"Harry" Arrives In Jeonju!

 

TOP (No relation to the school) ELT Bookstore was my first stop this morning, in the pouring rain. I was hoping to get a picture of the first "Harry Potter" buyer in Jeonju, but that buyer turned out to be me. Shown in this picture, Mr. Kim, the store owner, posed for me with his small stack of books received, but not sold until today. This is the store that I might have mentioned, that has mostly children's books, but several shelves of adult books as well. I had printed a list of other children's book series, off of www.NPR.com and left it for Mr. Kim. The writer seemed to think that several of the series listed might have inspired J.K. Rowling in her writing of the Harry Potter books. Mr. Kim has several books listed but only full sets of the Lemony Snicket books. The "owning a book store" dream is never going to leave me!

At Lotte Department Store, later, I saw something that looked familiar! An American!! She (Donna from Virginia) saw me at the same time and we immediately exchanged information. As we were sitting on a bench near one of the restaurants, we were overwhelmed by two sets of parents dragging their kids to say hello to us. One little boy would not open his eyes. I felt so sorry for him...he was a little guy...maybe 4. The parents had obviously been teaching their kids to say "hello" or "hi" and wanted the real deal (us) to say hello to them. That was easy for Donna and I, but awful for the kids. It really makes me happy to have children talk to me. Down by the bookstore, a little girl (she said she was 13) just boldly asked "How are you?" before the usual "hello". I was thrilled! We talked for a few minutes under our umbrellas and then she was off! Makes me fall in love with this place all over again.

Donna has been here for 10 months, but has had three teaching jobs during that time. Yikes!! We didn't go into specifics, but I am sure we will. I am eager to know if she is going to stay or go home. She said that she turned 50 last week and has been having a hard time of it since she arrived. She maybe lives 15 minutes by taxi from me. I felt for her, but she is so lucky! Has a nine to five teaching job that I would really like! Grass is always greener, huh?

Arrived at Lotte Department Store as their anthem was playing again (see below) and this time found out that customers are supposed to stand inside the door but outside the actual store until the music is over. As I was entering with my soaked umbrella, a lady pointed me back outside. There, I beheld a metal stand kind of thing that held two sizes of plastic bags to be used for your wet umbrellas before you enter the store! Who knew? Very smart indeed! Later I saw those stands at several other places, as they seem to be standard practice. In smaller shops, there is something like a tall waste basket where you put your umbrella as you shop around.

Everyone is so kind and patient here. At the meat counter at E-Mart, a gentleman came up to ask if he could help. He is an Engineer at Kia Motors. English was halting, but he was a big help! Spent more time going through the food aisles today. Found peanut butter and jelly, what might be the equivalent of Airborne, the bread department, and the donut department. The donuts, I left alone. Didn't look appealing in the least. I also saw something that I have been eating every day as a side dish (see below), but had no idea what it was. Turns out it is a giant turnip that is bright yellow,served cold, has a sweet and sour taste and is cut in circles. At E-Mart, they were also cut in strips or cubes. I am so excited to know exactly what that great tasting yellow thing is, after all this time!

Hope you weekend has been great! Keep those cards and letters coming!!