Koreans seem to just get some things.  

They get food.  They make scrumptious meals that are best enjoyed in company.  They get roads.  They build 'em big. They build 'em wide

They also get parks.  Gorgeous parks are to be found almost everywhere.  Quiet book reading spots are easy to find amongst the huffing and puffing joggers; the picnicing families and children gliding on their roller-blades.

I was lucky enough to visit one on the bigger ones in Seoul with some Korean friends.   The park was full of life.  Lovers canoodled, model race cars dueled and toddlers drove both scaled vehicles their parents to drink.

Fountains built directly into the concrete and sprang into life every hour, on the hour - drenching both the weary and naive.  Kids danced in and out of the jets with great gusto.  A balmy summer's night and intoxicating glee saw most abandon any pretense of remaining dry.  

New Zealand is a young country.  The very first person set foot in New Zealand in about 950 A.D. And that's not the first white person either, which is what is usually meant.  The notion that James Cook "discovered" New Zealand in 1777 is pure nonsense. The Maori people bet him by about 800 years.

There is archaeological evidence that people were living in Korea as early as 700,000 years ago.  This gives Korea a much more diverse history and culture that adolescent New Zealand.

The Korean war flattened most of Incheon.  Mercifully, some of its temples and palaces were left pretty much in tact.  I visited one such palace complex one balmy Saturday afternoon in May.

The architecture of the place was stunning.  Extravagantly roofed temples loomed over people, entertainment buildings stood in the middle of lakes, tranquil buildings rested tranquilly on water and old-world sky towers perched on top of museums.

It was the type of park where you can just sit back and go ... ahhhh ...

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