Electronics Conundrum

I'm not a TV watcher, per se, and I've never been overly excited to get the hottest or newest cell phone but I was thinking that spending a year in Korea, I might be able to stumble across some ridiculous deals on electronics, since so many globally prominent companies are making their great products right here - LG & Samsung for starters. Unfortunately, any hope of discovering a crazy good deal on, say a ginormous, flat panel, LCD display TV just isn't going to happen. Smart phones, like the Samsung Galaxy IIS, are also pretty much out of the question. Now, don't get me wrong, I could care less as I tend not to be much of a model capitalist in my consumption manners but thought I'd at least find very reasonable prices.

On the contrary! Most all the electronics I've seen over here are far more expensive than the same models being hawked in the states. It got me thinking, especially since Gumi has a very big industrial area & many of the LG displays & Samsung phones are made just a few kilometers from my apartment. Hell, I've even met a bunch of Sri Lankans who work on the LG display's every single day.

How in the world can high quality electronics made just down the street be so much more expensive than the same ones shipped from that facility down the street, half way across the world?

Even after first getting over here & I had to find a replacement microwave for the one that stopped working & I had trouble finding anything under $100....finally end up getting one for $84 or $89 bucks that was on sale but I was surprised I couldn't find a 'cheap' one for $30 or $40. I looked around for a few weeks for hair clippers, too (seeing how I've rarely paid for a haircut in the past 15 or 20 years). I finally found one, only one & it was more of a beefy beard trimmer, which has something to do w/the buzz cuts I gave myself a couple times this past year.

Regardless, I was contemplating this more when I thought I might have to buy a new laptop or a netbook recently. So, as I did my pricing at various stores here, I found most were nearly twice what I'd pay back home. Now, maybe it has something to do w/cutting edge technology or superior quality (i.e. - not junk that'll fall apart after a few months or a year). Then I went to trim up my hair around the ears & that theory got thrown out the window as the 'clippers' failed to operate when not plugged in & even then, they weren't running at full capacity....so, just maybe, the quality of the product isn't any better, either. I can not imagine how the technology could surpass what Apple has been putting out there, so I'm left w/one simple question: Who knows?

Either way, guess I'm happy I haven't found any smoking hot deals, otherwise I'd have a hell of a time getting things shipped back to FL. Besides, I've done a pretty good job as a dependable, 'non-consumer' for quite a few years, why give all that up now? Ahh, disposable society, how I've not missed you....

Hanging W/The Dear Leader

The Dear Leader, just hanging out!

So there I was, sitting on Haeundae Beach in Busan, minding my own business when (although not entirely unexpected) this quaint older gentleman dolled up in his Sunday best creeps up on me & asks if he could take a seat beside me.

At the current moment I had been enjoying the local surf population punishing some gnarly three foot breakers about 150 feet out from the shore, which basically meant I was in a calm & peaceful state; at one w/the crashing waves & overcrowded jostling for a turn on the breaks.

As the elderly man began to speak, I noticed his English was pretty good, especially considering most Koreans beyond their mid thirties rarely spoke much English at all. The conversation was rather vanilla, initially, asking where I was from, what I was doing in Korea, etc....the typical generalities of a curious Korean wanted to know about the waegooks (foreigners).

He explained to me that he'd grown up in North Korea for lived there into his early teenage years before escaping to China & then making his way south of the DMZ into the 'free Korea,' as he put it. He mentioned not having any contact w/the few family members still living in the north but could only speculate that they likely had died or were suffering immensely under the current regime. Finally, he introduced himself by name & also offered me his business card. I thought I heard his name correctly but studied the card just to make sure. I'm fairly certain I had an inquisitive look plastered across my face, which he quickly took notice of & pointed out that he wasn't THAT Kim Jong Il - spelled differently, J-O-N-G instead of Y-O-U-N-G.

He's always lurking around somewhere!

You never know, he's a crafty one & he could be lurking anywhere - it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that it MIGHT be the real deal!


We went on to discuss the future of a unified Korea, his thoughts on how it might happen & his hope that, since the Germans were able to make it work, there just might be a shred of hope for his beloved Korea, too.

It was certainly interesting getting to speak to an escapee who had seen life on both sides of the DMZ, as well as learning more about his life after the escape. Turns out nearly 10,000 North Koreans escape to China every year but only about 2,000 of them actually realize their dreams of freedom. Most of them get shipped back to Pyongyang by the Chinese government, where they are usually jailed as traitors of the state but it's common that some are executed as well. I'm not sure how they decide who lives and dies but I'd assume 'repeat offenders' or seriously outspoken troublemakers probably don't have much chance of living upon their forced return.

He has devoted his life to Christ & spends most of his time 'witnessing' to most anyone who will offer him the courtesy of listening. I've realized most of these Christians have a fairly jaded reality of the world & their perspective is consistent w/a one track mind. They also don't seem open to other options or possibilities aside from that of their own faith.

However, he & I had a nice conversation regarding religion in general; how it seems to have such an adverse effect on people around the world & why so many zealouts seem staunchly determined to show that theirs is far superior to all others. To me, it seems most religions embrace essentially the same mantra but a select few seem to ruin it for everyone else....

Keep an eye out for the fanatics....

Without getting deep into religious dogma, I found it refreshing to share some quality conversation regarding religion, in general w/out having to refute the usual speculation & nonsense (you'd be surprised how many Christians over here want to 'witness' to people but have very little functional knowledge of religion beyond what they've been continually spoon-fed w/out much actual thought or questioning on their own).

Either way, I am happy to report that the Kim Young Il I met, is a sensible, down to earth, God fearing, guy who seems to think the ways of the Western world aren't all that bad & invited me to look him up whenever I made it back to Busan. Whether I needed a meal or a place to lay my head at night, I was always welcome.

So, when it boils right down to it, most people in this world are good, caring, compassionate & relatively generous people in some capacity or another. Although, I can imagine it isn't much fun sharing a name w/one of the most despised men in the whole world. I just wish I'd had the foresight snap a couple pictures of me & the dear leader. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Have a great weekend, people!