A Little Taste of Home...kinda

Korea is very quickly becoming a truly Global nation. Everyday they move one step closer to becoming a more diverse country and in many ways I love em for it! For all you earthy Granola types who say globalization is killing traditions, I agree with you, but let's not let our love for such things blind us to the many benefits that come with it. I.E. WHOLESALE WESTERN FOODS! That's right kids, Korea got them some COSTCOs! Now for those of you rolling your eyes and moaning, let me just say that I'm pretty sure a Korea without Costco would have a higher foreigner crime rate. I speak from experience here. Before Vanessa and I left for home in mid December, I scheduled one last monthly run to Costco for the teachers. They then had to wait 2 months until the next run. 2 MONTHS! We came back to a staff of cranky, short fused teachers on the verge of losing it!

So just for kicks, here's some of the glorious items that we frequently purchase from this little patch of Heaven every month. Enjoy! And don't skip the end cause there's a nice little piece of a crazy Korean tradition you won't want to miss!

Kyle's Costco Necessities

24,000 won to keep me from going postal is a very small price to pay!

So we don't get Muenster cheese EVERY trip...but just about.

Mmmmmmm, Sausage

What kind of Texans would we be if we weren't getting our Tortilla fix?

So that's just a few of the items we get from Costco. Others of note are Trail Mix Bars, Huge boxes of REAL cereal, not the frosted flakes that EVERY Korean cereal seems to be, some pretty good veggie deals, INCLUDING AVOCADOS on occasion, and some decent deals on Aussie Beef and Pork Tenderloins, and of course, COSTCO PIZZA! This is one of the very few places in Korea that you can find REAL American style Pizza, where the sauce isn't too sweet and it's loaded with REAL toppings like mushrooms and peperoni and it's cheap. Even by American standards back home!

Now here's the crazy Korean activity that we've noticed. The food court sells a small variety of American style foods, including hot dogs. Now like any good American food stand, they have a condiments bar but with a bit of a twist, see if you can spot it.

Here's a closer look.

It's an Onion Grinder...with a padlock!
But here's the crazy part; 90% of the Koreans that eat at the Costco Food Court do THIS

More often, it looks like THIS

Why you may ask? This is the answer I got from some of our Korean friends who admit that they themselves have done it; "Because it's there and it's free!" And believe it or not, many a Korean Grandma has been seen grinding onions into a to go cup to take it home! God bless those crazy Koreans! And God bless COSTCO!!!!