Sights of Seocho

Korea has been my home now for three months, which have flown by faster than I ever thought possible. I have grown to love the area that I live in, and I wanted to tell you all about it.

Much like Chicago, the city of Seoul is divided into districts. I live in the district called Gangnam. It is below the Han River and just to the right of center, if you're looking on the map. It is an affluent area, much like downtown Chicago. Gangnam is also divided into sections, and my section is called Seocho (pronounced suh-cho). Is is predominantly a business area as opposed to residential. It is also a very quiet area to live in when it isn't rush hour (rush hour in the evening can sometimes last from 4:00-8:00).

“Joy Seocho – Light of the World” is the slogan for the city. I've asked Koreans about it, and they don't seem to understand it either. I've only every heard “light of the world” referenced in the Bible, so I'm not really sure what meaning they are attributing to it. Ah, well, the picture's cute!

I usually walk to work in the mornings because it's nice and cool out, and sometimes I walk home in the afternoons. The two above pictures are my views in the two different directions. In the first one, if you look directly to the left of the pole that says 60, you can see a very faint S.R. This is my apartment building (which is really called an office-tel because the apartments can be rented for small business). In the one below it, you can see the mountain in the center of Seoul with Namsan Tower on top. A major attraction here.

After about the third day walking, I noticed how beautifully green the grass was, and then I looked more closely and realized that it was Astroturf! Only in Korea!

Beautiful flowers line my walk. I have the privilege of enjoying the flowering bushes for nearly half my walk. The hanging baskets were just put up last week. I noticed that back home, most of these baskets are hung high enough where people can't reach them and mess with them, but here they are all directly at eye level, trusting that people will enjoy them and not vandalize them. And the magnolia trees seem to be blooming forever!

The entrance to Line 2 of the subway station is literally 100 meters from my apartment building. The Green Line (#2) is one of the most convenient lines in Seoul because it runs in a circle and connects to all the others. So nice! And my station is extremely quiet since there's not really all that much to do in Seocho, just people working. The subway stations are also the only legal way to cross the street. If you cross above, where there are no crosswalks, you are very likely to lose life or limb. I've also included a picture of the bus I take when I'm running late or just too lazy. On the left side of the picture, you can see a Korean person wearing a mask, which is quite normal. They wear them to protect themselves form pollution, but also when they're sick so as not to pollute others. You can also see the sidewalk which is divided into two sides, one for people and one for bikes and motorcycles...yes, motorcycles. All the sidewalks are also made out of bricks or cut stone instead of poured cement. It's a pretty good idea that allows people to access things below the surface and not have to chop up all the cement. But it also means you have to keep an eye out for the occasional brick that's not quite flush with the surface.

Right across from my school, an apartment complex was being built when I arrived, and now it is nearly finished. It's being built by the Mercedes Corporation (yes, the car). Their tag-line is “Mercedes, my house, my home.” I know, cheesy, right? I'm still in awe of how quickly it all went up, though I would appreciate it if they could move a little more quickly fixing the sidewalk! My estimate is that it will house at least three-thousand families. The picture after that is Express Bus Terminal. Here you can catch a bus to anywhere in Korea, much like Greyhound. It is also home to Central City, a shopping mall with a food court, bookstore, and cinema. Shinsegae, which is a seven-story department store that always makes me feel under dressed, but they have a lovely little grocery store in the basement (which, coincidentally, most department stores do...who'da thunk!?) And the Gangnam Underground Shopping Center. By underground, they do not mean secret, they literally mean under the ground. It's about as long as a two or three city blocks and you can get anything here from a cell phone to regular-sized forks to gelato. And finally, it also houses one of the subway stations for Line 3.

This strange-looking building is St. Mary's Hospital. It is quite an enormous building that I am very happy to have nearby, but hopefully, I'll never have to visit. It's quite strange to walk by and see patients sitting outside on the benches with their IV carts, smoking it up. I also found out that there are no such things as funeral homes in Korea. The funeral takes place at the hospital. How...uh...convenient? And this guy cracks me up. He works at the hospital. Here in Korea, there seems to be a parking attendant or crossing guard everywhere. They take their jobs very seriously. They are always in a suit of a very unflattering color with white gloves, the every-ready bow, and all the confidence in the world. Again...only in Korea!

This is a piece of artwork in front of the hospital that I have always admired. Right next to it is a tree that I am praying some day will have leaves.

Just two blocks from my apartment is the police headquarters (doesn't that make you feel better, Mom?), the National Supreme Court building, the National Library of Korea (which I was told I shouldn't even bother trying to get a card for), and the National Academies of Arts and Sciences. I'm surrounded by smart people! I really see it as quite a privileged to live here.

This is a fountain that I've always liked, but I can't quite figure out who it belongs to. There is no building around to claim it and no placard on the front of it, but it's nice! And below that is the type of landscaping that is seen everywhere. It's all man made, but it's quite beautiful to look at.

Here's an example of what the street signs look like in Korea.

And behind my building is a street I walk on quite frequently. It is filled with more restaurants than I could ever sample in a year, coffee shops galore, P.C.-bangs and pools halls, and bars upon bars upon bars. Don't worry, it's quite a safe street. It is also home to one of my favorite places in all of Korea; Ediya. But that's worthy of it's own separate blog.

And finally, a bit of entertainment. This is something I see frequently on my walks. A grown-up and child riding together on a bike. Neither one has a helmet, and the child is riding on the rack made for carrying crates! I repeat, this is a frequent sight! So, this is Seocho; this is my home in Korea. It's a wonderful place to live, and it would be a great place to visit (hint, hint)!

Stay tuned for next week when I blog about my school.