Welcome home to Mangwon-dong

Driving through Mangwon-dong six years ago, my mother noted all the changes in the neighborhood. “There was no subway here. I used to have to carry you on my back while riding the small village bus.” My great-aunt, who who took care of me during my infancy, lived there for over 40 years and since 2009, I’ve seen and been surprised by all the changes in the neighborhood. Surprisingly enough, everyone I’ve spoken to, from English teachers to exchange students and locals, seems to have a memory of Mangwon-dong. Is it the close approximately to the Han River? The relatively short distance to Hongdae? (Only 10 minutes by cab, but a world apart in noise.) Dominated by the market on one end and the Han River on the other, the entirety of Mangwon-dong is difficult to summarize in a couple sentences. Longtime residents will tell you about how this used to be “the poor part of town,” while cinephiles will reference the streets from movies and many younger employees head to this neighborhood for their first jobs (a slew of start-ups and small music production companies have opened up here). It’s interesting to find new foreign foods here, from goulash to macaroons, in a neighborhood I’ve long associated with my great-aunt’s mouthwatering kimchi. I see a little girl, just a toddler, holding hands with a woman who appears to be her grandmother walking through the market and I wonder what meaning Mangwon-dong will take on for her.