A trip to Paju’s English Village


Sarah Joh | Daily Trojan

Sarah Joh | Daily Trojan

Last Saturday consisted of an afternoon trip to a small city outside of Seoul, courtesy of my roommate, who had taught English there a few years back.

Paju is north of Seoul, not too far from the North-South Korea border. Close enough to the point that another member of our group geotagged his location and proceeded to post it onto Facebook accompanied with a quip about paying a visit to Kim Jong-Un. That being said, there are more notable qualities to Paju, other than its proximity to an international demarcation. English Village, is an example of one such quality.

Designed to be an immersive learning experience and theme park hybrid, Paju’s English Village tries to mimic the feel of a small English community, complete with elements such as a post office, an English pub, and a theater. The Stonehenge replica just outside of its front doors and the relatively vacant buildings inside offer the promise of a kitschy day trip on one of your days off from work of school.

Other than English Village, Paju is also home to a sizeable outlet mall, which may be what attracts visitors to Paju year-round, as well as a thriving artist community, as demonstrated by Heyri Art Village. The outlet mall is a strange sight in Paju, which was less-developed and calm compared to the non-stop bustling of Seoul. The giant complex not only seems out of place due to its appearance in a much less developed part of Korea, but also due to the fact that outlet malls seem very much like an American concept.

Other than English Village, Paju is also home to a sizeable outlet mall, which may be what attracts visitors to Paju year-round, as well as a thriving artist community, as demonstrated by Heyri Art Village. The outlet mall is a strange sight in Paju, which was less-developed and calm compared to the non-stop bustling of Seoul. The giant complex not only seems out of place due to its appearance in a much less developed part of Korea, but also due to the fact that outlet malls seem very much like an American concept.

That being said, foreign influence is ever-present in Korea outside of outlet malls and English Village. Whether through reality shows on television that feature foreigners speaking fluent Korean or storefront signs with words that are in Korean but are phonetically English, it’s interesting to see how non-Korean elements have become integrated into modern Korean society. It makes me wonder how Korean culture will change in response to its willingness to accept foreignness.

We live in a truly globalizing world and I know I’m lucky to be able to be having the experiences abroad that allow me to make that conclusion first hand.