{"id":2580,"date":"2011-05-02T00:32:29","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T00:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nomadscatalans.net\/fetataiwan\/?p=2580"},"modified":"2011-04-30T06:35:42","modified_gmt":"2011-04-30T06:35:42","slug":"sant-jordi-corea-del-sud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nomadscatalans.net\/fetataiwan\/?p=2580","title":{"rendered":"Sant Jordi @ Corea del SudSant Jordi @ South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

L’Anna havia de sortir de Taiwan per temes del visat, aix\u00ed que vam organitzar una escapada de 3 dies a Se\u00fcl<\/a> durant Sant Jordi. El segell de Corea del Sud<\/a> encara no el ten\u00edem en els nostres passaports :)
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Se\u00fcl<\/h2>\n

No ten\u00edem gaires expectatives de la visita a Se\u00fcl ja que gaireb\u00e9 ning\u00fa ens havia parlat b\u00e9 d’aquesta ciutat, Corea o els coreans en general.<\/p>\n

Se\u00fcl \u00e9s, de fet, una altra megalopolis asi\u00e0tica (m\u00e9s de 10 milions d’habitants a la ciutat i 24,5 en tota l’\u00e0rea metropolitana) amb pocs llocs t\u00faristics de renom, un sistema de metro eficient que funciona amb targetes RFID, centres comercials brutals, un gueto pels expatriats, una zona de negocis amb edificis gegants i un turonet amb la torre de comunicacions des d’on es pot observar la ciutat.<\/p>\n

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\"\" Malgrat aquesta descripci\u00f3 la veritat \u00e9s que ens ho vam passar b\u00e9 :). Vam tenir molt bon temps (una mica de fresca del que estem acostumats a Taipei) i un guia local perfecte (en Carles Rabassa<\/a> a qui vam con\u00e8ixer a trav\u00e9s del Couchsurfing) cosa que va ajudar molt a fer un bon tastet de la ciutat. El cert \u00e9s que Se\u00fcl en un dia fred d’hivern i sense bona companyia no ha de ser un lloc molt agradable.<\/p>\n

El menjar core\u00e0 \u00e9s conegut per ser picant i per estar obsessionat amb el kimchi<\/a>, ambdues coses van resultar ser veritat per\u00f2 el nivell de picant va ser menor del qu\u00e8 ens esper\u00e0vem. Als coreans tamb\u00e9 els torna bojos la barbacoa coreana i menjar pollastre fregit tot bebent cervesa (o qualsevol altre licor local<\/a>, com el soju). No dir\u00edem que el menjar core\u00e0 \u00e9s el nostre preferit per\u00f2 va ser interessant poder provar-lo durant 3 dies.<\/p>\n

Per mi Se\u00fcl es podria descriure com un Tokyo menys internacional, m\u00e9s ca\u00f2tic i m\u00e9s soroll\u00f3s. Al final del post he posat una petita comparaci\u00f3 entre Taiwan, Corea i Jap\u00f3.<\/p>\n

Aqu\u00ed teniu les fotos, a veure si trobeu les roses de Sant Jordi :)
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No \u00e9s gens complicat trobar-te amb algun borratxo pel carrer. Aqu\u00ed teniu el v\u00eddeo de la \u00abconversa\u00bb que vam tenir amb un d’ells just quan queia el sol. Per cert, per a la gran majoria de coreans la principal refer\u00e8ncia cultural d’Espanya segueixen sent els toros…<\/p>\n

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Visita a la Zona Desmilitaritzada (DMZ)<\/h2>\n

Essent la nostra primera visita a Corea ten\u00edem inter\u00e8s en saber, de primera m\u00e0, m\u00e9s coses sobre el conflicte entre les dues corees. La primera sorpresa va ser descobrir que el conflicte no \u00e9s gaire visible al carrer (nom\u00e9s vam topar-nos amb un redu\u00eft grup de gent de Justice4NK<\/a> en una mena de Rambla peatonal) i ning\u00fa ens va intentar explicar el tema. Segons ens va explicar en Carles de la seva experi\u00e8ncia a Corea, el ciutad\u00e0 mitj\u00e0 no est\u00e0 massa interessat en el conflicte. La part m\u00e9s visible s\u00f3n els joves militars que es poden veure pel carrer (que visiten les n\u00f2vies a la ciutat ja que la mili dura 2 anys i \u00e9s obligat\u00f2ria).<\/p>\n

Al final, amb alguns dubtes, vam decidir visitar la DMZ<\/a> amb un tour tur\u00edstic (que \u00e9s l’\u00fanica manera possible de fer la visita). L’experi\u00e8ncia no va ser del tot positiva amb una guia que no va explicar gaireb\u00e9 res, visites r\u00e0pides a les atraccions (que recordaven a un parc tem\u00e0tic en algun moment) i per acabar una visita de 40 minuts a un duty-free<\/em>. Tamb\u00e9 ens van portar a Dorasan<\/a>, una estaci\u00f3 de tren inutilitzada des del 2008 i que \u00e9s l’\u00faltima estaci\u00f3 de Corea del Sur que conecta amb Corea del Nord. El qu\u00e8 m\u00e9s ens va impressionar de l’estaci\u00f3 des\u00e8rtica va ser un treballador del punt d’informaci\u00f3 cultural que tenia ganes de xerrar amb els tur\u00edstes i ens va demanar, si us plau, que parl\u00e9ssim sobre el conflicte core\u00e0 als nostres pa\u00efsos. En qualsevol cas vam poder \u00abveure\u00bb Corea del Nord (amb uns prim\u00e0tics des d’un observatori) i en Pulpito va fer-se algunes fotos divertides.
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Hi ha un tour m\u00e9s car que a m\u00e9s a m\u00e9s de la DMZ et porta a la Joint-Security-Area <\/em>(JSA<\/a>) per\u00f2 no s’hi podia anar en diumenge i la veritat \u00e9s que estem contents d’haver-nos estalviat els diners. Si teniu inter\u00e8s en el tema podeu veure la pel\u00b7l\u00edcula Joint-Security-Area<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Corea vs. Jap\u00f3 vs. Taiwan<\/h2>\n

Ara que ja hem trepitjat els tres pa\u00efsos podem fer-ho millor als tests de la web AllLookSame<\/a> :) (\u00abTots s\u00f3n iguals\u00bb)<\/p>\n

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El coreans s\u00f3n la cultura m\u00e9s directe i tamb\u00e9 els que surten\/beuen m\u00e9s (sobretot comparat amb Taiwan). Els coreans estan completament obsessionats amb les pantalles, ja sigui TV al tel\u00e8fon m\u00f2bil o a la \u00abtablet\u00bb, pantalles interactives com a punts d’informaci\u00f3 o pantalles gegants al carrer. El que resulta m\u00e9s f\u00e0cil del que pot semblar \u00e9s llegir i escriure core\u00e0.<\/p>\n

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I altre cop cap a Taipei<\/h2>\n

\"\"\"\"Anna had to leave Taiwan for visa reasons, so we arranged an extended weekend trip to Seoul<\/a> during Sant Jordi<\/a>. South Korean<\/a> stamp was missing on our passports :)
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Seoul<\/h2>\n

We did not have much expectations about our visit to Seoul, as almost nobody in Taipei made a single positive comment about Seoul, Korea or Koreans in general.<\/p>\n

Seoul is, indeed, yet another big Asian megalopolis (more than 10 million in the city and almost 24.5 million in the metropolitan area) with no major tourist attractions, yet another metro system with a contact less card, massive shopping center, a ghetto for expatriates, a business district with huge buildings and a hill with the communications tower where you can see the city from above.<\/p>\n

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\"\"I must say that at the end we enjoyed the visit quite a lot :) I assume that the nice weather (just little bit cold for Taiwanese standards) and the perfect local guide (Carles Rabassa<\/a>, who we met via Couchsurfing) helped a lot to enjoy and get a feeling of the city and South Korea. Being alone in the city on a cold rainy (or snowy) day would not have been than enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Korean food is know to be spicy and obsessed with kimchi<\/a>, this is quite true but it was less spicy than we anticipated. Koreans also love Korean BBQ and to eat deep fried chicken while drinking cold beer (or any other local liquor<\/a>, like soju). Korean food is not our favorite among the Asian cuisines but it was interesting to get a taste of it.<\/p>\n

Under my perspective, Seoul could be defined as a less international, more chaotic and noisy version of Tokyo. I have actually prepared a little comparison between Taiwan, Korea and Japan at the end of the post.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the selection of pictures and look for the roses of Sant Jordi :)<\/p>\n

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It was easy to meet some drunk people on the street. Here below a video of our \u00abconversation\u00bb with and old man in a park at the sunset. By the way, bull fighting is still the main cultural reference about Spain in this area of the world.<\/p>\n

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Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) tour<\/h2>\n

When visiting Korea for the first time you are obviously interested to know more about the South-North Korean conflict. The first surprise is that it was not very visible on the street (we only found a small group of people from Justice4NK<\/a> in a centric pedestrian street) and nobody talked to us about the conflict. Carles explained that, from his experience, the average korean citizen is not much interested on this subject. What was interesting to learn is that it is mandatory to join the military service for 2 years and we could see (from time to time) young soldiers that spent the weekend at Seoul to visit their girlfriends.<\/p>\n

Anyway, after some doubts we decided to visit the DMZ<\/a> by joining an organized tour (the only available option to get into the DMZ). We are not used to join organized tours and the experience was not that enjoyable. The guide did not provide too much information about the Korean conflict, we just visited a couple of \u00abmust see\u00bb places that could easily be integrated on any amusement park and ended up in a duty-free shop for 40 minutes. The tour took us to Dorasan<\/a>, a train station that is not active since late 2008. Dorasan is the last train station in South Korea and it should connect with North Korea. The most interesting moment was when a volunteer from the information point talked to us and ask to report back to our countries about the Korean conflict. Nevertheless we could \u00absee\u00bb North Korea (from an observatory using binoculars) and Pulpito took some interesting pictures here and there.<\/p>\n

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There is a more expensive tour that in addition to the DMZ takes the tourists to the Joint-Security-Area (JSA<\/a>) but we are glad we did not pay the extra money for it. If you have interest on the subject you can watch the Joint-Security-Area movie<\/a><\/p>\n

Korea vs. Japan vs. Taiwan<\/h2>\n

After visiting the three countries, we can now get a better score at AllLookSame<\/a> website tests :)<\/p>\n

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Koreans are more direct than other Asians cultures and the culture of drinking\/going out is a lot more established than in Taipei or even Tokyo. Koreans are the most obsessed with screens and they are always using one: TV on mobile phone or tablets, information screens everywhere, huge screens on the street, etc. One surprising fact is that the Korean is not that hard to write or read!<\/p>\n

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And back to Taipei<\/h2>\n

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L’Anna havia de sortir de Taiwan per temes del visat, aix\u00ed que vam organitzar una escapada de 3 dies a Se\u00fcl durant Sant Jordi. El segell de Corea del Sud encara no el ten\u00edem en els nostres passaports :) Se\u00fcl No ten\u00edem gaires expectatives de la visita a Se\u00fcl ja que gaireb\u00e9 ning\u00fa ens havia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,27,29,22,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-burocracia","category-corea","category-couchsurfing","category-pulpito","category-turisme"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t