Sunday, September 2, 2012

Water in Korea

This is a rather odd topic.

When I moved into my apartment many months ago, my co-teacher asked me what I was going to do for water consumption. I was prepared for this.. however things didn't go as planned.

You see, in Korea there is a myth that the tap water is bad for you. It's simply a myth that dates back to the time when it actually wasn't as clean as it is now.  However, despite the government constantly publishing test results that the water is perfectly clean and fine, the myth persists and people don't want to drink the tap water without boiling it.

I knew this before coming to Korea, so I told myself I wouldn't fall into the trap of buying bottled water so when my co-teacher asked, I replied confidently that I would just use the tap water.

She flipped. She insisted that it was a bad idea and despite my telling her of my research it was so ingrained in her that I relented. 

I still use the water for everything else, cooking, cleaning, etc, but I buy big jugs of bottled water to drink. It's really not that expensive, but tap's probably cheaper.  I guess one of the reasons I gave in is that my apartment is really old compared to every one else's and the sink doesn't look too great.

So, that's the issue on tap water. There's one more water to talk about, rain. I made the mistake one time of saying i'd just walk home in the rain when I forgot my umbrella.  It was a light drizzle and I don't live far.  However, this also caused my co-teachers alarm. They explained to me that the rain here has acidity to it, and that if I got wet my hair would start to fall out. Call me a skeptic, but I really doubt my hair will start falling out from some rain. However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, I now check the weather regularly just in case.

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