On my first Saturday (or second day) in Korea, I went to Home Plus with Vince. He is my neighbor and fellow teacher at ECC. He has a car because he's been living in Korea for so long, which is good because Home Plus was a 15 minute drive. Home Plus is this overwhelming store that has anything you could possibly want. It is 5 stories tall and carries toys, shoes, dress clothes, perfume, food, electronics, car accessories, furniture, etc. Not only was the place overwhelming, but it was just packed with people! I have to first say before I continue, that this was my first experience out in public like this. I had yet to go to a store or any place with a lot of people. No matter where I went in Home Plus or what I did, people would completely stop and stare at me. Children were pointing at me and asking their parents about me and people would attempt to speak English to me. I was looking at a bag of Korean Sun Chips and this older man walks by and goes "Sun! Sun!" I just smiled and nodded my head. Korean people love showing Westerners their English skills even if it is just one word. Sometimes they are shy, but it has become a typical thing to have random English words yelled at you as you walk by.
When I was checking out at the register, I had my first true celebrity moment haha! This is what all the Westerners call it when Korean people gawk at you. I was at the register and Vince taps my shoulder and points to my right. I look down and this little girl about 8 or 9 year old is just staring at me with her mouth wide open. I smile and say "Hello" and she jumps and runs away. She starts saying in Korean "Mom, mom, look! Amerian girl!" Her mom just laughs and bows to me and they walk away. It was very weird, but Vince said that she was just fascinated with my blonde hair and big eyes. He said I better get used to that because it'll happen everytime I go out in public. I'm not offended or creeped out by that attention. For many Korean children who don't attend English school, they rarely see Westerners in person. They are just shocked by anyone who doesn't have black hair and Asian eyes. I find that I am somewhat of an educational piece haha :)
After Home Plus, I returned to my apartment with my new pillow (it's an herb pillow! Whatever that means. It was on sale!) and took the most fulfilling nap. I then ate my Korean Sun Chips and sat on the roof and overlooked Uijeongbu for hours.
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