To Market, To Market

The Chungang Market in Anyang.

If there is one shopping experience I absolutely love, it's a good market. I miss the Farmers Market back home in Charlotte a lot, but thankfully SoKo has some options as well. Last weekend I strolled around Anyang looking for some Christmas presents for my family, when I stumbled across the Chungang Market. Hooray!

Spices, beans, roots and lots of things that I can't pronounce.

The Chungang Market is a semi-outdoor market that is simply bursting with stall after stall of vendors selling everything from underwear to intestines. Yup, I said intestines. You can watch a woman measuring rice, then walk two feet away and watch another woman gutting a pig. I won't lie, some of the sights were a bit traumatic.

Ginseng!

Although South Korea is very techno-savvy and seems to be rushing into the future at light speed, I love the fact that they're still very much into Slow Food, farmers markets and alternatives to Western medicine.

Another SoKo Shopping Adventure

A creepy statue outside of Costco: "Let's look fondly at that little girl crying on the wall!"

Yesterday my friend Sheila and I decided to brave the Seoul bus system and make another trip to Costco. The whole trip usually takes about five hours and is a pretty jarring experience due to the language barriers, crowds and - most of all - the bus drivers.

I'm not sure if the bus drivers here in Seoul have had any sort of driving education, because they wield their massive bus like it's a Mini Cooper through traffic. I wish there was a way to adequately describe how terrifying this experience is, but there are no words. Let's just say that everyone looks particularly pale and shaky when they get off the bus, especially us waygooks.

While we were waiting for the bus, I decided to have a little sip of something to calm my stomach before the inevitable storm, and found this tantalizing selection:

Mmm! I love random!

Besides the usually beggars and business people at the bus stop, on this particular trip we had the pleasure of seeing an ajuma with maroon hair and purple velvet ruched pants. Pretty sweet.

A fashion statement, indeed.

After a long and somewhat stressful shopping endeavor, I left with some nice tastes of home: Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa, Kashi cereal, Cheerios, Carr's Table Water Crackers, Craisins, Tampons and - hallelujah - cheese! It's nearly impossible to find decent cheese in SoKo, and for a decent price.

A slight disparity in size: bulk Craisins vs. "bulk" tampons.

All in all, I'm glad there's a Costco where I can get some nice American products from time to time, even though the journey is long and nauseating. Enjoying some cheese and crackers makes it all worthwhile, and at least I know the Costco products aren't eons old like some of the things at the Foreign Foods Market in Itaewon:

I'm pretty sure this deodorant is older than me. Plus, they syrup I bought there already expired. Thanks, Foreign Foods Market.