheeto puffs sitting in the aisle among the salty snacks. Turns out they were indeed puffs, but sweet banana flavored puffs…
-paper pockets of water
Instead of drinking fountains at school we have hot and cold water dispensers. And instead of Dixie cups we have little paper pockets to drink out of that can hold only a gulp of water. I find them very funny…
-cheese on cake
On another after school snack mission, this time craving sweets, I browsed small the cookie and snack cake section. I found a box of small little Debbie-ish cakes reading (in English) cheese and honey cakes. My mind automatically assuming cream cheese I think “Yummm” and sealed the purchase. The box didn’t lie, I opened the package to find a sweet cake covered in actual yellow cheese. And by actual cheese I mean the unnatural, processed, I-can-sit-on-a-shelf-for-weeks cheese…very interesting and only slightly tasty…
-sugar on corn dogs
Students and the Korean teachers alike often snack between classes on corn dogs purchased from the snack shop on the first floor. Normal corn dogs as we know them with ketchup but also sprinkled with sugar. For a country that doesn’t consume many sweets, sugar is a surprise addition to several seemingly odd things…like garlic toast and corn dogs.
-men carrying their lady’s purse
Man bags (aka purses) are very common in Korea and are carried with absolutely no shame. This is not particularly silly to me, in fact I find it quite endearing, but what I cannot help but giggle at is the sight of guys carrying their ladies’ very girly purses as well. Such gentlemen!
-fully clothed swimmers at the beach
For no other explanation except perhaps their fear of the sun’s harmful rays, you will very rarely see a Korean swimming in just their swimwear. Rather they choose to swim fully clothed with shorts and a t-shirt over their swimsuits or full body swimwear.
-banana boats
The mere sight of banana boats bring me endless joy and I WILL ride one before I leave this country.
-the American flag without stars
At the foreigners talent contest/concert a few weeks back a large banner displayed the flags of all the countries participating in the contest. Several flags were wrong including the U.S. flag…it had everything except the stars, making for a very silly sight. After a sincere apology to the crowd of foreigners the organizers assured these mistakes would not happen again…
-bubble machines at concerts
At the very same talent contest/concert in the middle of certain acts a bubble machine would start up sending bubbles into the crowd and up on stage. Vicki, one of the girls from church who was singing and playing guitar, starting laughing during her performance when the abrupt bubbles caught her off guard.
-couples t-shirts and lingerie
To let everyone know you are a couple the latest rage is to dress in couples outfits. This means matching t-shirts or coordinating t-shirts, matching shoes, even lingerie. You see it everywhere…
-socks with sandals
Everyone does it.
-sweet potato and mustard pizza
Surprisingly delicious.
-heels at the beach
I don’t know how they do it. I am amazed at the women in this country…
-eating cake with chopsticks
A beautiful cake was mauled by chopsticks on Ester’s birthday at school a few weeks ago quickly destroying its charm.
-square track
At the university there is a SQUARE outdoor track that I go to in the mornings for a jog. This being silly enough, there is apparently a right and wrong direction to run around it as well because this morning a man stopped me and motioned for me to change directions…so strange.

That’s it for now, more to come I’m sure….