Korean Kaleidoscope

Well its now my last day in Korea (well 2nd last if you count the half day I have tmr) so I think I've got enuf experiences to form a rough perception of Seoul if not Korea as a whole.
Well the strongest impression I have of Seoul and Korea as a whole is that it is the most monoculuralistic city I have ever been too (or will ever go to I surmise). My dad confirmed this too when he mentioned that even Tokyo, Japan has a more cosmopolitan population. In fact I'd guess that ethnic Koreans make up about 95% of the population. It was this cultural and language barrier that prevented me from leaving Seoul itself - the chances of getting hopelessly lost on a fieldtrip to the countryside is much higher especially without an English speaking guide. My white water rafting trip was cancelled cos of that - no one on the rafting site could speak English at all! Drats! I was really looking forward to that!
Well in few days since my last entry I've been to the Korean War Memorial, Namdaemun Market, Dongdaemun Market, Insa-Dong Market, Dobong-San and many many eateries! Dobong-san was my favourite expedition. Its a smallish little mountain on the outskirts of the city and my dad took a tube out. At some points it was pretty tough climbing on 60-70 degree slopes - real problems for us due to our bad knees. We completed the ascent and descent relatively quickly in like 6 hrs I think. Hah the most interesting thing was that there was a monestary at the peak and I was wondering if the building materials were transported by helicopter ... the answer arrived when I saw a dude carrying up a DOOR and WINDOW panes! Sheesh these guys are incredible ... carrying up the entire building piece by piece. Its sheer will-power and determination.
Well now my impression of the city proper isn't as good. Its like another other city ... full of cars and concrete yet it lacks the charm of many other cities I've been in. Well Singapore's always been clean and orderly, Munich was beautiful and very scenic, Berlin was rich in history and Paris was a garden of culture especially for a francophone like moi! Seoul you know was just ... Seoul. Not that it is a bad city just that there is no great distinguishing features about the city. Save mebbe the markets - Namdaemun and Dongdaemun Market especially which are whole great lanes and district full of hawkers selling a whole assortment of goods. Not that I bought much ... but it was interesting to see some of the traditional stuff that Koreans buy and how they go about their daily routines and transactions. One favourable facet of Seoul and possibly Korea as whole I'd have to say is their elderly and disabled-friendly culture. The elderly form a large segment of the population here and receive lotsa benefits. They ride the tube for free ... they have seats reserved for them on each carriage (where no one is allowed to seat even if the spaces are not occupied by the elderly!) etc. And these old guys are pretty robust too! There were legions of em climbing the mountain together with my dad and I!
Arghh but the city is pretty dull at night ... like London where all the shops are down by EIGHT but minus the nightlife! So most evening we spend watching the TV, chatting or on the PC.
Oh yesh So Yuen was very nice and took me around parts of the city. Was supposed to go with her to her church on Sunday but my dad had other plans to visit the spa and gym at the Hyatt. Well I've never been to any other Hyatts but this one is sure an eye-opener! Basically the gym and spa was plush, luxurious and magnificent ... you really can't ask for more. There's both an outdoor AND heated pool, hot AND cold jacuzzi (marvelous after a nice workout), 3 different saunas with a 3 ranges of temperature. Arghhhh .... I wanna live there! The cost of one entry was of cos just as plush - 40,000 won. That comes up to about USD40! Nuts eh? And I thought the bloody ULU gym was expensive at 4 pds.
Hmm some final thoughts. I think Seoul is gonna have to muture by bringing in more people from other cultures. Right now they're pretty much insulated from the world and I think a sort of stagnancy will settle in place if retain their monoculturalism. Dynamism is the hallmark of a cosmpolitan culture after all. Right now their economy is doing well but with a falling birth-rate and a falling number of graduates (in fields other than engineering) Korea's gonna have to let in more foreigners one day to augment their work force. Still ... they've done very well to bring themselves out of the misery of the Korean War and Japanese Occupation - kinda like the rise of our little nation really.