Secondhand: hopefully not my new MO
It seems that this week I'm either stealing things from the trash pile or buying them off of other people's backs -- well, at least these things were on other people's backs at some point in history. Finding my first Korean thrift store today was a real treat, mostly because people in this country seem to be completely neglectful when it comes to recycling certain used things. "Big trash day" takes on a whole new meaning here: matching couch sets, tables, electrical appliances and clothes are just some of the things you'll find carelessly discarded in the trash pile. And these are the same people who meticulously sort their plastic, glass and paper every Monday when the recycling bins are deposited at my apartment complex. Contradictions aside, buying used seems to be pretty taboo for Koreans.
I first noticed this major cultural difference not long after arriving: Koreans actually prefer paying top dollar for many things. Endemic to the country seems to be a taste for all things designer, especially if they're made by Burberry. Outside of fast food restaurants, drinks and food can get pretty expensive thanks to a need for Korean hosts to impress their guests with their ability to pay the bill. Appliances in a country less than 400 miles from China run over twice the price we'd pay for them in the U.S.: a standard DVD player will cost you $200 here. All of this in a place where the monthly minimum wage is around $700. So how do they pay for it all? Credit cards, and lots of them. Credit cards that get the people here into trouble. By the end of 2003, 8.4% of Korea's population had filed for personal bankruptcy. From 2004 to 2005, personal bankruptcy filings tripled. It's projected that this year things will just continue to get worse.
So you can understand the looks we westerners get when we take discarded, secondhand stuff off the street. I had one friend who needed some extra chairs for a party she was throwing and found four perfectly good ones in the area around her apartment. She even found a great armchair that matched the one she already had. Countless other friends have found their living room couches and coffee tables sitting on the sidewalk. (I have to admit that I have both an armchair and couch from the "big trash day" heap -- matching orange!)
It would seem that we foreigners are shameless here and have no qualms with shopping at a secondhand store when we stumble across a rare one. But recycling stores -- as I'm told Koreans call them -- are supposed to be on the rise here, so hopefully our behavior won't continue to be abberant! Well, then, what kind of deals can you expect to find at a Korean thrift store? I found two wool jackets -- a black double-breasted peacoat and a tan peacoat -- for under $15 a piece. But my most celebrated find? A cammo skirt that I'm going to team with a pink oversized 80's shirt, black leggings, a white knit cap and a black wig when I dress up like a fashionable Korean schoolgirl for Halloween!