The Button Tin

This is my mother's mother- one of my favorite people ever. Grandmothers have a special connection with their grandchildren. I have learned that from both sides of the equation. We didn't often live near her, but we did get to visit often. How I loved trips to Grandma's house. My grandmother loved to sew. I have fond memories of looking at the stacks of bright fabric and the paper patterns folded in their envelopes. I always loved getting a new dress or pajamas made by Grandma. I also remember her button tin. It was an old Christmas cookie tin filled with mismatched buttons. Buttons left over from  projects and some she rescued from worn out clothing. Looking  at the different colors, shapes and sizes of buttons was fun. She saved them just in case she could use them in the future. She was very practical and very frugal.

I am going to share my own "button tin" with you today. A collection of unrelated pictures and information for you to enjoy. No philosophizing this time! I hope you have fun or at least learn a thing or two! The information I will share comes from Korean friends here in Daegu. It may or may not apply to South Korea in general.

Our door was "heart attacked" with this
beautiful paper wreath. A welcome
gift from two Sister missionaries.

--Writing someone's name in red is inappropriate. It means they are dead. I will keep that in mind, and hopefully I don't read my own name in red in the near future.

--Koreans have a different way of determining some one's age. At birth you are one. You turn two on the following lunar new year. So it is possible for an infant to actually be considered two years old. I am not fond of this system. When you ask a Korean his age, he will usually tell you both his Korean age and his American age.


A little one-on-one b-ball with "Troy"
at our church's outdoor court. He was sure he could beat an old man.
Some how Troy was off his game.



 


 --Most people here live in apartments. The traditional system for renting is very different than anything I have heard of before. The owner sets a fee, which is a percentage of the value of the home. It could be $30,000 or much more. The tenant pays the fee upfront. They usually have to get a loan from the bank. They typically do not make monthly payments to the landlord. They do not rent it for any specific amount of time. When they are ready to leave the apartment, the owner returns the money in full, minus any costs for damages. The benefit  for the owner is that they can use the money for investments or business until the renter moves out. This tradition is beginning to change. Some apartments now set a lower move-in fee and then also charge a small monthly rent.


This is a bench outside a
cultural center a couple
miles from our apartment.
I wonder if anyone ever sits on it!

Whenever we walk around down town we see lots of school kids in their uniforms. It seems like they come and go all hours of the day. So we asked our friend Sup about the school system. Mandatory school attendance does not begin until about six or seven years of age. Kindergarten is optional and people used to have to pay for their kids to go. But Korea's population is below replacement rate, so the government now offers free kindergarten as one of several incentives to encourage Koreans to have more children. Elementary school has grades one through five. Middle school includes grades one through three, and so does high school. A senior is considered to be in grade three of high school  The kids go earlier and stay later as they advance to higher grades. They go to different high schools based on their academic accomplishments and their future careers. High schools that focus on academics have very long days. They start at about 7:00 am and end about 10:00 pm. After school ends for the day, the kids go home and do a couple more hours of homework. To quote Sup, high school is when the "nightmare begins".
I love this stack of tea cups.
It's outside some kind of an office
building on a very busy street. I don't know
if it has any relevance to the business. I just like it!
**Note: Months later I found out it's an apartment building. Our friends the Miller family lived there.

That's it for this post. Now you know a few things that are very much part of the Korea adventure.