No Longer Just an Urban Legend

Fathers and grandfathers be warned: the entire point to this entry may make you uncomfortable.

A common grief that finds its way into the heart of every Western woman in Korea is the lack of bras. Not lack of. They're sold from the back of trucks and underground in every other subway station. But the lack of any sizes above cups that resemble the 1/4 measuring cup. For 9 months I've watched helplessly as my monster of a washing machine destroys clothing article after clothing article. And my bras were some of the first victims. The worst is when you open your washing machine and everything is just a big knot that you can pick up with one hand. And the binding that ties your jeans, sweaters, tshirts together is one bra, being stretched to its limits. But there's no where to buy bras. Even the American stores out here, like Gap and American Apparel, only stock items in children- I mean Asian women- sizes. A few foreign women whispered about shady dealings in dark alleys where suitcases were opened and wal mart bras were sold for hundreds of dollars. But the situation seemed pretty gloomy.

Until last Saturday that is.

I was wandering around Hongdae- a college/artsy/nightclub- area with no particular destination in mind. And I saw a Korean lingere store. For giggles, I thought I'd go in and peruse the merchandise. Not expecting anything to fit me. The quiet shopkeeper came over to me after watching me for a few minutes. And proceeded to cup me, nod her head, open a drawer and hand me the most lacy ribbon adorned bra I have ever seen. She ushered me into the dressing room, gave me approximately 45 seconds of privacy, before entering and manhandling me once again. Very few words were spoken during this exchange. The first one didn't really fit but she came back with a bra mysteriously labeled 85C (have no idea what the western equivalent would be and through al the persuing I've done in the bras sold from the backs of trucks and underground I've never seen a letter bigger than A) that lo and behold...FIT! A bra! In Korea! I was thrilled with my discovery and was quick to purchase many different colors, all equally lacy and donned with ribbons. I'm not going to call any of them particularly pretty. But they're bras. And they fit.

Happy Birthday America!

The First week of July- otherwise known as the birthday week for the white colonial nations of North America. July 1st is Canada Day (add 1 more thing to my new found knowledge of that delightful country) and 3 days later is America's. I went with Michele and Maranda to an area north east of Seoul called Gangwon Do. First thing we did was go whitewater rafting down some rapids (making pit stops along the way to jump off rocks and partake in an odd ritual where the guide of your raft would hold you under neath ice cold streaming water, twisting your neck into the stream). That night we celebrated the 4th in grand style. BBQ, music, fireworks, juice box sizes of soju. We had it all. We also had mud wrestling, people passing out, steam engine snoring. Needless to say we started the next day's river trekking hike nearly 3 hours late and some stupid people who did the entire hike in 2,500 won flip flops from Homeplus. Like yours truly. I went pretty fast but my feet are still mad at me.