"Uh...that's still alive"

So Saturday was not that eventful compared to the past weekends. Erin and I lounged around and read, cooked, or watched a movie. That afternoon we decided to go out and explore our neighborhood. We are in the Nam-gu section of Gwang-ju which is in the South of the city. It is on the lower end of the working class spectrum for neighborhoods. If you exit our building and look to the left there are 2 restaurants that specialize in eel. There are dozens of them swimming in tanks. Instead of pick-your-own-lobster restaurants we have the always popular pick-your-on-eel place. People here LOVE eel and I just don't know why. If you ask me they look like snakes that happen to live in the sea. Thanks but no thanks. I will stick to the always palate pleasing chicken.

Back to the Saturday- Erin and I were walking around looking for a pizza place that specialized in $5 pizza because they were having a grand opening. At least that is what the flyer seemed to say, you see it was all in Korean so it could've said something completely different. I could totally be mistaken. Anyway, Erin and I wandered the streets looking for pizza when we saw an alley full of ramshackle tarps that were made to cover the people and the goods under them. These people were selling all kinds of stuff. Everything from fruits, veggies, sweets, seafood, and clothes. We perused the different stalls and checked prices here and there. We ended up staring at a fish stall where there were so many different varieties of seafood. Things from giant mussels, octopus, sea cucumbers in tanks to fish of all shapes and sizes. Erin and I just stood there and stared. There was a man there who was slicing the fish fillets from the carcass. He had a yellow basket by his feet where he would throw what was left of the fish he had just filleted. That's when we noticed stuff in the basket was moving. Erin and I just gave each other a look for a minute and I said "That can't be...I mean seriously, It can't still be...". People, it really was. The fish were still alive and gulping up air. We could see that their mouths were moving as well as their insides. There were at least several carcasses in that basket and they were most definitely still alive. My eyes watered up and I had to turn away. Only to see that 2 stalls over was the butcher's stall. A lady was cutting up chickens like she was being timed or something. Sigh. I have never felt like I was in National Geographic more than I did that day. 

We eventually saw this little old lady who was sitting in a stall covered with a blanket. She was selling several baskets full of veggies and I thought to myself "do I want to buy carrots from the obviously wealthier merchant across the alley or would I rather buy it from this kindly little old lady?". So I bought four carrots for two dollars from her. The lady was so grateful that she threw in a fifth one free. I have decided that I will only buy my carrots from her until I leave this country. Now, I don't know if it was gratitude that compelled this lady to give me a free carrot or if it's the same strange phenomena that seems to only happen to me. You see ever since I got here I've been either given big discounts or free stuff by different people. Maybe it's because they've never seen a person of color before. Much to ponder.

Now, I should tell you that in Korea there seems to be a norm where all the veggies are dug up then sold as-is. There is no washing or even wiping off of the dirt. That concept seems to be ridiculous to them. I purchased potatoes at the supermarket. The first time I bought them I thought that they had to be some breed that only exists in Asia and that's why they were dark brown in color. I came to find that the potatoes have to be scrubbed hard core before you cook them or else you will have a dish full of dirt. This seems to be a fact with all root vegetables. 

Afterwards Erin and I went to Lotte Super which is conveniently located behind our building. We purchased spaghetti sauce (they import it from the States so it costs around $5 per bottle). We also bought pasta (It costs around $3 per package). I picked up some Panko breaded pork cutlets and some rice. Rice. That was quite a pickle to pick out. You see there isn't like 3 or 4 different varieties in the store. No, these people devote 3 aisles to the stuff. All color, flavors, textures, and sizes. I looked around for familiar words like Arborio, Basmati, White, Brown, or anything that looked familiar at all. Eventually a store employee saw that I was in the rice section for entirely too long and asked me what I wanted (in Korean of course). I said "rice, regular rice" I'm pretty sure she understood so she gave me a 5lb bag of white rice. 

The best thing I've found yet is a jell-o cup that is yellow in color but is grape flavored and has grapes at the bottom. It is super delicious and I think that i've found what I will miss most in Korea when I leave. Of course I have 48 more weeks to go.