Korea: Seoul City

The main international airport in Korea (Incheon, outside Seoul) has been rated the “top airport in the world” for five years running. Everywhere you see the motto, “Exceed Expectations!” We went to Korea with an open mind--and because our friend Barbara Hotelling lined up some gigs for Jan here--but we are concluding our stay in Seoul with an exceptionally positive feeling.

Neither of us is really a “city person.” It’s been years since we lived in one. As we inched our way into Seoul in rush-hour traffic, seeing giant apartment blocks everywhere, I wondered if we'd be able to adjust to city life.

However, the place where we have stayed, Olympic Family Village (built for the 1988 Olympics, along with three other apartment complexes, each housing about 4,000 people), has been fabulous. Most striking is how quiet everything is. We look out over a peaceful, green courtyard. In the late afternoon and early evening we hear the sound of kids on the playground, but the rest of the day we hear . . . birds. We see green trees and flowers. Is this city life? It is certainly Seoul life, as we've lived it.

The apartment that has been our home is bright, airy, and recently renovated—four bedrooms and two baths. It’s the new residence of Dr. Heasook Kim, the nursing professor who brought us here, for Jan to teach in her post-partum center.

A shady, three-minute walk away is a 7-11, a bank, and a coffee shop. All are pleasant, bright, and clean. Another 50 metres and you’re at a multi-level Lotte department store, with the largest farmer’s market in Seoul just across the street. A beautiful city park is 5 minutes in the opposite direction. What a great location!

Seoul is extensive, and we've only seen a bit of it. You can drive for hours and see more and more--and more!--tall buildings. We are staying south of the Han River (in Gangam), but the older, north side is hillier. That’s where all the embassies are, as well as the Blue House (the Korean White House, now inhabited by Ms. Park) and the old palaces. (We particularly loved Chang Deok Gung Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site. A photo shows us and Barbara Hotelling in front of one of the main buildings in the complex.)

Food in Korea is tasty, healthy, abundant, and (for us, thanks to Korean hospitality!) mostly free. Breakfast at La Belle Mere postpartum center is an especially healthy way to start the day!

Our hope is that through HUG Your Baby teaching (see me demonstrating "Broadcasting" for a Korean HUG class) and Ariel’s Way sharings, when appropriate, we will have a basis for authentic interactions with a few individuals we will truly get to know in each country. That has certainly proved to be the case here in Korea. 

We especially enjoyed getting to know Min Sung Kwon, who was Jan’s main translator. She is a person in her twenties, who has recently returned from Sydney, Australia, where she completed her master's degree in nursing. 

Min is the daughter of a physician, and she speaks excellent English, pronounced with an Aussie accent. She is a lovely person, bright, responsible, and fun-loving when work is through. She claimed to enjoy being “Jan’s mouth”—and we certainly enjoyed getting to know her and her translator friend (also Min Sung!),  Heasook, and Dr. Chong (the “natural childbirth” OB who came to Jan’s and Barbara’s classes, and who took them to his new birth center for a visit and then out to dinner). Sunny, the tour tour guide Heasook hired to take us around downtown Seoul for half a day, was also a delightful person.

We have been honored to meet so many intelligent, caring, polite, hospitable, and innovative people in Korea. Without a doubt, what we experienced (both in the airport and beyond it) “Exceeded Expectations.”