Oddities of Korea

In the past few months I have noticed random oddities about South Korea.  Some of them just make you look twice while others can get really frustrating.

The first thing I noticed in Korea is you have to separate your garbage.  It is a hassle and I am not a fan of doing it.  However it saves money and recycling is a good thing. You have to separate plastic wrapping, plastic bottles, cardboard/paper, glass, metals, biodegradable things, and then toiletries.  There is even a camera watching the trash disposal area.  (Big Brother always keeps an eye on you)  The camera doesn't actually work.  It is just a scare tactic.  Now here is the hypocritical part.  If you walk around the streets you will see paper fliers everywhere.  These coat the ground, especially during the weekend.  They are of food deals, party girls, store coupons, everything and anything.  People who work for the companies will lackadaisically stroll the streets and toss papers down.  They get paid to litter. (I want to mess with them sometime soon.  I am going to walk behind them and pickup the papers.  In Korean I will politely say "Excuse me sir, I am sorry but you dropped all of these" I am not sure how they will react but could be funny).  It just strikes me as odd that a country so gung ho on recycling has no problem wasting paper like that.
The government also has to spend a ton of money cleaning the streets up.  By 7am There are older people walking around cleaning.  Teams of them hustling around picking up after the younger generation.   (Side note: I have noticed they just throw the papers in with the other trash.  No separating and sorting, darn them ;) 

My biggest pet peeve has to do with the schools here.  It is now winter time and the schools are absolutely freezing.  For some godforsaken reason they leave the doors and windows open all day.  Everyone walks around with coats, scarfs, gloves and blankets.  It is ridiculous.  The doors are not even sealed properly when shut.  There are ventilation holes in the damn things the size of golf balls.  No one can give me a good explanation of why.  I shut the door and the janitor yelled at me last week.  I laughed at him and kept walking.  Now I purposefully shut the doors and windows every time I walk by one. 
These are just two of the oddities of Korean culture.
I am going to be posting a lot more as my world over here is changing a little.  I am definitely moving, I am getting a new job, and my Korean skills are getting better. 
I miss you all,
Deano