I stopped by the Children's Grand Park today. Its a vast park dedicated to children. It is a beautiful park and many people sans children were also there hanging out. It has a zoo, concert hall, character world museum, amusement park, and a few other things I didn't get to because it felt like 97 degrees today.
What I have learned after coming to Korea is that I don't hate kids. I thought I hated kids because the only time I interact with them in NYC is when they are interrupting my brunch (I do still believe that there are certain trendy brunch places one has no business taking a baby to). New York is not a kids town. OK, Upper East and Upper West yes. But I would say the vast majority of New Yorkers ship out of Manhattan after they pop one out to either another borough or a suburb.
What I love about Seoul is that children are everywhere, the subways, the streets, restaurants. My bike rack outside my apartment is mostly tricycles and it melts my black New Yorker heart when I leave my apartment for work. Half the population of South Korea lives in this city so it is an inclusive town and children are welcome. Not only are they welcome, but truly they run this city. My theory is, kids are spoiled rotten until a certain age here because once you hit studying age, your life is basically over until you finish university. Students work nearly 18 hours a day between attending regular school, hakwon (supplementary school), private tutoring, and homework.
Before the dreaded student phase of their life, kids under the age of 7 are absolutely doted on. It doesn't matter if it's your kid or not, strangers can talk to them, wave to them, and fawn over them and it's fine. If a guy tried to talk to my imaginary kid in NY I would automatically think pedophile (too much SVU will do that to you) and run to the next block.
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