Korean mysteries

Waverly, Iowa is trendy in Ulsan, South Korea.

Let me explain.

About a month ago Kat and I were enjoying a warm, caffeinated beverage at a Starbucks downtown when out the window Kat sees a girl wearing a sweatshirt that clearly reads "Waverly, Iowa" across the chest. In shock we contemplate accosting the girl but decided against it as she was moving pretty fast and the high potential of getting our comfy seats swiped. We laughed assuming she must have studied at Wartburg at some point in her life. Pretty random but the Iowa sighting brought forth some warm fuzzy feelings in our hearts.

Then not two weeks later we are riding in Ots' car through the hip hopping restaurant/bar area in our 'hood and spot another "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt. This time on a male. Not letting this one away we commanded Ots to stop the car, rolled down the window, and got the attention of the very nervous looking boy walking arm and arm with his girlfriend. We tried to convey that we were from Iowa but he still had no idea why we were so excited about his sweatshirt. He had no clue what or where Waverly, Iowa was. Super disappointed....our attempt at an Iowa connection failed.

Sidenote: The fact that we saw the same sweatshirt twice is strange enough in itself. There are so many unique, little clothing shops and brands along every street with only one or two replicas for each style of clothing that it's super rare to see people wearing the same shirt (unless it's a couple's outfit).

It happened again on another night. Another spotting of the sweatshirt. And then AGAIN! Totaling 4 "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt spottings in a matter of weeks. Each time gets spookier and spookier as we begin to realize that none of the wearers have ever been or heard of the town.

Which begs the questions: Why would someone just have a "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt hanging out in their closet? Why would FOUR people just have that sweathshirt...in Ulsan, Korea of all places? Reasonable answer: Some shop must be selling them. But why would some shop just have a "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt? And, why would they just have a least 4 of them? And why would anyone feel drawn to this plain Jane sweatshirt with a random town name on it?

Gon, our Korean friend, recently solved the mystery. Some shop in the area is indeed selling "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirts. While I still don't know the answers to the "Why?" questions, I can safely say that Waverly, Iowa is a trend in this city. Who would have thought?