Local shops

Seoul has many little stores on the streets. Some are standalone metal buildings, and some are tucked under exterior stairs of buildings. Near our apartment building was this little shop that looked like a musical instrument repair shop, that had guitars and other stringed instruments hanging from the walls. Yesterday morning, I noticed that it had been damaged from a fire. This morning, it had been cleaned up a bit, and yellow crime scene tape was across the doors. Tonight, they had removed the tape and cleaned up a bit more around the area.


These places are everywhere. Many of them are little refreshment stands, with newspapers, candy, and sodas. Some are shoe repair places. And some are actually restaurants that serve real cooked food. But they all have one thing in common: There's only room for about 2 people inside - the proprietor and one customer.

I hope that the owner of this little shop is safe and has not suffered too much, and has not lost so much that he has to close down.