Seomun Market is one of the biggest and oldest traditional Korean markets in Daegu. I can't even begin to describe the monstrosity of this place. It has a basement, a street level, and an upper level that goes on for blocks and blocks. It is a lot like the old city of Jerusalem without the gothic Crusader ruins. The street vendors also don't accost you either, which is nice. I only had one old woman chase me down and try to get me to buy a hanging, mesh chili drying cage. I wanted to explain to her that I had absolutely no need for it whatsoever, but that was lost in translation, so I just said, "Kamsamnida, Kamsamnida"--which means thank you and is about half of all the Korean I know so far. (The other half is Angyanghaseo which means hello and I knew that wasn't going to get me out of there sans a chili drier.)
We were a serious spectacle in the market. People kept touching the children and stroking their hair and faces. The kids got sick of it really fast. They grabbed handfuls of Florence's dredlocks and tried to figure out if her hair grew like that. She hates it when people do that. I try to show them, but I don't know if they understand what I'm saying. We didn't get a lot of shopping done because every ten feet we had to try to explain with hand gestures that they were, indeed, all our children and that Florence does not naturally grow snakes out of her head. It was funny at first, but we were all ready to go after about an hour or so.
I will admit that while I love these sort of cultural experiences, they can be somewhat overwhelming. We were a little overwhelmed by the constant manhandling of the children, but also the smells and sights were so out of our frame of reference that we went into overload trying to absorb it all.
If you notice on the righthand side of this picture there is a large green plate with foot after foot of stuffed intestines coiled into a pile. The picture really tames down the offensive nature of this food. It was all we could do not gag conspicuously.
These blankets were our favorite part of the market. They are beautiful and will probably be what the kids are getting for Christmas. 
In the above picture, you can see the jerky market. If you look closely you can see dried squid, dried octopus, and dead center in the picture is dried southern rays. Tonight, I overheard a conversation between Giselle and Diamond. Giselle said, "Diamond, you like chicken don't you?" He responded, "Yeah, but only chicken." Giselle went on to question, "But, Diamond you also like bacon." Diamond said, "Okay, yeah, but only chicken and bacon." Giselle countered, "No, Diamond, you like jerky too." Diamond sighed, "Yes, I guess I do like all that kind of stuff. I like all the kinds of food that come out of the wazoo." Uh, What?? I think he might have been searching for a slightly different word in that moment, but in regards to the above picture it could be quite applicable. Let me just say that this seafood jerky smells like something that's come out of a wazoo! Diamond and Giselle walked through Seomun Market with their shirts covering their mouths and noses like gas masks. Giselle kept breaking into tears, "Mommy, this place smells HORRIBLE!"
The above picture is roots, barks, ginsengs, etc. Nothing particularly offensive to the olfactory, but curious nonetheless.
See the fresh squid, yummy! That is if you can get past the smell. . . which I definitely CANNOT!
This is a tub of live octopuses. The guy at this shop lifted one up, which was in a mesh bag, for Florence to touch. She wasn't the least bit interested in touching it, smelling it, or getting anywhere near it.
This picture looks like a pet shop, doesn't it, with all the adorable kitties and puppies? But no, this is absolutely not a pet shop as you can see by the pheasants with broken necks laying across the top of the cages. This is a fresh meat shop. Pick your animal, have it's neck broken for you, or take it home and do it yourself. So many delightful options! Many younger Koreans are very embarrassed by the fact that dogs are used for food by the older generation, but in fact, they are a delicacy used to make men virile and youthful. It was explained to us that they torture the dogs right before they kill them so that the adrenaline flows through the blood and into the muscles, which is meant to help men be able to work harder and longer, especially in the hot summer months. The kitties, we found out, are used to make traditional Korean medicine. They are killed and body parts are turned into home remedies by the older generation. My children understood that these animals were not for pets even without us saying anything. They were pretty distraught, but it made for a very good conversation about different cultures and that there isn't necessarily a right or a wrong way of doing things--just very different.
The man in this picture really wanted me to take his picture. When I did, he asked to see himself in it. He didn't like it, so he asked me to take another one where he looked better. I wanted to laugh because did this guy think I was going to send him a copy? I didn't even know his name. I guess he just wanted me to remember him looking his best--sexy old beast!
Traditional Korean dress market. These dresses are phenomenal. I wanted to have some made for all of us, but they are about $250 each. I am learning that contrary to what many people told us, nothing is cheap in Korea.
This last picture was when Brian and I went on a date downtown on a Saturday night. There were throngs of people. It was packed with shoppers--which as it turns out is a favorite Korean past time. This market place is so brightly lit in the night it looks like day time and it takes up about 3 square miles of block after block. It was really fun and it is safe and within walking distance from our apartment so we're going to let the older kids go hang out there on weekends. The biggest danger for them is the ridiculous price gouging the shop keepers use against Americans which happened to me when I went to buy a pair of boots. It didn't work out well for them because apparently, they've never met the likes of me before. . . but that's a story for another day.
In the above picture, you can see the jerky market. If you look closely you can see dried squid, dried octopus, and dead center in the picture is dried southern rays. Tonight, I overheard a conversation between Giselle and Diamond. Giselle said, "Diamond, you like chicken don't you?" He responded, "Yeah, but only chicken." Giselle went on to question, "But, Diamond you also like bacon." Diamond said, "Okay, yeah, but only chicken and bacon." Giselle countered, "No, Diamond, you like jerky too." Diamond sighed, "Yes, I guess I do like all that kind of stuff. I like all the kinds of food that come out of the wazoo." Uh, What?? I think he might have been searching for a slightly different word in that moment, but in regards to the above picture it could be quite applicable. Let me just say that this seafood jerky smells like something that's come out of a wazoo! Diamond and Giselle walked through Seomun Market with their shirts covering their mouths and noses like gas masks. Giselle kept breaking into tears, "Mommy, this place smells HORRIBLE!"
The above picture is roots, barks, ginsengs, etc. Nothing particularly offensive to the olfactory, but curious nonetheless.
See the fresh squid, yummy! That is if you can get past the smell. . . which I definitely CANNOT!
This is a tub of live octopuses. The guy at this shop lifted one up, which was in a mesh bag, for Florence to touch. She wasn't the least bit interested in touching it, smelling it, or getting anywhere near it.
This picture looks like a pet shop, doesn't it, with all the adorable kitties and puppies? But no, this is absolutely not a pet shop as you can see by the pheasants with broken necks laying across the top of the cages. This is a fresh meat shop. Pick your animal, have it's neck broken for you, or take it home and do it yourself. So many delightful options! Many younger Koreans are very embarrassed by the fact that dogs are used for food by the older generation, but in fact, they are a delicacy used to make men virile and youthful. It was explained to us that they torture the dogs right before they kill them so that the adrenaline flows through the blood and into the muscles, which is meant to help men be able to work harder and longer, especially in the hot summer months. The kitties, we found out, are used to make traditional Korean medicine. They are killed and body parts are turned into home remedies by the older generation. My children understood that these animals were not for pets even without us saying anything. They were pretty distraught, but it made for a very good conversation about different cultures and that there isn't necessarily a right or a wrong way of doing things--just very different.
The man in this picture really wanted me to take his picture. When I did, he asked to see himself in it. He didn't like it, so he asked me to take another one where he looked better. I wanted to laugh because did this guy think I was going to send him a copy? I didn't even know his name. I guess he just wanted me to remember him looking his best--sexy old beast!
Traditional Korean dress market. These dresses are phenomenal. I wanted to have some made for all of us, but they are about $250 each. I am learning that contrary to what many people told us, nothing is cheap in Korea.
This last picture was when Brian and I went on a date downtown on a Saturday night. There were throngs of people. It was packed with shoppers--which as it turns out is a favorite Korean past time. This market place is so brightly lit in the night it looks like day time and it takes up about 3 square miles of block after block. It was really fun and it is safe and within walking distance from our apartment so we're going to let the older kids go hang out there on weekends. The biggest danger for them is the ridiculous price gouging the shop keepers use against Americans which happened to me when I went to buy a pair of boots. It didn't work out well for them because apparently, they've never met the likes of me before. . . but that's a story for another day.
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