Seoul stirring in Korea

Seouled Out

If your plane lands at Incheon International Airport in Seoul, you'll be in big trouble as there is likely to be no one to meet you only because there is a hefty (KRW 6000) toll to use the road to the airport. Try and persuade your pilot to bring the plane down at Kimpo airport, which is a mite closer to Seoul! The 17km ride from Kimpo to Seoul will take about an hour, as Korean technology has not perfected teleportation as yet! It will also set you back by about KRW 12,000 for an ordinary taxi to double that for a deluxe taxi. The subway train to the city centre takes only 20 minutes and, as the airport has its own station, things couldn't be easier. A deluxe bus service charges KRW 5000, while regular busses charge only KRW1100. Incheon costs a smidgen more than this but the road is twice as long and since you need to pay to breathe on it, the traffic will catapult you to town in the same time! From all this you will have realised that ordinary wallets will be of little use to you. You need a satchel to carry your money and a wallet to fetch back your purchases!

Seoul Blisters

Once in town, you have the city at your feet as it were since everything is in easy reach of everywhere else. The only problem is that though the roads are great, there don't seem enough of them! Getting around town is best on foot or by subway. Roads are clogged with the genius of the Korean Automotive Industry. In fact they have so many cars that they export them to India (Daewoo and Hyundai) to ease their congestion.

The weather is weird. When I turned up one blowsy afternoon, it was bitter cold with a nip in the air that almost took my nose off. This continued for three days after which it became warm enough to gad about without a jacket. This was in winter when the Siberian influence blows in from the

North West and the temperature plunges to -13 degrees Celsius. In summer it shoots up to the middle thirties. The place is humid so comfort-wise it would rank pretty low. It has a June-September monsoon when most of the 125 cm of annual rainfall drowns the place. Most of it flows into the Hangang river that divides the city into northern and southern halves. These halves are home to about 12 million people, which is about a quarter of the country's population. Of this density, foreigners account for about one percent. Though the Americans outnumber everybody else, there is a large population of South Asians, with small communities of people from all over the home country.

Heart and Seoul

Like India, the family structure has changed from the traditional joint-family type to the nuclear family. Western influence has taken hold of the society in a double Nelson grip and it is unlikely to go back to traditional ways.

One rarely sees the traditional Korean costume any more except at weddings and cultural functions. Western dressing has been normal for nearly a century.

Visitors dressed in sarees and salwar suits are a novelty and are often accosted and questioned without offence.

Seoul Full

The country is very secular with a wide number of religions being practiced without let or hindrance. Korea is quite easily one of the most communally peaceful countries I have visited.

Shamanism practised here is very much like traditional forms of Hinduism, where Nature and the elements are respected, and a pantheistic form of worship is followed.

Buddhism is the majority religion followed by Christianity (both Catholic and Protestant) though the entire way of life of all Koreans is based on the principles of Confucianism.

While there are no Hindu temples, there are a number of mosques that are popular.

Seoul Food

Vegetarian food is seriously difficult to come by, though their national dish, kimchi is largely vegetarian and very garlicky. However the Seoulites add great lashings of fish or oyster sauce to flavour it. Their food too is dynamitic and people without armour-plated tongues and stomachs are advised to stick to yoghurt and rice. Korean chillies are reputed to cause unsuspecting westerners to use fire extinguishers while they eat! Cooking is on the back-burner in Seoul, processed foods rule the roost and meals come frozen and remarkably standardised. A dinner that includes peas will taste the same as one that includes maize or beans or beetroot. The lifestyle having changed so much, food habits died hard but die they did. There are a very few pure vegetarian Buddhist restraints but unless you know excellent Korean or superlative sign language, give in or go hungry!

Seoul Searching

Living is easy here. Seoul has more flats than most other Asian cities. The most common are studio apartments for single occupancy that are serviced and safe. Apartments are also safe and common. They have something called Villas which bears little resemblance to any Villa I have seen. From the outside they look like a scaled-down version of a block of flats. From the inside, they look like a very spacious flat. Then there are independent houses that you have to look after yourself. There is also something called an officetel, which, despite its communicative name, means an office-cum-residence. Rentals are all-inclusive but if you're going to work there make sure your company foots the bill. You may have noticed above that it costs a bomb to get from place to place, if that bomb is reimbursed by your company you can relax.

Seoul Financing

This city is one of the most expensive in the world. If you are offered a job, as you will by the prospering IT industry there or by the automobile and white goods giants, you should stick out for a basic salary of US$ 173,983 per annum. As this translates to KRW223,202,790.70 you will be able, legitimately, to write home and tell them that you are a multi-millionaire. However this kind of salary is just about enough to manage the cost of living index. To live luxuriously, independent house and all, you'll need much more than that.

Twin Seouls

There may be some initial adjustment problems since everybody does not speak English. But that apart you will find everybody very friendly and ready to help in any way they can. A hospitable race, they often put themselves out to be nice. They also like Indians as they have been exposed to those who were well behaved and shy, a trait that they appreciate. Despite the large number of Americans there, they are not well liked. Those of your colleagues, who do speak English, will do so with a strange accent that you may find difficult to understand at first, but once you get used to their inflection, things will be easier.

Seoul Satisfaction

Living in Seoul is fun and satisfying, but being poor is not an option you should consider. Accept only a well paying job that keeps you ahead of the rising cost of living. Steer away from discussing local politics and try not to get involved in contentious issues like North/South reunification and the like. One thing though, you will be delighted to return to India after a stint there, if its not the weather that will get you down, it will be the food!

ABHIMANYU ACHARYA

abhi.hyd@cxknetworks.com