Watch your back

Groceries in Korea are cheap. Restaurants are even cheaper. Everyone delivers. And everyone orders in. This demand for fast, direct service has created a master race of delivery scooters.
Laws do not apply to these two-wheeled speed demons. If a traffic light is red, they'll (maybe) yield and fly right through. If traffic is crazy, and it usually is during dinner hours, they pull up onto the sidewalk at mach speed. Mothers and fathers with strollers are no match for these psychos; it's a game of chicken and they always win. They're quite stealthy too. You won't notice them creeping up on you until they speed by, leaving you with nothing but a face full of exhaust and a heart attack.
They come in all different styles and models. This one, for instance, is a moped style bike with the classic milk crates for cargo space. The more successful establishments sport modern 'crotch rocket' style vehicles, with sealable cartons on the back to keep that live squid hot during transport.

Hungry?

On the weekend we went to Seomon Market in Daegu. It was an orgy of contamination. It was also quite fascinating, and probably a little more safe than it appeared to us uncultured foreigners.

We bought some fruit and vegetables, but we didn't buy any pig heads, dead birds or bloody octopuses.

Sunday

The sky is yellow.

Apparently every spring heavy dust storms kick up in the deserts of Mongolia and fine, yellow sand slowly makes it's way east, covering the skies of South Korea. This year seems to be exceptionally bad. The dust even made its way into the subway system, resulting in an unusually large amount of paranoid Koreans sporting surgeon's masks.

Saturday

Today we made our long-awaited first family trip to downtown Daegu. It was, in a word, stimulating.

Transport was smooth. A three minute cab ride to Yongsan Station and a 20 minute ride on the subway, with one transfer, took us to Jungangno Station and the heart of downtown.

We first hit up Kyobo Books and bought some reading material (at a fairly decent price considering English books are all imported) and then made our way to the main shopping district. There were probably 10 million people shopping in a six block radius. At least. Maybe more.

Carmen had a successful afternoon. She has the prototypical Asian figure, and every piece of clothing in any store we visited fit her perfectly. I, on the other hand, had a more difficult go of things. I found several shops I liked, but the t-shirts fit like some kind of leotard, and I basically looked like Renton from Trainspotting. We found that in the private, specialty shops there's only one size of every piece of clothing, so if it doesn't fit you're out of luck. But I still got a Mitch Albom book and Keith Richards scarf.

Visually, downtown was everything we'd pictured of an Asian metropolis. Bright lights, huge signs, endless crowds and raw meat. Add deafening hip-hop beats coming from every store and you've got six hours of culture that will last a lifetime. Too much culture at one time can be overwhelming though, so we played it safe and had burgers for lunch.

I sort of wish I was shopping today with Brad Pitt, because he would have garnered less attention than Cate. If we stopped for three seconds, hoards of people would crowd around and gawk, point, touch and take photos. Not an exaggeration. Really. It's hard enough steering a stroller through a tiny clothing store, but when everyone in the store stands in your way taking pictures and trying to hold your baby, it's basically impossible. No-one shops when we enter a shop, they just swarm around our oblivious one year-old daughter. She is a phenomenon. Example: "May I take a picture of your baby. She is just so beautiful, I just can't resist it."

Don't believe me? Here's just a few of her fans:


The pinnacle of my day, a visit to the Adidas Concept Store, was spoiled by Cate stealing all the attention . . . and service of the employees:

Wednesday

I wrote earlier about how nice people are in Daegu. Here's another example.

Last night I walked over to Pizza Etang to buy us dinner. The guy who served us last time was there again, and he gave me a menu and I ordered the same thing as before. This time, it was 1,500 won (about $1.50) cheaper than last time, but I didn't think much of it.

As I was waiting he came over to me and said, "Two weeks ago, you came with wife?."
Me: "Yeah, I came with my wife and our baby."
Him: "I made mistake. I charge you too much last time."
Me: "Oh, well that's okay. Not a big deal."

He picked up the menu and pointed at what he charged me last time. "No, my mistake. I'm very sorry. I pay you."
Me: "No, I understand what you're saying. You don't have to pay me. It's just a little bit."
I appreciated his honesty about having made a mistake and really wanted him to know that I wasn't bothered by it. This awkward exchange went on for a couple of minutes until he realized I wasn't going to take the 1,500 won from his pocket.

Him: "Your wife - gorgeous."
Me: "Oh wow. Thanks. Yes she is."
Him: "And your baby. Beautiful."
Me: "Yeah, Koreans like her blue eyes."
Him: "Oh yes, blue eyes. Gorgeous. And you too."
Me: "Whoa. Okay. Thank you." His honesty came into question at this point.

I also went downtown last night for the first time. I needed to make a trial run so that when we take Cate on the weekend, we don't get lost. It was the best time I've had since we've been here, even though I didn't actually do anything. On a Wednesday night the streets were packed and every store was open, with music pumping. I wish I had pictures to show what I'm describing but my camera died as soon as I got to the subway.

I'm a Freak

There are some things that grab the attention of the locals here in Daegu. One is foreigners. Another is a foreign baby, especially a baby with light hair and blue eyes. Another is a man looking after a baby in public. Put all those strange, unusual things together and you have me and Cate - the most bizarre act to ever hit this huge city.

Everywhere we go, everyone stares. Men, women, children. Young, old. Everyone notices. We can't hide. Ladies gawk , school girls giggle and even old men can't help but talk gibberish to Cate. Korean gibberish.

To be honest, I do appreciate the attention. I'd never experience anything like this in Lethbridge, but being in a market and seeing a woman with rubber gloves on, who's been selling bloody fish and squid all day, just doesn't make me want to say, "Hey, you with the bloody, slimy hands; would you like to hold my first born daughter?" No. I'd rather say, "Oh, your hands have blood and slime on them. I actually don't want you holding or touching my clean one year-old."

But these are things that come with being an oddity in a foreign place where everything is different. I'm learning to deal with it, and Cate is surprisingly patient with the whole thing. And having waitresses take her to the kitchen in restaurants while Carmen and I eat is actually quite convenient, as much as it is creepy. I should mention though, that Koreans are generally very good with babies. While the attention can be annoying, it's often balanced out by the general concern for Cate's well-being shown by everyone we meet here. It helps us to realize that coming here with Cate was the right decision. Part of the reason we came was to give her a unique experience and so far, that's exactly what it's been.

No Need to Worry

One thing we weren't prepared for when we moved to Daegu is how safe it is. When we were first shown to our apartment, I was a bit unsure about the area as it's set back in sort of a series of alley-ways and it's not well-lit at night. When I asked Sun if our area was safe, she was confused and didn't really answer. We quickly realized that crime is not much of an issue around here and that the racket of young kids playing nearby is more of a cause for concern.

Kids are everywhere - all the time. Young children, four or five years old, are often seen walking down the busy street alone as there's no real worry of something bad happening. In fact, Koreans are generally quite active in promoting the well-being of kids, rather than concerned about crime against them . Yesterday, as I was walking to Carmen's school, two young boys were shouting at their friends across an intersection and just before they took a step onto the street, an old, grey man, who was a complete stranger, ushered them back onto the sidewalk and gave them a polite lesson on watching for traffic. On a recent late-nite walk to the store, I came across a young (probably four years old) boy who was insistent on practicing his English with me on his way home from Tae Kwon Do. This is like a haven for kids. They're safe and they're everywhere.

And just to give you an idea of the density of the population, Carmen's school has a population of about 600. That population is made up of kids from just five local apartment buildings. I find that astonishing, as there's a countless number of these massive buildings in our area.

These guys call themselves Kimchi F.C. I have to meet them again tomorrow. Same time, same place.
There's the wise English teacher, with Cate, in front of a mass of students on their way home.