Seoul

June 10, 2011

Early this year, some pivotal cog and lever in the cosmos clicked into a new position and with a small push from me I ended up in Seoul. Its a national holiday today so I'm in the WestPark café, downstairs from my flat, trying to catch up with things. (An odd expression that... it suggests 'things' move at a velocity just out of my reach. I could make a nice little animation about that if only I had any graphic skills.). One of those things is to finish up the snippets of stories I started writing whilst on planes and trains.

Yes - I relocated to Seoul in February! An exciting move, and I haven't regretted it yet. I get a lot of strange reactions from people I meet and people I've told, I guess it seems an odd thing to do to at a certain age, to pack a suitcase, buy a one way ticket and move to another country where no English is spoken and don't know anyone. But first appearances aren't quite what they seem as this wan't entirely a whim. The company providing the business reason (of which I'm a part owner) is going onto the market soon and although the business has been really successful in the USA, Canada, Germany, UK, France, etc, it has been just pants in Asia. Mainly because we haven't had anybody posted here. So, I volunteered - the idea is to win some significant contract by the end of the year. So far it hasn't been going so well. But I'm not quite ready to fire myself just yet, I'm a generous guy, I've been continuously giving myself a second chance.

The travel is OK, in the past few weeks I've been to Osaka, Beijing and Singapore. Although I'm not so keen on airports and travel itself, I try to get around and enjoy at least a bit of the area within a kilometre of the hotel. Beijing I'm less adventurous in - looking for restaurants is a chore in that I've been really put off by the fake milk, fake eggs, fake meat scandals that have hit China. Also the MSG problem. (more later on that). When I'm in Beijing, usually the woman in charge of our sales for Asia will be there as well - J is based in south-east Asia, she's a good friend that I've worked with for many years. Being Chinese, she is able to find good places where there is some assurance that the food is real and no MSG added.

I’ll start from a slightly earlier point, back to March and April ... after I got here, the first thing I had to do was to find a flat. Koreans, I’m sure this isn't generally known, seem to have created a devilishly complex system of letting and renting accommodation - just hopelessly overcomplicated. They must do it for the entertainment value rather than logic or financial good sense – they must reel about on the floor with laughter every time they see a foreigner scratch his head with a ‘... and they do what??’ look on his face. To learn about it is like being explained the rules of cricket for the first time – it sounds like they’re making it up.

Seoul is completely dominated by high rise – both commercial as well as residential, all mixed up in the same areas. The canyons between the high rises are filled with 8 lanes of asphalt reserved for the 8.7million cars that come into Seoul everyday. On one of the previous trips when I was here, I remembered a district that seemed a little different. A bit like where I live in London: Holloway. (ok, except for the fact that there is one and only one nationality here – Korean). A bit run-down. A couple of universities in the area. A number of shops that don’t have the usual standard brands.

Choosing the flat led to a number of stand-offs with the one single work colleague I have here. (I am (and was) being helped by the single local person here in the company – let's call him K. I may end up in a Korean prison because of him, he seems to have a devious suicide plan, that is, he is forcing me to consider ways to murder him. It has gotten better recently but he keeps trying to assume a Father role. I never got on well with my Dad when I was a teenager and, I swear it is true, one day K suggested that I should wear a different jacket because it was cold outside. Thanks dad. )

At the time, K wanted me to move out to the suburbs (about 30 km south of the city) near to where he lives. Or at least live in the proper, expatriate district. Of course not having the slightest clue as to what I was doing, I childishly stuck to my intentions.

So, after several difficult conversations with K.... I now live in the Seoul equivalent of Greenwich Village in NY (ok.. that’s a bit of an exaggeration). I found a flat (in a highrise), rather small (about 1.2 catswings across), but with a reasonably non-extortionate rent, a really nice café or two close by, in the Ewha district. This is a university area close to the centre. It’s one of those places where, after someone asks you ‘so where are you living?’, ‘Near Ewha’, ‘ Ohhh..mm.’ (with an arched eyebrow). Everyone seems to have an opinion about it. I was in a business meeting not too long ago and when I answered 'Ewha' to the enquiry about where I lived, everyone started laughing. Koreans are very conservative - people past the age of 35 simply don't live anywhere except the suburbs. I also see this in the evenings if I go out to the cinema - I am the only person I can see above the age of 32.

Starting from scratch as I am, I've decided to go light on possessions, beginning with furniture, and went for 2 months with only a chair, a table and a bed. And the toaster. And the essential Jar of Peanut Butter. Part of the lack of furniture is part due to early stage, part due to intention. I now have a second chair and a worktable. And I brought my guitar from London. Minimalism – the less you own, the less you have to take care of.

I did have to buy some stuff like a blanket, plates and glasses and it has been entertaining... nobody speaks English, at all. There are only 43 english speaking people in the entire republic and I know 6 of them. The ladies in the department stores (there are literally thousands of them who descend on you like a flock of hungry pigeons) seemed to have taken a liking to me as possibly the only male they had seen on a desert island for years. Korean men clearly *never* shop for duvet covers or pillows. But they speak no English. So I drew pictures, did pantomime, attempted to describe precise engineering constants with waving hand gestures. Besides trying to describe abstract concepts like ‘cotton’ and ‘no pink hearts on the duvet cover’ , I have also negotiated price. Outrageously expensive in these brand oriented cultures. But I still ended up with a duvet made from polyester and some kind of tiny little flower things growing in random fashion on the cover. It seems I can’t completely banish the curse of decoration.

Seoul... the most remarkable aspect of the city is the enormous number of café’s. Koreans account for 93% of the world’s coffee consumption (I read that on the internet). But many are no ordinary café. Starbucks simply does not compete here. Very original designs - dangly oil lantern chandeliers, paintings from local artists on the walls, ‘hand-drip’ coffee that takes 15 minutes to make a single cup, comfy sofa / table places where you can work for hours on the free internet while listening to Brazilian folk music. There is an artist who has a very long blog just about the thousands of unique cafés. I quickly worked out that these would be my office. On days that I'm not travelling, or visiting a car factory or a Chinese Army training base, I have a lot of email to catch up on. All I need for that is an electricity supply and an internet connection for my laptop. My current favourite is ‘The Ethiopian Café’. Their choice of music is excellent and varied (a massive CD collection of Jazz and classical), the whole front of the café opens up (patio door style, so really nice breezy air now that warm weather is truly here), there is an ever-changing photo-art exhibition, comfy chairs, and they have a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle in the middle of the room. The last item means that the café gets frequently used as a backdrop for fashion photographers and their models (Yes… its true, I do enjoy the occasional glance at them while working ). I’ve been there during 3 different photo sessions so far. And the coffee is great. I've lived in Holland in the past, but I never encountered 'Dutch-drip' coffee? Apparently it takes 3 days to make. Very expensive.

I’m having a bit of trouble with the food in Asia. For a variety of reasons. First reason is the over-zealousness by which Koreans (primarily K, giving me yet another reason to think strangulation) advocate their cuisine. It’s ok but 90% of it is all the same – cabbage with a red pepper sauce. As I am rather childish by nature, the more that K says the food is great, the less I like it. The second reason is MSG. In China, even more so that Korea, this is a real problem. It seems that Koreans and Chinese don’t really eat food at all – what they actually consume is MSG, the food is just a convenient carrier for it. My problem with it is that it gives me a migraine if consumed in sufficient quantities. I've had about 4 attacks so far (depending on how you count migraines - if you can't pronounce your name and you wish your heart would stop, its a migraine).

I’ve got a very close Korean friend that I met on a flight to Hong Kong about 8 years ago. She is a teacher, teaching English. We kept in contact by email over the years as well spending some time together when she toured Paris and London some years back. She got married a few years ago and has a beautiful and ever so clever daughter. She has been wonderful helping me to translate some Korean (instructions on operating a hot water heater!) and understand rental agreements and has convinced me so far not to kill K. From when I knew her before, besides being in possession of a heart of gold and a kind smile, she seemed to be possessed of endless optimism and joy. She changed ... and it is so sad to see – her husband is an alcoholic and abusive. Although currently he is restricted from access to her, it seems like it is not enough. Her head is telling her to run and find a new life, her religion (she is devout Christian) tells her to seek reconciliation and go back to him. I am at a loss, I don’t know how to help her. We've talked a lot, and I've tried not to interfere in her life but now I think maybe my presence is only making things worse for her. (One of the downsides of Korean culture is its fascination with alcohol. There are some very heavy drinkers here. In certain districts, it is not unusual to see ordinary business men completely sloshed, stumbling around on the streets at 8pm. There’s quite a bit less of that in the area that I’m living but I wandered up to a bar / restaurant some weeks back to get some dinner. There were two separate tables of gangs of office workers throwing back shot after shot. All men, all very aggressive. The waitress serving them was a young girl, only about 16 or 17. There is a seediness that is part of the life and culture here - much the same as anywhere in the world I suppose.)

I have to mention my convenience store downstairs. It's a 'GS25!' (I think the exclamation mark is mandatory). It's about the same as any other 24 hour convenience store except for the piped in music. Like all modern shops, it is on constantly. But their selection is fantastic - I've heard John Coltrane live recordings, Puccini opera's, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday. I try to make a point of shopping really slowly there just to hear what they'll play next. The cashiers are the usual spotty teenagers one sees in a convenience store, I don't think they choose the music. Do you know 'The Meters'? Over the years I've really grown to love the music of Parliament, p-funk, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker. But I'd never heard of 'The Meters' ('Funkify Your Life'). That is, until my convenience store had a day dedicated to their music. I was buying some drain cleaner and toilet paper, when I started listening a little closer, and I thought, 'mmm, that's funky for 8am!' And found out who was playing by using an iPhone app called 'Shazaam'. A very educational little establishment.

Music can keep you sane I've discovered.