The Nichols Family: Walk around Switzen

We went on a walk in the area around our apartment complex. Here are some of the highlights from our stroll:

This is a Korean Grave site behind my apartment complex. I do not know if they have 'graveyards' like we have in America...what little I do know about this is that they have family grave sites that are always on hills. The hills are sort of carved in to tiers (as you can see in the photo above) and the grave plots have mounds of earth on top of them. Sometimes they have tall, skinny markers made of stone. I wish I knew more about this tradition, but I have had a hard time finding information on it on the Internet... I do know that the family cares for the grave site themselves...

This is a Korean School Yard right next door to my apartment. I don't know the exact hours that the children here go to school, but I know they go Monday through Saturday and they have an hour or two break each day for lunch. Some of the schools require uniforms (and John swears that one school must have a "dress code" for your hair cut because all the girls have the exact same hair cut...but that is just speculation). The school pictured here is not one that requires uniforms. You can see the yard is just sand. The kids had just arrived back (or where arriving) after lunch. There were hundreds of kids on the playground...playing the same way that American kids play! It was fun to watch.... the one funny thing we noticed was that we didn't see a single adult/teacher anywhere at all!

Here is a picture of Ajumma with her surgical mask on. I don't know the reasoning behind why they wear these masks all the time, but I know part of it is the yellow dust. We are in peak yellow dust season here in Korea right now. The yellow dust could be a blog post in itself... google some pictures of it (especially satellite pictures) if you are interested. The yellow dust comes from the deserts of Mongolia and China and can be very harmful when breathed in. Each day it is suggested that we check the yellow dust level and see how bad it is that day. It's kind of like pollen in America and can cause allergy like symptoms, but it's much heavier than pollen dust and can be very dangerous. They will actually close schools if the dust storm gets to the dangerous level and it is a BAD idea to get out of the house in it.

Mom got to see one of the elevator moving/delivery trucks. They load the item needing to be delivered (furniture, washer/dryer, etc) on to a little platform in the back of the truck, and then it is lifted like an elevator to the top of the ladder where another mover removes it from the platform in to the building! This one is only going up a few floors, but they delivered our furniture this way on the 10th floor!

This is a kind of pine tree here... it looks like a banzai pine tree!!

Food delivery is HUGE here. And all of the food delivery men use these scooters with buckets on the back (some have lids). They also are not required to follow any of the traffic laws. They drive on sidewalks, in between cars, and right through intersections no matter what light says. You always have to be on the look out for these guys! Also, one of the food delivery services at my apartment complex delivers the food on REAL plates, and then the 'customer' sits their finished meal outside and another delivery guys comes and takes the plates... Mom hasn't had a chance to see this yet but for the longest time John and I wondered why there were plates with half eaten meals just laying around the halls and entrances to the apartment complex.

Every Monday local vendors will set up little tents and stands in the parking lot of our apartment complex. I call it "Market Day." Yesterday wasn't very busy, which surprised me because the weather is warming up. We only had two vendors. One selling house plants (like Orchids and other greenery type plants) and the other was selling fruit (kiwi, strawberries, these big Korean pears, etc). Mom bought an apple from the vendor for $1.00 (we only had "American Money" and it was 1,000 won which is roughly a dollar). She described it as exceptionally juicy, sweet, and crisp. She said it was probably the best apple she'd ever eaten. It had a milder apple flavor, almost pearish, but sweet.... (I feel like I'm a wine taster describing wine). Besides the apple in Mom's hand, this picture also shows how they protect the trees from insects by wrapping cloth around the trunk. I think the bamboo poles are to encourage the tree to grow in the 'right' direction. This apartment complex is only a few years old so the trees are still on the small side.

Grandmama shared her apple with Caden. He loved sucking the juice out of it! He "begged" for more when she took it away!

Here is a field behind the apartment complex that is growing something. Our guess would be rice, but it looks like bamboo.... you can also see the hill in the background with the grave site on it.

Before moving here with my dog, everyone told me to 'keep my eye on her' because the Koreans would eat her... Well, on the contrary, they LOVE dogs here. There may be some breeds of 'wild' dogs that they eat, but they love a little lap dog! Here is one we saw on our walk with a little sweatsuit outfit and shoes! Isn't she cute! We saw another dog down the road with pink ears! They had dyed it's hair!! And none of the dogs are on leashes... they just follow their owners! It's crazy!