Thursday, June 16, 2011

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.

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Very interesting post and beautiful images.Greetings Andrzej.

Traveling Hawk said...

Thank you, Andrzej!

joo said...

Terrific street! I love the idea:)
have a nice evening!

Traveling Hawk said...

Yes, I also found this a nice idea, Joo! It could be applied in other place too, using creativity...

Randy said...

Love the mosaic tiles!

Phivos Nicolaides said...

Great city and greater pictures!

Traveling Hawk said...

They are also interesting, Randy, as they emphasize the characteristic of the city.

Traveling Hawk said...

Thanks for the visit, Phivos!

VP said...

An interesting global street, by the way I have a Cafe Mama just in front of my office!

Claudia Mihaila said...

Ca de obicei, un post foarte interesant! Multumim!

Traveling Hawk said...

So, you are familiar with it, I presume, VP!

Traveling Hawk said...

Multumesc, Claudia, pentru apreciere!

escape said...

great timing. ive been inviting my friends to go to south korea. hopefully by next year.

this is a great preview.

Traveling Hawk said...

I wish you an interesting experience, there, dong ho!

RIZALENIO said...

Beautiful place. Oh! There's McDonald's delivery there, and the very familiar colors of 7/11. Wow! They used each country's icon for the country's box. For Beijing, I noticed the bird's nest. I wonder what they will incorporate for my country-maybe the banaue rice terraces.

We have a global city here also. Will try to roam around this area and photograph it. Glad to see places like this. I enjoyed looking at your photos, my friend. Happy weekend! :)

Traveling Hawk said...

Thank you very much, Rizalenio, for the comment. I liked this little street, on which I passed from one objective to another. About both of them I will write in the next 2 posts.

I am waiting your photos from your global city:)

LifeRamblings said...

i love the pedestrian area and the mosaic pictures are truly amazing.

Traveling Hawk said...

It's an interesting place, Life Ramblings.

magda said...

I have been impressed by the beauty of Korea!
Thank you very much for your interesting tour!
Many greetings

Swit Rocs said...

Extrem de interesant! Asta da oras deschis fata de cultura altor tari si fata de strainii care ajung sa le devina concetateni!

J_on_tour said...

I like the detail on the monochrome mosaics from cities around the world. Very interesting post.

Traveling Hawk said...

It's a good idea, J_on_tour! I haven't seen such a place till now.

Liliana said...

Imi vine sa zic: cat de tareeeeee! Ma abtin, zic - foarte frumos!

Traveling Hawk said...

Da, e tare, n-am mai vazut o chestie asemanatoare:)