Subways are awesome. But I sometimes forget that subways still end up working a little bit like a teleportation system – one can lose one's awareness of the surrounding spaces. Today I did something I don't do often enough: I had a random public-transport adventure. Not really an adventure… I had heard that the 9711 bus would take me straight from Ilsan to Gangnam faster than taking the subway. I set out with no particular destination in mind, but when I saw that bus going by, I decided to try it. It wasn't really faster, but what it was, was a great reminder of just how freaking huge this city I live near is.
Seoul metro area (including the Special Admin Cities of Seoul and Incheon along with Gyeonggi province) has a population of around 23 million. I think, roughly, the area is the same size as Los Angeles county, if maybe a little bit smaller, even – but with double the population. It's one of the most populous cities in the world, and this bus ride really made that clear… more than riding the subway does. Better for seeing all the parts of the city go by, etc…
I've been feeling kind of down about "Korea" lately. Mostly, frustration with the extraordinarily slow and not very rewarding language-learning efforts, I think. But also puzzling about the cultural enigmas: is it possible for a society to be both cosmopolitan and xenophobic? I think so. Does that mean it's xenopolitan? Nice portmanteau word, but it doesn't quite work out to what I want, semantically. Xenopolis would just be a city of aliens, which rather more accurately describes NYC or LA, than Seoul. Nevertheless…
Just random thoughts, I guess. I wish I'd bothered to take my camera and taken some pictures from the bus ride. It just seemed so vast… 30 km of continuous high-rise apartments and businesses, and the expressway weaving along the north bank of the Han river like something out of Bill Peet's Wump World.
Still, I tend to feel so much more positive about Korea and about my experience here, when I take the effort to go out into it, rather than sitting and stewing in my apartment or neighborhood. I really like Korea. Weird country. But regardless… the alienation I feel, is mostly endogenous. Endogenic alienation? Does that make me endoxenic? OK, basta de neologismos.