I’ve been in Seoul just over a month. I’m sitting on the KTX (the “bullet” train) on my way to Busan/Pusan and then onto Japan by ferry. I’m certainly not the first person to remark on the fact that sitting in any type of port of departures and arrivals makes one introspective. There were groups of young boys stumbling into manhood in their military uniforms together. Moms and fathers seeing their uniformed sons off with a mixture of worry, pride and love on their faces.
Families starting a new, tourist on their way elsewhere and homeless appreciating the air conditioning perhaps hoping someone would leave some food behind when they got up from their tables. I don’t want to give you the impressions that there are a lot of homeless in Seoul. I see far more in one day begging in Montreal then I do in a week in Seoul. Western beggars often have no shame in using aggressiveness while Ive only encountered one Seoul homeless woman who asked for money (Near one of the more ‘western’ neighborhoods).
Koreans seem to be in touch with their emotions more than westerners, generally speaking. You often see young and old, boys and girls holding hands, hugging or collectively sharing in a colleagues grief or joy I find this aspect of their culture truly charming.
This picture doesn’t do it justice but the father was looking at his son with a mixture of pride and worry combined with the impression that I felt he was reminiscing about his military service (perhaps when his father saw him away?) There was many scenes such as this happening all around me while I waited to embark.
I met a friendly group of American teachers who said i hadn’t been here long enough to get familiarized with the daily and social annoyances that present themselves in any large city or culture.
No doubt that being on a travelling vacation makes it easier for me to simply brush off these annoyances without much thought. Today for instance on two separate occasions i had old Korean ladies simply walk in front of me while I was next in line. After a while i think this would definitely rub me the wrong way and get on my nerves. Both times i simply said nothing and at least once the young girl working behind the counter appeared to be embarrassed by the old ladies actions.
The country is an amazing mix of a modern society that has kept civility and respect in ways that the west would do well to re learn. For instance I love graffiti and street art. I think it has a place in any city however in Montreal the respect for peoples property is almost non existent. Graffiti is everywhere: on shop windows, the side of houses, metro and bus cars, pretty much everywhere.
In Seoul and possibly the whole of Korea graffiti is no where to be found safe a few legally allowed spots or in certain neighborhoods which are near western people or universities. There’s a sense that public property belongs to everyone and that it should be kept clean and maintained.
Only a few years ago the government put in place a law forcing companies to give their employees the weekend off. I haven’t researched how true this is but I’ve heard that after the Korean war much of the country was destroyed. The generation of that time worked endlessly seven days a week to rebuild their country from almost nothing. Koreans still work incredibly long hours compared to western standards. Ive seen construction men shoveling sand into plastic backpacks and walking them up several flights of stairs in order to mix the cement on the floor they needed it. Ive seen metro employees cleaning tiles with toothbrushes like devices.
I went to one hospital called the Samsung medical center and was literally shocked by its efficiency. My friend checked in using an electronic kiosk, was ushered to see her doctor ten to fifteen minutes before her scheduled appointment and was on her way home within a half hour of entering the hospital. Not to mention it was amazingly clean (I mean even the underground parking lot was spotless).
The down side of all of this is that you sometimes sense an undercurrent of sadness in the strangers you cross. Street food vendors cooking in thirty degree weather. A sheet metal worker bending metal with a large metal beam and a piece of wood by hand. By the sheer amount of available workers in this country chances are that there’s always someone willing to work hard just in order to try and survive.
This is contrasted like in any large city by the spoiled and the rich driving their luxury cars and wearing their ‘name brand’ clothing. Yet somehow I get the sense that even these hard working individuals are supported by their fellow brother and sister. I suspect they feel a type of brotherhood/sisterhood, that they are enduring together. You can often find shop owners and individuals sleeping at any time of day and in the strangest positions. Its as if despite their best efforts their body is shutting down for a much needed rest. You’ll also see street vendors huddle together at the end of a long day to share a meal and a few drinks of soju.
They show for the most part an enormous amount of respect towards not only their elders but in daily life in general. In the same step they seem to be able to enjoy a good laugh between friends and if you’ve ever see some Korean television they’re often laughing hardily regardless of the subject being discussed (even if they’re laughing at themselves).
I believe in any culture when you’re growing up its easy to feel like just another number or that no one will miss you when you’re gone. This sense of loneliness must be so much stronger when you live and grow up in cities as large as Seoul and with such competition to achieve. Seoul has over ten million people in it. That’s almost one third of the complete population of Canada. South Korea and Japan have two of the highest suicide rates in the world. My Korean friend told me she recently walked by a girl who had jumped off a building. The blood was flowing openly and a young man (her brother or boyfriend) was screaming in shock. Every where you look in Seoul you see tall apartment/condo buildings and i often find myself looking up when walking underneath them.
Despite all of this and without commenting on the US military personnel and bases all over this country Seoul and its people have certainly left a strong impression on me and I wonder how long its presence will linger with me. Ive left Seoul to visit japan for a few weeks after which i’ll be wandering my way back to Seoul following the eastern shore. I plan on having my final thoughts on Seoul and South Korea in one last post shortly after boarding the plane.
You can read about my first impressions of Seoul here.
