My brother left a comment on my first post, and I decided to send a quick response. For those of you who know me, I can either be really long winded or very tight lipped. Well, in this case, my quick reply morphed into something lengthy enough to post.
Here's his comment:
"Are you sure you got on the right plane? It sounds like you landed in Russia. My whole perception of Korea is blown now. I only saw the "clean and orderly" Korea."
Clean and orderly Korea? Really? Well, I can see orderly in the business sense. Many Koreans take their jobs very seriously, so work is a strict and orderly routine. In fact, I learned from the news the other day that Koreans work more hours per week than any other nation. A typical Korean will easily work 60 hours per week. I also learned that Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. I wonder if these two statistics are related....
As far as cleanliness is concerned, Cheonan is pretty clean. I haven't really noticed any air pollution aside from one encounter with the Yellow Dust. I was hiking up in mountains where the forest is dense, verdant, and lush. The atmosphere changed; the temperature dropped and the wind grew very gusty. I then noticed the Yellow Dust for the first time. It had collected on all the leaves of the trees and when the boughs bent and the branches swayed, the dust poured out towards the ground, but got caught in the breeze and swirled about. The dust was so thick that everything looked as if shrouded by a yellowy green fog. I got caught in the haze. Visibility dropped tremendously, the umbrage being cast underneath the canopy was darkened by this fine yellow powder that had taken to the air. I covered my mouth and nose with a turquoise handkerchief that, capriciously and conveniently, I had with me. I continued hiking. Shortly afterwards, the wind was calmed and the dust settled. I haven't noticed any air pollution since aside from cigarette smoke. It seems like 90% of Korean men are chain smokers. I've seen at least five smoking men walk by window as I've typed this.
Another interesting thing about cleanliness and Korea is that EVERYTHING is recycled. There are separate bins for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and glass materials (like America, only more people here seem to participate). There are separate garbage bins for food, too. So, when I'm done eating my kimchi and rice for lunch at school, I get in line to place my chopsticks in the chopstick bin, my spoon in the spoon bin, my bowl in the bowl bin, and my leftover food in the, well, leftover food bin. Outside of every restaurant (which are basically ubiquitous), are yellow garbage bins. These yellow bins are designated for food. Although Koreans seem to strongly adhere to recycling rules, there seems to be no shortage of litter lining the streets. Wrappers are scattered about everywhere, mostly collecting in sidewalk gutters.
Everything considered, I don't think Korea is any more polluted than the states. I've seen both nasty and nice parts in America. Crystal Lake was clean whereas Milwaukee seemed in need of quarantine.
5 comments:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dust
It is a good thing that you were prepared with a bandana for the hwangsa (yellow dust)! You should probably keep something on hand at all times in case you encounter it again.
Definitely. This dust is most common during the Spring time. I think it should be clearing up soon.
Go Korea! I am so pleased that some nations recycle. All I know is that in Tx people look at you like you’re crazy if you ask where the recycling bin is.
Because I recycle everything, my grandparents associate me with communists, gays, and people who want to remove the right to bear arms! (they are a bit antiquated and prejudiced in there ways, as I am sure we will be when we get older).
Yes, there are bins laid out everywhere, each one a destination for plastics, cans, etc. In one bin for plastics, I noted the typical water bottles, yet was surprised to see someone had recycled their clothes iron! It was made almost entirely of plastic, so why not recycle it?
Also, every scrap of leftover food is recycled here. There are special red garbage bags into which only food wastes can be placed. I finally found out that all the wasted foods go to livestock animals, as well as being used for fertilizer. Smart thinking.
Although recycling is prevalent here, along many curbs litter is scattered about. If I go downtown, there are advertisements plastered along every post and strewn about all over the ground.
So I can't really figure out the Korean position on recycling. I guess some are fanatic, and others are apathetic.
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