Construction Workers and Something You Might Call A Bathroom

Ok, so it's been a few days since the last post and I thought I'd just comment on some of the oddities around here. They're actually keeping us extremely busy with Korean classes and cultural/professional/teaching workshops, and I just turned in my first lesson plan for Camp Fulbright, so this is probably the first half-hour I've had to sit down and relax since my last post. Well, by relax I mean listen to construction outside my window. I can't really complain too much to be honest though. In fact, I'm flat out impressed at how productive Korean construction workers are compared to American ones [-------> unions]. On one hand I wake up to the sound of pounding hammers and fall asleep to the dull roar of heavy machinery, but on the other hand I can actually see progress--in the course of a day no less. I can't help but think about home: one highway worker pushing around a puddle of tar while 3 others drink coffee and comment on how fast it's drying. Around here, I see 30 workers in a constant state of motion building something that would take a generation back home. But, alas, I digress.

What I really wanted to tell you about was the Korean bathroom. The shower and the bathroom (toilet, sink, etc), are all one unit. I don't think this is backwards or anything, nor do I know if it's common around Korea, but it's actually pretty genius. The sink doubles as the shower with a spray handle coming out the side. You can stare at yourself in the mirror while you shower in front of the sink and wonder why we didn't think of this first...probably because Americans like big things. I mean, I like big things, but this is just practical. I can even save time multitasking on the John with the shower going, the possibilities are endless. I'll get on here later and tell you about our first trip to Cheongju over the weekend with a few pictures to post.