In this chapter, I introduce you to some things that are humorously and stereotypically Asian. I hope to be lighthearted and inoffensive. We start with: Hello Kitty. Of course, Korea cannot compete with Japan in the Hello Kitty department, but they have their fair share. Above is exhibit A: the Sanrio store. I know, I know, "We have one in New York!" But downtown Daegu is no Times Square. It's small, with lots of food and shops where people might actually buy things. All of my students seem to have one school supply that is Hello Kitty, boys and girls.
Exhibit B: The Hello Kitty Moped. Now, I recall that in Noho there was somebody with Hello Kitty stickers on their moped too. But is it just me, or is Hello Kitty actually the brand of this moped? The sticker is in the right place and I saw no other names on it.
Just another shot of downtown. I hope to do a whole downtown themed post, but Nicole and Arthur seem to get embarassed when I take photographs around them. The problem with this blog is that I always look like such a tourist with my camera out; I tell myself it's for journalistic purposes.
Your typical subway station, or so it appears. Maybe a bit extra clean, but not altogether abnormal for a subway station.
Until you realize that it's a subway station mall! Shops everywhere! It's nice because there's no street noise and no city smell. Did I mention Daegu has open sewers? You try to ignore it, but a lot of times the streets just smell like a cesspool. Above you will see what I refer to as a "cellphone cafe." The shops here are very strange. There are counters, but also tables. It appears that you pick your cellphone and they come serve it to you. I'm sure this isn't actually what happens, but it still looks funny. Again, there is an entire street above ground with a good 50 or so cellphone cafes. Another day!
More subway mall.
A genuine Asian photobooth place! I want to go in so badly, but it's not a thing you can do by yourself, really. I'm not sure I could convince any of the other teachers to humor me. You can barely see, but there are wigs for you to wear in the photo booths.
And a gaming place! This card gaming place was next door to the video gaming place. I don't think it needs further description or explanation.
And boy howdy do I love me some plastic framed glasses. But not as much as Koreans. They have the best, most fashionable glasses I have ever seen. More than Lens Crafters could ever dream of! There are about 7 glasses shops in a row, all with amazing choices.
And the typical strange use of the English language. Moon country. Country on the moon? Country of moons? Who knows, but would you guess that they sell kitschy painted garden things like your grandpa would make?
Can start dream. Do it. Start your dreams. Another thing I hope to create a whole post of, amazing English t-shirts.
Last but not least on the list of stereotypically Asian things: cute characters! I have no idea what this ad is for, but I want some, how about you?
That's right, folks, this guy is the mascot of the Sea Explorers of Korea. It appears to be a Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts kind of thing. Except, with a cute cartoon mascot.
Please comment or e-mail me and tell me what you want to know! I plan on posting Wednesdays and Saturdays (or at least once a week). This gives me a surprising number of posts before I leave. I want everyone to feel like they're on this journey with me. What do you wonder about? What do you want to see?
This weekend was not too exciting. Friday, I wanted to relax after Thanksgiving. Saturday, it was too cold and windy to wander around downtown. However, on Sunday, I finally got out of the apartment. I met up with the lovely Rosemary from Smith who is working at Daegu English Village. Since I missed the terror that was Black Friday on Long Island (such as a stampede of shoppers killing a Wal-Mart employee in Nassau), I decided I needed to start my Christmas shopping in Korea. We walked around pretty much the entire shopping district downtown. Somehow, we ended up in a labor rally.
Note the fists raised. I only figured out it was a labor rally because there was a tiny bit of English on a donation can. I think it also has something to do with the large number of people in wheelchairs who protest in this area on Sundays. Need to learn more.
What's Christmas shopping without some really awful food court food... like KFC? KFC in Korea is a little spicier and I don't think there are any mashed potatoes, but it's still pretty exciting.
And Krispy Kreme! That's right, Mom, you can't get Krispy Kreme in Riverhead anymore, but I can get it in Daegu. Note the red light on in the background. We had that awful problem where all we wanted when we went in was a glazed donut, but then they gave us the free ones because the light was on, so we were forced to buy another donut we didn't want. Since it is Korea, we got a green-tea powdered donut. It tasted pretty much like everything else green tea flavored I've had, which is to say, nothing like green tea. 
Mmm, Christmas shopping!
And this is my new keyboard, with my Korean keyboard stickers. The amazing part of this is that now I can actually type in 한글(Hangul) because I now know where the proper keys are! Excellent! This picture might give you an idea of the sort of things you should expect from me for Christmas. I'll get you serious gifts when I get home but from Korea, you're getting the most ridiculous things I can find.
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