Monday, 5 November 2018
As much as I would like to walk the city of Seoul to know it, it’s fairly clear that to walk the entire city would require walking the rest of my life. And so I took a City of Seoul Tour Bus. We rode and rode and rode. The autumn is a beautiful time to come to Seoul, and I have been blessed to enjoy these clear days, though today more than a few were wearing masks, and the air quality was not perfect. But yesterday, Sunday, it was quite good, and as we rode and rode I marveled at the cleanliness of the city. Everywhere the streets are clean. The wide boulevards are clean. The sidewalks are clean. The subways are clean, The buses are clean.The toilets in the subways are clean, very clean. The house fronts are clean. The cars are clean. Everyone is dressed respectably. I did not see any homeless or derelicts or weirdos or beggars. It is almost scary – this order and respectability and cleanliness that is everywhere.
I had been looking forward to exploring the foods sold by street vendors. All gone from the streets. Instead, neatly lined up in fields or along the edges of parks or in the middle of the parks are neat and tidy rows and rows of white peaked roof tents – reminiscent of the Klu Klux Klan – an unhappy association. For the merchants, they are surely a boon, for contents and merchants are protected from inclement weather and dust and wind and location is set – no worry about being asked to move on by the police. For the buyer searching for atmosphere, a bit disappointing. But these rows and rows of white antiseptic tents are entirely in keeping with this great order that envelops Seoul.
Today I visited the Tourist Center for the joy of speaking English – which they do perfectly – and asked my Korean Tourist person if any parts of Seoul are dirty or ill kept. Did she know of any? No, she did not. Is everywhere in Seoul so clean? Well,yes, as far as she knew.
And along with the cleanliness are the plantings. Most streets that I saw have trees planted on either side, which in this fall are bright in yellow or red in color. The city with its endless rows of skyscrapers and wide wide tree-lined streets is easy to walk in, and safe. You feel very safe in Seoul.
I took the subway – the clean subway – to the world famous Severance Hospital to inspect their history of Severance exhibit, which I had heard referred to the contributions made by the Presbyterian missionaries who founded the hospital. Indeed, two large spaces are devoted to documenting the work of Dr. Allen, who founded the beginnings of a Western type hospital in Korea, and to Dr. Oliver R. Avison, who from his first days in Korea had the vision of a medical college that would train Koreans to be doctors. The result was the fine medical college at Honsei University and the vast medical complex that is now Severance Hospital, where Asians from all of Asia come for treatment.
The hospital building is almost beyond belief – so modern, so spacious and elegantly designed. A large solarium, the plants ten feet tall, a veritable forest in which relaxing patients and their visitors can sit amidst the greenery. Everything and the furnishings the couches and easy chairs, the artwork, all appear to be of the best in taste and finest in quality. Along with the Christmas trees already in place. Rather like the Joseon Dynasty tradition.
I was able to meet with the curator of the historical exhibit and show him and his assistant and translator the two photos taken by Sidney and Clarence Gamble at the graduation ceremony in June 1908 of the first graduating class of seven of Severance Medical College, the first Korean-trained doctors, all of whom put their training into the service of Severance and into training more Koreans for the field. I also showed them the photo taken by Clarence of the son of one of the graduates, a photo that is not in the Severance archives.They were cordial and interested, as they should have been. And it is a satisfaction to know that the work of these Presbyterian medical missionaries continues to be recognized and honored.
A walk from the subway in twilight with these great tall buildings in such a variety of styles on either side.
