People throw out the nicest things!

I have said many times that I feel Korea is a nice safe country as there is little petty or violent crime; such as muggings, burglaries, and theft.. and far less if not NO - little shits on the street corners, drunk or stoned (Presumable they are all in Hagwons (academies) giving foreign teachers a hard time)... I acknowledge that I am lucky enough to live in a pretty nice area, that I am probably being a bit naive, but I really think it is true! -

Example 1: I have seen a man lean his carbon fibre racing bike outside a shop at the train station, leave his iPhone mounted on the handlebar cradle, go into the shop buy a drink come out and it was still there!

Example 2: Everyone leaves their sat nav and black box camera's on the windscreen mount, in full view of everyone... all the time!!!

 I have even seen people leave their car window open overnight with their sat nav and black box camera on the windscreen mount, in full view of everyone - I guess this is Example 3!

I think people just don't buy or want second hand / stolen things - however this is not the point of this post - but I think it sets a good pretext -  My point, today, is as the title suggests, people throw out the nicest things... and also it's about books!

Korean mothers, as everyone who has been to Korea knows, value their children's education almost as much as their lives - some maybe more if you consider the pressure placed on children to study hard which has been cited as a reason for high rates of child suicide (see wikipedia,Voices of youth, Beyond Hallyu (about 1/2 way down the page) for some examples) Again, I seem to have gone off on a tangent...  To provide their children with the opportunities and tools to 'be smart' Koreans spend a lot of money on books I didn't find a quotable source for this - but go to any Korean apartment, where they have young kids and you will see books, lots of books - A friend of ours, recently spent 4,000,000 won* on a collection of storybooks for their 6 month old baby!

*4 Million Won is a good monthly wage, about 2,300 British Pounds or 3,800 US Dollars

Anyway, Last night I went outside the apartment, to throw away the weekly trash and recycling and there on the wall next to the polystyrene boxes was an immaculate (seriously they looked almost new) set of about 30 childrens books about famous world and Korean historical figures from Lincoln to 이이 and I would bet money that some of them have never had a page turned let alone been read.

I am not ashamed to say that this impressive and no doubt expensive selection of childrens books, now resides in my spare room awaiting a quick dusting and shelving... (I am glad it wasn't raining yesterday). When I brought them through the door and showed Harvey he started jumping around the room with excitement!

I know that my kids and I will enjoy these books for many years - They should see my kids through elementary school (at least) and I plan on including reading them in my Korean studies!

Whoever threw them out... Thank you!