Autumn Comes to Seoul

Weaver Adventure Blog for Week of October 25, 2012

So, the Seoul summer has definitely migrated south for the winter.   The leaves here are changing rapidly; the morning commute requires a jacket; the alarm goes off in what seems like the middle of the night, and we are, as usual, quite busy with school, work, projects, and life in general. 

A few updates: 

Getting acclimated:  We are adjusting more each day to our adopted city.  The stress around a trip to the store or to a new part of town is all but gone after some months of apprehension about getting lost or just wasting a lot of time.  We are avid users of public transport now and when we do need to take a cab we can communicate pretty well where we want to go.  I haven’t had to “phone a friend” in a couple of weeks, so that is progress.  Finding a parking spot when we do drive is still difficult, but I haven’t been ticketed or towed lately so, again, progress. 

Getting involved:  Through the kids’ school we have gotten involved with a small group of expats.  There are many activities and outings, and one we have tried is Scottish Folk Dancing.  Practice is once a week at the British Embassy, and the endpoint is the St. Andrew’s Society Fall Ball in late November.  Not sure I will go in a kilt and full regalia, but it looks like fun.  It’s an all night affair, with a big English breakfast the morning after.  I will try to get some pix and video to share.  Or perhaps not…

Getting visitors:  Pretty excited about a steady stream of visitors from the home office.  Over the next few weeks we expect a half-dozen or so travelers to swing through Seoul and say hello.  So far, however, no family or friends have made the journey, but we are hopeful in the new year a few will get on a plane and come check out our new city.

Getting out of the city:  We have not ventured out of the city much yet, but I had a chance to play a round of golf a few days ago and, while my performance was not pretty, the scenery was amazing.  The course we played is about 60 km from Seoul.  Here are some pix that some of the other players took.  Enjoy.

Until next time,

Weaver 

Gangnam Style

Weaver Adventure Blog for Week of September 20, 2012

Gangnam Style 

So, in case you have been hiding out in remote village somewhere, there is a music video out there on the interweb called Gangnam Style, by a Korean performer called Psy.  It is a huge it.  A global phenomenon.  It has garnered well over 200 million views on Youtube alone.  Psy is all over the airwaves here in Seoul, as well as advertising campaigns, billboards, and the like.  What makes him different is he has captured the attention of “the West”, and is on shows like Ellen, Saturday Night Live, and the MTV Music Video Awards.  So, a big hit.  It is estimated that there are 8 people globally who haven’t seen or heard of Gangnam Style.  If you (or someone you know) isn’t familiar, you can check out the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0. (rated PG – fair warning)

So I watched it a while back and asked my friends at the office, “What is Gangnam Style?”  They laughed and tried to explain it.  It seems the word gangnam (pronounced kahngnahm) is a combination of two words – gang (Korean for river) and nam (Korean for south).  So gangnam means, literally, South of the River.  In this case, the Han River.  I thought I had better head over there and check it out for myself.  On the way, my parking coach and tour-guide for the day Yong-Kwan Kim gave me more info on gangnam style.

Turns out “Gangnam style” is an attitude or philosophy that (stereotypically) identifies residents of the Gangnam district of Seoul.  This can be somewhat derisive, but seems to be more or less friendly.   The Gangnam district is quite large and is home to many global companies, financial firms, coffee shops (of course), and many really, really high end luxury goods shops.  

As you can imagine, the people in this district are generally quite well-to-do.  You are just as likely to see someone driving a BMW as a Hyundai.  In fact, the 3-Series BMW is sometimes referred to as a Gangnam Sonata – a reference to the ubiquity of the car model in Gangnam.  So, generally, a reference to “Gangnam style” is a slightly envious slam on the world of wealth and conspicuous consumption that is embodied “South of the River”.

After driving past a great many nice shops, and watching the mid-day shoppers walk to and fro we stopped for lunch at a little bistro called Café 74.  We could have easily been in San Diego, New York, London etc.  Excellent food, and the best cafe latte I have had outside of Italy.  Really nice.  I had the Caprese Panini pictured – delizioso!  To top off my Gangnam experience, just as we were leaving (as if on cue), a gleaming Maserati pulled up in the valet parking lane with a foursome for lunch – that’s Gangnam Style!

I’m told the nightlife there is really incredible, so I will have to make it back some Friday night to check it out.  Need to work on my Gangnam Style dance move first… if I get enough encouragement I might post a video…