Nahyun An, who expressed her thoughts about traditional markets, said that the traditional markets were not convenient. She added that unlike COEX or department stores, it did not have many shops that students like such as cosmetics shops or cloth stores. Also, there are not many places to rest and provide people seats and delicious drinks or food. Usually, Nahyun visited COEX to take a look around Olive Young, a drug store dealing with various items, or Starbucks to sit and chat with friends. But, at a traditional market, a teenager girl like her cannot hang around in her usual way.

Moreover, she continued that the facilities there were not clean unlike most indoor stores. Traditional markets are affected by the weather or the air condition easily. These days, because the yellow dust is serious, and the traditional markets are located outdoors, these markets are vulnerable to the air conditions. She believed that the yellow dust would make the products dirty and unsanitary. And she didn’t want to roam around inhaling the yellow dust.  

She elaborated about her experience with the Pike Place Market, which is the oldest public market in Seattle. She said that she was a little shocked to see the traditional markets in Korea. It did not have a parking lot and the market was not clean. When I asked how the public market was different from Korea’s traditional market, she said that the public market did not sell products outside and sold the items inside a building. Specifically, in the market, there were a lot of small buildings in a district. Also, she said that although the types of products sold in the public market were similar to the things in Korea, they were displayed in a cleaner and more attractive way. Moreover, she emphasized that she really liked the Starbucks and the restaurant that were located in the market. There, she could rest and drink something and chat with friends or family.  

I also went to the Grandville Island public market in Canada, Vancouver. There were also a lot of buildings, and it had a parking lot. Each market was clean and well organized, and there were also some performances in the streets. There were people singing and others rode unicycles or performed with many hula-hoops. Moreover, there was also a small playground and a toy shop, where children can have fun there. These factors impressed me and made me want to go again in the future.