JOURNAL: Namdaemun Market Rocks!

Today started out a pretty lousy day. Last night, I was pretty upset, as two teachers I was rather fond of up and pulled a "midnight run" out of the country. The transitory nature of friendships made in Korea is known to me, but nevertheless, it still hurts when someone leaves, especially someone you especially like. I have had a week to recover, but the weekend seemed very likely to be a lonely one. I lay awake last night, lonely and in tears; I have not made many connections here, being a bit shy and retiring, and some I have made are now gone. Sometimes it is just difficult to cope, I guess; I have been generally happy here so far. I listened to an MP3 of Bill Cosby at 3:00 a.m., seeing as I was not able to sleep, and it cheered me considerably, but only mometarily. I then fell asleep.

I was a bit emotionally hung over this morning, and just generally apathetic about getting out of bed. Of course I did eventually get up, and had a cup of yogurt for breakfast. I then forced myself to leave my apartment to do some much procrastinated shopping. I headed to Dongdaemun market to see if I could find a new pair of shoes in "Shoe Alley." Dongdaemun is a night market, for the most part, but there were still plenty of stalls open when I got there at about three.

I did find a pair of shoes that fit for about $12. The merchant let me wear them straight away. My very expensive but hopelessly rotted leather slides he stared at in disgust. I motioned for him to get rid of them, and with a large toothy smile, he cheerfully tossed them in the rubbish bin!

Feeling a bit better about things, I wandered through the industrial fabric district. The workers and merchants were a bit startled to see me, but friendly enough. I had a couple of near misses with the mosquito-like scooters flying at ridiculous speeds down the street. People hurried down the street or worked in their tiny sweat shops, turning out textile goods for the masses. All activity stopped as a fancy Cadillac blocked the narrow street while it rolled by. When it had passed, everyone went back to work as if nothing had happened.

Seoul has a lot of street life, even in my neighborhood. I love this. People bring out stools at night and sit and watch the world go by. Old men squat by the road, cigarettes dangling precariously from their lips, as they browse the newspapers spread out on the ground. The young men sit out on benches and chairs to ogle the girls (especially us foreigners) as they walk by, occasionally making sly (but mercifully not understood) comments. Women push their babies in strollers, or more often than not, carry them in a very Korean version of a sling across their backs or chests. I have heard them described as looking like tumors, which I suppose is true. They also do their grocery shopping. There are always more men than women on the street (except in shopping districts). At night, I have noticed that there are predominately men playing with the children; presumably this is to give their spouses a break. Dads come out at night, and once again, women disappear. The exception is young women, who can be seen patronizing the restaurants in large and giggly groups.

Not much was going on at Dongdaemun in late afternoon, so I turned back towards the subway. As I was walking towards it, a girl from school almost ran me over. The odds of us meeting in a city as large and sprawling as Seoul are immense, but we have run into each other before (in Itaewon). She also wanted to go shoe shopping, so we turned back. She got the cutest pair of imitation Puma shoes I have ever seen. They are not my style, but I think they are cool and cute for people who like athletic shoes.

We decided to go to Namdaemun market a few stops further up the line, as it has more variety. Suddenly, the shopping fever was on! I generally do not like to shop, but Asia is changing that...

Last week, I walked home (about a mile and a half) in a horrible rainstorm without an umbrella, and my watch became toast, as well as the expensive leather shoes; my purse also got nearly destroyed with water stains.. With this in mind, I began browsing the stalls for a new watch, a new purse, and a new umbrella. Namdaemun has an excellent assortment of rather cleverly made name-brand knock-offs. They do not try to hide the fact that they are imitations either. My new watch was very cheap - I got a purple leather watch with a large face for about $10. I scored a beautiful, and very Korean, large purse, after some bargaining (we got $12 knocked off), for $20. My umbrella was more expensive, but I reasoned that it needed to stand up to Seoul weather, and this one was well made. It was also amusing for small minds, as you press the up button for the umbrella (highly spring loaded) to pop out, and the down button for it to deflate! Both items have name brands stamped on them! I was tempted by a "Louis Vatton" wallet, but resisted the impulse. I think I did rather well! My companion bought one of the wallets, and a very charming handmade wicker birdcage (her grandfather collects cages).

As the sun started going down, droves of people began emerging out of the woodwork. More incredibly, every time we took a turn around the market, more stalls of merchandise appeared out of nowhere. Merchants stood on tables and platforms, all shouting at top volume. The pungent smell of frying silkworm larvae (children love them, even though they smell like burning tires!) competed with the fish market odors. It was noisy, crowded, stinky, and fascinating. I felt I was really in Asia. The market has been on the same site for 600 years, as the elaborate ancient Seoul city gate will attest to. I have been told that the best bargains are made after midnight.

We then headed for more practical shopping at E Mart. E mart is Korea's version of Walmart, and it is ever so crowded! I was in search of a chair, but didn't find one that suited my oversized bum (as I am now starting to say because I am surrounded by Canadians). I bought a bum cushion instead to sit on the floor with. I also struck out on the table. I went a little nuts in the stationary aisles; Korea holds the patent on "insufferably cute" in regards to girls' stationary, but they also have regular "adult" things. I am a bit amused that you can get "Hello Kitty" sanitary pads (good luck on tampons!), complete with a discreet little carrying bag. But I digress.

My big purchase was....an iron! Appliances and electronics (contrary to popular rumor) are very expensive. Tucked away towards the bottom shelf were some cute smaller irons for about $10. The rest, amazingly, were up towards the $100 mark. Frankly, I don't understand this at all.
I bought a table-top board as well, even though it did not make sense. If Koreans don't use tables, then how can they use a table-top board? Well, they do have tables, but they are only about a foot off the ground. Then again, Koreans, unlike westerners, are accustomed to squatting for long periods of time, so maybe it isn't so bad.

My feet hurt, but I feel I was very productive. I fought the crowds and won. It helps to shop with another person.