Thursday, July 13th
4:13 p.m.

I'm really starting to be able to recognize the cars here - especially the Hyundai Grandeur, which I've usually seen in black. It's definitely a luxury car. Most of the cars here have tinted windows, often very dark. They look really nice, and I've heard that they're pretty reliable, too. All Hyundais and Daewoos and Kias and other Korean makers - very few Japanese and European and American cars. [They impose VERY high import taxes here.]

There are a lot more motorcycles here than in the States. A lot of them are old, ugly, and/or cheap and little more than mopeds, but some are quite nice. I saw an imitation Harley today, with wings on the logo and everything. That made me laugh.

Korea is the land of knock-offs. Some of the imitations are actually rather good, while the rest are just funny. They make a lot of T-shirts with misspelled Western brand names on them, or they mix the name of one American university with the logo of a different school or branch of government or something. I'm definitely going to have to buy some of those before I leave.

Everything is usually very inexpensive here, and the clothes are basically the same, so it's a shopper's paradise. The size difference can be a slight problem though. Women's clothes run very small - most Korean women have VERY small breasts - and unless you have very small feet, shoe shopping is impossible. It's really too bad because they wear very cool shoes here - no matter what they're doing. Platforms for hiking, stilettos to climb a mountain - that's totally normal. And the time that the women spend doing their makeup! It's very hard to compete with them. Just a culture thing.

Contrary to what I was told, there's nothing wrong with wearing logo shirts or sneakers here. In fact, it's quite fashionable [as is wearing tennis shoes with turned-up toes that are waaaay too big for the girl's feet - but I don't understand that one]. And short shorts, cutoffs, and tank tops abound . . . but it is true that obvious foreigners will feel less conspicuous if they stick to more conservative attire - jeans, skirts, T-shirts with sleeves. Not always fun in this weather . . . although it's been wonderfully mild this week. :)

It's also not true that there's a shortage of Western products here. Quite the contrary, actually: Western products are everywhere. Perfume, shampoo, cosmetics, food - they've got them all. Clean & Clear, Twix, and Snickers are in just about every store, and Pringles too, although they tend to be expensive. The bottom line is that you don't need to bring a two-month's supply of anything for your time here, unless you're really fussy or have strange allergies or something. [It's also tough to find medications and batteries of comparable quality - but don't go and buy three boxes of Pepto Bismol either. I haven't even used it once!] Detergent and hangers and shower shoes and nailpolish can be purchased on any street corner for fairly cheap, and cigarette prices are amazing. $1.50 a pack, and oh yes, they do have Marlboro. [But once again, the quality is not the same.]

There are some differences, though, of course. They have department stores, but no . . . other centralized shopping locations. . . . Some of the food just isn't the same, either - like milk, for example. It's pasteurized, and they do drink it cold, but it's creamier somehow and doesn't taste the same. So I don't eat breakfast cereal anymore. One more thing for me to miss . . .

I'm so eating dinner now.


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