Whoa! I took a hell of a long time to write this third post. I've had a camera for a while now, so I don't even have a real good excuse. I would tell you that I will be writing them more often (again), but I don't want to shatter your hopes when I don't deliver (again). Especially since I will be going to Thailand for Christmas, and I definitely won't write one next week. I am sure I will have some stories to write about, and some great pictures too. That won't be until after New Year's though. A wise man once told me to "be patient, for a patient ma.....". I don't know the rest of what he said because I was late for work. Anyway, be patient. I will write more eventually.Alright. Let's get to it. The Korean currency is the Won, and it is a stupid money system! The smallest bill denomination is the 1,000 Won. It absolutely equates to the U.S. dollar. If they had a dollar store in Korea, everything would cost 1,000 Won. So why the hell do they have so many zeros? I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. Hardly anything costs less than 1,000, just like in the States. Their 500 Won coin spends just like 50 cents, their 100 Won coin spends just like a dime, and their 10 Won coin like a penny, except you hardly ever need or receive pennies (more on that in a minute).
Now check this out. You've already passed one picture of the 1,000 Won bill (AKA 1 dollar).
Here's the 5,000 Won bill (AKA 5 dollars).
Here's the 10,000 Won bill (AKA 10 dollars).
Do you want to see the 20,000 Won bill (AKA 20 dollars)? Too bad. There isn't any! That's right, Korea's highest bill denomination is the 10,000 Won (A freakin' $10 bill!)! Wait, it gets better. A lot of places, especially Korea's famous markets, only accept cash. Korea has a couple of famous electronics markets, and several other shopping markets. I still don't know how legit they are because I have never gotten a receipt, and they don't allow returns/refunds. However, they are huge. The electronics market I've been to, is inside a mall and outside in the streets. It is definitely NOT an underground operation. They even have their own subway stops, and are clearly marked in English, and not so clearly marked in Korean (it's only not clearly marked if you don't know how to read Korean. If you know how to read Korean, it is clearly marked also). Anyway, they only accept cash. The sell cameras, computers, and anything else electronic you could want. I will say again, they only accept cash! That means that if you choose to buy your electronics from this huge discount electronics market, you have to bring hundreds of thousands of Won (hundreds of US dollars) IN 10,000 Won INCREMENTS (IN 10DOLLAR BILLS)! Imagine buying a $1,000 computer in $10 bills. That's Korea's money system for ya.
I will say one good thing about Korea's money system. Well, it's more about the pricing in Korea. In Korea, all the taxes are included. It is awesome, and it is one thing I will miss when I go home. If something costs 5,000 Won, you hand the cashier 5,000 Won. If I want a beer for 3,000 Won, I just take out those three stupid 1,000 Won bills, and I can have a beer. By the way, Korean beer is crap. I will save this topic for another blog because I can go on about this for a while. Oh yeah, back to the pennies. This is why pennies are practically unused. There isn't a stupid 7% sales tax making a 3,000 Won item cost 3,021.
As you can see, these other pictures do not relate at all with the Won stories. I just told some of you that I would post more pictures of my mansion that I live in. If any of you people visit me, I clearly have lots of space for you to sleep here. As long as you like to sleep on a fake wooden floor.
Stay classy! Someone's got to pick up my slack.
