Something Foot Something

So I have learned that one of the most maddening things about learning Chinese characters is the subsequent forgetting of Chinese characters. 

For class everyday I am memorizing (or trying to) 20 or so new characters. If you do the math, so far that comes out to lots. Which of course is a relative term – lots compared to what I came with, but nothing compared to the number of characters required to, say, read a newspaper.

But no matter the method of study, I have learned the inevitable is this:  everyday I am confronted with a sign, an advertisement, a magazine, anything really - that has at least one (usually more) character that I recognize, that I know I’ve learned, but also then realize, I know that I have forgotten. It’s one thing not to know the characters in the first place, but to learn the things and then forget?  It's enough to drive a person bonkers.

On the brighter side, when I can remember, the world is starting to (slowly) reveal itself to me.  Here's a picture of a little shop right next to our building:

Let me translate the top row of characters of the sign for you - "something, ren, lin, zhong, something something something zu something".  Another step, again, character by character - "something, people, forest, middle(i think), something something something foot something".  I have no idea what it all means, even though it is helpfully translated into Korean at the bottom.  And yes, I can read the English on the door.  But somehow I think there's more to the sign than the English gets across here, don't you think?