Modelling in Seoul: Week 8
- Apr 25
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 26
Week 8 was a bloody whirlwind, and I’m semi-happy to report I maintained my employment status and was booked and busy. Some of said jobs were lovely and clients were sweet… but one in particular was the WORST job I’ve done here, if not the worst job I’ve ever done. (Scroll to Thursday to jump straight to the drama.)
Let’s begin with Saturday's job, which requires some backstory…
There’s a creative director in Seoul who is SO lovely, but also very overbearing. I worked with her at my first job here in Seoul, and she’s since turned into my most loyal IG story liker. So when I rocked up at the casting last week she hugged me big time and I knew I had it.
The job came and the clothes were Gen-Z in a nutshell, and they essentially wanted me to pretend I lived in this beautifully decorated apartment and had me do ‘natural’ tasks such as wash an entire celery plant, eat an apple, sit in ‘my’ G-Wagon (the directors), pose with oranges over my boobs, and they even tried to get me to pretend to smoke - which was a firm no.
The rest of my Saturday was spent bar hopping in Sinsa (our local area) with Aoife, and who knew that all the hotties would come out on a Saturday evening! It was rammed with tall Korean men - hard to find. We will be doing that again before we leave for sure. Can’t blame a girl.
Sunday was spent with an old friend from Tokyo which was super random as I was unsure I’d see her again, but that’s the beauty about modelling - it’s so spontaneous. She actually left Tokyo early due to lack of work and I didn’t get to say goodbye so when I saw via IG she was in Seoul it was inevitable for us to meet up!
We did a touch of shopping at Coex Mall, home to Starfield library, lots of restaurants, and even the Gangnam Style golden statue. So I of course snapped a photo of all of the above (including me overwhelmed in Zara) which is below…
The shopping was a mild success but we swiftly moved on and I took Nikita to Bongeunsa Temple which was right across the road, so I put on my tourist guide hat and showed her around one of my favourite places in Seoul.
It was far too hot to hang around for long so we left and headed to the park for a picnic with some of the girls from her agency, who we got along great with and ended up going out for dinner with later this week!
Monday was back to being unemployed. We didn’t even have any castings. Instead we made a plan to lock in the AM and hike in the PM. Really trying to make the most of these final eighteen days! So we did some admin and work activities at our local favourite coffee shop called Milestone, and then made a brief pitstop to change at the apartment before heading to the bus stop to go to Namsan Tower.
It’s one of the shorter hikes here in Seoul and only took us 45 minutes to get to the top. Although within about 10 minutes of starting I was huffing and puffing, but the regular stops to look at the viewpoints, and the many pretty flowers was my saving grace.
It was beyond beautiful and was home to so much greenery which was overwhelming as usually Seoul is beyond grey! When we reached the top it was rammed, so the peace was disrupted slightly but we managed to see the tower of course, but what captured my attention more was when the sky cleared up and the mountains came into view across the other side of the viewpoint. It was stunning!
We got some 7-11 ramen noodles and took in the view before cheating with the gondola on the way back down. It was a good way to occupy a day off though, especially as it wasn’t too hot.
Tuesday was almost equal in unemployment. I had one singular casting so I occupied the rest of my day by solo visiting the smaller palace in Seoul - Deoksugung. It was less impressive than the main Palace but definitely something worth ticking off.
The grounds were stunning, and after having a wander I sat under the pergola and sketched. I cannot draw in the slightest but it is wonderful for clearing the mind so I always give it a go. Clearly it didn’t look too awful because a kind Korean man came over and handed me a printed photo of me sitting on the bench doing my sketch. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me!
Wednesday I was quite popular at castings, and even bumped into one of the girls from the picnic at one - which was so odd because you never bump into other models here! Which was random because that was the day we ended up going out for dinner with them!
The dinner itself was lovely. We went to a local pizza place and it definitely wasn’t Italian but it was as close as you’ll get in Korea! As we were all sitting there I began to realise how many circumstances from all seven of our lives that had led us here with each other.
Belly laughing, an excessive amount of pizza eating and the discovery of a croffle later we were wiped out - but not before a photobooth session! Had to capture all of us together because you never know if you’ll see these people again.
Thursday was a swift change in emotions as I had the WORST experience with a shoot, perhaps ever? I spent 10 hours shooting E-commerce, repeating the same poses on loop while being constantly poked and pushed around like a barbie.
My hair was yanked and my eyes were quickly filling with tears. I was consistently being told my posing was inadequate so I was being moved, adjusted and corrected in ways that slowly wore me down. Hour by hour I could feel my patience slipping and by the end I had my fists clenched.
The environment was like an asylum - white walls, flashing lights, endless rails of clothing, and by the end of it I felt completely drained both mentally and physically.
What made it harder wasn’t just the length of the day, but the lack of communication and understanding on set. There were moments where I felt uncomfortable and SO unheard, which shouldn’t be the case as I had a translator but she actually was joining in with the borderline bullying that was occuring. She even ratted me out to the agents, saying how I was angry and upset the entire day. I then had to explain to everyone that I was just irritated and tired of being treated inhumanely!
Friday… shockingly my leg of employment continued. So I was up at the crack of dawn and forced to work alongside the same translator, but we cleared the air and the day was actually fabulous. The team were beyond lovely… and it was entirely female. What a win!
The casting was literally three days ago so it was a very tight turnaround but the content was stunning and they even managed to put my hair up in a way I didn’t entirely hate - a near impossible task.
Twas a lovely way to end the week, along with the fact I’m working with Parker next week, and 4 other times. I’m so uber employed at the moment it must be to do with my upcoming departure (get me home).
Anyway can’t wait to fill you in when it gets to it because I have now got until said job (Wednesday) to explore Seoul and tick off as much on my to-see list as possible!!!
With love,
Mimi x
(side note - we have a substack now - @itswithlovemimi)
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