Going downtown...no autographs, please!

Today I was brave and ventured out of my apartment. I took the 99-1 bus downtown about 3-5 miles to an outside market I had seen on a previous bus ride. The downtown area looks like any other downtown area in a medium size city. There are lots of stores, small restaurants and nurseries. After mistakenly going into a hotel lobby, a nursing home and a police station, I found the bus terminal and was very proud of myself!  So proud that I challenged myself to walk back to my apartment approximately 3-5 miles uphill. It would not have been so bad if I did not have to keep on my windbreaker. You see, bare shoulders and (my slight) cleavage is considered a little indecent here. I had left the house with a no-sleeve, low-cleavage shirt, so I HAD to leave it on. So I walked uphill, in the sun with my hot windbreaker on (to stay decent) with a fern. Oh, I bought a beautiful fern from an outdoor nursery. I tried to talk him down, but it is hard to do when you do not know the language. So I ended up paying the full $10,000 won for it ($10 bucks).

The reason I said that I was brave is because whenever you go outside, as a foreigner, you are stared at regularly. People even sneak and take pictures on their phones to send to their friends. Yup, I am an official "exotic zoo animal" here. Some people stare, some stop and stare. Some have mouths that open in shock. Some smile, some don't.  It can be a little unnerving after a while. I always try to ignore it. Today I was able to ignore it for the first 3 miles. But after awhile, sweating in my hot windbreaker, carrying my fern, it was not cute anymore, lol. Even the cashier in the corner store was sneaking pictures while I browsed the ice cream cooler. 
Sigh.

Catch me on a cooler day, no autographs, please.

Downtown is beautiful!!

Look at the last pictures. The little old lady convinced me to buy spinach from her that I did not need. But I wanted to give her the business. It cost $2000 ($2) won and was worth it.