Election Day

Election Day in Korea comes every 5 years. The president isn't allowed a second term, so there was no incumbent. I actually didn't see any ads on TV for candidates (though I have no TV in my room and only watched while eating dinner at restaurants). There were lots of signs along the street, and I'm pretty sure every day at 11 (except Sundays when it was 12) a guy with a megaphone and a van would drive by and talk about them. And I hear there were rallies and stuff downtown (SNU is way, way south in Seoul, and I live 3-4 blocks off the main road). But overall, it wasn't nearly as much "in your face" as in the US.

South Korea has several different parties (4 big-ish ones, I think) -- but, again, like the US, it pretty much boils down to two -- the Saenuri (formerly Grand National Party) i.e. the Republicans, and the Democratic United Party i.e. the Democrats. A former software developer, Ahn Cheol-soo, running as an independent, actually had about 20% of the vote, but he bowed out in late November so the GUP party candidate (who also had about 20% of the vote) could actually compete w/ the Saenuri candidiate (who had 45%). The Saenuri candidate, Park Geun-hye, ended up winning, 52% to 48%. She was(is) pretty controversial, for being the daughter of a former 70s dictator, who brought South Korea out of the post-Korean War slump, to being (nearly) what it is today (the 4th strongest economy in Asia). North Koreans attempted to assassinate her father in 1974, and ended up killing her mother. Her father's intelligence chief successfully assassinated him in 1979. She's not married and has no kids.

Anyway - Election Day in South Korea is a national holiday, which, for me, meant no class. Iza, Ines, Joana and I decided to go to Namdaemun Market... though Joana was sick and ended up not going. Namdaemun literally means "South Great Gate" and it's one of eight in the city (4 "great" ones at each cardinal direction and 4 "small" ones at each ordinal direction), built during the Joseon Dynasty beginning in ~1400. Around Namdaemun is the biggest market in the country. Most of the stores are outdoors, but there are a few indoors now, too. They sell lots of things, but it's known mainly for clothing, eyeglasses, imported goods, traditional (Joseon-era) goods, and ginseng.


One of many shoe stands. And yes, there's more in the back (a 15x15 room).

Iza and Ines found some clothes there. I found a bookbag (lighter weight than my Swiss one). Because it was a holiday, it was packed (though I'm sure it's packed on most days).


A festive holiday store, and a view of one of two dozen similar streets.

After spending several hours at Namdaemun, we decided to go a few subway stops down to Dongdaemun ("East Great Gate"). And unlike Namdaemun, we actually walked past the "Great Gate" this time, which we took a few pictures in front of (er, well, along the side of it).


Me in front of (the side of) the gate.

Similar to Namdaemun, Dongdaemun has a huge market too, known for its clothing. There are a dozen+ shopping centers/malls with half a dozen+ floors each, filled with clothes and accessories. The wiki page says there are "26 shopping malls situated over 10 blocks, 30,000 speciality shops, and 50,000 manufacturers," but we only visited 3 malls/centers and a few smaller shops and stalls along the sidewalk.


Left: The Doota! (short for "Doosan Tower!") building during the daylight. Right: A $12
green tea waffle and 3 drinks for Iza, Ines, and I. The cafe that served it, Beans Bins,
is located along the first big wall of windows.

When we left Doota!, the pyramid was lit up!


The pyramid outside, and a view of the chandelier-thing inside.

As far as Christmas here, I've mainly only seen decorations at retailers/stores, like Doota!. Shinsegae (a food store similar to Wegmans) had a bunch of signs saying "Merry Shinsegae"... That generally seems to be pretty common, because I remember seeing "Merry X" (where X=store name) elsewhere, but I can't remember where.

Anyway, my purchases for the day:


Owl sweater for $9, somewhat-matching shorts* for $18, bookbag for $21.

*Shorts in winter?!?!? you say? Fear not.... Koreans wear leggings/tights. I bought a very blue pair, and a black pair as well. I was surprised that the "One size fits all" label was actually not a lie. :)