New respect for an old country (5/28/19)

Today we gathered on the 2nd floor conference room and I thought we were going to get a boring power point about the do’s and don’ts of how to behave while we are here in Seoul South Korea. Instead I was blown away with some of the history of Korea and where Korea is today. 

The instructor said the Korea has never invaded a country. They were totally disseminated in the 1950s during the Korean War and were one of the poorest countries in the world. Today they are one of the most advanced technological countries, have no national debt, have some of the most advanced procedures in liver transplants (double donors and blood incompatible donations), cardiac coronary artery blockage fixes without open heart surgery, and stroke rehab. The government pays for 90 percent of the health care costs. They have higher scores in math and science than the US or China and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world. It is utterly astounding the tremendous progress they have made. Most of the world’s poorest countries stay the world’s poorest countries.  I don’t understand why we, as Americans, are not studying and adopting the things that have work so well for Korea. 

The view from our hotel room

My intent is to look at Green-space and see how the crime rate is affected. Discover what health benefits green-space in a city has.  Another statistic our instructor gave us is that the current lifespan in Korea is 82.5 years and is the first country expected to reach 90.  The crime rate is very low compared to the US. And even with a population over 50 million Seoul is a very walk-able city with copious amounts of green-space.

The building that houses the largest Starbuck's in Seoul has trees, a grassy area, and benches so coffee and items can be enjoyed outside.

One big difference is the emphasis put on family and community. The American culture is far from the kind of expectancy Korea fosters to care for each other. Fathers in Korea seem very involved in child raising, as are the grandparents. It is probably easier because the country is so much smaller, but it is interesting to watch the families interact in public.

Our scavenger hunt took us through the streets of Seoul and the pictures are from the late afternoon on a Tuesday.