i agree with you. i also don't expedite my own free moments in shopping; instead i venture out into the world and conversate with people. that is much fun and one learns more. there is also a movie that just came out. it is call, what would jesus buy?. it is about a minister who goes around trying to convince people about what the holidays were really all about. hope every one has a really wonderful time exploring the world these hoildays.

I'm not going either because
1. i'm broke
2. i'm not buying presents for others
3. rabid crowds are scary

In the past few years, my dad wanted some of the really great deals, so we would go the day before to stay overnight in front of the door. This year, we didn't, but we still got up at 5am to make it to some of the 6am openings. It went pretty smoothly, we got 85% of everything we wanted. :] Now I'm at home, pooped out from the frenziness. I think the majority of people are still shopping, haha.

I'm not all that much for shopping, add on top of that all the people, but the deals and allll the money you save are totally and definitely worth it.

Black Friday???? I'm afraid I ate so much I couldn't move even if I wanted to venture out...which I don't. I'm not quite sure all the savings is worth being surrounded by "rabid crowds."

After all the food is consumed and all the football teams have made their mark....Thanksgiving can be awfully tedious. You have to clean up and listen to relatives drone on about how successful their offsprings are.....gee....no thanks. I was to my wits end.....and finally escaped to the movie theater. I was pleasantly surprised after watching August Rush. Because I'm a big music fan...I was weary at first.....but since that was the only movie that was showing....and beggars really can't be choosers...I braced myself for a long night...it was either that or my aunts high pitched voice. August Rush was moving. It had a quiet subtleness to it. Freddie Highmore pulled at my cynical heartstrings. I enjoyed the movie and walked away incredibly touched. The performances were believable....Robin williams was a bit much for me and I could have done without the ten minutes where the parents "fell in love at first sight" but other then that it was enjoyable and the soundtrack is great. Maybe you would enjoy it too......if not now...maybe when it comes out on video.

I'm a big fan of your site...and I was happy to see that even on a busy day like yesterday you still took the time and posted your blogs. Thanks!

Unfortunately, there's no black friday in Korea ~ I so wish there was though. I'm sure I'd never get to buy anything though - if it's that crowded in the US, I can't imagine how crazy it'll get here.

Buy Nothing Day works for me...

I have to admit, I love a good deal. My sister and I crossed the border from Canada into Washington last week to scout out some deals. Macy's was having a great One Day sale (2 to be exact). I would have liked to go shopping on Black Friday to check out the bargains, but I can't stand all the pushing and shoving, so we avoided going down this weekend. I hear the border line-ups are really long.
I always go shopping on Boxing Day, which is the Canadian equivalent to Black Friday, and my strategy to avoid the crowds is to start early and finish asap. I'm happy if I can find a few cheap things within my budget like DVD's. Also, the bargains aren't what they used to be in the past when they always mark down Christmas stuff to half price or more. Now the retailers start reductions a week or more before Christmas and prolong Boxing Day until the end of December. In truth, the bargains aren't all that great, it's just the thrill of the hunt. It's also an excuse to watch all the other crazy shoppers.

hummm no.. i'm still stuffing myself with leftovers so no time or desire to step out of my house.. shiro, shiro, shiro!!! :P... i'm from canada and here thanksgiving is in october, but since my family can't let a food holiday pass without celebrating it, there we were stuffing our faces up...again...lol

question for you korean speakers... when you nickname someone, do you have to add the suffix "ssi" at the end of the word?? just curious...

Dios mio..its so cold... i went out to buy drinks (can't have food whitout some "lemonade"), and my feet just froze... i was getting nervous cuz we didn't get any snow, and it wasn't necessarily "cold", but now i take it back... I TAKE IT BACK WHEATHER!!! seriously...

I was kinda surprised to see that korean celebrities are so "open" to their fans, having cyworlds and such... very different... but it sucks for them, since all they do is apologize, explain why, who , where, hows... unless it's work related i feel they don't need to explain themselves... now if they wanna talk about whta they ate or did thats on them, but people shouldn't ask for explanations...its none of your business...

christmas anyone??? gosh, i'm not buying anything this year... lol I'm hella broke... let me find a hideout, before all my girl friends find out that they will only get a drink at some lame bar, and maybe if i'm generous some chocolat... lol.. this girl is not spending more than 150$ this year... booyah!

so the screen writers are on strike? and we are losing season worth of series.. Oh my damn!!! i just, just started to get into samantha who? why oh why??? plus my guilty pleasure aka dancing with the starts is ending on monday.. O TTO KE?!?!
please give them some money, and let those writers back, or just hire new ones...sorry but i really wanna watch samantha who?? lol..i'm bad...i know impossible, the series will lose their feel and blah blah blah...dammit logic...

well, well, lemme get back to washing my dishes... (for the hundreth time...sish holidays...)

have a good one people

When is Chuseok in Korea - is it a specific day of the year like Christmas (Dec. 25th) OR is it like the U.S. Thanksgiving which is the FOURTH Thursday of the month of November - which means the calendar date changes for Thanskgiving in the U.S. every year.

Personally, I'm a big fan of shopping and finding deals is like Christmas day for me. But seeing as my piggy bank's plunging at the moment right now, I won't venture out today. Although I do have many friends who woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go to the mall.
And I really don't mind the pushing and shoving. It's actually quite fun to collapse at the end of the day, gazing fondly at the sweater you swiped from the gaze and/or fingertips of another shopper.

But that's just my opinion. =]

ahaha...i'd never been shopping on black friday before, so this morning i didn't know quite what to expect. i must say though, that in my mind i greatly over-anticipated what the crowds would be like. granted, we got to the mall at 11 am...and we didn't even bother going to best buy and circuit city, so it wasn't really that bad. i'm not a big shopper anyways, so i just went to get some winter clothes...and there were some pretty good deals.

@ lola: i'm also wondering if the writers are still on strike. ;~; there are a bunch of good shows this season...but at least it's still a new episode of chuck on monday! XD

I participated today out of neccessity! I got a new job that requires me to wear more business like attire so I thought, what better time to get a great deal?! I used to get up early on Black Friday and shopped like crazy when I was younger. Mainly because almost all of my income was disposable. I was suprised to see that there were really no great deals! Maybe it's the economy, but the sales definitely aren't what they used to be. I was at the mall at about 8am and it was crowded but not too bad, but when I drove past Best Buy, Circuit City and Toys R Us, it was total chaos! I think if I need to buy electronics I'd rather purchase online than be a part of that mess!

i have to sadly admit that the writers strike didn't affect me a bit. used to watch US series and movies 3 years ago before my first son was born, but now i have a 3 yr old and a 6 month old, i only get "wonderpets", "wiggles", "hi-5", and the ever so hilarious "the upside down show". when they sleep, i just get too exhausted and would sleep with them. i'm surprised i still find time to watch asian series (they're on dvds or i get them from streaming online and i play them on my laptop, that's why), slow progress though.

not complaining... just contributing to this openthread :D just felt odd that the strike's a big thing but i haven't felt it yet apart from just seeing/reading about it in the news.

This is the first time i've heard of Black Friday - i think it would be the same if they have such a day here in Malaysia...people just love to shop!

Ah.. Black Friday. Complete Waste of Time. There were no sales at all to be found, and the crowds were kind of ridiculous. Not as bad as the electronic stores the one year I actually stood all line waiting in line for Best Buy, but still. People were buying and buying, and I couldn't understand why because frankly, stuff wasn't THAT cheap. It was normal actually..... I dunno, maybe it was the mall, but getting up at 5:30 am and shopping till 2:30 and only getting 1 thing makes me remember why I slept in last year.

I don't live in US, so I don't know anything about writers strike or even black friday for that matter. I do know "the upside down show". It's hillarious..
Since there wasn't any thanksgiving atmoshpere here, I stuffed myself like crazy yesterday, just to get the feeling (talk about being weird!) so, Here..here I raised my hand!!
And oh.. I checked all the links you put on your site, I must say I like feet man seoul. Fashion street is just great! Women/girls are really dress to kill in Korea! I imagine if I was in Korea, I would probably be branded the worst dressed woman ever alive in Korea! (EEKKK)
Where are you on your NANOWRIMO, Javabeans?

COOL!! I can edit my comment..

Ahhhhh... Black Friday...

It's the mosssst horrible timmmmmmee of the YEAAAARRRRRRR!

Once and ONLY once I waited with my friend at around 5:30am during the beanie baby craze. (REALLY hate beanie babies) And this ONE lady pushed a poor 6-7 year old kid out of her way to get to one of the stupid dolls. She was arrested. I stay inside on those days. Plus, I shop during the whole year and usually everyone gets the same thing hehhehee. This year the girls are all getting either bath and bodyworks or victorias secret gift cards ANND the boys are getting besbuy gift cards. heheh. :-)

This year I actually did the whole Black Friday shopping thing. My friend was in town from college for Thanksgiving break, so my friends and I decided to spend time together and go hit the sales and get all the stuff that we need [like more winter clothes since coats and jackets are ridiculously expensive]. We got to our first shopping mall at 3am and hopped to another around 6am. 7 straight hours of shopping is quite painful. I ended up only buying about 5 items -- three were presents, and two were for me. I might have spent maybe $50, including breakfast and lunch. I'd say it's not bad for this whole Black Friday deal, if not rather anti-climactic compared to my expectation of being loaded with bags and a nearly bankrupt piggy bank.

I ate too much yesterday and today. I guess with Christmas around the corner and the open house invitation pouring in, I guess I'll put on weight till Chinese New Year.
I love to shop ... for Malaysian it is our lifestyle. We have Mega Sales at least 4 times a year where all the shopping complexes participate in a nation wide sales. As for Christmas, I shopped for my Christmas presents throughout the year. No last minutes shopping for me ... so practically I have all my Christmas presents all ready for D-Day.
As for Malaysian, we love to eat too, so I guess my biggest headache right now is what I'll be cooking on the eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Annually on this weekend, i put up the Christmas lights and clean out the closets for suitable Salvation Army donations. It's a good way to kick off the holiday season. I shop online to preserve my sanity and support Buy-Nothing Day by purchasing fair-trade coffee. But i do envy those who got their hands on Guitar Hero III or Rock Band this year. Sigh.

I hope that the writers strike will end soon. I feel for their families. Hope that your weekend be a good one, javabeans.

I once stood in line for 90 minutes to pay for two items I did not need. NOT proud of myself. Blame it on herd instinct and a pair of legs that refused to heed that tiny voice in my head: "Get out of here, stupid!" Whenever I pass by those two items now hanging on my wall, I am reminded why I should never again go to a closing down sale.

#21 geekgal, you are the standard I aspire to but never quite attain, alas. If I'm lucky, I will put up the Christmas lights by Dec 23 and take them down before April next year. I've stopped buying Christmas cards because I never remember to mail them before Christmas Eve. ("Thank you, thunderbolt, for the Christmas card which I received yesterday, Jan 10.") I blush in shame when I receive beautifully wrapped gifts (complete with bows and ribbons and a card!) because the ones I give look like a toddler (or a drunk) wrapped them. I'm so tardy it's not funny.

#9 canyayasis Chuseok is a lunar calendar holiday. So it inevitably looks moveable when mapped on to the solar Gregorian calendar, as do all lunar calendar dates, because that ol' Silvery Moon and our particular local star just don't agree on anything, much.

#8 lola It would be a huge bad joke to call myself a "Korean speaker", but since no-one else is biting (too busy wishing they could return those purchases, I bet) I'll contribute my comment that mixing a nickname with an honorific would be a rather odd thing to do, and it's hard to imagine circumstances in which it could be done other than jokey ones. In other words, it isn't like Tagalog personal name marker "si", which indeed just designates a person's name, that can indeed be a nickname and often is.

I am not going to say anything about shopping, because I'm a man and therefore don't do shopping. Not even for bargain-basement "manly" items. I dress in my son's cast-offs, insofar as they fit me, being as I am a good six inches shorter than he is. And I think his girlfriend shops for those in the first place.

Why am I warbling here? Mainly because Soompi has been "closed for backup" for nearly two hours now. Very ominous, since it already ran its normal daily backup at the usual time and for the usual duration.... Anyone here have any inside info about what may be going on??