Namdaemun Market

Namdaemun means literally "South Gate". The gate the market is named after is one of the 4 main gates of the old city wall, and is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Korea. The market covers more square footage than you could cover in a year of Saturdays...but Rachel and Chris and I will sure try! We went Sunday afternoon for a few hours-just walked around, mostly in circles because its quite confusing and easy to get turned around. They sell everything-miles of jeans, shirts, shoes, kitchenware, dishes, bedding, pillows, plus food and more. While I was in search of a restroom, Rachel and Chris stumbled upon a wig vendor who hand made all of her own wigs. She insisted on sitting Rachel down and pinning on all colors of wigs-which Rachel thoroughly enjoyed! She made me try on a couple as well (the lady, not Rachel), and we ended up buying some clip-in blue and orange hair strands just to make her feel good.
Another thing they sell at Namdaemun is the traditional Korean costume-hanbok. They have them ready-made or you can pick out fabric and they will tailor-make them for you. It's really neat, because you can look into the shops and see Korean children getting fitted for their hanbok for Chusok holiday.
Speaking of which, I almost forgot...Chusok is tomorrow, so we get the day off! It's nice having a day off in the middle of the week. Chusok is basically the Korean equivalent of Christmas-Koreans usually take off the day before and the day after as well.