3 ms·
I grew up in a 15-story apartment in Seoul - every day there's a stream of students walking to schools and back, passing along stationery shops, snacks, barber
by yongjik 4y ago
I grew up in a 15-story apartment in Seoul - every day there's a stream of students walking to schools and back, passing along stationery shops, snacks, barber shops, groceries, and what not. Even now, when I visit the place (my parents still live there), I feel much more connected to the neighborhood than my current suburban single house could ever be. Here you take five steps out of your door and drive away, because there's nothing interesting within walking distance. There's no sense of a "neighborhood."
(To be fair, the noise was always an issue, and in my current place, it feels really nice to be able to do jumping jacks and play the piano at 9pm. So there's that.)
- pkdpic 4y agoGood share, I had the same feeling visiting Taiwan and then coming back to California. But yeah when I was in LA and had to start going to therapy because the neighbors in our orwellian apartment building were making so much noise I was having week-long panic attacks the therapist told me he grew up in S.Korea and people would stab their neighbors over noise regularly. He was a great guy but that was kind of his only advice? That stuck with me.
- yongjik 4y agoYep the noise was always an issue, and from what I've heard it's actually getting worse because construction quality is going down. (In the old days, Korea didn't have much experience in construction, so they compensated by pouring a generous amount of concrete and steel, or so I've heard. Now they know exactly how much they need, so walls are getting thinner and thinner.) A sad state of affairs.