Gotta love the quality workmanship here in Korea. As long as it gets done, they don’t seem to give a rat’s ass how well it’s done or how long it will last or what other problems might arise because of it.

Take this new sign as a case in point.

Just another private school in the neighborhood, this one for math lessons.  The guys who put up the sign slapped it up within a single day, including the concrete base and wiring. There’s no delay for silly things like inspections like there are in the USA.  Looking closely, you might notice the workers initially measures the electrical wiring a bit short. They had to splice it together with a little electrical tape.

That might last for a while. Or not. They don’t give a shit. They’re long gone when the elements have taken their toll and worn out that tape.

Then they routed the wire straight over to the building, having secured it firmly with a couple of cable ties to the gas lines. That’s quality.

Then it goes straight into the building where it likely runs into a regular plug. The didn’t bother putting a drip loop into it. When it rains, the water is going to drop right down that wire and seep directly into the building through that nice hole they drilled for the wire. In another year or so, when the water has caused untold mildew and water damage inside, those workers won’t be found anywhere. They did their job. They’re perfeshunals.

It’s not terribly surprising, therefore, that there aren’t many modern buildings that wear well here. Once they’re up, they age pretty quickly. Only the really old simple stone buildings seem to do well.

This building is adjacent to the one I live and work in. I don’t know when it was built since it was here before I got here, but nothing in this neighborhood is more than a dozen years old. The crack on the wall shows how quickly things go to hell. This one will get nastier real soon.