Namdaemun Market

August 27th was a 'welcome back coffee' for the SIWA ladies group. www.siwapage.com It is a really helpful group, with ladies from all countries who come together for cultural exchange, socializing, community education, classes, tours....very beneficial and fun. The speaker this week was a British fellow who coordinates the Seoul Global Center http://global.seoul.go.kr The Seoul government actually supports this organization to foster good relations with the expat community here in Seoul. There are usually tours to sign-up for and I was happy to register for the Ginseng Tour. I will post that story for sure...it was a lot of fun. After the meeting/coffee we had some lunch...I tried out a few of my 'newer' Korean phrases with a very sweet Korean gal who joined us for lunch...she seemed entertained by my phrases...but the Korean people are very polite in that way...so I hope she really enjoyed it. :-) After lunch the real action began! I have two faithful readers of my blog...Bev (S. Africa) and Joanna (England). I promised to give them a 'shout-out' in my next writing and due to the delay in posting this story...I truly hope they haven't given up on reading! :-) I was really glad they invited me to experience the Namdaemun Market. I cannot take credit for this picture..I borrowed it from another gal....someone who remembered HER camera! Anyway, we were dropped of from the taxi and immediately Bev helped identify landmarks so we could figure out where we were . It was truly amazing. You name it...you can probably find it here. The very first stand we came upon...a University of Kentucky hooded t-shirt. Bev spotted it...I can't believe I missed it...my head was probably still spinning from all of the excitement. Of course for 5,000 Won...I bought it! I haven't quite learned how to say ...'how much?'....hopefully soon. I'm still saying phrases like 'I'm an American" "Where is the British Embassy?' 'What is that?" "Who are you?" "Whose is this?" "This is mine" and my new favorite...my teacher asked me..."What does 'Yikes' mean?" (I must say it frequently and not realize it.) I explained what I think 'yikes' means...she laughed and said it would be "I go" so now I say "I go" :-)

Back to the market....beautiful flower market and all kinds of things you would need for a wedding reception (very popular here in Korea). I must return to the area with rows of gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbon....if I can remember where it is. We went down into a basement area with all types of liquor. The most interesting to me....and entertaining...the shaped bottles of cognac....dragons, lions, statue of liberty, sharks and of course seeing all of the "Couvoisier". This cognac was made quite popular in several 'rap' songs. Brian, Sam, and Rob....my former cohorts from St. John ...know these songs very well.....:-) Anyway, I got a real kick out of it!

The Namdemun Market is located in Namchang-Dong. Open Daily 10-9/midnight-4am (m-f). It was established in 1414...oldest and largest traditional market in Korea. About 10,000 stores offering about anything you could be looking for...I'm learning that you must buy it when you see it...locating the store again could be a challenge (for me at least). Bev took us to her favorite 'fruit man' and I bought some good Avocados and Chris made some tasty guacamole...we were really missing that! After shopping we stopped for a cool drink. We all had lemonade. It is different than lemons/sugar/water. It contains lemons with a peel, Chilsung Cider and possibly a sweet syrup (not sure about that). It was very refreshing....and we were able to continue our journey. As we exited the restaurant we were met with thousands of Monks coming up the street...literally. The interesting thing about these Monks...they appeared quite angry. (Again, where was my camera???). We just happened upon a Buddhist Protest March...protesting what they deem discrimination against Buddhist's. (Later I read a bit about the issue...and I think a few temples were mistakenly omitted from a map and it spiraled into shouts of discrimination.....plus the President of Korea is Presbyterian...so I think they are making a bit of a reverse-discrimination against President Lee Myung-bak...for being a Christian. From what I can tell...he is doing a good job. They would also like the Police Chief to resign his post. You may have seen the demonstrations on the news. Check out the Buddhists March pictures on http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,411541,00.html And just think...I was there...without my camera.....:-)

Once we realized we were in the middle of some 'not so cheerful Monks' we walked toward a very large Department Store...Shinsagae. This was the same place (I believe) where I attended the Beef cooking class (Joanna also attended that event). Beautiful shopping area....even the food area was spectacular! I picked up a few things for dinner....stood wide-eyed at the great looking pastries/cakes...smelled the fresh bread....yum! One thing to realize while shopping (I didn't really think of it)....what you buy...you must carry home...lesson learned. Joanna was taking the subway, Bev the bus...and thankfully she tracked a taxi down for me...there was no way I would be able to stand on the bus with two bags of groceries....and you know from my previous blogs...sometimes I don't stay upright very well...if the bus driver is speedy! http://maryeats.com/2006/11/10/shinsaegae-food-finds/ Click to check out the food section of Shinsagae! We also noticed the Dior ads contain large photos of Sharon Stone. I guess they removed her from the Chinese Dior campaign...but not the Korean.

I had a great day and hope to return again for more adventures!