Korea Rant #1

I'm not an angry person, normally. The occasional blackout rage episode is healthy, I figure, but I usually don't kill more than one or two people/pets. And Korea's definitely treated me better than most, I'd say. Still, I can't help but get irked by a few things. So here it goes:

1) The only thing that has legitimately pissed me off since I've been here is the fucking garage attendant/trash man for my apartment. Sure, you might look at him and think he's harmless, but beneath that quiet exterior lies a malevolency second only to Beelzebub himself. First off, the trash situation in Korea is a little odd. While walking down the streets, you'll notice that there are NO public trash cans. And yet they hire sweepers that meticulously scour the sidewalks every morning, so it never looks dirty. Like anything, it's full of contradictions. Another thing is that they are fanatical about sorting their garbage. Any apartment complex will have 6 or 7 different trash areas at least, for sorting recyclables and whatnot. It's cool, I'll grant you, but I'm not going to all the trouble of sorting what sorts of plastic I'm pitching.

Enter the trash man. I was initially unsure of where the trash area was, but after a little hunting, I found it next to the little attendant booth under the complex. I lug down a couple of bags of trash and throw them right in. Then, this guy comes literally running out of his booth to scold me in his smug, grating tone, no doubt calling me all sorts of names for stupid which I couldn't understand. He pulls all of my trash out and proceeds to show me where everything goes. Fine, that's nice, I can dig that. But then he shoves the rest of the trash that's unrecyclable back into my hands and refuses to let me throw it away. I pantomime that I don't understand why, and he points at the bags. Apparently, my bags wouldn't seal properly according to strict Korean standards. I bring my trash down the street and proceed to leave it on the side of the road with some other trash, then walk to work.

Yesterday, I attempted to throw away a styrofoam box that I kept my crab in from the weekend before, but knowing that anal-retentive trash man would be there, I preempted his strike by finding my sturdiest plastic bag and seal it up near watertight. He should have no complaints, right? WRONG! I throw it in the trash and walk away, quickly donning my Ipod in case he finds something wrong, so as to ignore his bleating. But the guy chases me down the street and drags me back, berating me more for my ignorance. He pulls the trash out, points at the bag, then points at another bag in the dumpster. Apparently, I needed an official Korean trash bag (trademarked) to throw away my fucking trash. I pointed at my bag, which was clearly more durable and superior and showed him my expert tying off of the top, but to no avail. So I walked down the street and dropped it on the side again, fuming at the pointlessness of it all. The problem is that the trash cans are right next to his booth, and he's ALWAYS there! So I guess from now on I dump my trash on the side of the road. Point, Korea!

2) A minor rant, but one that annoys me nonetheless. As some may have noted, there's not really a concept of personal space in Korea. When you walk down the street, get on the subway, go to a restaurant, everyone is crammed in there with you. It's not bad, and sometimes it's fun cuz you can totally take advantage of it and check people while walking down the street or shoulder your way to fronts of lines and you're just being more Korean!

But the really annoying part is that people are oblivious to others while walking around in public areas. And they can't walk in straight lines, either! So you're walking to work, say, and there's an elderly lady in front of you on a narrow stretch of sidewalk. You want to go past, so you make to go one way and she weaves in front of you. You feint the other way, but she just keeps ducking and weaving, like a drunken boxer. You're stuck walking at her painfully slow pace until the sidewalk opens up again. And she could give two shits about it. It's like walking etiquette is nonexistant here!

Grrr, argh.