Korea, you're doing it right

One of the benefits of traveling is getting to see the ways different countries or communities have chosen to organize ­­­­­­­­various aspects of daily life.  In each country I have lived and traveled, I have learned new ways of doing all sorts of things.   In South Africa, I learned to air dry my clothes.  I never thought twice about every home owning and relying on a dryer for drying clothes (even in summer) until going to South Africa.  News Flash USA: the rest of the world doesn’t use driers; they use freely available and energy-efficient wind and sun.  In Cyprus, I learned of a better alternative to central air-conditioning, if you insist on using AC.  Equip rooms with individual air-conditioners mounted on the wall; when you are in that room, turn it on, when you leave, turn it off.  There’s no use in cooling an empty room (or house).   In Georgia, I learned that canning is a much simpler task than I once believed and is a great way to eat seasonally but still get summer vegetables in the winter.  What follows are some aspects of Korean culture that I think other communities could borrow.

When you check out at large supermarkets, you have two options for carrying your goods with you: garbage bags or cardboard boxes.  Korea uses a color-coded system for garbage, recycling and compost; each city or region designates a certain color plastic bag for each form of waste.  In Jecheon, pink bags serve as garbage bags (don’t imagine American black garbage bags, imagine oversized grocery store bags colored pink).  When you check out with the cashier, you can buy however many you want in order to carry your food.  Two birds, one stone.  The alternative is to head to the cardboard box counter located behind the tills.  Here, there is an assortment of flattened boxes that you reconstruct using the provided tape and scissors.  The boxes come from the packaging of food delivered to the store.  A final alternative is to bring your own reusable bags (while it is my favorite method, I have never seen a Korean do this).

Compost.  As described above, every city has a designated bag for compost.  These bags are filled with your food waste and placed outside on the curb.  Sooner or later, someone comes by and takes it for their garden or to feed animals.

These are not the colors Jecheon uses but the white is
probably for garbage and the green for compost

Everything is recycled here.  All paper, plastic, glass, metal.  Blessing and I hardly have any actual ‘garbage’ because almost everything goes into the compost or recycling.

Anyone who has ever been to the US knows (or should know) that traveling cross-country by anything other than plane or automobile isn’t very pleasurable or plausible.  Intercity buses, trains and their stations tend to be rundown, to say the least.  In Korea, whether traveling by bus or train, you are sure to have a clean, spacious, happy experience.  Furthermore, finding a bus or train to even the tiniest city is not too difficult.  Interconnected.

Squatter toilets.  I know there are many people who will disagree with this point but I stand by my love of squat toilets in public restrooms.  While I was first introduced to these in Georgia, I have furthered my appreciation of them here.  With a squat toilet, you don’t have to touch anything, ANYTHING!   You squat, do your business, flush with your foot and leave.  If you happen to have on a backpack, there is no need to take it off.  Of course, people make the argument that you can squat over a western toilet; however, that squat is more uncomfortable, you almost always splash on the seat leaving the next person in a pissy situation and you have to touch the handle to flush.  Squatter toilets 4eva.

You flush with your foot!

Ondol is the name for the heating system used by most of the country.  It is a floor heating system that works by sending hot water through pipes underneath the floor.  It’s awesome for two reasons: warm feet and I only turn it on when I need it.

Korea is incredibly efficient in its land use; empty lots are a rarity as every space of earth is used for agriculture.  That land next to the onramp for the freeway?  Planted.  That 5'x5' bit of ground next to your apartment building?  Planted. 

School lunches.  Even though I always brought my lunch to school while growing up, I think I have the authority to say that Korean school lunches are superior to what passes as a school lunch in much of the US.  While it may seem like a negative to some, I like that Korean schools offer one meal.  There is no choosing between pizza, cheese fries, a hamburger or a sandwich; in Korea, you get what’s being served and it’s generally healthy.  Lunch usually includes rice, kimchi, soup, vegetables and meat.  I often have dessert at my school, which is almost always a piece of fruit.  What’s even more enlightening is that there are no vending machines full of chips, candy and soda for students to pig out.

While this is just a goole search image, it looks just like something I might receive at lunch.  From the  upper left corner going clockwise: cucumber and apple salad, boiled pork rib with soy sauce, kimchi, rice, tofu soup.

Thanks for teaching me, Korea!