Monday, March 31, 2008

My neighborhood

So, grab your cardigan and let's take a walk around my neighborhood...

My apartment complex and my actual building. There are 10 buildings over about 2-3 city blocks. There are several little outdoor park areas, playground equipment for children. The Han River is right past this building.



Advertisements of local events... plays, music performances/etc. MOST will be in Korean. *Ask me how I know. :D Did you notice: HAIRSPRAY?



This is where I get my hair cut.. it's across the street from my apartment. The first floor is a restaurant. I've heard that it's good and expensive. Enough said, I have not been there yet... and I've lived here almost 3 years. So, it is likely that I'll never have a meal there.. but, there are many good restaurants in my neighborhood, that I have been to though.


Some of the food sold on the street.
Asian Pears.. so, yummy.


I call these 'healthy donuts'.. it's about an inch ball of dough, w/ some brown sugar stuffed on the inside.. cooked on top of a heated metal barrel.. which causes them to PUFF UP.. and the brown sugar on the inside to caramelize and melt.. which = so good. No oils are used.. so, I think my reasoning that they are healthy donuts is accurate, right? RIGHT?






Some of the flavorful tangerines. The tangerine season is almost over. They smell and taste great. The peeling almost comes off in one piece.


Puffed snack foods.. kind of like 'small pieces' of rice cakes.. or crunchy eatable Styrofoam?



Roasted chestnuts. When I moved to Korea, the first time in 1991.. being a southern gal.. I was pretty excited to see the Christmas song.. in action.. chestnuts roasting on an open fire.. (and this is exactly how they cook them in Korea) I couldn't wait to try them. However, I'm sorry to say that my first taste.. I uncontrollably spit out.. because it tasted so awful. I just think that if you grew up eating them.. you'd think that they were wonderful. However, I thought they were just a hot 'mushy' and without flavor. I have not had another one since either. What can I say? I grew up eating pecans freshly fallen from pecan trees.



This lady is selling the little tiny bottles of the liquid yogurt drink. I love, love them. I have never seen them sold in the states- but, I don't know that they aren't in the bigger cities?


This is where I pay my phone bill.. which I need to remember to do.. like yesterday..


Seoul Tower.. a landmark for Seoul. The military base is right below this tower. This is also where I enter the subway. The tower isn't very visible in this photo- it was hazy the day that I took the photo.

It's beautiful at night.

Oh, and we are so civilized here.. that they even give the 'gangs' their own park to hang out in.. hee hee..

This sign has always amused me. Actually, it is a park.. at the HAN RIVER.. as seen in photos out my window (go check out the evil yellow dust entry for photos)

A few more of the apartments in my building complex..

These are located across the street from my apartment.

Whew, that took about 30-40 minutes.. searching for photos in all of my different photo albums on my computer.. I hope you've enjoyed the tour... and it wasn't even a three hour boat tour that ended up being for years and years!

However, apparently if you were on that 'unfaithful' 3 hour cruise.. your items of clothing.. would never seem to wear out.. and the fancy girl 'Ginger'. apparently packed for a year for her 3 hour boat tour... Even as a kid, I never understood how or why that would happen. My favorites? Mary Ann and the Professor. (For the non-American viewers.. I was referring to a tv show that was on tv in the 60's (?) called: Gillian's Island

Oh by the way, did I mention that I'll be going on spring break this Friday for several days? I'm going on a real vacation.. more details about where.. coming soon.

3 comments:

lizzzknits said...

I am so envious of your traveling and living abroad. I really love to travel and I can't often enough. I am still working full time so I can fund my travels in retirement, and I can only squeeze in one good trip every other year now.
Loved all your photos of Seoul.

sweetp said...

So what will you miss most?

iwouldratherbeknitting said...

Lizzknits.. that's exactly why I moved overseas in 1991.. I was a school teacher in Oklahoma and it was clear that I was never going to be able to 'afford' a trip anywhere-- other than a 200 mile one day trip in a car somewhere and then back home.

I knew that I'd have to find a job that had traveling as part of the job and I'm still amazed that I found one- because, I knew NO ONE doing this type of job.


Sweetp.. I will miss the markets the most: Flower, Yarn, and the regular markets that are just so much fun to explore. Also: Milkus .. my favorite Korean soft drink- even though I don't drink it on a regular basis.. if I do buy a soft-drink I get that type or the cider drink.. (We'd call it a Sprite or 7-up type.. but, slightly different.)

I even like going on the subway everywhere.. well, I don't like all of the UPSTAIRS 'stairs.' :D After a day of exploring, my lungs wish that they weren't there.