Random Thoughts

After being in Seoul for about a week, I have made some interesting observations. I have gone to a store called Lotte Mart a couple of times, and it surprises me how much like Wal Mart it is. They sell a lot of different things for a low price. Lotte has some of its own brands, and it even has a baseball team called the Lotte Giants. It also has a theme park called Lotte World. While Wal Mart has a lot of stores and products, I am thankful that it does not have its own theme park or baseball team.

In fact I have been surprised how much different things companies produce here. Companies like Samsung and LG make a little bit of everything ranging from expected things like televisions to water dispensers, sports teams, etc. The only U.S. counterpart to this might be G.E.

We also went to an open market called Namdaemun, which was very different from Lotte mart and the other stores that I have been to in Korea. It was chaotic and had all sorts of things for sale. I got a red korea soccer shirt for the world cup. It was fun to walk around and see all of the different people and things. We also walked around the city trying to find another market, but we eventually gave up and went back to Sookmyung. There was definitely a contrast between this market and Lotte World.

I also saw a funny guy singing at the market in front of a store. He was pretty entertaining.

On Saturday, we went to the Korean Folk Village. I liked seeing how Koreans lived throughout history. It is really interesting to see how far Korea has come in so relatively few years. It put a lot of things in perspective and made me think about it more when I walk through Seoul. My favorite part of the village was playing on the swings. Instead of sitting down on them, you had to stand up on the wood plank. I really had to use my arms to get moving on it. I also enjoyed the see saw where I also had to stand up. It was a little scary because it took a lot more coordination, and it was easy to fall off. Eventually a lady shoved me off and taught Andrea how to use it. It was very entertaining to see other people get going on it.