A Day in Nowon

Follow us for a walk through Nowon. We start on the 15th floor of our apartment. Dan demonstrates summoning the elevator about 15 stories too late...

This is the parking lot of our apartment building. We live right beside a school.

This is where we put our trash in special garbage bags you have to buy at the store. They're stacked/leaning against the tree. In the grey buckets we put our compost stuff - smells great in this cozy corner of the parking lot! ^.~

This is my student Star. Yes, his name is Star. If you click on the picture you can see his face gleaming with sweat. These kids run around everywhere in thick wool or down jackets and then get to class just dripping with sweat. Then they fling the window open letting in the winter cold and vehemently protest when I close the window, explaining that it's actually freezing in the class and that they should perhaps take off their 3 or 4 layers of winter clothes. What a concept...

Two of my happiest students, or in the top 10. Fred on the right. Star in the center. Off to play some tiger vs. fox stuffed animal game in the sidewalks winding around the apartment buildings.

We usually don't get this view of our school/work. This is the back of the academy.

We passed this truck on our walk to the subway - chicken?

A nice and "green" bus... note the grass/flower ornamentation along the windshield.

I don't understand why they have barbed wire everywhere between the apartment buildings. What if an unsuspecting kid ran backwards to return the badminton birdie his dad just served and met this prickly bush? His ankle-length down jacket would be ruined for sure! (well, on the bright side, maybe he wouldn't sweat as much anymore)

These fruit stands are everywhere. Everything sells for an alright price, like oranges and bananas, but if you want a good, red apple (they seem to only sell one type of apple), that'll cost you 3000won for 2 apples. That used to be about $3 Cdn., but now is $2.50 Cdn and less than $2 US. Don't let me write anymore on the exchange, 'cause I'm already dying a little inside.

A "bakery" where you can buy any shape and form of bread, all white, all kind of sweet.... and really cute cakes and immaculate sandwiches.

I ate gelato here tonight! A sweet little upstairs, too.

Shampoo?

We like this little dumpling stand. They've got good mandu.

Lotte Department Store. Less than a 10-min walk from our apartment. Do you see the Lotte employee directing traffic? In the middle of this crowded intersection? He's not a police man. He's Lotte's man. White gloves and all.

More dumplings.

The subway station... line 7 and line 4... this is how we get everywhere we need to go.

Into the depths. Personally, I prefer escalators.

Waiting for the subway to arrive.

THE cutest kid. (I may say that about once a day about different kids, but there are few other ways to explain how cute each kid is.) He listened for so long while this man explained the exits and maps and this kid just soaked it all in. And he has cool shoes and a puffy jacket too long for his arms. Cuteness.

Vehicle cuteness. Outside of the foreign food store in Itaewon where we can buy things like whole wheat flour, an avacado for 4,300 won (each), bull's eye BBQ sauce, old spice deodorant, and repackaged Costco goods (from the local Costco) that are marked up 100-200%. We stick to Costco for those goods...

Love Day in Korea

Dan and I went to a restaurant called "Zen Hideaway" in a popular shopping district in Seoul (Myeong-dong). What a peaceful change to the overcrowded shopping alleys and Korean idea of space and movement. ... It's true though - you can't walk around without being bumped and jolted by everyone and their mom, so Zen was the answer for Saturday night. Honestly, we've never done anything for Valentine's day, either while dating or married. This was the fourth valentine's for us, so we decided to make it memorable (and it also helps that we both have an income now!). It was a good night... amazing food... good wine (we ordered a bottle - what? I've never done that before!)... good company, and our designated driver, seoul subway, helped get us home safe and sound. ;)

The deer, pictured above, was not part of the zen of Zen Hideaway. We found this loveable fur-ball in the Kosney home store, and I couldn't resist posing with the fellow. Yours for 400,000 Korean won. What's stopping you??