i'm home?
i'm back in korea now. in seoul, staying with my friend until new year's day.
it doesn't feel like home just yet. all the while throughout my trip, whenever i thought about going home, i was thinking of going home to toronto, not korea. when i think about being here, i almost dread going back to work. but i'm sure the feeling will pass.
there's so much to tell about the trip, i don't know where to start. i'm debating whether to just put up the photos and annotate them, like last year's, rather than try to recount everything.
but i will mention this: i spent over $80 on dvds. and i only got 45 of them.
there are these 'shops' that sell dvds for eight quai. one canadian dollar is worth just over five quai. and i say 'shop' because they are actually just tables set up in the sidewalk of a busy street, or at the front of an alleyway. at first, i had bought only four or six discs, because i didn't really see that much i liked.
then when i thought about it, and went back, i had opened the floodgates. i picked up another 28 in one shot. the next day, i got another six or so.
now, you must understand that these dvds are clearly pirated. a lot of them are region-free, and the rest have labels that indicate that they are for certain regions. i have yet to check them. i may have to buy a region-free player.
they would also try to hawk more recent movies, like LOTR 2, HP 2, or the new 007 flick. these, i've been told by locals, are handycam shots, and not really worth the 8 quai.
to illustrate how illegal these 'shops' are, i'll tell you some things i saw and heard. firstly, what i heard: if a cop comes buy, they're usually paid off to turn a blind eye. what i saw: i was walking down this fairly busy shopping street, and i saw on the corner a bit of a hubbub. i took a look, and saw the familiar plastic slips that the discs come in (most don't sell them with a jewel case). but these guys did not even have tables - just a cardboard box bottom, and a suitcase on top, open, displaying their wares.
i was perusing one guy's suitcase when all of a sudden, like a flock of birds or a school of fish, every vendor, seemingly with one mind, slammed the tops of their cases, grabbed their boxes, and ran. then they scattered. some ran down alleys, some just up the street. it was the heat, or someone had cried wolf.
in anycase, it was hilarious, and the one vendor that i was with just before had my disc out, asking me if i still wanted it. i took it, a shady transaction in the middle of the sidewalk. but i think for 'strcitly ballroom', a movie i've never seen but heard good things about, and the free show, was well worth the $1.50.