Cutesy in Review: Couple Tees

Seoul hasn't been short on "cutesy" fashion since cell phone charms and Hello Kitty. The couple tee trend, however, pushes style to a sickening level.
The question everyone has when they see sweethearts in couple tees, is ...really? Of course. How else would attractive young couples declare their togetherness? As the name suggests, affectionate lovers sport shirts with just one slight difference: one has a boy teddy bear, the other a girl teddy. Just to keep things straight.

I met this cute couple in their matching tee get-up on a leisurely tour of Gyeongbukgung Palace downtown. They had clearly answered the, "Do I like you that much?" question and assumed that everything else would fall into place. I was so delighted to see them that I forgot to take a picture of the teddy bear. Not every couple tee has teddies -- some have Mickey and Minnie mouse, some are more sports jersey-like, but the bears get my vote for their brand of cutesy cheese, hands down.

Apgujeong Bowling

"If anyone told me I'd break one hundred, I'd have told them they're crazy," I said, standing on the slippery bowling lane in my retro blue and red shoes.

Hiddens in the maze of Apgujeong's streets, in the basement of a hotel, is a small, ill-functioning bowling alley where about 100 people from New Harvest Ministries met for a night of fun and backslapping. Ages ranged from 18 to 40-somethings, but the skill level was the same -- terrible. I've noticed that Koreans view leisurely fitness time as a debit against their studying hours, so I shouldn't have been surprised that the high score of the night was about 160.

It's bowling with the people in my Bible study that makes it fun -- the crazy faces, ball wars, smack talk and one-upping each other with new tossing styles. With all that, I did, in fact, manage to break one hundred, but can I do it again? You're probably crazy.

Buddha's Birthday: Christmas in Asia

No one could possibly feel alone. I flew solo at Seoul's Lotus Lantern Festival parade this weekend, but there were no strangers in the tens of thousands of people who marched to illuminate Jong-ro in South Korea's capital.
It's Christmas in Asia. Seoul, an ancient city of stark contrasts, celebrates Buddha's birthday (May 21) this week. Buddhists from around Asia congregated for the long-standing tradition. Monks from every corner of the city took turns pouring holy water over the baby Buddha, a ceremony I found almost as interesting as these friendly folks I met at the pre-parade pep-rally.

Seoul's vibrant mash-up of tradition and modernity has slayed me, but seeing the strength of a futile practice was disheartening. As ornate and stunningly beautiful as the festival was, my front-row view of the procession of souls past Dongdaemun's ancient gate was far more interesting.

Forever 21 Takes a Bow

At first I was embarrassed when I went to Seoul's Myeongdong shopping district for some jeans (I can't find them anywhere) and was met with this Korean greeting. About 30 people were looking at me as I went in with my gigantic backpack. Soon my American egocentrism took over, however, and I embraced the strange marketing technique. This is what everyone does here....all the time.

My new hero, Steve McCurry

My new journalism hero is Steve McCurry. I think he gives personality and dignity to people in difficult situations: war, floods, insurmountable poverty and cultural castes. Many have described his photo of the Afghan girl as the most recognizable photo in the world. I was ridiculously excited to see her in McCurry's stunning Seoul exhibit for myself.

I don't like pitying human misery, I like cheering for the survivor. Maybe McCurry avoids condescension
because he's almost a survivor himself. His career started when he crossed the Pakistan border into Afghanistan, dressed in native garb right before the Russian invasion and came out with rolls of film sewed into his clothing.

I like his quotation on National Geographic's Web site. "If you wait, people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view." God, help me to be patient.