Our Neighborhood

When I took up residence at the Yeoksam Single Livingtel in late November 2023, I did not expect to be here long. For a variety of reasons, however, I have yet to move out; perhaps soon. In the meantime, I want to give a verbal description of this neighborhood which is about equidistant between Yeoksam and Eonju subway stations.

The street on which I live is Bongeunsa-ro 30 gil. When I walk down the red brick steps of the Livingtel (home to 27 people, not including the landlady, her son and her [I think] father), I see a fairly generic 4-story apartment building, the first floor of which is devoted to parking. Next door to it, to the north, is a 3-story apartment building. While this place may have been state of the art 40 years ago, it is today ratty and rundown. Nevertheless, I find it somewhat compelling. I think it has character. This edifice is proof that not everything in Seoul’s Gangnam district is shiny and new.

Again going north, we come to a Korea Postal Service substation. I consider myself fortunate to be so close to the post office, which I have used numerous times. Its next-door neighbor is Moto Space, a business dedicated to maintenance and repair of motor scooters that opened about nine months ago. Moto Space is just a beehive of activity. The street on which I live, like so many others in this big city, features lots of scooter-riding guys hell-bent on making their next delivery.

Every morning, on both sides of Bongeunsa-ro 30 gil and surrounding streets, I see people sweeping, putting trash away and generally making sure things are clean. I wish I knew—who pays these guys and gals? Or do they work voluntarily? I can tell you, they are nothing if not diligent.

Just north of Moto Space is Tiny Brown, a coffee shop I have patronized dozens of times. I go there to read, to hold one-on-one English classes and to meet people, one of whom is a guy calling himself Richard. He and his colleagues are working on a project for a super-fast train, even faster than the KTX. I frankly doubt that it will ever come to fruition, but I may be wrong.

Catty-corner to Tiny Brown, at the intersection of Bongeunsa-ro 30 gil and Nonhyeon-ro 102 gil is Ace Rental, an enterprise that rents fancy clothes to women. I am not sure how much business they do, as I have never seen anybody going in or coming out. Now moving south on my street, toward the Livingtel, we come to The Rabbit, a delivery service that replaced a women’s nail shop about six months ago. Nearly 7,800 delivery companies operate in Korea, half in the Seoul area. As you might expect, there is some interaction with it and Moto Space. It’s an interesting operation, but certainly not one I would want to be part of. These drivers endure long hours, low pay and difficult working conditions, as I already knew from an interview I did with one of them when I was writing for the Korea Times.

Next door to The Rabbit is Loco Taco, a franchise eatery that moved in when what I called “Natasha’s Coffee Shop” closed two months ago. It serves basic Mexican food, but the lady who runs it is quite nice. Then comes Mad Pizza, a joint that employs rather whimsical advertising. You can order from a menu with a dozen varieties of pizza, but it’s strictly delivery and take-out. Very tasty, and the prices are reasonable. The main man there, whose arms are thick with tattoos, invariably gives me a free Coke to go with my chosen pizza.

Now we come to GS25. I don’t remember convenience stores in the States being like this. Open 24/7, it has a large array of products on sale—the standard fare, plus unique local items such as kimchi, roasted sweet potatoes and hot fish cakes. Indoor and outdoor seating is provided, and it is not unusual to see some Millennial or Gen Z kids who have come with their laptops, staying for three hours, as they do at places like Starbucks. Baby Boomers like me are welcome too. It’s a trendy social hub, and twice I have seen commercials being shot at GS25. Convenience store culture? Only in Korea!

Further south is what seems to be a high-tech medical supply shop and then a hardware store with the curious name of Dream Play, Inc. I have bought things there numerous times, and the young, English-speaking female employees are always helpful. It is not unusual to see blue-collar men pull up in dusty trucks, enter and leave Dream Play with materials for construction or repair projects.

On this stretch of Bongeunsa-ro 30 gil, I often see young men sitting at the wheels of recent-vintage cars. They smoke cigarettes and talk to their buds for hours on end, or so it seems. This is true also for the guys outside of Moto Space and The Rabbit. When I pass by on foot or on my bike, they glance at the foreigner and the foreigner glances at them; we inhabit different worlds.

Just to the east of the Livingtel is Chunghyeon Park 1. Shaded by trees all around, it has a children’s playground (reminding me of Jangsan Park in Daegu, where I had such joyous times with kids like Jo Min-seo and her sister Jo Eun-seo, Kim Yeon-su and her brother Kim Eun-su, and Park Si-hyun and her brother Park Sang-woo) and exercise equipment generally used by seniors. In Austin, Texas, from which I came, a park like this would be tagged by graffiti “artists” and laden with trash that nobody deigns to pick up. Not in Korea. Chunghyeon Park 1—same as Chunghyeon Park 2, which sits on the other side of towering Chunghyeon Presbyterian Church—is tended by local citizens.

I recall two amusing incidents at this park. One time, I was sitting on a bench reading a book while several kids were kicking a ball around. It hit my leg, but I did not mind or show the least annoyance. Nevertheless, three of them lined up in front of me and bowed deeply to apologize and show respect. The other involved a canine and its owner. The rule, clearly posted on a board, is that every dog must be on a leash. As it was about 6 a.m., the lady assumed that she and her pet were alone, so she gave Fido his freedom. But I arrived on my bicycle and he started barking. Considerably displeased, I pointed at him and bellowed at her: “Put that f—–g dog on a leash!”