Tuesday Shopping Extravaganza!

Today is Wednesday and I must say...it's been a really good week so far! Last week was a bit challenging (sometimes for no really good reason) but this week has been on the upswing! Maybe it was the great shopping day with Bev and Joanna in Damdaemun. We met at the Hangangin Subway station 8:30am yesterday (walking distance from where we live) and took the subway to meet Joanna. It was a gorgeous day, breezy, and crisp...to us it felt great...to many of the Koreans it meant: Hat, gloves, scarf, winter jacket, layered clothing and possibly a face mask. We were wearing short sleeves. One of the nice Korean ladies touched my arm while we checked out her stand...and in Korean said something like "Too cold...you need a jacket" We bought some clever gift bags from her stand...a huge stack for 8,000kw (about 8 US). I tried to take mental notes of landmarks so I could return on my own if Bev/Joanna were globe trotting and not able to come next time....:-) Bev directed us to one of her favorite stands and we shopped for some Christmas gifts....excellent shopping! The photo with this entry is one of our 'finds' of the day. It's rabbit, fully lined, nice leather handles/hardware and fun...we thought it looked a 'bit' like a Hermes'...they reminded me that if you find it...and you want it...better get it while you can...we may never find this place again! :-) Maybe it will be a gift for someone who doesn't read my blog... The gals were so patient while I debated various items (for presents of course!) to purchase. They even helped carry my load AND offered to be a temporary bank if I needed it...now that's a true buddy!! :-) After shopping and trying to absorb it all...we caught a taxi and headed to a "Jewelry Party" being thrown by one of their British friends. She really had a beautiful home and spectacular view. On a side note...we had initially looked at a place about 5 houses from this one...but the steep hill/challenging access was a deciding factor for us to live where we do...and we really like it here. If you had a driver you could live pretty much anywhere...but if not...just carrying a few bags of groceries up that hill would be a challenge. The gal having the party designs the items ...and there were some really unique and interesting pieces. Everything was priced in 'Pounds'...but I think she would accept Korean Won also. After my shopping trip from the morning...I cooled my heels and did not make a purchase...just enjoyed looking. She has a really nice 'helper'...not sure where she is from...but SO nice and sweet. She brought me a coffee and said "Here you go mum"....so sweet.

It really was fun...we said our goodbyes and hiked down the hill (we were hoping the gal would let us catch a ride with her driver...since we had all of our shopping bags..no luck). Bev had to run to a SIWA class(she's making her OWN jewelry) and Joanna was off to her part of town...I headed to the post-office to mail our election ballots! The nice girls at the Post-office greeted me and were really interested in the envelopes for the ballots. One of them pointed to the Eagle on the front and said "American President Voting?"...I said yes....then we spoke a little bit of Korean...I eventually ran out of things to say...then we all smiled/bowed/waved good-bye. Just for regular days about town...I get the biggest kick out of visiting the local Post-office and the Turkish Kabob place (you knew I wouldn't leave them out of this blog entry!) haha.