Nau speak: Korea: Noryangjin Old Fish Market part one

Seoul, much like my hometown of Las Vegas, is a city constantly striving to improve upon itself and renovate the old in the hopes it will bring in brighter, better futures along with more visitors and more money, so I can't be surprised that things will have changed since my previous visit in 2014. However, with Vegas we're a fairly young city, having only been founded in 1905, so our history, and even our culture as Americans, is still rather new when compared to a city and culture as old as Seoul and Korea's so tradition hasn't really had time to set roots..I mean, seriously, guys, have you considered just how ancient the Korean culture is? The United States of America was established on the 4th of July in 1776, a measly 242 years. That's not even three centuries yet. In contrast, it's believed that the ancient precursor to what is now known-as Seoul (Baekje) was established in 18 BCE. That's right, 18 years BEFORE we even started this whole 0-to-2000 countdown thing, so that'd be 2036 years ago. That's seriously OLD, guys.

What all this means is that for Vegas, I think we have a bit more wiggle room to tear down and rebuild because the history, culture and traditions of the city of Las Vegas, while important to the region, are so young and still fomenting. With Seoul, they have to be mindful that sometimes the endless pursuit of modernisation and improvement must be tempered by appreciation and respect for their past and the ways that have been established over their many centuries. There are ancient Temple buildings peppered all throughout Seoul, neighbourhoods where traditional Bukchon style homes and old-school streets are kept in pristine condition, and the ancient Fortress Wall (first built in 1396) still stands it's somber vigil like a spine crawling atop the back of a massive, slumbering dragon. Soldiers still walk the wall, too, and you'll need to sign in and be alert of the no-photography zones because they're quite serious about enforcing them. This same fierceness has been brought to the desire to renew and rejuvenate, and at some expense.

The old Noryangjin market has been in operation since 1927 before settling in to it's current location for over 40 years. It's a bit old, nostalgic, and funky, but these are all part and parcel of the reasons I loved it so much! It was real, gritty, slippery, fishy work and the people working the stalls true blue-collar hard working Koreans trying to make their livelihood the best way they know how. There's little to no pretence, no glossy K-pop idol wannabe's patta-patt-patting their perfectly coiffed faces or checking that their bangs maintain the perfect arch in their compacts, at least not working the floor. You will find guy's like this friendly fellow to the left, who was here during my previous visit, too! I gave him a hug both times. Thank you for what you do, dude. Motorbikes and heavy-duty carts roll through, beeping or honking to alert photo-focused photogs and awestruck tourists alike. The new building, shown in part above, is absolutely nothing like it. And, to be totally honest, I didn't like it. This post, however, is going to focus on the old market, the part I love so dearly. Thank glob.