It’s a good thing I packed my North Face jacket because it’s in the 40s here (about 5 °C). These jackets come in many styles and colors, and I saw this article in the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper on a previous trip back to the States. Turns out the jackets reflect a social hierarchy at some Seoul high schools. The ‘layers’ of the hierarchy are : the Loser (even though that jacket costs 250,000 Korean won or $215) , the Commoner, distinctly Middle class, the Bully, a Rich Family Punk or a Captain (700,000 won or $600). Which one am I? Well, my jacket is all black – and I got it at a sale two winters ago for $150, seemingly too cheap to even be a ‘loser’.
