You guessed? Yup, I went shopping today!
Beautiful sun, cold wind, and me, in Seoul. It was impressive to realize that I am totally used to living here - I pretty much know how to get around the city and nothing surprises me anymore. The cultural shock will be being surrounded by white people; not the other way around. I can even order food, ask for my way and tell the taxi driver where to take me, all in Korean!!
If you're looking for places to shop in Seoul, there are several neighbourhoods. Seoul is quite a consumerist society. I like Insadong because it is nice, artistic and it sells local (often hand made) products. They also have lots of Buddhist stuff.
Today I went to Itaewon. Beurk. A 100 times beurk. It's like shopping back home but you get cheaper prices and low quality stuff. Plus it's crowded with foreigners. Still... I got a sweater. And saw giant dummies.As I was walking I bumped into Erin and the "weird couple". Erin is adorable! And you know what? I got a piano from her!!! Electronic of course, but I am so excited. She's selling it for a friend who's back in America. I'll get it this week.
That's the amazing thing about being an English teacher in Seoul: free time and good money.
You can basically buy anything you want, go out for dinner quite often, go out dancing, for drinks, enjoy the good life, go to the museums, movies, theatre, and.... you still have money in your pocket!
Next I went to Dongdaemun. Horrible. Well, not for most people, but it was for me.
This place is FILLED with shops and boutiques on the street. Moreover, it has three main (and huge) buildings in which you find nothing but clothing, shoes, bags, accessories stores. Worst part being that it was PACKED like hell (or heaven? ;) I had been there before but it was a week night after midnight so it doesn't count.There are SO MANY things to see at once while countless people are passing you by and salespeople are yelling their "super discounts" in Korean. After an hour, I was exhausted.
I'm sure my sister would have loved this place, but I just couldn't stand the pressure. Too many things to buy, too many choices to make, too many people to walk by, oh boy! Commercial consumption has reached another level here in Korea. When do you stop?! And why would you anyway?
So I didn't buy much - hair stuff, necklace, t-shirt, scarf and a cute winter hat. I walked a lot though, which was nice. And I had some "me" time... among a huge crowd, yes, but that's Seoul.
I'm glad I took the subway because traffic on Sunday is so heavy. Plus the subway here is much larger than back home and people are much thinner.... so there's room for everyone hehe Seriously, I was shocked to see how almost skinny girls are here!
Erika and I were supposed to meet but it was too late for that so we'll go for sushi tomorrow night :) And Wednesday is girls' dinner at my place (a new thing we are trying which is awesome because we have so much fun and it cuts the week in half)
Right now I’m still in the Kundera mood. Fortunately, I missed a couple of subway stops today so I read over 40 pages of "Immortality", makes you think a lot. Lately things have been quite dark in my head so I need some time to think, put things in perspective and get some air from the "real" world!
As I was walking through the crowds I met a lot of homeless people. Back home I’d take them for food but here it's hard to explain in Korean and I feel sad just giving out money, hoping they won't drink it all.
On the subway there was a blind woman, a beggar. She nodded her head when she heard the metallic sound of pennies chinking in the hat. Ironically, the soft sound of my bill brought no reaction. Neither did my smile, of course. Sometimes it's not all about what you see. Sometimes no reaction is ok too.
Got home late, already full moon. Great. I won't sleep tonight. And tomorrow I must get up early because i'm teaching a housewives class. I can't believe the week-end is already over. At least I saw Macbeth in Lithuanian... that's something!
