It Is Easy Being Green



Apparently, it is easy being green in Korea.  Cleaning up my tiny one-room the other day, it dawned on me that almost everything I've aquired since coming to this country is a lovely shade of green.  So many things are green that it looks almost intentional, but I assure you that it's not.  I share these items with you here, not simply because of the green-ness of the items but also because of their Korean-ness. 

These are small packets of pickles.  I have dozens of these collecting in my fridge.  They come with all delivered fried chicken and pizza.  Sometimes, pickles even come on the pizza!



Sesame leaves are a delicious minty leaf that is used to wrap BBQ'd meat.  I like it chopped up in my salad.  Almost every garden in the city grows sesame.  They eat the leaves all summer, then collect the seeds in the fall.



This is a spicy bean paste with garlic.  It's the standard condiment for meat.



Tea!  This is green tea, but I'm amazed by all the different and strange choices.  Corn tea, for example, is quite popular.

    

Soju, Korea's beverage of choice is a rice alcohol that sells for only about 1000W ($1) a bottle.  Korea doesn't have any open container laws, so you can see people getting bombed on soju anywhere you go at almost any time of day.



Dishing washing liquid with a pump--brilliant!  This one is charcoal scented.  Charcoal is a popular scent and flavoring for everything from soap to soup.

 

Fell in love with Utory aloe foam cleanser at $2 a bottle only to have them go out of business before my first bottle was empty.




Luckily, I stumbled on Skinfood's nearly identical product (for twice the price).  Love this natural Korean-made skin care company! 



   



I had to buy this baby powder after "The Chafing Incident of August."  The only place I could find it was behind the counter at a pharmacy for a whooping $7. 

  

These rubber sandals are the standard footware for children.  They also serve as bathroom slippers in many restaurants and in my apartment.  Many places don't allow you to wear your shoes indoors, so they provide slippers for walking into the bathroom.  They cost only $3 and come in just about every color.  Mine are green. 



The smallest peace crane I've ever seen was a gift from a student.

 

Love this yoga mat because it has velcro straps to keep it rolled up. 



My garbage pail with Korean cutesy-ness.



10000W is the most common bill in Korean currency.



My green card.





I picked this up at the World Martial Arts Festival.  It's been cut by a very sharp sword.



This beautiful ornament is handmade with hanji (traditional Korean paper).




I got this cool puppet at the Andong Mask Festival.  I find it somewhat terrifying.



As the Wicked Witch of the West, I have green skin.