Today my family and I ventured out of our cozy confires to visit Dongdaemun Market.  We’d previously been to Insadong and Namdaemun, Seoul’s two most famous markets, but this was our first endeavor to Dongdaemun.  At first, we couldn’t find the market.  We exited the subway station immediately across from the gate at Dongdaemun (Dongdaemun is the eastern gate of old Seoul.  Namdaemun is the southern gate.)  It turns out that the market is actually a couple of blocks east of the gate next to Dongdaemun Stadium.  It was after lunchtime and we were hungry, so we decided to stop and eat at a nearby restaurant.  The restaurant’s food was delicious.  Called Gaelimjeong (계림정), the restaurant specializes in galbi and offers bulgogi and other standard Korean dishes.  We ordered bulgogi and galbi soup, and we enjoyed a variety of panchan (side dishes).  The bulgogi, cooked over a burner, cost 12,000 won per portion (about $12).

After lunch we head to the marketplace.  With my son astride my back in a travel carrier, we assumed the role of tourists as we mingled with locals.  We didn’t even try to blend in–it’s useless to even try unless you look remotely Korean.  We saw a few more foreigners than usual milling around the glitzy shopping malls south of the stadium.  A woman we met from Washington State was in Seoul on an exchange program with Yonsei University.  I have a suspicion that most foreigners who visit Dongdaemun are in Seoul on a semi-permanent basis.  My son was a hit with the teenage Korean girls, many of whom cooed happily as they passed.  "Hello baby!" many of them said, trying to pat his head or touch his hand.  I’m already worried that he will be a heartbreaker when he starts dating! 

We strolled through a couple of shopping malls and perused the merchandise at some of the booths.  These malls are different than what you typically find in the United States.  Although at first sight they appear to be a single department store, they are actually filled with small, booth-like stores hawking an assortment of goods.  It’s quite a bazaar feeling.  The booths are generally grouped by product.  For example, shoe stores are on one floor, while women’s clothing stores fill another floor.  I searched for neckties, but I was disappointed to find that the ties on sale were not even real ties.  They were actually faux ties with cloth straps that tie around the neck like an apron.  No thank you!  Nothing ruins a suit quite like wearing a cheap necktie.  I’m sure that I can find some good neckties in Korea, but not at Dongdaemun.  We did buy a small "Thomas the Tank Engine" backpack for my son.  My brilliant wife bartered the shop owner down 33% on the price of the backpack, and my son wore it proudly as we shopped.  My wife’s experience growing up in China gives her an edge when it comes to bargaining in Asia.  As for me, I assist by acting disinterested and chiming in that the item is too expensive.  It’s usually enough for us to get a great bargain.

In the afternoon, we crossed the street and visited the vendors’ stalls situated on the sidewalks outside Dongdaemun Stadium and the ballpark.  Dongdaemun Market is huge, filling several streets around the stadium.  It’s a huge montage selling everything ranging from practical to cheap.  I saw quite a few knock-off items for sale.  I chuckled when I saw the pile of "luxury" brand purses piled in a bargain bin.  I watched intently as Koreans enthusiastically gathered around many of the stalls and bargained for items.  It reminded me that I really am in Asia, as much as I sometimes feel like I am still in America.

Note to mars_wolf:  Thanks for reading and for your feedback.  I don’t know about Marco Polo, but we do like to travel.  I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for Marco Polo when he went from Italy to the Mongol court in Beijing.  Traveling today pales by comparison.

Wow, talk about a big surprise.  Today I gave a presentation on career development in an American context to the students of Incheon Foreign Language High School in Incheon, Korea.  I’d prepared for the presentation for about a week and thought I would receive a cordial welcome from the 150 students who came to hear my presentation.  Instead, I felt like a musician at a rock concert.  I usually feel like an average Joe (no offense to all the guys named Joe out there).  I had a blast basking in 1 hour and 20 minutes of fame.  You can’t help but feel special and uplifted by that.  The students’ enthusiastic reaction to my visit was completely unexpected.  I arrived to a banner strung across the school’s entrance announcing my presentation.  After visiting for 15 minutes with the school’s principal, I went to the auditorium and was met by thunderous applause and whistling. (Whistling by students in Korea–who ever heard of such a thing?)  Somewhere in heaven, I’m sure Andy Warhol smiled, bemused.

Much to my chagrin, I sent an earlier version of the PowerPoint presentation I’d prepared for my speech, so the multimedia component lacked some pizzazz.  I had to ad lib and talk about some of the changes I’d made from the previous version.  I worked the crowd, giving them many personalized examples to pique their interest.  These students are some of the best in Korea, and I surmised that most are hoping to attend Korea’s top universities or elite schools overseas.  I told them about the story of Bill Gates, who dropped out of Harvard University to found Microsoft with two friends (Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer).  I counter-weighted that example with the example of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the founders of Google who graduated from Stanford University and lined up funding for Google from Stanford.  I also used the example of my wife, an alumna of a similar foreign language school in Shanghai.  After she graduated, she went to the U.S. and eventually became vice president of a small bank in Washington State.  I used these examples to show how career development in the U.S. is an individualized endeavor and that there’s no single way to have a successful career.  I wanted the students to know that in the U.S. they don’t need to go to Harvard or Stanford to be successful.  I wanted to impress on them that success is a state of mind, that success in the American context is whatever the person considers to be success.

The students asked many excellent questions, particularly about studying in the U.S.  The way they responded to my presentation made it obvious that most knew English well.  They humored me with "ooh’s and ah’s" whenever I used my meager Korean.  The tone of the presentation was lighthearted and informative.  The highlight was when I did something completely unexpected and sang a few verses from the Beatles’ song, "Yesterday."  During the question and answer session, the students’ microphone abruptly went silently, and to kill time I decided to sing for them.  My interpreter, a veteran in the profession, said afterward that she had never heard anyone sing during a speech.  Because Koreans are crazy for noraebang (karaoke) and pride themselves on being able to sing, I thought I would entertain them with a little serenading.  I also did it to show that Americans are just little bit different.  An American, moreso than a Korean, would have the gumption to sing during a speech.  I’m positive that they will never forget the time when an American official showed up in a suit and started singing during a speech.  After my presentation ended, I transformed myself into politician and marched down the center aisle to shake students’ hands.  I felt like a prize fighter after a successful match.  I could tell from their faces that most enjoyed my presentation.  I just hope that through all the entertaining and frivolity they heard my core message–that career development is up to them, and that they need to realize that there are many ways to find the "American Dream."  I think they were listening.