Swimsuit Service

Have I mentioned how awesome it is to shop in Korea?  I mean, not when you shop for clothes and the largest size they carry IN THE STORE is a size 6.  Some stores carry up to an American size 8/10, which is nice.  But if you're not shopping for clothes, and even sometimes when you are, shopping here is really awesome.  Very often, shop keepers are so happy to have you in their shop that they drop extra goodies in your bag to be nice and convince you to come back later!  They call it "service."  Here's a quick story about one of those times.  :) 


The swimsuit shop down the street from my apartment is now officially my favorite swimsuit shop in the world.  Last month, I went in to check it out and it turns out they were having a humongous sale.  I bought a couple of nice bikinis, with cover ups included, for a total of 34,000 won, or $29.  Incredible!!! 

I went by again this week to see if the mega-sale was still going on (it was) and to see about buying some swim shorts, but I didn't find any that I liked.  The clerk was so helpful, though!  She spoke a little English, so it was nice to chit chat with her.  I decided to buy a swim cap, because you can't swim at a public pool in Korea without one, and I figured I'd want to do that soon.  I found a cap with an American flag on it for 10,000 won, so I decided to represent my country and get that one.  It seems appropriate with the 4th of July and the Olympics coming up :)

The sweet little clerk rang me up, then pulled out more swim caps from the drawer.  She let me know that one of them would be included as "service" and asked me which color I wanted, black or blue, then pulled out a pink one.  The one I'd just purchased was navy, so I went with the pink one, and she not only included the pink Speedo cap, but pink Speedo goggles, and a pink Speedo drawstring backpack!  What is this??  I buy a single swim cap for 10 bucks and get an extra cap, nice goggles, and a nice bag with adjustable drawstrings too??  Now that's customer service :):)