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Version 1 Version 2
Blogger of the week: Charlie Usher from Seoul Sub→urban Blogger of the week: Charlie Usher from Seoul Sub→urban
(5 months later)
How long have you lived in your city?How long have you lived in your city?
Since 2009 (and a year from 2006-07).Since 2009 (and a year from 2006-07).
What’s your day job?What’s your day job?
I’m an English teacher, I write for Seoul magazine and I’m an on-again, off-again Korean-language student.I’m an English teacher, I write for Seoul magazine and I’m an on-again, off-again Korean-language student.
What was your first blog post – and how do you feel about it now?What was your first blog post – and how do you feel about it now?
Our first post was Nonhyeon Station, in the city’s Gangnam neighbourhood (yes, that one). It combines things that are very Gangnam – wide avenues, new skyscrapers, an entire street of stores dedicated to upscale furniture and interior decor – with back streets that recall an older Seoul, full of modest residential areas and a street market. Looking back on it now, it seems cursory compared to posts that have gotten more detailed as the project has grown, but the neighbourhood features a lot of the different elements that thread this city together, and in that regard I think it was a good place to start.Our first post was Nonhyeon Station, in the city’s Gangnam neighbourhood (yes, that one). It combines things that are very Gangnam – wide avenues, new skyscrapers, an entire street of stores dedicated to upscale furniture and interior decor – with back streets that recall an older Seoul, full of modest residential areas and a street market. Looking back on it now, it seems cursory compared to posts that have gotten more detailed as the project has grown, but the neighbourhood features a lot of the different elements that thread this city together, and in that regard I think it was a good place to start.
Where was your first kiss in the city?Where was your first kiss in the city?
In an alley behind a bar in the university neighbourhood of Hongdae. How universal is that? Swap out Hongdae for another name and you could tell that story just about anywhere.In an alley behind a bar in the university neighbourhood of Hongdae. How universal is that? Swap out Hongdae for another name and you could tell that story just about anywhere.
What team do you support?What team do you support?
On the diamond I root for the Doosan Bears baseball team, Doosan being the conglomerate that owns the team. (As a native Wisconsinite I grew up cheering for the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Bears used to be owned by OB, a Korean brewery, so it was a natural fit.) Despite being one of the country’s best-supported and oldest teams, the Bears are perennial underachievers: last year they were up three games to one in the best-of-seven championship series, and somehow contrived to lose the next three. On the diamond I root for the Doosan Bears baseball team, Doosan being the conglomerate that owns the team. (As a native Wisconsinite I grew up cheering for the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Bears used to be owned by OB, a Korean brewery, so it was a natural fit.) Despite being one of the country’s best-supported and oldest teams, the Bears are perennial underachievers: last year they were up three games to one in the best-of-seven championship series, and somehow contrived to lose the next three.
What are your neighbours like?What are your neighbours like?
Good question. Most people in Seoul don’t know their neighbours very well, if at all. No one knocks on your door with a cake to welcome you to the neighbourhood. That said, I live close to one of the country’s major universities, so there are a lot of students. It’s also a pretty working-class area, and close to the Dongdaemun and Jegi-dong neighbourhoods with their vast clothing and medicine markets, so there are also quite a few families and older people who have lived in the area for decades. It’s a good mix.Good question. Most people in Seoul don’t know their neighbours very well, if at all. No one knocks on your door with a cake to welcome you to the neighbourhood. That said, I live close to one of the country’s major universities, so there are a lot of students. It’s also a pretty working-class area, and close to the Dongdaemun and Jegi-dong neighbourhoods with their vast clothing and medicine markets, so there are also quite a few families and older people who have lived in the area for decades. It’s a good mix.
Tell us a secret only you know about your cityTell us a secret only you know about your city
In a city of 10 million is there anything only one person knows? I doubt it. But one thing a lot of outsiders don’t know is that, aurally, Seoul’s not just K-pop. It has a good independent music scene – rock, hip-hop, punk, electronic – that sent 12 bands to South by Southwest (SXSW) this year. Some personal favourites are Jang Kiha and the Faces, Love X Stereo, and Jambinai, who are a bit like Mogwai with traditional Korean instruments. In a city of 10 million is there anything only one person knows? I doubt it. But one thing a lot of outsiders don’t know is that, aurally, Seoul’s not just K-pop. It has a good independent music scene – rock, hip-hop, punk, electronic – that sent 12 bands to South by Southwest (SXSW) this year. Some personal favourites are Jang Kiha and the Faces, Love X Stereo, and Jambinai, who are a bit like Mogwai with traditional Korean instruments.
• Read more from previous bloggers of the week:• Read more from previous bloggers of the week:
Thomas Coggin from Johannesburg, South AfricaThomas Coggin from Johannesburg, South Africa
Araz Fazaeli from TehranAraz Fazaeli from Tehran