Sunday, December 5, 2010

Nothin' To Be Crabby About

So, what do you think THESE are?
If you guessed hermit crabs, you would be right!  We were quite amazed to see  how many different designs you can put on a shell!  And how popular these are - people (mostly with kids in tow) were standing in line to buy them.
If your hermit crab outgrows its shell, you can buy it a brightly colored new shell.  And you can get special hermit crab food and snacks.  I don't think we have ever seen such cheery pets as these.
 
Why is Layden getting ready to walk out the door with a stool over his shoulder?  Well, this stool was missing one of its wheels.  We had been looking for a replacement for a while, but have had no luck, so
Layden decided to take it here, to the neighborhood hardware store.
The proprietor, Mr. Ee (we call him Hardware Man) is one of the nicer people we have come across.  He sells all sorts of things like lightbulbs and extension cords and nails that are made for hammering in to concrete.  He trustingly loans us tools with no charge.  And he fixed our stool - charged us for the part and the labor which came to a grand total of 5,000 won, which is a little less than 5 bucks.  It is hard to be anything but cheerful in a place with such colorful pets and such helpful people.
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. Heather C.December 6, 2010 at 1:22 AM

    That is an awesome stool. We have had hermit crabs before--they were pretty cute. Unfortunately, we were incapable of keeping them happy and alive very long...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mama PeckDecember 7, 2010 at 5:01 PM

    Love reading your blog! It always brings back such fun memories. Our local hardware store was amazing. I swear it was no bigger than a walk in closet, was piled to the ceiling with just a skinny path thru the middle. You stood outside and told the proprietor what you needed, (somehow Bill was always able to communicate with him) he then sidled into his lair and shortly popped out with just the perfect doohicky. I was always totally fascinated. Much better than any magic show!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Sunday, July 26 2009

Sunday, July 26 2009
Remember this sign?
We have learned something really interesting about this "welcome sign" which we thought was a big billboard that was pasted onto an old overpass. It turns out that this is a defensive emplacement known as a rock drop. It is a big concrete box full of rubble and rocks. In the event of an invasion by North Korea the panels underneath the drop will be opened and release the rubble across the roadway, hampering movement into South Korea.

SOLAR ECLIPSE!

SOLAR ECLIPSE!
Might look like the moon - but it's the sun!
On Wednesday July 22 Asia experienced a solar eclipse and we got to see it! Miraculously the expected day of monsoon rain did not materialize and the sky was mostly clear for the duration. During the eclipse, which occured around 11:00 a.m., the sun was much too bright to view directly - we had to be satisfied with reflected images. But, as the sun began to re-appear, just enough clouds came in to allow us to look - and take a picture. It was quite something to behold and we feel lucky for the opportunity.

On A Clear Day...

On A Clear Day...
We had 2 days of church meetings in the Seoul area. Today the weather was remarkably clear and I was able to get a great view of the city skyline and the radio tower. Usually the sky is too hazy for a view like this. Pollution, rain, high humidity or dust storms are contributing factors.