There is very little that I acquired
or used in the way of goods and services in the US that I have not found I Korea.
Koreans are deservedly proud of having worked
hard to create a country that long term visitors from the “first world” would
find comfortable. It must be remembered
that Korea has built itself to this remarkable position by its own
bootstraps. Totally devastated by the
occupations and wars of the first half of the twentieth century, Korea was not
provided with the amazing benefits of any kind of Marshall Plan as received by
Europe and Japan. Instead, as I
mentioned in previous blogs, the leaders of the country became determined to
create a country of prosperity despite the lack of any natural resources and
strategic geographic positioning.
Korea today is a mix of much that is really
new and some things that are really old, but in all ways it has truly become a
first world country. The availability of
coffee shops, restaurants (especially the nouveau style restaurants), bars, and
other such public gathering places speak to the Korea of today. The museums – living or otherwise – the temples,
and the other aspects of cultural retention that speak to the Korea of past
times dot both the physical and the cultural scenes and are able to provide a
wealth of information on how things came to be as they are. In fact, I know, for example, that there are Buddhist Temples (I am not sure of the numbers) that have arrangements that allow westerners to both experience and study Buddhism here. If you are curious check out Korean Buddhism through the internet.
There are, of course some exceptions to
most rules and probably the biggest exception to what I have set forth is
clothing and shoes. At my size, I am
over six feet, one inch in height, I am taller than most Koreans. I have met some that are my height, but they
are not as physically large as I am. I
currently weigh about 210 pounds, though a good weight for me would be closer
to 200 (ironically, at one time when I was playing the position of defensive
tackle in American football during college, I actually had a playing weight of
245 – not fat either). The whole point
is that clothes that would fit me I will have to ship in.
Ultimately,
the point of this blog is that, if you wish to truly have an understanding of
the orient, its’ histories, its cultures, its’ paths towards enlightenment, Korea
is a good place to start because all the amenities to which westerners are accustomed are here.
Within three blocks of where I live . . .
New multi-use office buildings
A modern Post Office
A Police Station
A Civil Administration building
A modern grocery store
Older single use buildings sporting new blue roofs
The juxtaposition of old and new
Even roofs of orange are available
And while here we see many newer roofs, many
buildings sporting much older roofs are ubiquitous
The newer parts of cities have well ordered street arrangements, but admittedly, the older parts of cities can have very narrow streets as they were not designed for the traffic of modern vehicles
Gas stations are not combined with convenience stores here
Fresh fruit and vegetable market
Auto repair facilities
Yet another fresh fruit and vegetables market
A gardening store
Yet another fresh fruit and vegetables market
A ladies fashionstore
A ladies store
A computer store
A fresh fruit and vegetable market sporting a
school of Taekwondo on the second floor
Above and Below: A sand and gravel pit for the manufacture of concrete cinder
blocks of the kind students in the school I ran in the US broke on a regular basis
Even an Office Depot!
And this list DID Not include the numerous restaurants, several martial arts schools, several banks, the ubiquitous coffee shops, two parks, many convenience stores, a photography shop, and many other things - yet this is all within about a three block radius from where I live!
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