it has been a week of consumerism. having finally been paid a significant amount and having paid tricia back for the money she lent me that got me through my first month and a half here, I have allowed myself to buy some things I need. it's strange how decadent it feels to buy things that cost more than $20. I haven't done much of that in the past few years. in the past week I bought a digital camera and a brand new pair of shoes...name brand shoes. chucks. black courderoy with plaid insides. I think this is maybe the second pair of shoes I've bought in the past two years that did not come from the salvation army, and definitely the only one for which I have paid over $20. I bought the shoes yesterday, and I also bought a book and got my earlobe halves pierced. I don't want to make a habit of these orgies of purchasing, but it's nice to be able to relax the reigns a bit. and the piercing was crazy cheap. tricia and I were wandering around and happened past a little store set off almost in an alleyway, run by this persian (I assume he's persian, since his shop is called persian piercing) guy who we had seen in commune (one of the foreigner bars) the other night. after taking pictures of some graffiti, we decided to go back so that I could check whether he could pierce my spilt earlobe and how much he charged. we assumed he spoke english because, as tricia pointed out, if someone is in korea and they're not korean, that is a fair assumption. he did in fact speak perfect english, and remembered seeing us in commune. turns out he's been in korea for eight years, but just moved his business to daegu a few weeks ago. he pierced me then and there (two straight barbells, which I can switch out when they heal), while tricia was outside making a five minute phone call, even though I told him I didn't have much cash on me- he was going to let me go to the atm on the honor system, which I thought was pretty awesome of him. turns out I didn't even need to though, because he gave me both holes, both barbells, plus a barbell for my other ear (the one whose hole is still intact) for 16, 000 won ($16). sixteen friggin dollars for two piercings and three pieces of jewelry! I was telling tricia, at those rates I might come back to the u.s. with my head full of holes. he also had some beautiful handmade jewelry in his shop, which I will definitely be going back to check out from time to time.
the digital camera is definitely a fun toy...I've been taking pictures and videos of all kinds of things, so everyone should be prepared to look at hundreds of photos upon my return. if I can figure out a way to post them, you might see some before then.
lunar new year is coming up next week...three days off of school (five including the weekend). there is a possibility of going to visit dinah, so I might be getting out of daegu for the first time since I got here. we'll see.