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Published: September 26th 2008
Even though Seoul has commercialized it as one of the tourist hotspots in the capital, every travel guide NOT written by bilingual Koreans has said that Itaewon is nothing particularly special. Less, even, some of them say. If you're not into shopping (I'm not), then there is nothing there for you except "alcohol, testosterone and grime." Certainly never a place I would go at night by myself.
So why the entry? Here are the things that, tourism aside, Itaewon DOES have:
- Signs in English
- A MUCH higher concentration of shopkeepers who are bilingual, or close to it
- Ethnic restraunts
- A higher concentration of people who don't look Asian
- Grocery stores with western food
But why would I want these things? Why would I take an 18 hour flight just to seek out stuff I could easily find in my home country?
Because Itaewon also has this:
A shameless bookworm, I was sad to have to leave the majority of my collection at home (though my mother didn't seem to mind...she is apparently going through it the way my sister goes through my shoes).
After being here a month, the prospect of books whose alphabet I learned more than a month ago was enough to take over my Sunday afternoon. Okay, so yes I went into Seoul just for the bookstore, but I explored Itaewon while I was there. Because the Koreans seem to think it is worthy of a giant "WELCOME TO ITAEWON" arch on either side and a giant translated-into-English plaque at one end, it seemed worth exploring.
Only during broad daylight of course.
I've talked earlier about the boldness of Koreans advertising their wares. Speaking on microphones, going to the middle of a sidewalk just to grab someone's shoulder...ect. I've mentioned this, right? About how it's great to be the obvious foreigner because they don't try, knowing I won't understand them?
Itaewon is just like that, only without the second part. (See item #2 on the list)
There were outdoor kiosks and tiny shops, department stores and a million bars, sandwich shops and Indian restaurants and Italian restaurants and coffee shops with obscene prices (my guess is that Itaewon can get away with $4 iced coffee because so many of it's patrons come from NYC and/or London) and tourist-vultures who could get downright creepy. ("You are here alone? What are you looking for?")
But the bookstore was nice. Not the biggest bookstore I've ever been in, but it had a used (and pretty cheap) book section and a lot of good stuff.
When I had a question, I knew that I could get an answer. No miming, no looking around for a conveniently bilingual person, no frustration... I knew that I could ask a question in the language I understood; the guy behind the counter would not only be able to understand but also answer, and all would be well and good and understandable. I did. He did. It was.
Later, when I went to pay, by instinct I looked at the screen next to the register for my total, but to my surprise, the woman behind the counter said it in English!
I chose to come to this country. I put myself in the middle of this language-alphabet barrier knowing what I was getting myself into. Most of the time, it's fine. I'm learning Korean (SLOWLY), I've got the alphabet - which is so much more helpful than I had thought - I even know some numbers, and like I've said before, my miming skills are getting very good.
But every once in a while, it's refreshing not to have that barrier. Every so often, it's worth the bus/subway ride just to find that break.
Then when I went into a Dunkin Donuts (surprisingly classy, and expensive) to sit and read, there were at least three other non-Asians doing the same thing. I've never seen people do that here in Kimpo.
The moral of the story? I wouldn't do Itaewon alone at night. It's not particularly scenic, and it has no real Korean landmarks. But, when you want to find a little piece of the culture YOU know, if just for one afternoon you would like to feel like you're back home, I recommend it. Once you're finished squeezing between the stands overflowing with cheap-but-overpriced Korean souvenirs, once you dodge the guy who seems hellbent on having you relinquish the contents of your wallet in his store, you will find it.
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ben
non-member comment
books
yes mom did go through your entire bookshelf, although i'm not sure if it was fun. I even found a few books to read (very helpful seeing as my english teacher had nothing)