Korean Culture: Picnics
Every culture has their own style for picnics. It varies around Korea too. In Seoul, everyone heads to the Han river as there are many parks along it. There are some quirks to Korean picnics. The majority of people take a tent when going on a picnic. Whenever I livestream from picnic areas, there are always many comments and questions about the tents, as many people around the world think it’s quite unusual. People aren’t camping, they just have the tents up for the picnic. They are usually lightweight, easy to put up, tents. Not hardcore camping tents. People are usually staying at the river for the whole day as well.
When I’ve been on picnics in the Korean countryside, up in the mountains, people have cooked their own meat and other food. But for these style of picnics along the Han river no one is grilling meat and it may not be allowed. Instead people bring Korean picnic favourites like gimbap, and will often order pizza or fried chicken which is delivered right to the park. There is always a convenience store at parks as well so it’s easy to go buy more beer or food.
The weather is really good at the moment and it’s not too hot yet. I’m glad we could take advantage of these weekends. Last weekend we had a picnic as well. The parks can get really crowded but Koreans are used to living with many other people around. I haven’t really seen any major disputes over space before, even when so many people are consuming a lot of alcohol. I don’t think Australians manage as well at cramming into spaces (haha).
I like the Mangwon park near the river as it’s a quieter area and there are more trees and gardens. Also that bridge is my favourite bridge across the Han river. There is also a swimming pool nearby but I’m waiting for it to open for the summer. The pool is only open for 2 months over summer as Koreans are not as into swimming as Australians are.
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