Market

One thing that is common throughout most countries of the world is an open air market.  This was true in the Middle East region and even in the various Asian countries I have visited.  In Korea there are markets that are open every single day it doesn’t matter about the weather.  I currently live close to the market area for my city of Boryeong.  The market is always open but every five days there are more people who come to sell more items, and so it is a little bit bigger every five days.  Most of the people selling stuff every day have little building right next to the market and so they live right there and make their income on simply their market sales.  

The people, who come every five days, to make a bigger market, usually bring in their stuff simply for that day.  Majority of the stuff carted in are smaller items such as fresh roots, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, and smaller edible items.  These items are carted in by older woman who are known as “ajuamas” in Korean.  They sit out trying to sell their items while at the same time prepping the items to make it more presentable and easier to eat.   

There are different types of markets depending on what is being sold.  A couple specific markets found in Korea include fish markets and clothing markets.  Usually these specific markets are in close proximity of the general market and so it isn’t hard to find everything you need when at the market.  An exclusion could possibly be a market on the docks similar to some of the pictures from the last post.  Plus Korean markets are very seasonal and some stuff you can't find if it isn't the right season.  

Typically items at a market are cheaper than items found in a store.  Plus at markets it is possible to haggle for a better price.  Of course this does mean knowledge of numbers and some other language skills are necessary.  This is true for Korea as well but there is one down fall to the markets in Korea.  They love to sell the stuff in bulk.  This is because most Korean houses include the extended family and so the stuff won’t go bad before it is used.  So instead of buying a few items of fruit they sell big bundles of one particular fruit. 

In the market and around the market there are different food items that are considered street food of Korea.  I will leave pictures for now and describe the food in a later post when I talk about street food and ‘kim bap’ establishments (Koreans version of a diner).  This week seems like it will be a normal week but of course in Korea that could all change with very little notice.  I meant to post this earlier in the week but I was locked out of my account until today.  It is Friday afternoon and so the weekend has started.  Tomorrow a group of us will be going up to Seoul to see a baseball game and hang out for the evening.  I will write later sometime. 

Selling fermented items is common in Korea

Not sure if used for honey or you just want some pets?