It's been long
overdue but finally it's time to tell my impressions of the far East,
of the Korean Peninsula. It started from a flight on the 27th
of April from Manila to Incheon that felt more like a travel
through time, from the past to the future. And I'm not talking about
time zones but rather, human and social development. The cultural
shock I got from Korea was as big as the one I felt when I moved to
the Netherlands in 2009. Allow me to explain how the shock felt on my
first time.
 |
Riding the submarine, 40m deep, in Seogwipo, Jeju
|
During the first
months of living in Netherlands it felt strange to have such nice
public services, well educated people everywhere, almost no misery, a
vast offer of well preserved historical buildings and monuments, a
genuine care for the environment, a lot of cultural exhibitions but
most importantly, the safety feeling. For sure there were many other
different things that caused an impression on me but the ones I
mentioned were the most shocking. For the first time I lived in a
world that felt right, that seemed that it was somehow doing the
right thing. Remember that I come from a country with millions of
miserable people living without dignity. Forced to pay expensive
taxes and get terrible services in return. Trapped by a badly managed
System. Apparently The System, which is basically the same from
Brazil, when operated by competent people that actually care can lead
to great results. It gave me hope and a new questioning started
brewing: what lies ahead on this road? How good The System can get
and how it feels like? I guess the answers lies on some of the
Eastern Countries and the experience shocked me.
First of all, I have
no idea about Korea. I have zero knowledge about the history of the
peninsula, what they believe in, what was their struggle and how they
overcame it. No idea about their geography, climate, modernization,
participation on world events nor anything. I only knew that they
spoke Korean, are very good at Taekwondo, it's the home country of
Samsung and Psy. Oh, and are at war with border nation North Korea.
It's fair to say that my full ignorance magnified the shocking
effect.
Our trip started in
Seoul, the capital city. The most amazing city that I have ever been
in my life. One weekday we were walking around the neighborhood's
city center during lunch time, surrounded by tall modern buildings,
ancient palaces, wide roads full of cars, residential condos, local
markets and super markets, people going by everywhere. You know this
scenario right? Pretty normal if it wasn't for some details that
changed the whole experience. The streets were super clean, no trash
laying around, not a single cigaret butt tossed on the floor. Most of
the buildings were beautiful and designed so that people could easily
walk around them and have a pleasant experience. The ancient palaces
were meticulously preserved and restored. Wide modern roads full of
new cars that are quiet and spill almost no smoke. Honking? None.
People going by everywhere relaxed like it's Sunday, apparently calm,
doing groceries, having a coffee on the sun. I had the same
experience in many other parts of the city. There was even a little
street in Bukchon that it was so cool, so original, it took my breath away. It was
amazing!
Their technological
advancement was apparently matched by their ethical and social
advancements. I say this based on what I saw. The public services and
cities are more than good, they are designed to prevent frustration
and misuse. It also seemed that South Korea is undoing parts of
environmental damage done in the past. For instance, in Seoul used to
have a stream of water called Cheonggyecheon that ran all the way to the Han River. In the past it was useful for transporting goods and dumping
sewage. Later it got on the way of cars and modern sewage systems so
they covered it and built a “nice” highway on top. That part of
the city turned into an ugly grey polluted part of town. Years later
they finally understood that it was a bad decision and reverted their
“progress”. So they demolished the highway, rebuilt the water
stream and keep it well maintained and pleasant. Now this is one of
the most valuable areas of the city, people love to walk along the
stream. I noticed the same care while enjoying the natural parks,
like on Jeju Island. The ultimate proof that they are doing an
amazing job with it is the beautiful flush nature full of happy
people that were also enjoying their surroundings.
This attitude – of
genuine care and action towards improving human interactions with the
environment, the cities, public services and historical heritage –
is not exclusive from South Korea, I saw it in many places in Europe,
specially in the Netherlands. What was so amazing about SK was its
massive scale and apparent long term commitment and its effects. What
I'm trying to say is that based on what I saw and experience I've
never seen a country operating The System with such decency. I also
saw it's effect on people and it was quite puzzling.
Walking around Seoul
I noticed that many women, young and old, would carry in their hands
small mirrors that they constantly check themselves and make minor
adjustments to how they look. They also do it with their mobile
phones and snap many many selfies. Most of them use a lot of makeup,
are very well dressed, even if their taste for fashion is very weird
to my tastes, the shopping malls and streets were always full of
people carrying bags and boxes of new stuff. There are so many coffee
shops where people just sit around apparently doing nothing besides
spending their money that I wondered if they ever worked. And in many
places I felt an overwhelming pressure for buying stuff, over
advertisement and consumption. How come this society, apparently so
advanced, was so vain? Was this the end game of The System? Masses of
empty and superficial middle-class people? “Well” – I told my
self – “they got their shit together: there's no poverty, no
corruption, no illiterate people, no abuse of nature, no bad health
care, no bad public services … they can afford to be this vain.
Maybe that girl fanatic by her image is also intelligent, kind,
respectful, has a decent job, loves animals and is a good citizen!
She's done her part, she can do whatever she wants to her self
without guilty.” That eased my mind… but just a while. Later I
found two crucial missing pieces of this society that changed
everything.
One of the pieces I
found in one of the biggest metro stations of Seoul, The System's
tool: dozens of homeless people. Begging for money, trying to sleep
on the floor, drinking the lasts drops of alcohol from a bottle,
eating the food remains from trash cans. It was as sad as it could be
and in this moment I was back at the real world. I felt a mix of
relief and revolt to be back. So South Korea is just like any other
place where The System runs, and it runs on top of people. Were these
homeless people a victim of their own selves or they had no chance
against The System? Both probably.
The Korean Peninsula's relationship is complicated
and I can't explain it but I was there, at the edge of a complicated
matter called the DMZ, a border which legitimacy's neither side accepts. Both states claim to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula. I was briefly on
enemy territory and what I saw was a stuck wheel, one that is still
for too long and wont move unless it breaks.
The narcissist girls
could not afford all that I thought they could after all. South Korea
was definitely shocking, like the Netherlands, it got me thinking
real hard on society, how much Brazil has still to grow and how good
it can get. We must try our best as hard as possible and aim for the
starts but even the best examples are not perfect, nothing is,
really. I had such great time just enjoying the country and all it
has to offer that it definitely made a good impression on me. I can't
recommend it enough but I hope these pictures help it.
 |
| Happy green buses in Seoul |
 |
| Really close to the water and the waterfall on the background |
 |
| A reconstructed creek in the middle of the city |
 |
| A huge Cathedral in Gangnan, Seoul |
 |
| We always make new cool friends on the road |
 |
| The beautiful Secret Garden in Changdeokgung, Seoul. |
 |
| A scene from the Masks Theater in Andong Hahoe Historic Village. It was so hot! |
 |
| The Spirit Tree in Andong Hahoe Historic Village |
 |
| A section of Busan from the top of mountain close by |
 |
| Having fun in one of the old fortress gates of Geumgang, Busan |
 |
| Panoramic view of some royal tombs at Gyeongju |
 |
| Panoramic view of Jeongbang Waterfall into the sea, Seogwipo, Jeju. |
 |
| Cheonjiyeon Waterfall by night in Seogwipo, Jeju |
 |
| At the crater of Seongsan Ilchulbong, Jeju |
 |
| Seongsan Ilchulbong rises from the sea, Jeju |
 |
| On the way to the top of the highest mountain of SK, Hallasan, Jeju |
 |
| The crater at the top of Mount Hallasan, Jeju |
 |
| A Buddha statue + drawing on a rocky side of the hill |
 |
| Typical South Korean lunch. Very spicy kimchi! |
 |
| Having fun with 3D Wall Paintings at the Jeju Airport |
 |
| Maybe one day we can go from Lisbon to Seoul by train |
 |
| The heart of the DMZ with North Korea on the background |
 |
| 17.455,29 km from my hometown! A new record. |
 |
| A pic from a pic from a typical day on the DMZ |
 |
| He's risking his life to protect ours. No kidding around please. |
That's it for now! I
hope you enjoyed this post. Have you been to South Korea too? How did
you feel? Do you disagree with parts of what I said? Please let us know
on the comments bellow.
Cheers!
0 comments :