::A Geek in Korea::

When I was growing up, we had the most spectacularly shitty ancient dishwasher that didn’t actually wash anything. It was my chore to clean up the numerous different pots and pans, while the rest of my family watched prime time television.

The dishwasher was terrible because had to wash them by hand, then put them in this hard to load machine that did nothing but blow hot steam for an hour. Then you had to UNLOAD the dishes later in the evening, wasting even more time, which were still wet. Not only did you wash the dishes, you had to DRY the dishes. The only thing a dishwasher did was make more work.

My dishwashing policy is: Once a day, or if the situation absolutely demands it. NO MORE.

Despite moving up to a nicer, larger, more lavishly decorated apartment, we do not own a dishwasher. That is a luxury item most people in Korea don’t have, seeing as space is at a minimum in apartments.  The only dishwashers commonly sold are sink top models that hold not much more than a meal’s worth of dishes. They aren’t much bigger than a microwave and hold nothing larger than a small pot or pan. You’d spend as much time loading and unloading a small Korean dishwasher as you would actually just washing the dishes yourself. It’s in the “why bother” line of appliances that never caught on here, like clothes dryers.

I go to work after eating lunch at home, so I usually wash the dishes before I eat. It’s an enjoyable chore I can do while I listen to music or something. There are only two people in the house, and usually only one or two meals every day to clean up from at most. I like washing dishes in the after because it makes me feel I started doing something productive with the day. I leave a part of the house cleaner than I left it, and that almost never happens.

Now that our kitchen has multiple spaces to hold wet dishes, I don’t mind washing the dishes. Also, since we have actual cooking utensils, and have the proper tools, I enjoy cooking much more. There are more dishes to do, but they are easier to get done. That’s not too bad a compromise for more ambitious food at home.

When I get home, if my wife has prepared dinner, there are more dishes sitting in the sink that someone will have to wash. She’ll wash her dishes from a meal she cooks for herself, and depending on what she has to do around the house. If I want to make a snack, or need a utensil, I’ll wash what I need. I won’t break down and do all the dishes twice in the same day unless we have guests expected over to the house.

If I cook both lunch and dinner, I still would rather not do the dishes twice. While mid-afternoon dishes don’t bother me, after work the last thing I enjoy doing is washing up multiple times. That’s just my rule, and I’m sticking with it.