Songtan

On Saturday William and I went to Songtan to do some shopping. Osan Air Base is there so shop owners are more likely to speak a little English. Plus there are a few great Thai restaurants we've tried. It was really cold for walking around outside, but we had a nice day nonetheless.

We went into a couple tailor's shops and found one, Mr. Bo's G.Q., that does custom suits. William could get a three-piece suit with really nice fabrics for $200. Not bad! An Army Captain was there who said he'd previously ordered seven suits and gave a glowing recommendation. William will probably do a suit later, but he got sized for a pair of shoes from the man who shares the same space as the tailor. If William wants to buy any shoes while he's here he doesn't really have a choice other than custom because men's shoes off-the-shelf are huge. I doubt the shop had any smaller than a 12. The men don't seem to have particularly large feet, I think they just wear their shoes too big. Later we noticed a guy whose shoes were all curled up because his feet obviously weren't in the ends of the shoes at all.

As we were leaving I asked if they knew of any similar places for women. It turns out they make women's shoes too. All I have to do is bring in photos or pictures from magazines of shoes I like. He seemed pretty confident that they can make any shoe. So, Kim, if you come to Korea and want some nice shoes then bring some pictures of your favorite shoe styles with you :)

The two guys who owned the store were cool. We liked this place better than others we'd been in because Korean shop owners tend to hover and follow you around the store. I'm sure it's a cultural thing, but it drives me nuts. I don't like feeling as if I'm being hunted as I shop. I prefer to go in and look on my own and if I have a question I'll ask (or try to with the minimal Korean I've learned), otherwise leave me alone. It wasn't a big shop but these guys let us walk around and look and didn't try to push us into buying something (also pretty common).