Are you a lifer?

Big Nonghyup stores tend to have better produce. Not so much the smaller ones though.

i often get a dodgy stomach if i eat korean food in a restaurant. if i cook at home (or my wife cooks), i'm always fine.

also, i'll often buy veg in a mart only to find when i get home, it's mouldy or very unfresh (something you can't tell until you unwrap it from the mass of plastic/polystyrene - is that why they wrap it like this?)

anyone else experience either of these?

p.s. uh oh it's turning into the ranting thread

The quality of "fresh" produce sucks here. Way way overpriced. Often past the point it should be sold. And why do you have to buy everything in bulk loads? I don't want to buy a bag of apples for 12,000. Because odds are they are going to taste like raw potatoes and be soft and wooly. So I'd rather just a buy a couple and try them out, before committing to dropping that much money. So many vegetables are half rotten. 3,000 won for a spongy, yellowing head of broccoli.

While ago, I remember going to the local supermarket to buy a 1 large or 2 small tomatoes, I was in the middle of cooking something (forgot what, and just needed a single tomato). They only sold a massive bag of tomatoes and I wasn't interested. On the way to another market nearby, I walked past a small fruit and veg shop. It was a hot day and the ajumma who ran the shop put a large bucket of tomatoes outside on display, on a scorcher of a day.

Well, tomatoes are pretty resilient to heat, but even they have their limits. I ask for one tomato, she gives a stern no... she wants me to buy something like 3kg. I walk away. She could've had a a 천 in her pocket, but now she's got nothing and her tomatoes are probably going to sit there whole day and go off.
Not long after, the shop closed down.

For a nation whose people focused on nothing else but agrarian endeavors throughout the entirety of their history, it's quite surprising that the quality of the fruit and veg is so sh*t. 

Never really had a problem with Korean veggies but then they're all weird and didn't want to cook with them anyway. Fruit on the other hand is a complete gamble, no matter what store you go to you're gambling on half of it being moldy/rotten. Even meat is dodgy, half the time I'd buy chicken and I'd get home and it would be rotten despite looking fine in the container and having a good sell-by date.

8.  Have you looked at an air quality index map?  Many places in Korea are the same as the USA, and all mostly green and yellow like my home country.  Japan, China and India are WAY worse.

LOL you just showed that you can't be trusted about anything you say. Just sticking your head in the sand like a good Korean and refusing to admit that you're sucking down massive amounts of pollutants every day. And Japan is worse? LOL. Korea is so much worse than Japan or the West.

Man I cringe at the thought of becoming a lifer. Not my cup of tea for sure. In fact stacking the shelves back home at Wallmart would be better.

That being said I definitely get that we are all built differently and more power to those that will happily live here indefinitely.

Re: Korean sewer stink. It is a real thing.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181003000213

unpleasant smells from food waste

for me, this is the most unbearable smell in korea. in the summer, walking past a huge heap of food waste 

Re: Korean sewer stink. It is a real thing.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181003000213

That doesn't make any sense. It says it's because nearly everyone in Korea has a septic tank, even in big cities like Seoul. In the US a septic tank is a giant cistern built into the ground to hold your poos, and btw they don't smell. And you need to have a truck come by now and then to drain it. I have never seen any evidence of septic tanks in residential or commercial buildings in Korea. I have never seen shit trucks (honey wagons) going around collecting sewage but then again I don't know what a Korean honey wagon would look like.

The sewage stank smell always came from the drain gutters that run along streets. Koreans would put floor mats over grates in the sidewalk to block the smell, maybe they were grates over the septic tanks? And in my old neighborhood in Daegu, the city came by and replaced some drainpipes under the road and after that a lot of the sewer smell went away, which had previously been horrifically overpowering sometimes, and would reach up the stairwell into my apartment in the rear of the building, forcing me to put weather stripping around the door to block poo drafts from coming in. Before this I used to live in a very newly built neighborhood in Cheongju and there was zero sewer stank.

Anyone with more housing experience in Korea know about if it's true that millions of densely situated apartments and buildings all have secret septic tanks hidden under them? Maybe they have some kind of hybrid system where it sits for a bit before getting flushed into the city sewage system.

Can’t speak to apartments and larger buildings but every villa I’ve seen constructed has had a septic tank. Ours does as well. And yes, honey pot trucks come by and empty them. And they stink up the area pretty well in the process. Large white trucks with a green stripe in our area.

Man, that sucks. I hate septic tanks. Would it be that expensive to build a sewer system in the area?

Lived 5 years in Sparkling Korea and never saw honey wagons.

I don't think I've ever experienced this rotten food thing. Where are you all shopping? Get your vegetables from Gachi CSA or iCoop or go to a traditional market. Problem solved.

The giant, overpackaged quantities of fruit, on the other hand, are a legit annoyance. In fact, all the wasteful excessive packaging in Korea needs to stop. Even when I shop at the Coop, which is supposed to prioritize environmental concerns, I produce a small mountain of plastic waste just getting the food from the shopping bag to the fridge. Do we really need individually wrapped carrots?

If Korea could deal with the driving, spitting and garbage, I feel like I could put up with all the rest for a longer period of time. Having said that, there seem to be some very clean and efficiently managed districts in Seoul, something I can't say for anywhere else I've been in Korea.

Lived 5 years in Sparkling Korea and never saw honey wagons.

My first apartment building was visited by them regularly.
It was in a fairly wealthy part of Banpo-dong, so it was a bit of a shock.

Never really had a problem with Korean veggies but then they're all weird and didn't want to cook with them anyway. Fruit on the other hand is a complete gamble, no matter what store you go to you're gambling on half of it being moldy/rotten. Even meat is dodgy, half the time I'd buy chicken and I'd get home and it would be rotten despite looking fine in the container and having a good sell-by date.

8.  Have you looked at an air quality index map?  Many places in Korea are the same as the USA, and all mostly green and yellow like my home country.  Japan, China and India are WAY worse.

LOL you just showed that you can't be trusted about anything you say. Just sticking your head in the sand like a good Korean and refusing to admit that you're sucking down massive amounts of pollutants every day. And Japan is worse? LOL. Korea is so much worse than Japan or the West.

Did you actually go to the site and look?  Didn't think so.  I just taught a lesson on it.  Grass always seems greener on the other side.  Even my Korean students thought the air quality was bad, but were shocked to see that it's comparable to and at times better than Japan and way better than countries to the west like China and Indonesia.  But hey, you just proved you don't research anything and just vomit things you've heard or your own personal experiences.  You probably still stick your finger in your mouth and hold it up in the air to see if it's windy.

Re: Korean sewer stink. It is a real thing.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181003000213

That doesn't make any sense. It says it's because nearly everyone in Korea has a septic tank, even in big cities like Seoul. In the US a septic tank is a giant cistern built into the ground to hold your poos, and btw they don't smell. And you need to have a truck come by now and then to drain it. I have never seen any evidence of septic tanks in residential or commercial buildings in Korea. I have never seen shit trucks (honey wagons) going around collecting sewage but then again I don't know what a Korean honey wagon would look like.

The sewage stank smell always came from the drain gutters that run along streets. Koreans would put floor mats over grates in the sidewalk to block the smell, maybe they were grates over the septic tanks? And in my old neighborhood in Daegu, the city came by and replaced some drainpipes under the road and after that a lot of the sewer smell went away, which had previously been horrifically overpowering sometimes, and would reach up the stairwell into my apartment in the rear of the building, forcing me to put weather stripping around the door to block poo drafts from coming in. Before this I used to live in a very newly built neighborhood in Cheongju and there was zero sewer stank.

Anyone with more housing experience in Korea know about if it's true that millions of densely situated apartments and buildings all have secret septic tanks hidden under them? Maybe they have some kind of hybrid system where it sits for a bit before getting flushed into the city sewage system.

Well hell, you've never seen it so it MUST not exist!!  FYI:  Two weeks ago they came and emptied out the septic tank of the business across the street from ours with one of your elusive poo trucks.  Smelled horrible while they were doing it.  I should have taken a picture for you to ease your mind.  Another fact for you in case you were worried, gnomes don't steal your socks.

Did you actually go to the site and look?  Didn't think so.  I just taught a lesson on it.  Grass always seems greener on the other side.  Even my Korean students thought the air quality was bad, but were shocked to see that it's comparable to and at times better than Japan and way better than countries to the west like China and Indonesia.

South Korea is certainly nowhere near the top of the list for worst air pollution in the world: most foreign teachers notice it so much only because they come from some of the best countries in the world with respect to air quality.

   That said almost every source that I could find agrees that, on average, Japanese air is quite a bit less polluted than Korea's if for no other reason than it's further away from the atmospheric dumpster fire that is industrial China.

Source 1 27 vs 13 micrograms per cubic meter
Source 2  29 vs 13  micrograms per cubic meter
Source 3 53 vs 35 on the "pollution index"
Source 4 mostly orange (bad) vs mostly yellow/green (better) on WHO Global Ambient Air Pollution Map.

Sounds like a lot of you live in a big city. Noise, bad smells, shitty people, not fresh fruit, and other things.
I''m from a big city, it's pretty much a given in any big city to be like that. San Francisco literally has shit on the streets. New York's sewers reek so bad. And LA is not much better. I can't speak for countries and cities I've never been to before but I'm sure they don't smell very good too.
Maybe some of you should try living on the countryside to avoid some of the unpleasantness of the city. It's even less crowded. I lived on the countryside for 3 years, and I now live in a city again. I don't really have all your problems but it's stuff I can live with.
Korea is nice place to live for me. There is negative qualities in every place, but I'm not angry that Korea is not America. I just appreciate where I am and the opportunities I have to have a good life. If you guys aren't having a good life, then maybe you should try to change up your area or try out another country.
I'm a lifer because I'm enjoying my life. 

Re: Korean sewer stink. It is a real thing.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181003000213

That doesn't make any sense. It says it's because nearly everyone in Korea has a septic tank, even in big cities like Seoul. In the US a septic tank is a giant cistern built into the ground to hold your poos, and btw they don't smell. And you need to have a truck come by now and then to drain it. I have never seen any evidence of septic tanks in residential or commercial buildings in Korea. I have never seen shit trucks (honey wagons) going around collecting sewage but then again I don't know what a Korean honey wagon would look like.

The sewage stank smell always came from the drain gutters that run along streets. Koreans would put floor mats over grates in the sidewalk to block the smell, maybe they were grates over the septic tanks? And in my old neighborhood in Daegu, the city came by and replaced some drainpipes under the road and after that a lot of the sewer smell went away, which had previously been horrifically overpowering sometimes, and would reach up the stairwell into my apartment in the rear of the building, forcing me to put weather stripping around the door to block poo drafts from coming in. Before this I used to live in a very newly built neighborhood in Cheongju and there was zero sewer stank.

Anyone with more housing experience in Korea know about if it's true that millions of densely situated apartments and buildings all have secret septic tanks hidden under them? Maybe they have some kind of hybrid system where it sits for a bit before getting flushed into the city sewage system.

Well hell, you've never seen it so it MUST not exist!!  FYI:  Two weeks ago they came and emptied out the septic tank of the business across the street from ours with one of your elusive poo trucks.  Smelled horrible while they were doing it.  I should have taken a picture for you to ease your mind.  Another fact for you in case you were worried, gnomes don't steal your socks.

Now, this is weird.  I don't have a dog in this hunt, and it is possible that buildings/businesses in parts of Seoul have septic tanks.  But, I feel reasonably confident that that is a rarity, and surely would not be allowed, or even possible, in most districts of Seoul.  There is a massive sewage system, and it is constantly being upgraded--wherever I've lived, its always being upgraded!?!

In addition, there are subway lines, more and more underground power lines, and three stories of underground parking.  Where the heck they gonna put a septic tank?

I visited Jeju for the first time recently and I was shocked at how much I loved it.  I went for my summer vacation and everyone told me it would be crowded and everything is too expensive but it wasn't either of those things.

I was amazed at how you can leisurely drive around and stop at any nice beach you see.  Then maybe drive to a beautiful coffee shop/restaurant/gallery/museum that has its own huge garden and acres of space.  Waking up in the morning to the sound of....nothing.  Except the birds and bugs.  It was heaven! 

It has seriously made me consider swapping city life for the countryside.

Now, this is weird.  I don't have a dog in this hunt, and it is possible that buildings/businesses in parts of Seoul have septic tanks.  But, I feel reasonably confident that that is a rarity, and surely would not be allowed, or even possible, in most districts of Seoul.  There is a massive sewage system, and it is constantly being upgraded--wherever I've lived, its always being upgraded!?!

In addition, there are subway lines, more and more underground power lines, and three stories of underground parking.  Where the heck they gonna put a septic tank?

Yeah, I've only ever lived in Incheon, Seoul and urban Gyeonggi for the last six years, and I've never heard of any septic tank anywhere.

That said, this is definitely not something I think about ever. Just seems weird that some people think they're really common.

One of my students back in ‘93 still had an outhouse with an open pit beneath it in their yard. This was in Nowon Gu. They tore down their house in ‘96 and built a more modern house with interior bathrooms.

I live in an area that had a lot of single unit houses until about ten years ago. Still a lot of private homes but I’d say about 80% have been torn down and replaced wth 4-5 story multiple unit villas over the last 10 years. So I’ve seen a lot of construction of these types of buildings. In this particular area 100% of them have a septic tank. There is a building going up soon close to here. I’ll try to get some pics and post em. Some with the mysterious honey truck.

Lifer, here by the way.

And while I don’t appreciate some of the more odiferous days in Seoul, there are definitely worse places to be, many of them in the US. Anywhere near a chicken or pig farm can be challenging on days when wind direction is disadvantaged. But the absolute worst was a paper mill in Georgia that was torture to even drive by, that is a terrible stench.