Apparently, forests taste kind of minty. At least according to the 'Fresh Forest' flavored Korean toothpaste that I found in my apartment. Koreans have some very unusual ideas of 'fresh mouth' flavors. I have heard that you can find toothpaste flavors from green tea to salt, and a lot of others in between. I would prefer not to try most of these considering that I don't want my mouth to taste like salt or 'purple' (as someone described the grape flavor) all day. I also don't really understand how these flavors make your mouth feel clean afterwards, which to me, is the whole reason for choosing a toothpaste. I have also been told that Korean toothpaste does not have fluoride in it, which is a little worrisome. So I will be sticking with my good old American Crest and Colgate for my regular routine wherever I can find it.
The interesting thing about living in a country where you know most people don't speak your language is that you begin to loose your public brain to mouth filter. I have had some of the weirdest and not completely street appropriate conversations walking around the city because almost no one can understand us. While everyone seems to know at least a little English, the level of comprehension and fluency is generally very limited. They know enough to do their job, but not much past that. After a while, you just kind of take for granted that no one can understand your conversations anymore. When I was in a room with a bunch of Americans on the ferry back from Jeju Island, it was a very weird experience to be able to understand what people were saying around me again and to have to censor my speech. It wasn't too pleasant of an experience because I was reminded of how dumb some of the things that people say are. Then I started thinking about whether Koreans are saying anything of importance around me as I'm walking around clueless to their conversations.
It took a little under two days for the seasons to switch. It was summer last Saturday, and then BOOM, Monday morning it was Fall. I guess it is more than half way through September so it should be Fall, but there was very little warning. Weird Korean seasons.
Despite the overwhelming plethora of coffee shops in Korea, I have mostly had to stick to Starbucks and the Coffee Bean which has been fairly lame. For some reason, low fat and skim milk have not really made it to Korea, the land of the weight and looks obsessed women and men. I would imagine that their preoccupation with their appearance would make them desire this lower calorie alternative, yet some how this is not true. In any case, being as that I am slightly lactose intolerant, I really can't handle whole milk or I feel sick, and the only two places that I've found that have any kind of milk options are American exports. Considering I now drink coffee everyday during the week to keep my self perky for the wee ones I teach, I would be nice to have a little more alternative, possibly of things that I couldn't buy down the street in America.
Korean character of the day: ㅃ - b sound; this is a sound that we don't have in English, the best way that I can tell you that it is formed is by holding the b in a little longer and putting some pressure behind it like it is stuck and you are pushing it out
Korean word of the day: 빵 (bbang) - bread
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