Korea wraps like a pro -- too much so...

Korea wraps everything. Cookies will usually be single-wrapped.

For a nation that prides itself on its waste management, composting and recycling system (let's talk about that in a bit), Korea is nevertheless incredibly hypocritical when it comes to food wrapping.

Where I live, the closest grocery store is GS25 Supermarket. There used to be a Homeplus Express but that  sadly closed down last month. I don't know about other grocery stores but in mine, everything is pretty much giftwrapped to look pretty (to make you happy -- every store or product will spell out how "happy" they want you to be... "happy contacts" woohoo) so you will buy it in a fit of happiness. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on the happy thing. I think it's quirky. It's quintessentially Konglish. I smile a bit whenever I read "happy" on a store front or a product.

They want us to be happy okay. So... happy, I am.

Anyway, back to the giftwrapping of happiness. It's pretty hypocritical, as I was saying, because here they are telling us to separate our recyclables to fit in the proper bins (plastics, aluminum, carton, paper, etc.) because Korea is "green" but then you have this waste of plastic or aluminum wrapping inside a freaking box. Look, I'm buying chocolate. In a box. With a tab. I don't need my chocolates to be individually wrapped, thanks.

And I certainly don't need my pantiliners to be individually wrapped. Back home they're loose in the box and I just peel away the paper in the back. Voila. But no. Now I have to unwrap my pantiliners like they're a freaking heavy-flow pad.

And... there is so much more. Sigh. I mean, no, again, I do not hate Korea. You might say I'm still in the honeymoon phase. I kinda don't want to leave it. It's a fresh start, it's exciting and it's fun and I do not hate Korea. But sometimes its idiosyncrasies leave me completely perplexed.

Waste of wrapping material.

Two months ago I saw the doctor for enteritis. These are leftovers of the stuff he prescribed. The syrup came in pouches, and the pills came in little individual baggies for each intake. The pills, by the way, felt like acid in my stomach. I could write a whole post on fucked up Korean medicine but that will be another story for another day. Long story short: they may prescribe heavy antidepressants for a hip injury.