My new broom...

So I took my hoover back to Homeplus today. It was easier than I thought it would be, so easy in fact I never uttered a word. I walked in and put the hoover on the counter, straight away the lady serving looked like she was going to have a panic attack. She called a young guy over who looked just as worried and I handed them my receipt. She was already counting the money to hand back to me even before I could look up ‘broken’ in my English-Korean dictionary. I got the impression they just wanted rid of me ASAP. I didn’t mind as it made my life easier.

After I popped downstairs to get myself a brush, as I swore never to trust cheap hoovers again. I upgraded to the premium range (think ‘Extra special’ for you ASDA shoppers) for the cost of 17,000 won (£8). I know you’re thinking I’ve got crazy with my money and am living the high life, but don’t worry people. The reason for my spending spree was merely because the other brooms had hard bristles and we all know hard bristles are only good for brushing outside. Anyways, there I sat on the train home with my new broom (Oh yeah! Living it up in Seoul!) and some adjummas (older women) kept talking and looking my way. Of course I thought they were just saying in Korean ‘Wow look at that cool English girl with her cool new broom!’ Well guys I will shock you and tell you that I was half right.

I got off the train and so did one of these adjummas. On my way down the steps one of these ladies started taking to me, in Korean of course. I replied with a simple ‘young-kuk’ (English person) in a hope of translating to her – ‘I don’t speak Korean so I can’t understand a word you’re saying to me’. She replied with ‘ahhh, English’. I thought I got my message across when she started talking again. This is when I noticed she was checking out my awesome new broom. She said ‘Homeplus??’. ‘Ahhh’ I thought, ‘she wants to know where I got my awesome broom’ so I replied with a simple ‘ne’ (yes). She continued to touch and check out my broom for a few more seconds. Seriously though, the broom is nothing special apart from being made of wood instead of plastic.

On another side note, I finally went for my ARC card interview. The last time we went the immigration office stopped issuing tickets so my co-teachers had to book an interview. My school also finally asked for my bank details then after told me I might not be able to get paid until I get my ARC which is 2 bloody weeks away. Seriously talk about telling me last minute!! Pay day is TOMORROW! I shouldn’t be happy but I have enough food to keep me for two weeks and I saved 200,000 won (£100) in case of emergency (aren’t you proud mum!). I did want to start exploring South Korea but that will have to wait… L It’s my travel card which spends most of my money. I hope my principal allows me to get paid without my ARC as only he can give permission.

Everyday Korean Life fact thingy – How bloody much is mince in supermarkets!?!?! It’s about £9 for a normal sized portion of mincemeat. I was hissing and spitting at the meat counter. I finally found a small portion in the ‘eat that day’ section for £1.80. I also found some steaks for £3 and my thinking is beef can’t really make you ill so I’ll freeze it. If you don’t hear off me for a while then you know why……(I probably fainted over the chicken breast prices).