I arrived at my hostel, dropped off my bag and left for a walk. Korea is a pretty distinguishable country compared to other places I’ve been to.
Korean woman.
Korean man.
Korean women.
Korean men.
School attendance for kids in Korea starts early in the morning and runs until late in the evening. These kids must be skipping school, as they’re playing with something that looks like the Chupa Caps or POGs I had in my childhood. However the chips here are in the design of a small flip book.
After a short while it became apparent that the city looks much like any other highly developed and modern city. The infrastructure here is very advanced and the city extremely clean.
Street cleaners clearing leaves from the pond.
Another cool thing is these flower bed covers, they’re there to prevent the soil from the flower beds spilling out onto the pavement during the rainy winter weather. This is why the pavements are always so spotless. European countries should do the same thing.
The city is spotless and decorated with cabbage-like flowers. Kimchi, is a traditional cabbage-based Korean dish, which Koreans are very proud of. It’s usually served as a free starter to any dish.
Speaking of food, Korean food places display plastic mock-ups of the real food available for diners to order. These realistic looking food dishes accompany the traditional picture menus in most eateries. What you see is what you get.
As well as the weird looking plastic mock ups, Koreans also like ice cream, especially long and especially in the winter. I suppose the logic here is to have a cold product at a cold time of year.
Korean diner in the evening with steamed-up windows.
Since Koreans are very busy and hardworking people, they don’t usually have time to spend with their family nor time to prepare food for the next day, so they tend to eat out. Grandmas having lunch.
The city is full of interesting details. Flying camels.
Meters of the stair cases to achieve the goal.
Mirror installation at the metro station.
Weirdly installed mannequin is walking on the roof.
Aluminium trees.
Playful lighting.
Korea is a highly monitored and militarised country, with 30,000 US soldiers currently based there and in some cities, military planes flying overhead are a regular sight.
Police officer with a fire extinguisher outside the US embassy.
Protestors here hide their faces behind surgical masks. How convenient.
In 2014 a South Korean ferry, the Sewol, sank. Of those that perished, the majority were school children on a school trip. Along with the parent’s grief for their children others here protest for change.
Sign plate maker with tools instead of hands.
A tailor in his cabin.
Shoe man.
Seoul Design Plaza.
Man walking in the park.
Man in flipflops in –10°C.
The next day.
At night the clean city is littered with rubbish.
View over night Seoul.