Momente din Seul 19. O "strada globala" / Seoul Moments 19. "Global Street"

Back to South Korea again! Do you want to know what a "global street is"? Well, it is part of a project of Seoul municipality, which address the issue of the foreigner inhabitants of the city. As they are more than 255000, and they live more in certain areas, the municipality developed for them  "The Happy City Project", which established 15 "global zones".  In those areas, they look for the special needs of the foreigners in Information Centers, and they promote cultural exchanges by means of diverse specific activities. There are 20 support centers for the multicultural families, where they may receive information about the city, they find job offers for the non-Korean member of the family, etc. And all these in 5 languages: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, English and, of course, Korean.

Mugyo-dong, the 300 m long street between the Seoul Plaza and the Cheonggye Stream, is such a "global street", where many open air performances  are taking place. On 2009, one of the three circulation lanes was transformed in pedestrian area. Here, every week, from Tuesday to Thursday, half an hour of folk dances and songs, from different parts of the world, enchant the public.

As this is also an area with many foreigner tourists, the street was marked by small, black marble cubes, one for each of the 38 twin cities of Seoul. Also a mosaic on the asphalt confirms this link.
In that area there are also the premises of over 50 foreigner companies. Many eateries and cafes attract the tourists in this zone.

Inapoi in Coreea de Sud, din nou! Vreti sa stiti ce este aceea o "strada globala"? Este parte a unui proiect al municipalitatii Seulului, numit "Orasul fericit", care se ocupa de nevoile cetatenilor non-coreeni ai orasului si de promovarea schimburilor culturale.

In Seul traiesc peste 255000 de straini, de predilectie in 15 zone ale orasului, numite "zone globale". Acolo au fost construite deja 20 de centre de asistenta pentru familiile multiculturale, unde se pot primi diverse informatii despre oras, se gasesc oferte de joburi pentru membrul non-corean al familiei, etc. si toate acestea in 5 limbi: chineza, japoneza, vietnameza, coreeana si engleza.

Mugyo-dong, o strada scurta de doar 300 m, intre Seoul Plaza si Cheonggye, este o astfel de zona. Zilnic se desfasoara aici, timp de jumatate de ora (intre 12.20-12.50) spectacole de cantece si dansuri din diverse tari ale lumii, care atrag turistii din zona.

In 2009, una dintre cele trei benzi de circulatie a fost transformata in zona pietonala. Pe strada s-au am plasat mici blocuri din marmora neagra, avand inscriptionat numele unuia dintre cele 38 de orase infratite cu Seul, precum si data cand s-a intamplat acest lucru.

Pe trotuar, din loc in loc, un mozaic prezinta o imagine caracteristica acelui oras. Iata cateva dintre ele:

 Beijing

 Ulan-Bator

 Hanoi

 Bangkok

 Mexico City

 Atena

 Roma

Straduta este intesata de mici restaurante si cafenele, unde poti face o pauza placuta. Exista chiar si un mic scuar, iar panouri special amplasate ofera turistului informatii despre zona. Dintr-o asemenea atmosfera cosmopolita nu putea lipsi Mc.Donalds', care mi-a sarit in ochi prin vehiculele cu care isi onoreaza comenzile la domiciliu.

Nu in ultimul rand, zona este aglonerata deoarece aici se afla si sediile a peste 50 de companii straine.