by Frank L. Parker

Created on: July 31, 2009   Last Updated: August 01, 2009

From the beautiful buildings and parks of Seoul, to the port city of Inchon and the small but amazing restaurants of Pohang, South Korea is a cultural favorite that I have visited so many times that I cannot accurately recall the total number. Naturally, there was a first time, when I stepped onto the pier in Pusan, the second largest city in South Korea, and my eyes were wide with wonder. I couldn't wait to see it all, and it is a time that I will never forget.

It was at the beginning of my days in Nagasaki, Japan where I ultimately lived for five years, and as a young nineteen-year-old from New York City I found everything in Japan fascinating, fun, but also very expensive. There had to be a way for me to economize on things like shoes, shirts, pants, and underwear, so I could use my money for more important things like dance-clubs, drinking and karaoke bars.

The answer was Korea, where the exchange rate at that time in 1985 was far more dollar-friendly than in Japan. It was time for a shopping trip. After a seven-hour trek by sea from Southern Japan, we arrived in Pusan, South Korea, and standing on the pier with my friends Mark and Steve, I breathed in deep to sample the cold November air.

The speeding and swerving of the taxicab that brought us to the shopping district was an experience that country-boys Mark and Steve found terrifying, while to me it felt completely normal. We got to the shopping district, a very welcoming and friendly place with small to medium sized stores and outside merchants selling everything from textiles, to home electronics. It was crowded with a mass of people, and I made note of the fact that some shoppers were a little pushy, there were some minor arguments, and people haggled over price. Where Japan was a very polite and courteous place, sometimes to the point that it seemed a bit forced, Korea instantly felt more genuine and real. Curiously refreshing to me, the people here reminded me of New Yorkers.

My friends and I went our separate ways for shopping and agreed to meet up later at the hotel, for dinner and barhopping. As I walked around and inspected the wares at many clothes stores, the bargains were instantly apparent, but in the back of my mind I was still hearing the words of a good Japanese friend who warned me about shopping in Pusan, where knockoffs were not unusual, and quality might be a bit lower than what I'd find at stores in Seoul. The shopping here was great, so trying to ignore

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