Tour de Jeomchon, Part 1

Realizing that I will probably never get to share my little mountain town with any of you, I've decided to take you on a photo tour! So put on your shoes and let's hit the road!

This is my street and the third building on the right is mine. In the five months since I've been here, I have seen each of the other five buildings come from the ground up. There are some things that drive me nuts about this place (like bad wallpaper and cement walls) but there are also lots of little blessings too (like I live on the first floor and don't have to take elevators or walk up many stairs and the wonderful coded entry into my building that prevents annoying advertisers from covering my door with junk).

At the end of my street is Mung Yeoung Yo-Jung (that's Mung Yeoung Girls Middle School). I did a weekend English camp there once and had a great time. The kids are cute and I always see them walking to and from school. Behind the school is the Shinwon Apartment complex currently under construction. They will be luxury apartments and a three bedroom flat costs $2 million dollars--and that number isn't in Won!

Just one block from my apartment is Jeomchon River (I forgot it's real name). It's not very deep and lately not very clean either, but a beautiful contrast to everything around it. I hear that in the spring the trees along the river blossom. I can't wait! My favorite thing about living here is that I get to walk to school everyday along the river. It's really nice.

However beautiful or oasis like Jeomchon River may be, it does have one fault: this police light, attached to a bridge not far from my house. It's purpose remains a mystery. When I first arrived, I assumed that maybe it was like a flood warning light, but no. There has never been a flood and it blinks every night, all night long. Though I have asked many times about it, no one seems to know the reason for these lights.

Anyhow, back on our way. This is another view of the Shinwon Apartments from an intersection that I walk through every Monday and Friday on my way to school. It's also the same street that I take to go to the grocery store (we'll stop there on the way back home).

Oh, the numerous alleys!

Let's take a detour for just a minute and go visit Jamie's school: Jeomchon Boys Middle School. This is a big apartment building on the street up to her school--take a good look at the name. It's hardly a mansion but a good example of how English has been used and misused so many times... Another good example of funny apartment names: my friend Jill lives in a building called "Richie One-Room." lol. We love it!

Across the street from the mansion is this little park with two covered tables (which is pretty much the entire contents of said park--no toys, no grass, no sidewalks). The basic purpose of these parks is to provide a place for relaxation in the evening (but you won't see anyone out there at this time of the year!). When it gets warmer, you will find loads of old men out at these parks drinking soju and mekju (vodka and beer) at all hours of the night, playing cards and a game called "Go" (that's the Chinese--I can't remember the Korean name for it) at these tables. No doubt gambling away their pay checks...

Almost to Jamie's school! We have passed the front gate and are walking up the hill. On your right is all of the bike racks for the boys and straight ahead is the school's new track and astro-turf field!

Made it! Let's stop and take a few pictures! The sun is just right to make everything glow.

God, I wish my school had an astro-turf field... Lucky kids... They also have a really great modern library that far surpasses the one at good ol' NU. Good thing all the schools here like me--I got special permission from Jamie's principal to use their library whenever I want and to use their track too if I feel like it.

Yes, back on the road and on our way to Munchang! This photo above is taken of some really beautiful wall paintings on the side of a courtyard wall, just along the sidewalk. I love walking to school. There is just so many interesting things to see! It takes 30 minutes to walk there and I wish it was longer!

Oh, you know me, a sucker for scooter pictures...

This tunnel is really interesting. Above it is not a road, a house, or really anything purposeful except part of an elementary school playground and a path that leads to the elementary school tennis courts (behind the fence on the right of the photo). Can you imagine playing tennis in elementary school? When the weather gets warmer, loads of spiders move in to this tunnel to escape the sun and I must admit that it sort of creeps me out to walk through there. I've seen some really big spiders down there... Do you remember The Hobbit? Similar situation...

Walk towards the light!!

Onward! Just after the tunnel the sidewalk starts to go up hill and you can get a nice view of the city from here. When it's mid-day and the sun is shining, you can see lots of green mountains in the distance.

Just as we turn around and begin our journey again, a man with one leg walks (?) past us... I don't have the courage to take a photo of him from the front... That just seems a little degrading... So I'll do it behind his back... Aren't I nice? I imagine he probably lost his leg in the Korean war. There are lots of people here with disabilities and missing limbs. Oddly though, you don't see many of them unless they are beggars because Koreans tend to keep their handicapped outside of normal society. Ex: That blind, deaf, and mute church that I went to back in October... Thinking about it, I need to go back... I feel sorry for these people. It's not their fault that they have disabilities yet Koreans will treat them as if they aren't Korean at all...

One thing that I really love about Korea is the beautiful gates and doors on almost every house. I must have hundreds of photos of gates and doors! One thing that I always find interesting is that here, Christians will often put a cross on their front door/gate to indicate their beliefs. It reminds me of Passover when the Israelites put the blood of a lamb over their door so that the spirit would spare them as it passed through Egypt.

Beautiful orange house!

Let's keep going--we're about half way there... Here is a good example of a traditional Korean house on the left. There will usually be three or four floors (including the roof) and each floor is a different family's home--kinda like a stacked up duplex. On the roof, each family shares the space for drying clothes, drying food, and storing garbage (I see a lot of garbage on the roofs of homes)...

Another door...

Each winter (usually done in November), the woman of the house will prepare these big pots with cabbage, vinegar, and chili paste, making kimchi for the spring and following winter. Some people will let their kimchi ferment for a whole year! In days long past, this method of food preparation was used to preserve vegetables for the long winter months where no vegetables could be found. Though it's pretty easy to buy kimchi in the store these days, pretty much everyone still prepares it out of sweet devotion to tradition and culture.

Yay! We're at my favorite house!! It's an old little place but very interesting. It's a bright teal green color and the courtyard wall is just low enough that I can peak over and look at all the interesting stuff inside! I just adore the rural feel of it! So we'll stop here and take photos for a while (since this is the first time I've happened to walk by with my camera in hand)!

Good color, eh?

I love the shadows in this photo and the great contrasts of orange/green, light/dark, vertical/horizontal lines...

Wish that clothes line wasn't in my way...


Let's keep going! Not sure what this is or where it was taken but I like the color and the metallic feel.

Another gate.

Almost there! Brrr! It's getting cold out!


Amazing Korean architecture... This is one fancy house! Love the warmth of the sun on the brick.

One of the fancier doors, this one has brass engravings!

A bicycle! Ooh, that's in the same vein as scooters!

Clothes drying on a roof. The sun is starting to go down...

Yes! We made it! Just up this hill is Munchang high school!

Holy cow! It didn't look that steep did it but you're breathing hard, huh? Let's take a picture of this building... The sun is hitting it nicely.

Oh! We found some cute kids! Let's take pictures of them!

Apparently, in Korea, the peace sign doesn't mean peace--it means "V" for "Victory"--which oddly stands in contrast to peace... Just a little Konglish for you... :)

Not sure what this is...

In Jeomchon, there is always something under construction. Korea is growing exponentially. Here is a back-hoe loaded up onto the back of a guy's pickup.

Yay! School!

There it is! The great Bastille of education... JK... kind of...

The field. Not quiet as good as Jamie's school, huh? But typical of Korean schools... Honestly, Jamie's school is really nice, but I see their field project as almost a waste. Schools here don't have sports teams and besides PE, there's little need for a proper field. Kids usually just play soccer or go hiking in the mountains behind their school for PE class.

Uh, yes, that's the sun going down behind Munchang. Time to go home.

On the way down the hill, on the other side of the school, we walk past the new Munchang tennis courts. Yes, that's dirt. It's a little difficult to play tennis on an un-even dirt court, but I guess if the Korean's say so, it can be done!

On the way home, we run into one of my students and her younger sister (the one on the right is my student). We chat a little bit about January classes and next year. She doesn't have any plans for the rest of vacation--just sleep and computer games. It's getting colder! Let's keep going!

Can't remember where I took this but I like it...

Let's take a detour down an alley... Look! A bicycle!

Another fascinating gate. This one is actually quite unique because it is all brass and has cut-out doors with an arch shape. It's great!

Ah ha! The motorcycle! This is the single true motorcycle in all of Jeomchon and he likes to make himself known! I always know when he's near because he revs his engine like a teenage boy trying to impress the girls. No wonder I always see him in near my school...

Kind of a lonely spot for a chair...

Traditional Korean roof ornamentation...

One last look at the city...

And there goes the sun...

Hurry! Let's go to All Mart and get some dinner!

This is All Mart (taken earlier in the day). The correct Korean pronunciation is "Ol' Ma-tuh." :) What's for dinner? Teriyaki shrimp stir-fry!

And we made it home! A four hour walk! Wow! That was nice! We'll visit the girls school and down town Friday sometime. Thanks for coming along!