Downtown

Saturday was an exciting day for me. I managed to 1. get out of the house, 2. see another foreigner in Andong, and 3. acquire a striped shirt (they're all the rage here).

The afternoon was spent "downtown" with Min-yung and Oni. First, Min-yung got a haircut. Get this. Korean haircuts cost ~$8. I'm not exaggerating. The hair stylists were shocked to see a foreigner in their midst and kind of nervously glanced in my direction, probably afraid of me assessing their work. The place we went to was a little trendy and on the second floor of the building. So, there I was, sitting in a window seat, staring outside because I didn't want to make the stylists nervous and I could people-watch inconspicuously. Who do I see? A foreigner. He was a 20-something white guy with a large traveling backpack. I almost ran down the stairs and flagged him down. "Do you speak English? Will you be my friend?" However, the intensity of that greeting may have caused the poor guy to, well, mace me. Besides, he was far away and disappeared within seconds. Damn.

After the haircut, we strolled through the pedestrian friendly streets. Oni steered us into a trendy clothing store. Now, in America I would not have gone into this store out of principle. It looked too expensive (which, for me, is anything more than $15) and too...trendy...for my tastes. But, I go where they go, and I entered a domain more unfamiliar than Korea. It wasn't so bad. There weren't those annoying commission-happy workers with fake smiles and strong cologne. The store wasn't outrageously expensive either. Min-yung picked out a shirt for $20.

I was busying myself with looking at the current fashions (colorful plaids and stripes, if anyone's curious) when Oni asked me which one I liked. "Oh, no thank you," I graciously declined the offer. She then continued to hold up shirts under my neck commenting on whether they suited my complexion. "Noelle, pick something out," Min-yung said. "I have to?" "Yes." "But, I already have clothes." "You must." Uh. Alright... "Wait, these are Korean sizes. They probably won't fit...unless there's a maternity section..." "No, size issoyo." *translation "Size present." I didn't believe her, but I was obligated, so I looked through the racks. I decided I was undecided. I told Oni that she needed to pick something out for me. She grabbed a hanger suspending a cherry-red striped button down shirt. This thing was bright! If I wear this, I thought, I will become the Where's Waldo of Andong. Thankfully, she pulled two more from the rack, the same style, but in blue and purple. Even these were attention-getting, which is not what I need. Yet, I didn't want to disappoint, so I chose the purple, it being halfway between the red and blue. This pleased Oni greatly, so much so that I was required to wear it right then and there. "It is not necessary to buy me clothes," I told Oni. She explained that it was a present for the upcoming holiday, Chuseok. She's buying all her kids clothes and included me. Aw.

The next store we visited was a cheaper and more comfortable version of the previous one. The great thing about this store was the t-shirt section. Most of the t-shirts had messages in "English" printed on them. Yes, it was hilarious. I couldn't help but giggle incessantly at the bad grammar and their downright bizarre nature. My favorites are:

Scream the Mousse.

and

Bend over
Back Ward
Have a Prayer
I Entrust
You With
Player

It's times like these I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.