Watch It Wiggle, See It Jiggle...

We aint talkin' Jell-O here. Nope, we are talking the living appetizer at this evening's all seafood dinner in honor of my father-in-law's sixtieth birthday (today was apparently only day one of three days of events). But back to that appetizer, yes, it was those live little octopus legs, squirming and writhing together in a mass of disembodied tentacles on a plate of lettuce. And yes, I did try one, but in reality, there is no taste to them aside from the sauce they are dipped in (my personal preference being the standard vinegar-hot pepper paste combination). I was contemplating the interesting phenomenon that they stick to he chopsticks by themselves (they are still active, suction cups and all) and thought it may be a good food for folks first trying chopsticks, as the food will tenaciously grip the chopsticks, therefore avoiding any embarrassing slips or dropped food. But then I had second thoughts -- seeing ones disembodied dinner-to-be slowly inching its way up the utensils may not be the best first meal for new users of chopsticks -- unless they are rather adventuresome.

On another, less Klingon-esque note, foreigners remain enough of a novelty here in Kwangju that the occasional clump of middle school girls get up the nerve to sing "hello" in unison before breaking into blushing giggles, and the smaller kids still tug at their parent's shirt tails, point and shout "Miguk Saram." But hey, it could be worse, at least I am not the target of abuse or anything. And I wonder what Korean or Asian travels to America or Europe and becomes the center of attention in some form other than tossing racial epithets and mockingly calling out for more "Flied Lice..."

But enough deep social commentary. My son had a little of his own. As we were driving back from dinner, we passed through the more famous (infamous?) of the city's red light districts, with all the girls dressed up in matching outfits in the windows waiting for customers. My son huffed in semi-exasperation an complained about too many "fancy girls," wondering aloud what those fancy girls would be doing. Maybe dancing, he suggested...

So the Lotteria/McDonald's battle for the fast food championship continues here, with price cuts, new services (McDonald's has walk-through windows and even a few drive throughs near the bigger apartment blocks), and new foods -- like Lotteria's Shrimp Burger, which complements the existing Bulgogi burgers and Kimchi Burgers. It is all about appealing to the local tastes. McDonald's uses its American "I'm Loving it" slogan, translated into phonetic Korean, while Lotteria has signs saying "I Love Lotteria" and "Lotteria: Happy Together." Just remember, though, as it says on the side of the drink cups at Lotteria -- "We Provide High Quality, Good Service and Amenity." Good luck finding amenity at McDonald's. If I may be somewhat biased, I hope Lotteria wins, because McDonald's will never have a shrimp burger half as good looking, it is unlikely to serve Potato Balls, and Lotteria is home-grown, not a foreign import.

Now, there IS one foreign import I would like to see win out over here, and that is the shower. I don't really mind having to squat in the middle of the bathroom with a hose to wash my hair, but really there is nothing quite as luxurious as standing for fifteen minutes under a scalding hot shower to relax the muscles and get one ready to face the day. While most new apartments and houses have "real" showers, plenty of the old ones are still lacking such amenities. If only they would emulate Lotteria...