Day 8

The only scheduled event planned for today was a meeting and tour of the Seoul transportation system. While I found the subject matter fascinating, it didn’t directly relate as much with green space as other things from today did. I also went back to the World Cup area, and we rented bikes. Despite much trouble locking and unlocking the bikes, we were able to bike to a fascinating park called the Sangan-Dam Park on the edge of the Han River. The most interesting thing about this park is how people use it, and how it’s different from the rest of the parks I’ve visited. Other parks I’ve seen this trip have been in the middle of densely urban areas. People use them to relax in between work, and spend family time. They can feel somewhat like tourist destinations for people interested in seeing fascinating feats of engineering, design, and planning. This park had the raised Hanuel park (former landfill) on one side, and the Han River on the other. It is already surrounded by natural elements. In other parks, I found it interesting how I noticed a lack of people exercising. In the states, if you go to almost any park, especially ones in dense urban areas, you will see a plethora of people working out, jogging, and biking. The visit to the Sangan-Dam Park was the first time I actually noticed a lot of people working out. There were many bikers, whizzing past us on our beach cruisers. I saw people walking for exercise and jogging. Another notable thing from this park, for the first time I experienced noticeable bugs. They were little nats that would stick to your clothing. This was the first area I visited that seemed to have a well-developed ecosystem and support a good amount of wild life. Overall, this park felt like a destination for people looking to exercise, enjoy the vast beauty of the Han River, and attend some social events that are held in the area.

Us riding bikes at the Sangan-Dam Park.