A snack

On my way home from school today I had to stop and buy more stickers for my elementary students. They have a sticker board on which to place stickers which are like points. When the board is full, they get a prize.   So complete an assignment and you get a sticker. I ran out of stickers today, so it was a near crisis. Not to worry - Daiso was only so many blocks out of my way home.

On the way back I stopped at my C'n'U convenience store for a coffee and some kind of snack. I have a farewell dinner to attend tonight (for someone i've not met yet) so I have to tide myself over until 8:30. So hungry! Anyway. It occurred to me I have not acquainted you all with the Korean coffee situation.

I don't know about most households, but it seems not everyone owns a coffee maker. It seems whole roasted coffee beans are not sold in most grocery stores. Instead they have instant. Instant like glass jar spoon it in your cup kind, and instant like in a tube that you rip open and pour into your cup kind. Both kinds require boiling hot water.
It's just not the same as a good drip brew coffee.

They do have copious amounts of coffee shops and cafes. They're trendy. However, a standard small Americano will run you about 3,500 won on average. (1000won is a little less than a dollar (90 cents to be exact)) I don't know about you, but $3.16 for a cup of coffee is a bit much. I'm not a cheap person when it comes to coffee, but I can't afford $3 a day per cup... since I love my coffee. Besides, the coffee shops are all in shinae (downtown) and I live like 10 blocks from downtown. It's too far.

That's where canned coffee comes in. This little beauty cost me exactly 1,000 won. It's pretty good, but not the best. And it's cold, but hey, it's coffee and it cost a dollar!
I don't know if it's Georgia the state or Georgia that country in the mountains of Eastern Europe.

Along with my coffee I wanted something snacky. Usually I get a pre-made sandwich, but this thing caught my eye.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. It says "Strawberry Cream Sand" and below that "New Ttalgi (strawberry, i assume) Sandeu (sand - sandwich)." The 900 you see down in the corner is the price. 900 won. I only paid 900 won for two crustless strawberry cream sandwiches!
What is it you may ask. It is exactly what you'd think - a little kid's dream sandwich. It is crustless white bread with a strawberry cream icing in the middle. Icing! YES! I'm sure it's completely unhealthy.

That's okay though because today one of my coworkers (the kindergarten teacher) gave me this orange (or is it a tangelo? it has a lumpy stem spot.. i'm not good at citrus identification, however, it smells divinely orangey).

Oh yes. My boyfriend left his Angry Birds gum here. Kids here LOVE angry birds. Everyday I see my 4th graders, they say "Teacher, it's Angry Birds" to me and show me their Angry Birds swag. (yes i said swag, deal). Sometimes you'll hear "I'm angry birds." I'm sure they understand they're not the game, but they mean more like "I'm an angry bird" - but finer grammar points like "a/an/the" (they're called articles, did you know that?) and plurals/depluralizing are things they can't do just yet.

So there you have it. I have a strawberry cream sandwich and a cold canned coffee - for all of 1,900 won, a free tangelo, and some funny kids.