Folk Groups

After reading Chapter 3, I become to know that I belong to several kinds of folk group. Among many kinds of folk group, I think I mainly belong to the regional group.

In Korea, there is a small city named "Bundang". It is located near Seoul, the capital city of Korea. Unlike many other old cities that naturally grew, Bundang was founded by the government in 1990s to decentralize the concentration of population of Seoul. We call this special kind of city as a "new city". Therefore, Bundang has a lot of apartments, and most residents have their jobs in Seoul. Our family moved to Bundang in 1993 from Seoul (my father also has his job in Seoul), and have lived in there for 16 years. Since Bundang is not an old city, the city is very clean and green. There are approximately one million residents in the city. I and other residents of Bundang have storng affection toward our city. Actually, Bundang itself is not a city- it belongs to Seongnam City. However, people who lives in Bundang never say that "I live in Seongnam City." Instead, they always tell others "I live in Bundang."

In Bundang, there is a small river named "Tancheon". It flows middle of the city. Residents also love Tancheon, and Tancheon is like Hudson River in the New York City. They always exercise (jogging, cycling, basketball, ..) beside Tancheon. It is like a symbol of our city. We also have annual Tancheon Festival in October. In Tancheon Festival, a lot of people come out to Tancheon with their family and enjoy watching various concerts.

In addition, all elementary school students in Bundang go to the picnic to Tancheon or Central Park. (It's beside Tancheon) Since Bundang is a small city, every student is connected (friend's friend thing) and gets to know each other.

Although the city Bundang is made by the government and does not have specific geographic features or long history, we the residents of Bundang feel special friendship to each other. (They even have similar political preference.. I think that is not good) Also, I have lived in Bundang since I was 4 years old, I feel strong sense of belonging to my city.