Fun in Afghanistan

Neon soju that is slightly more expensive (3,000 won), but tastes like Coolaide. 

I teach two kindergarten classes. The day is made up of forty minute periods, and I have one of the classes throughout most of the day; however, the second to last period I switch to the other class to teach them from a book called World Kids. This week we began the unit called "Fun in Afghanistan".  We learned about Afghanistan culture, and comparisons. For instance, most places in the world, right now, are more fun than Afghanistan. We also learned about price comparisons and the concepts of cheap verses expensive, which as a 27 year old (Korean Age) in a completely new culture I am still struggling with understanding.

Prices here are quite screwy. You can easily get Gimbap for 2 American dollars or 2,000 won; water bottles are 500 won (50 cents); and you can get cheaply intoxicated with a 1,000 won bottle of soju (although in all fairness it might take two bottles, which does double the price).

Meanwhile, other common place Western items are either unattainable or ridiculously pricey. Last weekends trip to Cosco set me back 21,760 won for 32oz. of Mozzerella cheese, a luxury item that can only be found at a store like Cosco. Roughly 10lbs of beef cost almost 256,000 won.

While Westerners seem to have little trouble paying the ridiculous Costco prices, when it comes to dinner their ideas of cheap vs. expensive seem to change over time. Paying over 5,000 won for dinner is often considered far too much here. The average cost of dinner for three is usually under 20,000won ($20).  It actually becomes cheaper to go out to eat than to buy food to cook at home.