"Well, we're movin' on up,
To the east side,
To a deluxe apartment in the sky."
Modern Asia living, here we come! Up on the 29th floor, we spent one of our dinners last week picnic style, eating on the floor with all the lights turned off, looking out into the city lit up all around us.
Our first piece of furniture came this week! A long wood table with a bench, which gives me joy just looking at (let alone eating and working and reading on it!)
But in the process of really starting to settle here in Jamsil, we can't help but give a nod to Seocho, the neighborhood we called home for the first three weeks of our stay in Korea. We always say that we have a special place in our hearts for the first neighborhood or city that we live at in a foreign country, and Seocho is no different.
Seocho District (which is about 15 minutes west of our new apartment by subway) is one of the 25 local government districts (called "gu" here) that comprise Seoul. Considered part of the greater Gangnam area, it's where the headquarters of Samsung Electronic is (which made it really convenient for Tyler!) It's also where the Supreme Court is located, along with our favorite karaoke place (Cube!) and -- we just learned -- a French enclave called Seorae Village (where we're heading to for lunch today!).
So within each "gu" are "dongs", or neighborhoods, and a bit confusingly, Seocho gu also has a Seocho dong (as well as other dongs" that comprise it). Here's a map of Seocho, with the Han River dividing Seoul into areas north and south of the river.
The history of specific neighborhoods in Seoul is shockingly hard to find. More generally, the areas south of the Han River only started to get populated about 60 years ago, with the Korean War (before that, the area was primarily farmland). With the threat of North Korea, the government told Seoul residents to move as far south as they could, beyond the river. Once they did, the government blew up bridges to prevent the north from advancing. So that's how the areas south of the river started to develop.
I did hear a really interesting fact this week when I went hiking with a new friend who has been living in Seoul for the last four years. Her parents went backpacking for three weeks in Korea, with her and her brother (about 1 and 3 at the time) in tow -- talk about impressive. That must have been about 30 years ago or so, and apparently there was essentially nothing but small huts and houses south of the river. Her parents recently visited and were shocked to see all of the tall skyscrapers that started to be built with the "Miracle of the Han" in the 1980s.
Here are some snippets of our every day life in Seocho, starting with our hotel room in Art Nouveau, breakfast in the cafeteria (always comprised of rice, meat, gim (roasted seaweed) -- and whatever left-overs we brought from the night before, and our 10 minute walk to Korean class (which we usually used to finish homework from the day before...)
To the east side,
To a deluxe apartment in the sky."
Modern Asia living, here we come! Up on the 29th floor, we spent one of our dinners last week picnic style, eating on the floor with all the lights turned off, looking out into the city lit up all around us.
Our first piece of furniture came this week! A long wood table with a bench, which gives me joy just looking at (let alone eating and working and reading on it!)
But in the process of really starting to settle here in Jamsil, we can't help but give a nod to Seocho, the neighborhood we called home for the first three weeks of our stay in Korea. We always say that we have a special place in our hearts for the first neighborhood or city that we live at in a foreign country, and Seocho is no different.
Seocho District (which is about 15 minutes west of our new apartment by subway) is one of the 25 local government districts (called "gu" here) that comprise Seoul. Considered part of the greater Gangnam area, it's where the headquarters of Samsung Electronic is (which made it really convenient for Tyler!) It's also where the Supreme Court is located, along with our favorite karaoke place (Cube!) and -- we just learned -- a French enclave called Seorae Village (where we're heading to for lunch today!).
So within each "gu" are "dongs", or neighborhoods, and a bit confusingly, Seocho gu also has a Seocho dong (as well as other dongs" that comprise it). Here's a map of Seocho, with the Han River dividing Seoul into areas north and south of the river.
The history of specific neighborhoods in Seoul is shockingly hard to find. More generally, the areas south of the Han River only started to get populated about 60 years ago, with the Korean War (before that, the area was primarily farmland). With the threat of North Korea, the government told Seoul residents to move as far south as they could, beyond the river. Once they did, the government blew up bridges to prevent the north from advancing. So that's how the areas south of the river started to develop.
I did hear a really interesting fact this week when I went hiking with a new friend who has been living in Seoul for the last four years. Her parents went backpacking for three weeks in Korea, with her and her brother (about 1 and 3 at the time) in tow -- talk about impressive. That must have been about 30 years ago or so, and apparently there was essentially nothing but small huts and houses south of the river. Her parents recently visited and were shocked to see all of the tall skyscrapers that started to be built with the "Miracle of the Han" in the 1980s.
Here are some snippets of our every day life in Seocho, starting with our hotel room in Art Nouveau, breakfast in the cafeteria (always comprised of rice, meat, gim (roasted seaweed) -- and whatever left-overs we brought from the night before, and our 10 minute walk to Korean class (which we usually used to finish homework from the day before...)
And our favorite Seocho things!! Soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung, the famed red bean donuts that had easily become my daily habit, and what I easily consider the best mochi I've ever had -- a single fresh strawberry wrapped in a pocket of goodness and happiness (on one of my first days in Seoul, I had coffee with a friend of a friend... his advice to adapting to life here was to "find your pocket of happiness each day" -- he meant things like meeting a friend for coffee mid-day like he was doing, or taking a walk along the river... But to me, strawberry mochis have become my literal pockets of happiness and goodness each day).
No comments:
Post a Comment