Somewhat Lost in Seoul
September 03, 2005

The human body, undoubtedly, was not built for a sixteen hour plane ride followed by thirty minutes waiting in the immigration line and another ninety minutes being driven from the airport to the hotel. But alas, here I am in so-called Internet capital of the world: Seoul, South Korea.

In some ways I feel familiar with this city: I watch too many Korean movies, I am familiar with many of the companies/brands, I used to listen to Korean music and I have the pleasure(?) of living a few blocks from Koreatown in New York. But seriously, no amount of tangental experience can set you up for being in a city where you know very few people (read: one), and where you haven't the faintest clue what to do.

I have eight more days here, and hopefully I'll be considerably more acquianted with this city by then. Hopefully, I'll have met new people and made new friends. Hopefully, I'll actually say hello and thank you to people in Korean. There are those times when you can be invincible.

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what's the reason for the visit?

Work + horizontal expansion.

The problem that you encountered is not your fault. South Korea has long lost its soul (pardon the pun) and really has nothing to offer the random visitor. Most Koreans know this and will readily admit it... after a little soju (traditional drink). Korea has long given up whatever cultural competition there was with its two more important neighbours, partly due to confusion and partly due to exhaustion. Once the Koreans finally realized that there was a future (read money) in tourism, there was a scramble to put up the welcome signs. The problem is that they were far too late and the methods far too backwater. The international travel community is well aware of this... and so are the Koreans.