Shopping in Korea

While I know that a post on the beef protests is in demand, all I have so far is a few scattered photos and no real experience. Next weekend will be another scheduled demonstration in the city center, hopefully I'll be able to take some shots of the hordes of angry Koreans and offer a little insight.

I also added some more photos to the post about Hongdae, the nightlife district. The new pictures show how the whole place lights up at night.

There is a whole side of Seoul aimed at the multitude of fashion-conscious young professionals and students who populate the city. As of right now, the most popular clothing is covered in American phrases that are never quite appropriate, there is much to be seen in the shops of Seoul that is uniquely Korean.

Just down the street from the entrance to my university is a tower of shops much like Walmart. While I was only looking for a few things for my dorm room, the eight-story structure has just about anything you might need. Right next to the alarm clock that I bought was something that would be very out of place in any American store, and is best described as a picture.


Yes, that's a pen holder, and right next to them were these lamps.


(this is a photo I took at the Yongsan electronics market, that's a piggy bank/alarm clock with the coin slot in an interesting position).
My first reaction when I saw these was, quite naturally, surprise. The lamps and pen holders seemed to contrast with a society that is otherwise very conservative. Sexuality, while present in advertisements and of course, among young people, is still not displayed that openly. Korean couples will hold hands and cuddle on park benches all the time, but I have never seen them kiss in public and the average Korean woman is far more modest than her American counterpart.

I met an American who had taught in Korea for a year and still lives here, he wasn't fazed when I told him what I saw for sale, and was able to provide an explanation. Apparently Koreans can be very open about their bodies and their bodily functions, so long as there is no tinge of sexuality. Here there is less embarrassment when it comes to hygiene or what goes on in the bathroom, which explains why the pen holders, so long as they were purely humorous and not sexual, would not be a problem.

Just so you don't get the impression that Korean stores are full of naked plastic people, I was able to get another photo of a floor in a department store adjacent to the Korean Walmart. This particular department store, owned by Hyundai, has a whole floor of bakeries and a food court that actually beats most other restaurants I've been to in terms of price and taste. While I was soon instructed to stop taking pictures, (I still don't know why), I have to share the multitude of waffles that were for sale. Waffles are a popular street food here, equivalent to hot dog carts back in New York City. I will have to describe the other street foods for sale here, but for now I am happy with a country that has discovered the need for a constant and plentiful supply of waffles.