The Constant Crafter in South Korea: I'm Getting Pretty Korean

Hellena called me Friday and told me that we were going to Subway sandwich shop in Itaewon for an early lunch and then off to a famous Korean fortune teller before preceding to maedeup class. I arrived at the Sadong station before the girls and was waiting near one of the many columns holding up the station. All of a sudden I found myself surrounded by 30-50 middle school girls. The questions came rapidly: "Where are you from? How old are you? Why are you here (in Korea)?..." We caught the attention of the other Korean subway travellers as some just looked as they walked by while others paused to see what the commotion was all about. I asked if I could take their picture and they excitedly posed for me. I wish my camera came with a wide angle lens because I was only able to get a few of the students in the frame. I am always amazed when Korean children are excited and come up to talk to me. It is definitely different back in the States.

The front door of the Korean fortune teller. I'll be truthful and tell you that when we approached the door, I was scared to death. It could have been the spiders on the door. I HATE spiders.

When you open the door, you are greeted by a Korean woman. The room is dark with a red hot fire going in the fireplace with the smell of incense in the air. There are statues and trinkets all over the place. The woman led us to a narrow stairway. On the stairway was a bucket of figurines and she had me choose one. I looked and picked one up. We proceeded up the stairs and into a room full of more figurines and trinkets. Sitting on one side of the room was the fortune teller.

I sat in the chair directly across from her and I started to shiver from a sudden chill in the air. My girlfriends sat on mats next to my chair. The fortune teller looked me directly in the eye and began her reading. My girlfriends did the interpreting for me. She asked my birth day and the time of my birth which she wrote down. The first thing she said is that I would be moving this year. It's not really a surprise because there are rumors at Curt's (hubby) work saying the same thing but it was interesting to hear it confirmed, maybe. The next thing she said was that the figurine I chose represented great wealth and that this wealth would begin to materialize next summer.

She proceeded to tell me how many children I had and she was right. She said so many things that were true but too private to share. I was freaked out at how accurate she was. If I was skeptical before the reading, I am not now. The reading ended after about 20-25 minutes and I had to place 50,000 WON ($50.00 US) onto a tapestry.

She then wanted me to come over to her. When I did, she pushed my bangs off of my forehead and said that I shouldn't cover my forehead. It is too nice to be covered. I disagree but didn't say anything. She then took my hand and wrapped a bracelet around it. She said that it would keep my circulation good in my body. I then asked if I could get a picture taken with her. She said that it would be ok.

Here we are. Isn't she mysterious looking? Fortune telling is very popular here in South Korea. Business deals, moving, marrying... are not made without consulting a fortune teller. It is most popular during the Lunar New Year where you will see tents all over the place including my Home Plus store.