I find it fascinating that for a city of its size, very few people have been to Seoul, or Korea for that matter. I keep a running mental list of all the people I've met that traveled to Korea that neither worked in Korea nor had family in Korea. So far, I can name a Swede, an Australian backpacker, a French photographer, and two Chinese, one of whom was a Hong Kong taxi driver that seemed to have gone there for what sounded like sex tourism.
There was a great post by the Metropolitician a long time ago, one I can't find anymore, that argued Korea should market the sheer intensity of the Korean experience. Seoul does have five palaces and excellent hiking opportunities, but what really sets Korea apart from Japan and China is the intensity of the people.
It's really the Korean peninsula that's unique in this intensity, not just South Korea. Consider any activity or idea that exists on the peninsula: capitalism, communism, Christianity, baseball, drinking, studying, public gatherings. All of them are attacked and undertaken with a ferocity that is simultaneously amusing and frightening.
I'm sure anyone who has spent more than a week in Korea has experience dealing with this aspect of Korean culture, which can be obnoxious at times, but it's also the most exhilarating. Metropolitician described the ubiquity of bars and restaurants that stay open until the early morning, and the intense social life that results from this, an experience that's well worth traveling to Korea.
The failures of the government's attempts to brand Korea as a unique country are well-documented, and this approach wouldn't just be to present Korea as a country of alcoholics, but as a country of wildly passionate people. Nothing in Korea is done casually. People are impeccably well-dressed and often at least somewhat plastic in their composition, they drive recklessly, climb mountains well into old age, run marathons every week, sing and draw exceptionally well. Even the hamburgers tend to be better assembled than their North American counterparts.
3 comments:
I completely agree with you that Korea has a lot to offer if you know where to go, but I think the main problem is that it's hard to attract non-Koreans to Korea due to the language difficulty and lack of foreigners' knowledge of Korean history, culture, etc. I (as a Korean-American) can spend easily one to two weeks in Korea and still not have enough time shopping and sight-seeing, but that's mainly because I can read and speak Korean (ie-I love spending hours at those large bookstores like Kyobo and Bando&Luni's..or whatever it's called). However, I always find myself hesitating when a non-Korean asks me if they should plan their vacation in Korea versus Japan or China. I have a hard time trying to sell Korea versus Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka or versus Beijing-Shanghai-Hong Kong. In Korea, there's Seoul...and maybe Pusan or Cheju Island...but honestly, what else can you recommend? Kyongju? I personally love going to Kyongju, but would a foreigner find it easy to navigate around Kyongju? I think Korea needs more destination-type cities other than Seoul. Even Seoul is hard to sell for non-Koreans.
LastnameKim, I'm sort of the way you are in being cautious about recommending Korea as a destination. With friends and relatives who already know me or our other relatives in Korea, it's a little less of a risk/gamble, because the people they know in Korea would be an obvious draw. Even in the lesser states of the United States, visiting relatives has been my main purpose for traveling to places I otherwise might not go (my mom and I may visit Mississippi to see cousins from Korea who have temporarily relocated there).
Instead, I suggest Korea as part of a larger itinerary: Hong Kong and Seoul, Tokyo and Seoul, or Beijing and Seoul. When I've done that, the people who hadn't been to Korea — kyopo or non-kyopo — have been pleasantly surprised by Korea.
By the way, LastnameKim, you are more than welcome to be a sometime or frequent blogger here at SoCon.
Kushibo, I would be happy to contribute maybe later on. If I find something worthwhile to write about, I will let you know. My writing style is not up to the game though (I'm a newbie to this blogging stuff). My confidence was destroyed in college when my sister would blast my writing samples (she was a rhetoric major). I'm not the writer-type...but otherwise, I will definitely contribute something when I see fit. Hopefully you can get this SoCon thing to really expand. Hey, maybe I'll ask my sister to check it out!
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