Korea's full of gaudy things: neon signs that are bound to keep you up all night, flashing in your window; annoying salespeople at not-quite department stores, urging you to buy things from their kiosks; and pushy older women, intent on knocking you down just so that they can get to where they are going a liiiiittle bit faster. But no where, no, no where, do you see Halloween decorations. You can look anywhere, even at the Halloween store and still not find a single pumpkin or witch bejewelling a window or door.
At home, the tell-tale signs are all over when a new holiday approaches: black cats in store windows, jack-o-lanterns all over schools, and fake spider webs in doorways and up staircases. Houses are decked out in all the layers upon layers of witchcraft and costume-ery. And it's not just for Halloween: we put hand prints-turned-turkeys in windows for Thanksgiving (note: how cute is this?)...
Canadian flags on every doorway (okay, some doorways...not everyone is as nationalist as I am) and hanging outside on the first of July, and so many Christmas decorations every single place you look, starting November 1 (which is on Sunday by the way, God, how time flies).
It's amazing to me, in a city that's this bombarded with stimuli, and so burdened with a floundering economy, that there would be nothing in store windows urging you to buy buy buy whatever you might need (hahaha) for the upcoming Hallmark holiday. What better excuse do you have to whip out your wallet? I can't think of one.
Which leads me to think that perhaps Korea will be void of all things Kris Kringle as well. Not that I'm a fan of Christmas or anything, but holy Joseph, there must be some tacky decorations kicking around here somewhere! I love the cheesiness of Christmas: the ridiculously huge "get your picture taken with Santa Claus but don't cry, sweetie, mommy is trying to send this to Gramma and Grampa in Florida!" displays in the malls; the overdone but so amazingly beautiful stars, trees, tinsel, and light decorations on the sign posts downtown; the enormous trees outside city landmarks. I mean, this is all part of the season, part of the buildup (and, inevitably part of the let down), and I just love it.
I cringe at the thought of there being no Christmas decorations. No nativity scene? I'll have to get a tree for sure. And decorate it with the best of the worst Korea has to offer. For now though, I'm back to painting my butterfly wings for the party tomorrow night. Since I couldn't get a costume, I figure my ingenuity will make up for my lack of large costume display. I guess I'll have to be all the Halloween decoration I can handle.
P.S. How awesome is that turkey's green feather tail? Does it GET any better?
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