One of My Greatest Dislikes AND Things We Take for Granted
I have to include posts about things which I don't like about Korea. There is one simple reason for that: I'm trying as best I can to tell THE WHOLE STORY.
There is something that makes living in Korea harder. I've noticed it since the beginning. Some days I don't care. Some days I wonder about it. But there's no solution. It's something that just can't be avoided as one goes about their day. This is the appearance of everything, mainly the buildings. I should add some pictures here so that readers can understand. The buildings, both old and new, and it rich, poor and middle-class areas are just ugly as sin. There's no other way to describe it. And so are every other structure, be it a street or staircase, a shop, an apartment complex or house. Sometimes Koreans buy land and build their own house. Some of these are nice enough. Actually most of those are nice, I don't mean that they are big or nice by US standards. But they look nice.
The sidewalks don't look good. I think the main reason is they are just not well-paved. They are all bumpy. They were probably paved years ago and knowing what I know, I can guess that the government doesn't want to pay to redo them when they don't pose a big problem, so I'm about 99% sure that the government would say we can't pay to repave roads or sidewalks when we need to spend our money on so many other things. I can ask a Korean friend about this but I'm almost positive about it.
Once I ate lunch at my favorite restaurant facing a wall which is mostly glass. Two of their walls are. Common in Korea. So while eating I have a view of the street. I see tiny shops, a pharmacy, a bank and what have you. I'll try to put a picture of this or a similar street here. I can read Korean so I know what kind of shop each shop is. I can't say now for sure if it feels different if you can't read them, I mean if the whole look or feeling is different.
One this day it was a grey day and cold. It looked a little like it was going to rain or snow, meaning darker of course. The appearance of everything combined with the grey, the cold and being a little dark just makes for a depressing view. I can see why anyone would look at this and start to feel depressed.
I'd also like to comment that it has snowed several times this winter and there is still a narrow road which I use mostly covered in snow and ice. A little dangerous to walk on it. Patches of ice everywhere. After the snow had been on the ground a while, someone made a path of sand from my building's entrance to the street. If you have to get off that path to put your trash out you'll be walking on snow or ice. So many things we take for granted, though it's been said, SO MANY THINGS people in other countries don't have. All in all during my time here, this hasn't really been a problem because in the places I've lived snow usually doesn't stick.
To conclude the appearance of the buildings has been one of my least favorite things in Korea. However I know that in any cotuntry there is good and bad, there will always be likes and dislikes, no matter who you are. I'm not trying to complain, I'm trying to tell my story.
There is something that makes living in Korea harder. I've noticed it since the beginning. Some days I don't care. Some days I wonder about it. But there's no solution. It's something that just can't be avoided as one goes about their day. This is the appearance of everything, mainly the buildings. I should add some pictures here so that readers can understand. The buildings, both old and new, and it rich, poor and middle-class areas are just ugly as sin. There's no other way to describe it. And so are every other structure, be it a street or staircase, a shop, an apartment complex or house. Sometimes Koreans buy land and build their own house. Some of these are nice enough. Actually most of those are nice, I don't mean that they are big or nice by US standards. But they look nice.
The sidewalks don't look good. I think the main reason is they are just not well-paved. They are all bumpy. They were probably paved years ago and knowing what I know, I can guess that the government doesn't want to pay to redo them when they don't pose a big problem, so I'm about 99% sure that the government would say we can't pay to repave roads or sidewalks when we need to spend our money on so many other things. I can ask a Korean friend about this but I'm almost positive about it.
Once I ate lunch at my favorite restaurant facing a wall which is mostly glass. Two of their walls are. Common in Korea. So while eating I have a view of the street. I see tiny shops, a pharmacy, a bank and what have you. I'll try to put a picture of this or a similar street here. I can read Korean so I know what kind of shop each shop is. I can't say now for sure if it feels different if you can't read them, I mean if the whole look or feeling is different.
One this day it was a grey day and cold. It looked a little like it was going to rain or snow, meaning darker of course. The appearance of everything combined with the grey, the cold and being a little dark just makes for a depressing view. I can see why anyone would look at this and start to feel depressed.
I'd also like to comment that it has snowed several times this winter and there is still a narrow road which I use mostly covered in snow and ice. A little dangerous to walk on it. Patches of ice everywhere. After the snow had been on the ground a while, someone made a path of sand from my building's entrance to the street. If you have to get off that path to put your trash out you'll be walking on snow or ice. So many things we take for granted, though it's been said, SO MANY THINGS people in other countries don't have. All in all during my time here, this hasn't really been a problem because in the places I've lived snow usually doesn't stick.
To conclude the appearance of the buildings has been one of my least favorite things in Korea. However I know that in any cotuntry there is good and bad, there will always be likes and dislikes, no matter who you are. I'm not trying to complain, I'm trying to tell my story.
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