souvenir shopping

As my time in Korea draws to a close, I naturally want to buy gifts to bring home with me. At first, I thought, what can I find? What are good traditional items that won't break the bank? So I did an internet search, and the truth is, it's pretty dismal. For starters, Korea is tacky. TACKY! Do you want a stretch polyester blouse with a floral / hound's tooth / rhinestone pattern? Then this is your place. So then I started thinking about what I really like here, the things I have bought. I have loved the Korean brands of art supplies, but not many people what tubes of paint or markers. Because Korea and Japan have a long history of fighting and occupation, they have a lot of overlapping cultural things, and cuteness is one of them. There are a lot of really cute things here. Cute is important. So I have been picking up a lot of cute stationary and stickers and pens and pencils. I was a little disappointed at first, but now I'm having a lot of fun!