Lake Park Part Deux

Sorry this is so late coming, but here's the rest of the lake park pictures I promised you:

Big paved area, complete with benches and big low table things, perfect for laying on

Some pretty views of the lake

My house is back there somewhere...

Not many trees have started changing, but this one has

Part of the running/biking trail...normally when I go in the evening you can't even see the green

There are a million statues in the park... here's the first

People bowing to a TV. Odd, but cool.

It looks like a pigeon to me.

Pretty flowers

Mural underneath a bridge

RawrYou are here

This pagoda thingy was not very photogenic, until I noticed that it's completely blocked by the tree from this angle

The city's motto: Let's Goyang (Goyang being the city that Ilsan is located within). I think it's cute.

Catching Up

I've been bad and haven't updated anything this week, so i just figured I'd post a couple quick comments... I finally got my cable and internet hooked up this week, so I have reliable internet, plus over 60 channels (mostly in Korean). I do have Discovery Channel in English, which means I can feed my Deadliest Catch addiction :)

In other news, I went out for Mexican food Friday night with one of my coworkers, at a place just a couple blocks from our building. The food was pretty good, not Mexican, but pretty much like you'd expect Mexican food at home to be. They also had American food like burgers and wraps and stuff, and apparently they do a huge brunch buffet on Sundays- kinda pricey though, so my cheap self probably won't ever try it out. On Saturday I met up with a couple English guys I met through a facebook group, and we went and had a few beers at the Frog and Toad, which is the local expat bar. The weather's been really nice this week, so it was great to sit out on the deck and talk. Both of the guys are new to Ilsan and they're trying to start up some social group of foreigners, kind of get together and go to dinner regularly, that sort of thing. I liked meeting people besides my coworkers that I see everyday, and I hope this pans out and I can make more new friends.

Other than that, it's been an uneventful weekend. I've got a sore throat which I probably caught from one of the kids at school, so I've been resting and eating oranges and trying to keep from getting really sick. Laundry and cleaning were the order of the day today. Once I get a paycheck I will probably get out and adventure more, but right now I don't even really have money to top up my subway card, so I'm just going to enjoy my cozy apartment and my neighborhood for a couple more weeks.

Picture of the Weekend

KGB Vodka with Lemon. Found this on the sidewalk and had to take a picture. Little internet research shows it's a New Zealand brand, not Russian. Either way, it's hilarious.

Home Sweet Home

My dollarstore lemon balm seeds sprouted this week, so I feel the need to show them off like a proud momma.

In other news, a lot of you haven't seen my digs yet, so here are some pictures of my apartment for you to ponder. It seems most English teachers here have apartments like mine: modern high-rise, one room, completely not charming places. Mine came furnished, so all I've added has been the color. Without further ado, I give you pictures:

So this is basically it- bed, desk, TV, nice big window

Saturday in Seoul

After my semi-walk in the park this morning, I hopped on the subway into Seoul to hang out with my friend Brian that I met at orientation. The plan had been to meet up and go to the Seoul Museum of Art to see the Renior exhibit that they have until next month...unfortunately I think everyone else in Seoul had the same idea. The line was about a mile long. So, that plan was scrapped. We ended up just walking around downtown. We stopped in a mall and Brian bought the camera he had been wanting, and then went like crazy tourists through the plaza and down to the Cheonggyecheon stream, stopping only for Smoothie King. ;) All in all it was a pretty fun day, and I took lots more pictures for you all to enjoy.

Some statue near the mall

A police bus. Apparently there's so many police they need buses to transport them.

Kids playing in the fountain while their parents look on from a nice (dry) distance

Brian in the front left corner, and some swirly ice cream cone-esque statue thingy

A pretty rainbow appeared in one of the many fountains in the stream

Lots of people playing in the water

Can you find me?

The Cheonggyecheon is a stream that had been buried under concrete in the 60's to make way for a road, and was uncovered in 2005, making a pretty park and green space for people to enjoy. It's a little below street level, so you don't see the cars going by and instead see lots of plants and lots of people enjoying themselves.

Lake Park, part 1

So about five blocks from my house is the (somewhat) famous Ilsan Lake Park- boasting the largest man-made lake in Asia apparently. Since I moved in I've been at the park almost everyday, so I figured it was high time to take the camera and get some pictures to share. Unfortunately, I forgot to clear the memory on my camera, meaning I got less than halfway before I ran out of space. I'll go back later and photograph the rest of it, but for now here are some highlights from this morning:

The mostly empty parking lot

Botanical gardens

Weird totem pole thingies

Lake! This is the natural part of the lake, the other side is man-made (that's the side I didn't get to)

The rainbow that lights up at night

Pretty view from one of the bridges

Looking through the trees

I really like this one

People out walking their dog

This is the last picture I managed to take...and I think it's also my favorite one.

There you have it folks. I'm off to Seoul to see a Renoir exhibit at the art museum and wander some, so you should be getting another post pretty soon. And I will go back to the park again and finish the tour.

Hi all!
Welcome to my new blog! Now you can all keep up with what I'm doing in Korea :)