I currently stay with a family in Seoul. We are on the fourth floor of a twenty-one story condominium apartment building. Living spaces here tend to stack vertically instead of horizontally, so residence in a high-rise building is typical. Space is scarce in South Korea. In addition to the small land area, mountains cover around seventy percent of the country. As a result, most of the population is concentrated within the remaining flatland; and the high population density in urban areas calls for these high-rise dwellings. The apartment design and quality may vary from building to building (You might even see a Samsung condominium), but the common feature is stacked living.
Two days after landing, I’m still adjusting to South Korea. My internal clock stutters when telling the local time. Aside from the jetlag, I am sore from all the standing and walking I’ve done. The public transportation here is great, but it will only take you so far. It will usually get you within a 20 minute walk of your target, but the rest is up to you. It’d be difficult to have a sedentary life here. People frantically run everywhere, even in high heels. And the streets are forever bustling with swarms of passersby.
It seems one can never establish a decent walking pace; an interruption is soon to come from someone jumping in front of you, stopping in front of you, or breaking a heel in front of you. Here, traveling on foot is akin to agility drills in sports—jukes, double jukes, cuts left, hard cuts right. I think this frequent interruption of pace, more than anything, is what has strained my body. It doesn’t help that, without need, I’ve been toting around a heavy bag, which I’ve since lightened by unloading unnecessary junk. Lessons learned.