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Koreans must feel that the sides of building need some flare because I have yet to see a bare side of a building. Every building around here is covered in signs. Top to bottom, they don’t want to leave an inch uncovered.

At night it looks like the Las Vegas strip because every single one of these signs lights up. I feel like I’m on an episode of Seinfeld because our apartment glows blue (not red but you get the point) at night because of the enormous sign from the Seafood Restaurant downstairs. Even churches here have red glowing crosses on their roofs. The best part (pick up on the sarcasm?) is that most places in Korea stay open 24 hours a day! That’s right! These signs never turn off. It is a bit overwhelming to the eye and I don’t think it is just because I can’t read the majority of them.

Occasionally my eye will catch some English signs here or there but I often wonder who translated the Korean to English for these sign makers. I think my four year old students could do a better job. Yesterday while walking through Home Ever (similar to a Big K or Super Walmart) we spotted the coffee shop pictured to the right. I found this quite funny because image is very important here in Korea. I don’t think many people would even be seen here if they knew what hussy meant, or maybe they do and that’s why it’s so busy!

While getting a pastry yesterday morning we spotted this festive sign outside of Paris Baguette. We were laughed at for taking the picture but I found it funny that this girl in the sign was not only wearing a bear hat but matching paws! I thought maybe it was a Christmas thing, like how people at the malls in the United States wear elf costumes to bring joy to the little tots visiting Santa. That seemed like a logical explanation, so I stuck with it. That is until I got to school yesterday and saw three of my students wearing bear hats and paws. I guess mittens and a beanie are just too boring, like bare buildings. Everything here needs flare!

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