Korea: Home of the "Marts"

Ah, Korea. Home of every imaginable convenience store with the word "mart" in it. There's Family Mart, a 7-11 style store one block from the hogwan/institute which sells soda, beer, snacks and my new favorite: a beef/bulgogi hamburger sandwich which takes 20 seconds to microwave. It's about 1.00USD and tastes good! It's available in a spicy version. I wash it down with my coffee milk drink, a semi-sweet milk drink w/ coffee in it! Need my caffeine fix, man! Then there's I-Mart. Another is called IGA Mart (see pictures). Oh, yes we have an E-Mart too. We do have the ubiquitous 7-11, an American corporation that is found near the Dunkin Donuts in Yeongtong-dong/Yeongtong-gu, where I work. I buy my long distance international phone cards there but they are available at the Marts. BTW, mart rhymes with smart. Should there be a S-Mart next? Hum...

An interesting observation I made, at least I think it is interesting, is that the Mart (pronounced "mart-a") employees are, well, happy. They say hello to you at the door, they help you with your selection and their disposition is good. I know that serving customers at any convenience store anywhere in the world can be a crappy job but the ones in Suwon are "content." When I compare them to the American 7/11 employees in Los Angeles stores, they are grumpy, unhappy and not warm or cordial towards me or others. The Korean language has a formal style that stresses politeness and respect in the words. But the Mart employees' body language also conveys a sense of warmness and politeness to me and others. The American 7/11 employees do not.

All these marts are located on every other corner in Suwon. Every other block seems to be a complete self-reliable city of car dealerships, bars, restaurants that serve fish and octopus, dry cleaners, language schools and a shoe shine stand. You're never to far to buy a new car, have a nice meal upstairs, play some pool and drink a few brews with your buddies and if it's before 7pm, get your teeth cleaned. Because your gums will be sore, you should go to the bar on the top floor to have a scotch and if you're feeling good, pick up on some honey before venturing one floor down to the "nori-ban" for a night of singing, drinking and possible hooking up (Yeah, baby!). Korea knows how to mix commercial real estate up. Perhaps America can take note when we plan for our next real estate "bubble" of low interest loans for all, shady brokers, greedy banks and a condoning SEC?