Dogs in Seoul

So, before I left for Seoul I would search Goole to determine of owning a dog was common in Seoul.  From absolutely everything I read Koreans tolerated dogs.  They ate them.  Some were pets.  Many were not.

That was perception.  That was not reality.

We live in Hannam dong just beside the Itaewon section of Yongasn gu.

There are dog owners all around us.

Want an apartment that is pet friendly?  No problem!

And dog food? It's EVERYWHERE.  Pricey?   You bet.  but so is everything else in Seoul.

Not only all of that, but there is an area in Seoul with a couple dozen if not more pet shops and pet stuff shops.

Renting an apartment in Seoul

I received several text messages on my Korean phone from the agent.

Where are you?

Will you be here soon?

By the last text message, I was at the ground floor waiting for the elevator with a couple of minutes to spare.

I knocked on the door of the company and a woman opened the door.  I asked if this was the leasing agent.  Luckily, she spoke a little english.   Behind her was a room filled with some junk.  The plate on the door had the leasing agent's name on it.  How could I go wrong?

"No. Try next door".  So I did and it turned out to be the right place.  I was greeted at the door and ushered into the office.  There was a table with two well-dressed middle aged women seated side-by-side.

The agent greeted me and asked me to sit with the two women who he introduced to me.  After the greetings we just looked at eachother.  I couldn't speak Korean and they couldn't speak American english.

The agent came and sat with us at the end of the table.  He had three copies of the lease.  Luckily, the lease was in both Korean and English.  He laid them all side-by-side.

A Korean lease is really very simple.  It was about three or four pages long, but if you remove the English, it would all fit on two pages.  Whereas, a Texas standard residential lease is 7 pages long.

"The owner has told me that she replaced the old air conditioner with a new one," said the agent.

I smiled to express my thanks.  The entire apartment had been refurbished and the aged, yellowed A/C unit in the corner of the living room of the apartment sort of stood out like a sore thumb.

Then he and the owner both took out what looked like a short, zippered pencil pouch.  They were about two inches long.  They unzipped them and pulled out what looked like a tube of lipstick.  The agent also pulled out an ink pad that looked like it had been used  a LOT.  The ink pad was mushed up and looked like someone took a hammer to the pad and distorted it horribly.  But all that ever occurred was years of gentle use.

Then the agent began taking an end of what turned out to be a stamp and stamped the inside edge or rather the two touching edges of the leases.  Then the owner did the same thing.

"Now it's your turn." the agent said to me.  But instead of using a stamp, that I didn't have, I wrote my signature.

The agent folded the first page exposing the back and placed his stamp on the edge so that half was on the blank back and half of the stamp was on the page under it.  The owner did the same.  They did this for each page.

"Ok, now it's your turn".  So I signed my name in the same manner.

The ceremony was over.

Now, the really horrible problem in S. Korea is that most landlords require anywhere from one to two years of rent/deposit in ADVANCE.  I was lucky to find someone who only required 6 months.

The agent looked at me with concern "Gary, when will the money clear our bank?"  From that point on until the money actually cleared the Korean Bank, the poor young agent was sweating bullets, daily texting or emailing me asking about the money.  I guess I must look like a real low life.

A few days later when the money cleared the agent's account I sent him a text message saying that he could finally sleep tonight.  He sent me back a smiley.

Riding the Seoul Subway

Depending on the time of day and which subway train you take, the ride could be easy…or it wouldn't be.

I don't remember which day this was and where I was headed.  But this is as bad as it gets on the subway here.

It's all in the marketing

In 2008 I was in Seoul trying to get my visa to Thailand.  I had just wrapped up some work in Ulsan which is at the southwest corner of South Korea near Busan (or Pusan).

I had trouble finding the Thai Embassy only to find out later I had walked past the embassy entrance about a dozen times.  The sign marking this as the Thai Embassy was about eight feet, putting it about 2 feet above me.  The only way I saw the sign was when I crossed the street and then turned around.

The Seoul subway system is pretty impressive and is state-of-the-art.  Most times crowded.  A lot of times not.  This particular day as I was out on yet another mission to find the Thai Embassy, it was pretty empty.  I sat on the train waiting to make it to the Itaewon station so I could make my connection to yet another subway train.  At each stop, the recorded voice of a Korean woman would announce the next stop.  After several sentences, she would be followed by another female voice in English.  This woman would speak maybe two sentences.  Was it the same as what the Korean voice said? I had no way of knowing.

At one of the stops was an old woman, bent with age, as the cliche goes.  She stepped into the train, pulling a small wire carrier on wheels.  At that point I stopped watching and went back to just staring at nothing in particular.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see she was moving to the far end of the train.

And then the music started.

And I mean, it was the saddest music I had ever heard in my life.

I looked up and saw that the old woman had set up what amounted to an impressive impromptu stereo system that pumped out clear music that would melt your heart.

She had her back to us and very slowly turned to face us.  She had in her hand an old metal cup or can and the saddest expression on her face. From that point, she started slowly walking the train.  Turning to each one of us,  holding out the can.  All the while the sad music played on.

And then it all made sense to me.

It's all in the marketing.

This is how EVERYTHING is sold to us.  Whether it be a new sports car, a vacation cruise, a poor old lady or dying children on the other side of the world.  Graphic images and sad music - or happy music -depending on what you are marketing - sell the story and make it easier for you to part with your money.

In this case, I didn't give her any money.  But that doesn't mean I haven't given to others.

WELCOME TO SOUTH KOREA!!

Hey guys, I'm here!  He-hello?  Hey, looky here...

Hey.

Oh nevermind.

Here we go again! On my way back to Seoul S. Korea

...and so it goes.   I handed in my resignation at my previous place of employment and hopped on the jet the next day.  I have grown attached to the old song "Like a Rollin' Stone".

I'm in Dubai to meet with the team of engineers I'll be working with.

Like before, I'll be posting photos and stories of my experiences.  This will be a very unique trip amongst all the other trips I've ever taken.

Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern cookery

I don't buy many cookbooks anymore.  The internet has become the de facto place to get recipes.  But, there are a multitude of recipes that will never make it to the internet.  So, I'd buy more cook books but I just don't have the room for more, just yet.

The Far Eastern Cookery is one of those timeless cook books that is just stuffed with great recipes.  The recipe I made today was the "Smokey Eggplants in Lime Sauce".

The recipe is really quite simple...except for charring the eggplants on a gas stove top.  That takes time.

Here's the cover of the cook book.  And here's the link to it on Amazon.