Hello! from Hannam: Ladies Who Lunch

Yesterday my friend Heather and I decided to have a very "grown-up" day: Lunch and antiquing in Itaewon. My exact words were, "I think my Mom will be proud." Heather's from Connecticut and went to school in Vermont so she's experienced her fair share of antique shops in New England and I've got the famous Round Top Antique Weekend back home, so between the two of us we were well qualified to go antiquing.

Before heading for Thai food, we made a very exciting discovery: Framing here is very affordable! As everyone knows, to get a picture professionally framed back home can cost a small fortune. Heather had a giant leaf (like think 8 maple leafs put together) that she wanted put between glass and framed, so we went to a frame shop in Itaewon and not only did they speak great English and sell already framed art, he only charged her $35....after having a nice chuckle because we walked in with a leaf literally picked up off the sidewalk. Oh those silly American's.

So after Thai food and some nice conversation we headed to the street of antiques and just like that we could have been in any small town in America, any old town in the English countryside, or any back alley in Paris. These were antiques for the expats. With names like "Brittanica", "Vivaldi", "The London House", "Maison", "Queen's Antiques", and my favorite "Francois Fred Antiques" they have certainly figured out the business of collecting and selling antiques as it's done in the Western Hemisphere. These were not shops of junk. Each shop's collection had been carefully curated and purposefully (or purposely not) merchandised. A few were set up to resemble home decor shops, our favorite boasting a country french aesthetic complete with the scent of freesia and French melodies playing in the background. Other shops not only smelled like old houses, they simply found it best to pack as much as they could into the space, leaving it to the customer to uncover their own treasure. Some collecting trends I noticed were gorgeous copper tea kettles, quirky non-traditional seating like church pews and train station benches, and old bottles for medicine and milk; basically all the things Grandmother, Grandma and Mom have ever collected. There were lots of fun things in the mix too: beautiful old footballs, old metal soldier hats, old luggage, and old rocking horses; and I found too many secretary desks and wooden school desks to count that I could have easily bargained for. I really fell in love with an old copper fire extinguisher (just like Grandmother's), a giant rectangular metal sign for the sparkling beverage Perrier, multiple giant metal clocks worthy of an Anthropologie Home inventory, and all the bottles. I think I've picked up Mom's love for old bottles. But the real treasure? Two giant metal horse busts that were sitting atop a bar. If I leave Korea in two years with anything, it will be these two heads.