Day 99

DONGDAEMUN SHOPPING DISTRICT

The city of Seoul is renowned for its shopping, and one of the largest shopping districts in Seoul is Dongdaemun.  The Dongdaemun market was established in 1905, but was completely destroyed during the Korean War, and only regained its former glory around 1999 when some large shopping malls were built.  Most shops are open from 10:30a.m. to 5a.m. (yes, 5a.m.) but some are open 24 hours a day.  Almost all are closed on Mondays and holidays.  (Monday seems to be a popular closing day here.)

Dongdaemun Market is not a building, it's practically a city.  There are scores of 'malls,' which are less like American malls and more like very crowded flea markets.  I went to four of the many malls: Dongdaemun Flea Market, Dongdaemun Craft Market (aka Shopping Town), Fashion Town, and Pyoungha Clothing Market.

Fashion Town, one of the large 'malls.'

Pyounghwa Clothing Market.

Before I begin, you should know that the only reason I went to Dongdaemun was to find some sewing materials at the internet-recommended Craft Market.  Nothing fancy, just a sewing kit, some thread, and a patch.  Some of my clothes have holes and I wanted to fix them.  Keep this in mind as you read.

After getting off the subway, I wandered into the Dongdaemun Flea Market.  I quickly realized that the only thing to buy here was shoes.  I have never seen so many shoes in my life.

You can barely walk through the aisles because they are so full of people and shoes.

I wasn't looking for shoes, so I left in search of the Craft Market.  I stumbled into Fashion Town first.  I didn't stay long so I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I believe that Fashion Town sells only three things: socks, pajamas, and skirt-with-legging combos.

Have you ever seen so many socks in such a small space?

Pajamas, and a walkway barely big enough for the average Korean man.  (Which is to say, not very big.)

Skirts with built-in leggings are SUPER popular in Korea right now.  I don't understand why.

Looking good there, bro.

I did not want socks, pajamas, or ugly legging-skirts, and I was getting a bit panicked by the small, tightly-packed spaces.  I was worried that if I bumped into something, a mountain of socks would fall down and smother me to death.  Death by smothering is not the highest ranking death on my "Ways I Don't Want To Die" list, but it's also not at the bottom.

In any case, I spent less than 5 minutes in Fashion Town and made my way over to the Craft Market.  The small amount of anxiety and fear of death I felt at Fashion Town was nothing compared to what I experienced at the Craft Market.

The widest spaces in the whole place, and of course they fill it with chairs.  Most of these shops in this aisle sell the
same thing: custom-made hanboks (traditional Korean dresses).

I'm pretty sure this shop sells shower curtains?

This one sells blankets.  I had to get by that guy, and it wasn't easy.

Imagine a normal craft store, like Joann Fabrics.  Now combine it with Costco, multiply the size by twenty, and pack it all into a sardine tin.  This is the Dongdaemun Craft Market shopping experience.  I didn't know I was claustrophobic before I came here.

Remember how I said that Seoul is known for its excellent shopping?  Yes, you can get things very cheaply... but you have to go through this to get anything.  Maybe some people find this fun, but for me, it's hellish.

Only the first floor is really crowded, and the second floor is pretty busy too, but the third floor up and (I think there were four or five floors?) are deserted.  I went up there to escape from the madness of the first two levels and got a bit lost in the maze of closed shops and excessive trash.

Third floor.  I'm not sure where all this trash comes from, nobody was up here.

Fourth floor.  Completely empty.

Anyway, ignoring the ridiculously hell-like qualities this place possesses, it does indeed have an incredible selection of craft supplies.  They've got just about everything here.

This fur feels real, but my students have informed me that it's fake.  If it is, then America needs
to start taking notes about how to make fake fur.  This stuff is so soft!

Another reason to believe it's fake: how many animals whose fur we like are this long?
Soft things are usually small.

Oh hey, did you need to make a Native American headdress?

So many choices!

Here's a weird one: pseudo-hardwood rugs.  Also, hardwood flooring here is not really wood like it is in America.  It's basically laminate that looks like hardwood.  You buy it in big rolls.

Get your fake hardwood flooring here!

Buttons galore!

Metallic buttons!

Many of the items for sale, especially the small ones, appear to be made here.

These are clothing tags you can buy for clothes you make.

There are walls and walls of fabric flowers.

The most impressive variety award goes to fabric.  I did not even realize this many discrete fabrics existed.  Dongdaemun Craft Market really opened my eyes to just how much stuff the world contains.

Walls of fabric swatches.

More fabric samples.  You can buy these samples.

More samples.

Every type of fabric imaginable is in this market.  Denim, felt, silk, knits, shinies, sparklies, crunchies--if you can think of a fabric, it's here.

So what's missing from the Dongdaemun Craft Market?
1) Sewing supplies (which, if you'll recall, is what I came for)
2) Patches
3) Yarn

Disappointed, disheartened, and slightly panicked by the way-too-small aisles, I left the Craft Market and headed across the river to Pyoungha Clothing Market.  The market lines both sides of the street and there's a stream in the middle with a nice walking path.  Koreans are apparently really into their walking paths.  Nearly every body of water I have seen in this country is lined by a walking/biking path.

Pretty nice, right?

Other side.  Still nice.  It's like a touch of wilderness in the big city.

The Pyoungha Clothing Market, despite its name, seems to sell mostly hats.  I saw some clothes on the second floor, but there was no one under the age of 50 there, so I'm assuming that those clothes were not meant for my age group.  (They were also covered in sequins and leopard print, the trademark patterns of ajummas across Korea.)  I bought a cute hat for about $10, so at least I didn't leave the shopping district empty-handed.

Somewhat less claustrophobic than the sock-filled Fashion Town.  Lots of cute hats to choose from!

I also came across this peculiar shop, which appears to specialize in bejewelery.  Can I combine those words?  Bejeweled and jewelery?  All they do is put rhinestones on stuff.

All those bags are full of rhinestones.  Oh, hey, let's take a closer look at their sign...

Yes, the sign is made of rhinestones.  What did you expect?

I have mentioned before that in Korea, the floor-toilet dominates in public spaces.  The western toilet is growing in popularity, and all homes restaurants have western toilets.  Most public places offer both, but some only have the floor toilet.  Also, consider every bathroom in Korea to be BYOTP--most public places don't provide toilet paper.

Understandably, the floor toilet can be confusing for westerners.  Where is the toilet paper?   Can the toilet paper go in?  Which way do I face?  Is that pee on the floor or just a lot of water?

The traditional Korean floor toilet.

Fortunately, the Pyoungha Clothing Market clears things up for us silly waigukin by posting a sign.

"Oh thank God, Gary, I finally found a real toilet!"  --Imaginary Westerner

That about sums up the Dongdaemun Shopping Experience!  While a lot of things were cheap, they weren't actually any cheaper than the stuff sold at the local market in Chuncheon (where I live).  I don't think I'll be returning to Dongdaemun anytime soon, as I'm still having nightmares about walking through the aisles of the malls.

The only bright side of shopping at Dongdaemun was that the vendors didn't pounce on me the moment I eyed their goods.  The Yongsan electronics market is famous for its good prices, but I got scared away by the creepy, grabby vendors.  If you can't tell me about your product without physically touching me, you are doing it wrong.  My camera broke recently and I ordered a new one from America because I am not brave enough to get manhandled by sketchy Korean salesmen.  Oh well.

Coming up soon: Korean Costco and kimjang, the Korean kimchi-making experience!

Cheers,
Ashton / 애쉬톤