My childhood in Flushing, NY would not have been the same without Kissena Park. It was a great escape from the urban life and very close to my house (just a few blocks away). There is a park just across the street from me here in Songdo that reminds me of Kissena Park. It does not have the Bocce ball court with retired Italian men, or the drainage pipe surrounded by a swamp that was great for exploring, or the eutrophic ponds full of frogs, but somehow it reminds me of the park that will always have a special place in my heart.
This park is not to be confused with “Central Park” which is just a few blocks away. Josh and I call it the Zodiac Park. I have no idea what it is actually called, but there are small signs distributed around the park in a circular formation that have a diagram of each of the zodiac signs in English and Korean. The star patterns are actually lighted at night (we have taken a short cut through this park before on our way home from the subway). more…
I have found that the most difficult aspect of being in South Korea is the language barrier. Though many Koreans know basic English it is still difficult to communicate. I can finally say hello “annyeonghaseyo” with a little bit of confidence, but that won’t get you very far in South Korea.
It is however amazing how much can be communicated with body language and facial expressions. In the elevator the other day a woman looked at my dog Titan with a weary look on her face. I said “he’s friendly” and pet him on the head. She said something and I thought I heard the word canine in there. She had a look of disgust on her face. I said to her “oh, you don’t like dogs.” She looked kind of surprised by this. I have no idea what she said but her expression said it all.
Just like a picture, a facial expression can be worth a thousand words.
On a separate occasion, a small Korean boy got on the elevator and looked scared of Titan. I said “it’s OK, watch.” I then said “anj-a” which means sit in Korean. Titan sat down and looked at me expectantly and I praised him. The young boy looked pretty impressed and said “wow”. (OK so Titan does not know Korean, I trained him with some basic commands in puppy class years ago using sign language, but the boy didn’t know this). 
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No it is not Atlantis, not in the conventional sense of the word. This is the city of New Songdo, it is not science fiction, this is where I live.
A few months ago when I discovered that we might be moving to South Korea I was excited at the possibility of a new adventure. The economy was pretty stagnant in the U.S. so Josh and I jumped at this opportunity but I had no idea that I was moving to such a fascinating place. The city of Songdo is built upon reclaimed land from the ocean. It is a man-made island, so once again I am an island girl .
I had no idea how NEW this city was. It just opened in August of 2009. There is still a massive amount of construction going on. It’s quite the contrast from the U.S. where many projects have slowed down because of the recession.
There is a park just down the road from us called “Central Park”. There is a canal that runs through it that is actually ocean water. It reminded me a lot of “Central Park” in NYC so I wasn’t surprised to find out this was the source of inspiration for the design. more…
