Quiet day...

I have to say, life here in Busan is not what I thought. I did not really have any expectations exactly, but this is very strange.
I find myself staying in the Mejong Dong area. I want to explore more of Busan, but for right now I am satisfied to wander the market street near me, walk the mile and a half to school, and explore a bit around there. I am feeling more and more comfortable, but I wish to take it slowly.
Today, for instance, I slept in. It was so nice to relax and putz around my apartment a little. I have killed a few more cochroaches and am in the process of washing every article of clothing that was in this apartment before I arrived, but I am enjoying this little place. Oh, the washer is outside in a concrete entryway that I share with four other teachers. No dryer. The clothes are hanging around my apartment trying to dry in the humidity.
So I stayed in most of the morning, enjoying the sound of rain and the quiet rumble of thunder. I drank a few cups of tea and spent some time with the best companionship I have right now: my emails and blog comments. I love them. Keep them up.
Then I wandered around market street a bit. The stores are becoming less like a bunch of undefinable foreign shops; I'm beginning to recognize the vendors, the grocers, the fruit stands, the bakeries. Even the fish sellers are not quite so odd to me any more: they have fresh fish in large bowls of crushed ice, but the oddest thing are the large aquariums with dozens of fish, some small and some quite large, but almost always I can find one swimming or floating upside down. I do not think I will buy fresh fish here.
I bought some tuna tempura sushi from a street vendor--I think this is called a type of bulgogi. Very good.
Then, I headed back to my apartment to fuss with laundry some more and to fix my toilet. This bathroom is really pathetic. The toilet chain is broken, and I have spoken to Eddie--my boss at school who lives upstairs and owns the building--about this. The ceiling has mold, most of the tiles are chipped and broken, and the shower head/faucet leaks. The shower head is on a long hose that I hold because the holder for it will not stay on the wall.
This sort of entertains me right now. Later, it may irritate me.
I guess the only other fun thing that happened today was buying steamed wontons from a street vendor for dinner. Man, these things are great.
Buying things is sort of difficult. I sort of point and smile, say komapsunida alot (thank you), and hand people money, then they take what they need. I don't know how much they rip me off, and I guess I don't care because everything here is so stinking cheap.
One last thing. Umbrellas are an odd thing here. People carry them as much as they carry cell phones. People carry umbrellas when it is sunny to block the sun. People carry umbrellas when it is raining. People carry umbrellas when it is cloudy and might rain. People carry umbrellas when it is partly cloudy, and there is no chance of rain, and I cannot think of a reason for people to carry an umbrella.
This is odd. If I can come up with a theory or explanation, I will get back on this.