Guest Blogger: Laura Seewoester Korea has a gentle mix of new, old, and old world. Koreans are super techno freaks. Everybody, young and old, is glued to his or her cell phone (not unlike us text-happy Americans). Wi-fi is available almost everywhere, and apparently gaming addiction is a real issue, no doubt perpetuated by the very popular internet café type establishments called “PC bang.” Despite their progressive attitude towards technology, walking around Seoul is like stepping back into the 1950s.
The men all wear suits, the businessmen still participate in the 3 (or 7) martini lunches, the women dress to the nines and they smoke everywhere. Throw in a mild dose of Korean machismo and you almost feel like you’re in a different time period, at least until you see someone fidgeting with their cell, laptop, or other gadget of sorts.
Cut to Korea’s rich ancient history and the temples, gardens, and artifacts to go with it and you get an interesting juxtaposition. While one may yearn for a picturesque city full of pagoda houses and Buddhist temples, even in Gyeongju, a city of about 250,000 that was once the seat of the great Shilla empire, the temples and old burial mounds are set on a backdrop of tall buildings and neon.
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