image

Thursday night, I went shopping in Dongdaemun. There are tons of street-vendor type shopping in these massive malls, and at night a lot of people go to buy wholesale to sell in their own stores. At 3am the malls are busy, and the sellers are willing to bargain prices with you. Most of the clothes are things I cannot see myself wearing in the States, which keeps me from buying too much, but I did get skinny jeans, two skirts, a dress, and leggings for 54USD..
The shoes here are cheap but also made cheaply and are pretty uncomfortable. The girls here manage to wear heels all the time, though! Most girls I see, at any point in the day, anywhere, seem to be wearing heels, and I don't know how they manage. After one night clubbing in pumps I am walking around the city barefoot.
The obsession with image in general is insane here. The girls are tiiny.. although I guess this is natural because of an overall difference in diet and lifestyle. I barely see any gyms though; I don't think they have the same obsession with the American ideas of beauty in muscles and tans.. Along with being tiny, most girls seem to like to stay pale. Also, rather than being "sexy," most would prefer to be "cute and pretty." The most popular pop stars (who are THE idols in Seoul culture) are very young. A popular girl group, the Wonder Girls, is made up of mostly high school girls; the youngest, and most popular, is in middle school! ick.
Plastic Surgery has become very popular in Seoul. S'sangkapul, or double eyelid surgery, is extremely common. I've heard that some girls here have even gotten surgery to lengthen their legs.. ouch. The most "beautiful" girls here have a small face and nose, and many get plastic surgery to get this way. An "ulzzhang" is someone with a very pretty face; apparently there are online contests to turn someone who isn't one into someone who is.. This is one I've seen online alot.. The circle lenses are creepy, right?! She wasn't looking so great before, but those are alien eyes..