The Tina Tour

Tina is my friend from Australia who likes to sew both quilts and clothing. We agreed to go to the craft show at the high school gymnasium on Saturday. She picked me up at our apartment complex around 10 and we went to the bank to get $100 bills to exchange for won. Then we parked at her house to go to the craft show. I got a handmade Korean embroidered painting. That took all my American cash (but not the $100). We went into Itaewon to get her shoes reheeled and exchange money, but the rate was lower than on post, so we went back to the bank for won. We also bought scarves, hats, and gloves from street vendors. It makes a big difference in price who you buy from, so ask at several places.
I had a magazine article on a thrift shop in Insadong, so we searched for it, starting at the gate 17 subway station - Ichon. It took us several trains to find the right station. Then we searched for the shop based on the recognizable buildings in the photo. We finally did find it, but it wasn't much what we were looking for - mostly clothing, dishes, and books. So we stopped at a small Korean restaurant and ordered what the ladies at the next table were eating. We figured if Koreans ordered it, it must be good. It was. Both dishes had noodles, which were a challenge to eat with chopsticks. We were laughing at each others efforts. Then one of the ladies got up and brought us forks. Either she felt sorry for us, or she'd had enough of our antics.
Then Tina wanted to see the night market. So we went to Namdaemun. That was quite an adventure in itself, riding this train and that. But we did find it, and wandered around until we were lost, but didn't care. We saw lots of little shops. Tina likes to look at shoes. We found an art/scrapbooking/toy/office supply/greeting card place. And more wrapping paper than you can imagine. It was quite dark when they turned off the lights and we had to leave. So Tina wanted to explore the Underground Market there. We did, a little, but they were closing up one by one also. Then we walked around topside looking for a subway station. We saw some beautiful city lights. Finally we came home. Tina thought I was tired, which I was, but I didn't want to stop 'cause I might miss something. She dropped me off at our apartment and I showed my purchases to Chris, then went to read a book and fell asleep.