Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Shinchon 신촌

When San Nakji spent his time in Seoul Korea, my chosen place of abode was Shinchon in north western Seoul. It is surrounded by universities, Yonsei, Ewha, Hongik and Sogang, and that's why it is such and interesting place. The whole area swarms with students until late into the night and there are bars, restaurants, coffee shops and noraebang everywhere you look. There may be places like this elsewhere in the world, but I have never seen them. The funny thing about Shinchon is that most places only stayed open for a matter of months. It is the place of the fad. One year shooting ranges were popular and you could find one on every corner. After about two months of this, they all closed down... Another time it was Dakgalbi 닭갈비, but now there is only one place left (I think) of the original places. Last year I went there to visit the place where I lived. The building has been torn down... worse than that it seemed like the whole street had been torn down as I had no idea where it was! Although I lived there for over 2 years I had become a stranger in my town... If anywhere was a symbol of Korea's rapid economic development, then Shinchon is the place!

San Nakji for President!

2 comments:

flowerful said...

my workplace is near Hongdae which is near Shinchon. I love Hongdae area. There are many interesting places such as bars, galleries, clubs, shops!!

San Nakji said...

I could never get in to Hongdae, I felt uncomfortable there. Shinchon is definitely the place for me!