Tradtional Market Supporters

I joined another program called the Traditional Market Global Reporters. Now's actually a great time to be in Korea with the introduction of many supporters or college reporters programs in order to promote South Korea to the world. Many marketing departments are looking to utilize the prowess of tech-savvy teenagers and youths who are well-versed in social media.

So anyway, attended the opening ceremony on Thursday, the 7th and received some briefing and information about blogging and contents and all. It's actually a great program so if you're living in Korea and are looking for something to do that could help increase exposure of your blog as well as earn some extra cash, this is it.

The program runs for 3 months from July to October and it consists of 6 different visits. You would be able to visit a traditional market of your choice, thereafter taking transport there and having your meal there (all expenses covered), and thereafter writing an article about your experience and promoting the place. Each article would net you 50,000won, roughly around 50 bucks, and that would mean a total of 300 bucks after all 6 visits.

This is a great opportunity for Korea to preserve its traditional roots, seeing that some heritage sites have been taken down for the progress and development of the first world country. All in all, this seemed like a really interesting program and it even allowed me to go visit some markets that I don't even know about.

They did not just recruit foreigners, but there were three different categories: Global Reporters (foreigners), Marketers (Korean Marketing Professionals), and also Student Reporters (Korean students). It was pretty heartwarming to know that not just the adults but the youths of Korea take pride in the heritage and want to promote it as well. Or maybe they're just here for the free ticket to free meals and the price of their articles, but I guess I choose to believe for former.

Anyhow, after the opening ceremony, we were given lunch. It was a lunchbox of goodness because it looks incredibly expensive and it tasted really really nice. On top of that the ingredients were fresh and the snacks that we were given were fruits. Mind you, fruits in Korea are really expensive and even little cups of fresh fruits like that could cost at least 3~4 bucks each.

After a fulfilling lunch, we were told about the different markets that we had to go and the first one up for me was Namdaemun Market (basically the Southern Gate Market) located in Seoul. It's one of the more famous places for people in Korea to buy their cameras (where I got mine) and also it's where there are great food, cheap accessories and clothing, and did I mention wholesale stock? If you don't mind the outdoors and the messiness, this is one of the places to shop at when you're in Seoul.

Anyway, stay tuned to my review of Namdaemun Market when I visit!