Dumpster-diving and urban exploring in South Korea
Personally I've never taken anything from the curb back into my home, but I've probably found enough to furnish a nice (if filthy) house. Just down the street from my office is a perfectly good urinal sitting on the corner:
www.daehanmindecline.com/digital/20081028dumpsterdiving/96.JPG

I'm an urban explorer and I visit a lot of abandoned buildings and entire abandoned neighbourhoods that are still fully furnished (but smashed up by gangsters). Although urban explorers generally frown on theft, I have been known to take a few souvenirs, usually a box of matches with the logo of the abandonment on it or something else that won't be missed. Once in an abandoned hotel I found a sauna in the back with a rub-n-tug; hanging on the wall was a masseuse's uniform. I took it hope, put it in the wash, and then put it on my wife and brought her back to the hotel. Sorry, I don't think I can post those pictures here, but here's a shot of the uniform as I found it:
www.daehanmindecline.com/digital/20080315ghosthoneymoon/76.JPG

Another great discovery I made was inside an abandoned department store, where someone was storing a ton of old Korean football supporter shirts ("Be the reds!") and a good collection of polo shirts and cheesy '90s-era snowboarding outfits. I kind of wish I had taken something, because just last week the building collapsed, killing at least one demolition worker, so now it's too late.
www.daehanmindecline.com/digital/20080512deptstore/89.JPG

And if it's okay to count stuff you can't take with you, I've found a ton of abandoned places throughout South Korea, from apartment buildings and schools to amusement parks and red light districts. Here's a link to my site, which has a recent feature on the latest abandoned amusement park.
www.daehanmindecline.com/UEseoul/

I'll leave you with our greatest find, actually found by my dumpster-diving friend when digging through somebody's trash: '80s-era homemade Korean pornography.
www.daehanmindecline.com/archive/indecline/dumpster/
I really have no explanation for these, particularly what's happening in number 95.

By the way, here's a shout-out to Found Magazine, who basically publish a magazine around the stuff we're going to read about in this QOTW.
www.foundmagazine.com/
(racetraitor has an alibi for, Fri 7 Nov 2008, 1:57, 1 reply)

That website
is amazing! I love the photos of the abandoned amusement parks.

I've already spent most of my morning on it and I haven't finished yet!
(man_d is being watched by experts on, Fri 7 Nov 2008, 11:32, closed)