This post is about what you found memorable about your experience through Myongdong and Apgujong. Be at my office at 5 p.m. We will leave as a group from there.
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This is a test comment of what to do.
1. Mark Whitaker
2. When we have a field exercise, this is the place to put a new title for my commentary about the field session; it should serve as an introduction for my comment (if a field study). If we had a film/lecture discussion, this section should serve as an introduction for what I found important or interesting about that .
3. There is something about this following article that interests me, fascinates me, and/or makes me wonder what the article leaves out, etc. I can write as much as I want on this blog about my view on the article and the issues that it discusses. I can write about personal experiences that the article reminded me about. I can write about a different view of the same issues that the article mentions. I can convince people of something, express my intelligence, and express my emotion in this comment.
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1. Mark Whitaker
2. Myongdong-to-Apgujeong Visit: Consumer Lifestyles in Seoul
3. These are some notes on my quick impressions of these two shopping districts, comparing and contrasting them. YOU DON'T HAVE TO write as much as I did!
I will organize my observations in different categories: general comments on the built environment, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, religion, and language.
GENERAL COMMENTS
Both these areas are known for their international brands and shopping. Beyond that it seems that the areas can be quite different sociologically.
Myongdong despite being a major shopping district, seemed a more varied human location as well.
Myongdong seemed an area where no one 'lived' and only visited, while Apgujeong with its massive, well kept apartment buildings like dominoes on one side of Rodeo Street's area was a very wealthy location where people actually lived. As such, a lot of 'living services' were evident in this area that didn't exist in the more anonymous and varied Myongdong.
First I will describe Apgujeong and the "Rodeo Street". This seemed a more wealthy area. This is seen in the larger amount of mere aesthetic stores and aesthetic appreciation like multiple flower shops, violin stores, wig stores, photographic studies that specialized in baby portraits, shoe polish stands, many more 'shiny' new cars parked on the streets, even organic food markets. This is a sign of a high disposable income and lots of material comfort where price is little concern. I saw many mother-and-small-child pairs in Apgujeong, and I only saw one of these pairs in Myongdong. There were mothers with their children in baby carriages, or guiding their pre-teens through the streets--categories that I didn't see in Myongdong's crowds.
Some 'busy mothers' were with their baby carriages while eating sushi in the Galleria, with their husbands I assume.
The infrastructure of the Galleria itself is covered with expensive lights for little 'economic' rationale except to display the location and the building.
On the inside, there are many smaller boutiques--like a small Rodeo Street in one building, climate controlled year round.
Each boutique shop has its own dedicated personnel. Many of them were standing around waiting for a shopper. None of them looked bored, though always at attention to serve. Certainly there was little lack of people to help you if you wanted to purchase something.
In the Galleria, I went to the second floor (the main entrance, with an entire floor devoted to cosmetics it seems), the fourth floor (menswear, which was almost completely empty of men shoppers--only female shoppers, and dozens of idle employees), and the basement (the food court--where you could have a choice of many different sushi restaurants beside each other, as well as a large chocolate store selling truffles very conspicuously. It had a very well stocked wine store.)
Everywhere, idle employees were waiting for someone to help shop--sometimes two per tiny shop.
Some of the prices for tableware in the Galleria perhaps indicate customary prices in this area:
W 120,000, a tea set
W 35,000 for one espresso cup
W 55,000, 'egg cup' for breakfast
The Galleria even sold 'luxury dog' dog food--and instead of hidden away far away from the 'human food' it was located near the regular meats area of the store. Literally a dozen staff in the food area were waiting on people to serve, and to give you free food. Another elegant touch of the store was to offer free tea bags on every floor, instead of just a place for water. There were even chairs provided in these areas.
In Rodeo Street, I saw an endless stream of foreign coffeeshop chains, as well as many small female fashion boutiques. Highly polished cars crawled through the thin street that we walked. Men in suits were talking at a Starbucks on their cell phones. Sometimes there were several coffeeshops within view of each other. Some were two or three stories high, like "De Chocolate Coffee."
Special medical services specializing in "oriental medicine" were at one end of the street we saw, and they had their own private fleet of ambulances waiting.
I saw mostly females who were with their children, or highly fashion conscious young females in their late 20s walking with each other. One particular boutique I saw was the Glamour Cat, with its little neon cat face sign, with "FROM JAPAN" prominently displayed on the side of the story. I saw many students in their school uniforms. They lived nearby the "Princeton Review" building for honing their educational entrance examinations on one side of the Rodeo Street area.
In Myongdong, the crowd was more diverse, both in terms of wealth and its background. When we started to walk into Myongdong, there were some homeless Koreans lying on the sidewalk. They weren't begging, they were sleeping. There was another snaggle-toothed though jovial long haired old man who seemed like he was mentally ill. He fit into the crowd like all the others. There was a man without legs as well, with his wheeled cart--begging in the middle of a road junction of walking shoppers. I remember a very aged looking woman selling something only because she had a "Ralph Lauren" blue shopping bag in front of her poor wares. The ultimate contrast. Myongdong was a place of many contrasts.
AGE
Lots of variety in age groups in Myongdong I think. However, I only saw one baby in my entire trip to Myongdong. However, I saw many mothers with their small child in Apgujeong. In the basement restaurants of the expensive Galleria, there were parents eating sushi with several baby carriages seen.
There were many more teenagers in Myongdong visiting the location either in their school clothes or in regular clothes. However, in Apgujeong there were a lot more visible children in school uniforms to me.
GENDER
Many more females were walking around and shopping in Myongdong, while many younger teen girls were walking around with each other or their boyfriends in Myongdong.
ETHNICITY/ RELIGION
On previous visits to Myongdong, it was a place where two well dressed Christians were preaching through microphones to the crowd, each carrying a large white sign with a red Christian cross. I saw some Islamic women with their headscarves here as well on the Thursday visit. Like everyone else, it all blended together into a blur.
I remember by the time we passed the Pizza Hut, my senses seemed stunted with it all.
The whole aera of shopping has many English signs and international brands in English lettering. This area of Seoul could have been anywhere I thought, in our globalized world. It had lost all connection to Korea economically, except for it was filled with mostly Koreans demographically.
I saw many 'mixed couples' as well in Myongdong: Korean man and Western woman or Korean woman and Western man. As I said, the Myongdong area seemed a huge blur, a true crossroads of globalization.
Though it was in Apgujeong that I saw a long string of Westerners moving through Rodeo Street as well--about 20 of them. They were speaking English. That is the largest group of Westerners I have ever seen at once in Seoul, and they were in the most expensive shopping district area.
There is more I could say, though this is what I distilled from my visit.
1. Hong Ji-youn
2. different aspects of consumption culture
3. I visited Myong-dong to Apgujeong, famous shopping districts. In ordinary times, I pass a place as 'simple streets' to buy something. but this time I look differently and attentionally, bringing my thinking into our seminar subject 'consumption and environment'.
first, Myong-dong is more energetic than Apgujeong. crowded people, shouting merchants and so on. especially stree stalls add this shopping districts to vitality. they start in form of just eating between meals. however recently diversity widens from a way of cooking to a material.
In Apgujeong, there is no street stalls but there is infrastructure of Galleria. Galleria consists of many smaller boutiques. It seems like a one museum that many artists display their works of art. Shop of Myong-dong seems to be permitted to visiting anyone but Galleria don't like that, when we only see the surface of wall covered with expensive lights.
I thought that structure of shop make different consumptiong culture.
and thanks for professor. a food we ate is delicious so much!!!
1.Minji Kim
2.Different shopping environment from Myoungdong to Apgujeong
3.Although both Myoungdong and Apgujeong are facinating places for shopping, I saw a big difference in those two places. It is that Apgujeong, as well as the Rodeo Street is a much wealthier place. Unlike Myoungdong where there were many stores and road shops that are much closer to normal people(?) ㅋㅋ , in Apgujeong I could see many shops that are specialized and are for high-class people. For example, although they both had banks near the station, if Myoungdong has a ATM machine that is open for all the citizens, Apgujeong had big bank companies such as 'Gold&Wise' 'Wise Consulting Center' etc for high class people. This difference on the target consumers was the biggest thing that caught my eyes during out short visit.
1.ilmin yoo
2.difference of Myondong and Apgujeong
3.Myondong and Apgujeong are very famous main street in Seoul. but there are several difference beteween two. First thing is age group. Myondong is like youth street. most of them are under mid -2os. however, In Apgujeong most of them are officer, from 30-50 's (maybe prices are very high??) second, Myondong is very croweded and very noisy (because of music sound and people). but there is rather still in Myondong . also very luxurious car is more than people
1. Heejeong Moon
2. Walking on the number 1. consumption street in Korea.
3. first, when I was walking Myong-dong street, there are so diversity peaple, kids to foreigners. So fascinated product that the youth are wildly excited are on sale ; twist potato , peculiar earing , coping clothes ..
they have something in common that not expensive and creative.
but when I was walking Apgujeong street , there is more quiet , but more luxury than Myong-dong street. In Galleria, brilliant mannequin says hello to customers.
Myong-dong is youth and dynamic street , by contrast Apgujeong is wealthy and luxury street.
after consumption and walking lessons :) - so delicious dinner makd me so happy ^^ thank you very much teacher ~>0<
1.Sunjung Park
2.Globalized fashion street in South Korea,passing by Myong-dong and Apgujeong.
3. When I was young, I could not see many foreigners in my country known for the only one race. If there was a foreigner on the street,on the subway or elsewhere, Koreans look at them as they see "monkeys" in the zoo. As time goes by, however, this trend has been dramatically changed. I could feel this as I visited Myong-dong and Apgujeong both of which are well known as the famous fashion streets in South Korea.
Passing by those two places, I could find many foreign shops showing off their sign boards with diverse foreign words. They were maybe exigent in the past as well, but the number of them is being more increased. Moreover, various foreign pop songs were being heard from many shops.
Along with these changes of objects, there was another change-that is, the increased number of foreigners. Walking on the streets of Myongdong, I saw a group of Islamic women with their headscarves who were hardly seen before in South Korea. Also,as I visited Apgujeong, I saw many foreigners and Koreans walking and talking together in flocks.
More surprisingly, no one regards them as "strangers" anymore. Now all Koreans just think this change is natural. This is not an exception for me.
Overall, Thursday's visist for both sites was new experience to me in that I could reorganize my thoughts considered as "natural".
1. Dasom Choi
2. Famous Fashion Streets of Seoul -- Myoungdong and Apgujeong
3. When I visited Myoungdong and Apgujeong, I watched carefully about girls' clothes, shoppers' fashion styles and their actions toward clothing shops. As we know that Myoungdong and Apgujeong are very famous shopping districts, clothing shops already display many fashion items leading new fashion of Spring-Summer season. In Myoungdong, as compared with Apgujeong, I can see more young teenagers in streets. They were wearing their school uniforms but following their own fashion trend.(And it seemed that they are the No.1 class most interested in shopping.) But in Apgujeong, there were many people in various generations. And I cannot easily find cheap shopping items which were common in Myoungdong such as shoes that cost 10,000won. Maybe Apgujeong shops aim at shoppers who have enough money to buy luxurious items. Anyway, I was very excited because we can see many clothing shops, interesting shoppers, etc. Next time we have a field exercise, I'll certainly wear sneakers and enjoy more interesting experience~!
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