When Josh and I went to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Lee last Friday, Mr. Lee told me I looked like I lost some weight. I was surprised by this since Josh and I had only joined the gym a few days ago.
Later on I thought about it and really I should be surprised if I didn’t lose weight since my eating habits and means of transportation has changed dramatically since I moved from the U.S.
I walk a lot more than I did when we lived in Texas. Even though the weather was warmer in Texas we both had cars so it was more convenient to drive when running errands. Here I have to walk to the grocery store nearly every day. It’s not very far, but it all adds up.
There is also a park right across the road from us which is extremely convenient, and we usually walk to the subway station when traveling into Seoul or to the Emart. Sometimes we end up standing for most of the ride. (Inconvenient, but it burns up calories 
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Today the skies are blue and the sun is shining. It is quite the contrast to the “Asian Dust” storm we experienced yesterday. Josh called me in the morning to warn me about yellow sand, (one of his co-workers told him about it). He said if I go outside I should wear a mask.
I had no idea what it was so I looked it up and found a chart on the Korea Meteorological Administration. The chart levels were still low when I checked, (they must not have been updated yet).
However later in the afternoon it looked really yellow outside. It was very bizarre.
So what is yellow sand? Apparently it is fine yellow sand from the Gobi desert in Mongolia that blows over to South Korean and Japan in the Spring. Deforestation and industrialization in China has made the “yellow dust storms” worse, with more negative side effects (I have heard that it is loaded with toxins from pollution and can cause respiratory problems.) more…
Last weekend we found another underground mall, it is in Bupyeong. This mall is much closer than the COEX in Seoul and the subway ride is more pleasant, (we can usually get a seat). We spent a few hours shopping there and found some really good deals.
The mall itself was very crowded. I hope this is not the norm and can be attributed to the holiday weekend. Another problem I encountered was the lack of dressing rooms. I did try on a skirt in what seemed to be a cleaning closet which was … different. I purchased a few items not really knowing if they would fit, and I got lucky – they did. It was a relief to discover I am the same size in women’s clothing in South Korea as I am in the U.S.A.
Shoe sizes are a different story. I am a 7.5 in U.S. sizes which is a 250 Korean. A few weeks ago Josh and I were looking at some rollerblades and had our feet measured at the store. more…
