There is one thing that struck me as kind of old fashioned. That was the
unmentionables of female intimate wear in South Korea. The above picture was taken earlier this year...as I was looking through store after store...seeking something 'sensual'. I snapped this picture as a reminder of how things were when I arrived in January of this year. I thought I would never see such modest displays. It kind of shocked me after all, in the West there is nothing is left to the imagination of men...but then...perhaps it has changed.
After all, I am in the most conservative city in all of South Korea...
Perhaps...not so conservative at all...or perhaps things need be cooler in the heat of summer days...
As I was out with one of my young Korean friends, Luna, I witnessed shock in her young face as we passed this window display. Shock is something the West is immune to. I think I should have taken a picture of her look...because if trend keeps up...then innocence is gone. It was like I had witnessed the loss of one of the last baby teeth of our global society.
Yet in the background...the panties hang...I wonder for how much longer they will remain.
I happened to snap this picture from across the street, not intending to capture the noise of the power line or the two words..."on" in the background. Now that I look at the picture, it seems perfect. Reality television, seems to be something that Koreans can't get enough of. Dating shows, where the audience texts in their comments and a group of young Koreans that seems to get their own safer versions of other shows that usually have them set in traditional Korean setting, pushing the envelope to their own social norms.
This staged event of one of the reality kind, have these guys dancing on stage and chugging beer to cheers here in downtown Daegu. As you can imagine, the guy with the shades and hat induced screams from the girls in the crowd. I was partial to his look as well.
However, to be fair, my journey of the day starting by going downtown, wondering what I would find, when I stopped and stared at these caged parakeets. I just wondered why they would be sitting in front of a clothing store. Oh these birds were smart, and not at all camera shy. Singing away happily as I snapped their pictures, I thought of it as just a kind of ordinary moment when two Korean girls decided to strike up a conversation with me.
All of a sudden I had two shadows who wanted a picture with me. Why? I honestly don't know, but I obliged them by hailing down an expat who happened to be walking down the street. I kind of laugh because I finally see how the oversized hat (I just can't find one in Korea to fit my head) and sunglasses obscures my face. We exchanged information and I went on my way, leaving these birds to fly to enjoy their freedom.
And then it came to pass, a shop that doesn't just sell panties, but the more erotic thong. The shopkeeper's face turned red and begged me not to photograph them...so one shot was what had to do, at the very back of their store...not made in Korea, but made in the UK. God Save the Queen! 
