There are exceptionally many hamburger shops, beer glasses with British broadcasting shows, pizza houses with Australian football games, a smell of authentic Mediterranean spices smeared on the Moroccan sandwiches, Japanese tourists who bring maps to visit every brunch restaurant, a Danish diner, and vegan dessert shops.
This area is “freedom village” in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It was created by Korean refugees in the 1950s who were displaced during the Japanese occupation period. Perhaps because of the name of freedom village, when I walked through HBC I felt somewhere cheerful and cool despite the hill. I’d like to say it’s the walking trail closest to the sky in South Korea. Since the U.S. military forces joined the area after the war, both parties walk in the area without giving eachother much notice. The initiation of a group of foreigners living in the middle of the city brought popularity for other foreigners, and today has the most immigrants within the Seoul districts. I like to go here for some authentic Greek food, and occasionally (and unwillingly) walk into some of my British highschool teachers who hold scones and soju in both hands. A perfect cacophony of juxtaposition, I’d say.
As for myself I enjoyed the lavish roof-top culture, as terrace/roofless cafes, restaurants, and bars became popular with the acknowledgement of the village having almost a semi-bird's eye view of the city. But don’t be fooled by the scenery, as to get the fruit, you must compete. The squabbly and irregular streets that don’t appear on the map were created from destruction old infrastructure or blocked land so being lost is a routine, the hills feel like I’m mountain climbing which makes the trip to the village during the summer impossible, and you’ll find yourself leaning against an authentic restaurant with pottery filled with sauces as you wait for the trucks loaded with mechanics pass by.
The once minorized slum is now the pinnacle of global diffusion and cultural boom. From 2010, more policies and legal action was made to bridge the divide of “a place for foreigners” vs “foreign aesthetic area in Seoul”. The Yongsan District Office implemented environment improvement to harmonize domestic citizens and foreign cultures and smooth linkage to connected neighborhoods in light of decreasing edge effects. It also opened public art contests to ‘aesthetically’ uplift the undeveloped living environment of broken walls and monochrome bricks through stair graphics and wall murals. The 108 stair is a landmark, where as one walks up, they both exercise but heal by looking at unique murals and even sculptures.
The village really screams ‘Be Free!’ with the altitude and the nonuniform businesses, markets and settlements. My favorite coffee shops repel from conventional architecture by stretching vertically, like Ron Weasley’s house. After caffeine-charging myself through the LongBlack with Korean herb top notes, I almost tumble down to the Shinheung market where every seller is basically your typical Asian grandma during the holidays as they try to give you little pieces of everything. One must really close their eyes with noise canceling headphones to get through the market without having the urge to spend a weekly wage. Even if you luckily pass through the luxurious smell of paste from Thailand and bechamel sauce from the Italian kitchen, you find yourself in a vegan cake shop, compromising with yourself that the lady really knows her audience of ‘healthy eating’ but is unable to give up sweets.
The walk down should burn all the calories.
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