seeing more clearly

When I mentioned I had brought my eye perscription because I read that Seoul was a very good place to buy eyewear, Donny said he wanted newglasses too, so we decided to go off togetgher. Grace and Martin were probably very happy to be left behind as my family is known for dithering.  Not because of cost, but because we need to see everything and try everything and think about it to make sure we make the best choice.  I think of it as being prudent and sensible - Martin calls it dithering.  Potayto, potahto.

Anyway, there was joy in my heart to be spending this time alone with Donny.  I don't think I have ever gone shopping with him on our own, just the two of us.  Growing up, we were not the closest sibling pair, probably too similar in some ways but too different in others.  We were both musical (still are!), creative, sensitive, and intuitive, and early emotional hurts bruised us way harder than they should have.  We both dealt with low self-esteem, but in different ways and on different trajectories.  We were rarely in the same city let alone continent for much of our adult years.  Who knew that we would be sympatico here in Korea? 

We zipped down to the Namdaemun Market, a wonderful labyrinth of shops and kiosks and makeshift tables that has operated in Seoul for centuries.  You can get anything here, although, to be realistic, a lot of it is not that well made nor all that inexpensive.  I saw handmade costume jewellry, leggings made in fake Louis Vuitton logo'ed fabric, dark brown traditional Korean soup bowls, plastic toys that buzzed with moving parts, sweets made before your eyes with spun sugar so fine it looked like silk - on and on it goes.  Much of the market is laid out as in the rest of Seoul. All the jewellry was in one area, all the ladies undergarments were in another, all the electronic goods in another, etc. which to my mind seems counter-intuitive.  Why would you want to be placed among all your competitors?  But it does make the shopping experience a little easier for the buyer, with less ground to cover for what you are looking for.

So we headed to the part of the market that sold eyewear.  We started with one well stocked shop and just dove in, looking at every frame in the place, then used our pathetic Korean to try some on.  I became bold in making quick assessments I could never do with someone I didn't know.  "No, not that one.  Nope.  Take your hat off.....hmmmm, no.  Ew.  That one's not bad." etc. etc..

I give credit to Martin for teaching me that direct honesty is not a comment on the person, just the product on the person, and that it saves time to be so forthright. I hope Donny felt the same way!  We powered through frames by the dozen, and giggled at some of the outrageous examples.  We moved from shop to shop, narrowing down the best shape for each of us, and took photos of our main contenders.  We confirmed prices, and completion dates.  The guide books were right - perscription eyewear is one of the few things that are a real bargain here.

It was getting late so we made note of the either/or choices and zipped back home.  Grace and Martin rolled their eyes when they found out that we did not have glasses in our hot little hands, but we defended our positions (happily mutual ones!) and said that we needed them to help with the final decision as they would be the ones looking at our in our new specs for the rest of our days (we may have exaggerated a bit).

Regardless of whether or not we actually get them (Editor's note: they did - two each!), spending those hours with my brother was a memory I will treasure for ever. 

(some of Donny's choices - and two of the winners!)