Organised Chaos

A caffeine hit in our favourite coffee shop this morning followed by a dose of Christmas shopping in the sensory overload that is downtown Gwangju at the weekend.
The city centre is made up of narrow, pedestrianised streets, jam-packed with retail stores, reastaurants and clothes shops. Many of the shops have huge speakers outside that blast out a variety of terrible K-Pop at staggeringly high volumes. Scooters attempt to zip past the throngs of shoppers, relentlessly beeping their horns, as representatives of various stores stand outside shouting offers of discounts, either through microphones or simply at the top of their lungs. Nearby, two people with a bucket ask for charitable donations, the man shouting at the top of his voice, the woman ringing a large, loud bell non-stop all day long.

Then it's sardine-time as you actually enter a shop, another speaker inside playing a different terrible song from the one outside, also at an unfeasibly high volume - all as shoppers shout to each other across the crowded store.

This consumer chaos is thoroughly enjoyed by some, but is certainly not for me - I'm a bit of an enochlophobe at the best of times.
Luckily, I can usually head over between shifts during weekdays, when the vibe is a lot less apocalyptic.

Above is some more of the grafitti they recently made near our house, plus the first Lucy-in-Gwangju blip since the last one.