When going green goes bad

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Psalms 8: 3-4

Tree-huggers, hippies, eco-freaks, green people, supporters of team Earth (my personal preference)…however you choose to label “those” people, count me in. The older I get, the more educated I become, and the more I travel, the more I find myself completely awed by the beauty on this planet and the majestic Creator of it all.

The breathtaking beauty in both people and nature inspires me to everyday do my best in preserving all its glory. Therefore, I’m a firm believer in the 3 R’s. We all learned them in elementary school…REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, remember? Following the 3 R’s is not only good for the environment but, in the long run, good for your pocketbook and good for your health…or so I thought…

Upon my arrival in Korea I noticed bottled water being served at several restaurants, an excessive number of plastic bottles thrown along the streets and trashcans overflowing with water bottle debris. I was a bit disgusted. The environmental activist spirit in me immediately reacted by vowing to reuse like crazy in this country. So the bottle of water I purchased in the airport after I stepped off the plane in Ulsan I faithfully refilled over and over again from my tap (totaling a LOT of refills especially during those hot, humid August days)…until last weekend. As I was riding the bus and chatting with Kristen I pull out my bottle’o’tap water, take a big gulp and casually mention my refilling and reusing obsession. I make some crack about the water smelling funny at times to look up and find Kristen making a disgusted face. She informs me of the reason Koreans drink bottle water and have water dispensers everywhere…not because they are earth-haters as I had so easily assumed but because there are TOXINS in the tap water! Toxins that, in some cases, cannot even be boiled out. YIIIIKES!

Instantly hunched over and convinced I have every kind of cancer known to man Kristen tries to reassure me by saying she knew of some guy who drank it for over a year without knowing and seems to be doing fine. So surely a month would not affect me, right? Let’s hope so. If not I’m going to write Al Gore, explain the situation, my good “green” intentions, and request that he pay for all my medical bills.

So that, my friends, is how just like the corn beef at Happy Chef (that one’s for you mom), going green can go bad.

In other nontoxic and far less dramatic news I have been using my weekends to run from the cityscape as much as possible and enjoy the marvelous mountainous landscape that Korea truly is. Ulsan Grand Park (comparable to Central Park in NYC) is a lovely and surprisingly huge oasis in the middle of the city where Kristen and I rented bikes and spent an afternoon cruising about two weekends back. My first time on a bike in nearly a month (even though it was nothing like the Swinn) did miraculous things for my spirits. This past Sunday afternoon (which was also the Korean holiday called Chuseok) was spent at Mt. Sinbul, home to Ulsan’s biggest and most famous temple. The air was so fresh, the temples so serene, the mountains so exotic, and the company (Edwin and Lauren) so enjoyable that I didn’t want the day to end. We even met a Korean congressman at the temple who shook our hands and took a picture with Lauren and I, making us feel pretty darn lucky to say the least. On our way back to the city we stopped for a pricey (but delicious) Chuseok meal at a well-known bulgogi beef restaurant that was well worth the splurge…even the staple kimchi side dish (fermented cabbage in red pepper paste) that’s not all that tasty had a better flavor.

Sidenote on Chuseok: Chuseok is similar to our American Thanksgiving. Families gather together for a big meal and bow at their ancestors graves to pay respect to them. Gifts of basic household goods (like soap, toothpaste, cooking oil, etc) are given to friends and family. Our director dressed in the traditional Korean outfit and delivered to all the teachers a large set of shampoo and toothpaste on Friday...it was super adorable. :)

And after sitting down with my Teach Yourself Korean book on a rainy Saturday afternoon I’ve finally learned the Korean alphabet. It’s exciting to be able to read words (even if I have not the slightest idea what those words mean) but I’m sure super obnoxious especially for Edwin, my brother from an Asian mother, as I now attempt to read everything in sight and often request his help with pronunciation.

The foreigner festival on Monday was all fun and games until the free giveaway where after a string of Pilipino and Vietnamese names were drawn for the prizes an angry Sri Lankan accused the host of rigging the name selection, started a mini revolution, and convinced all the Sri Lankans to throw up their arms and walk out of the theater. All over a few large boxes of ramen and some space heaters! Then they (the Sri Lankans) were all still waiting outside the theater when the evening concluded, looking tough, and waiting to pick a fight. I didn’t stick around to see how it all ended but I have a feeling some fists were probably swinging. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.


I am savoring every last minute of this long holiday weekend as I won't have a break like this again until New Year's...*groan*