Vacation plans

I finally got around to adding some pics. I'm off to Taiwan for a week on Saturday. This is definitely the best job I've had here, and the apartment is no exception. Most teacher's are crammed into officitels - small studio apartments / offices usually located in the midst of the business districts. Meanwhile, I have a spacious two-bedroom pad with a separate living room and an eat-in-kitchen with an oven (a rarity in Korea). I've managed to conjour up a home-made pizza, pancakes, French toast, and tortillas. The rainy season is nearing an end, but all in all, it hasn't been a very bad summer. Highs are usually in the mid-80s, with lots of humidity. I'll occasionally pop on the air con, but usually just get by with the fan.

That's all I have for now. I'll post about Korean customs and oddities in a few weeks, after I get back from vacation.

Incheon

Some pictures from around Incheon

A groovy building near Chinatown (yes, there is actually a Chinatown in Korea, but it pales in comparison to even Chicago's). It's covered with bottle caps.



The view from Munhak Mountain, which is not too far from my apartment. It makes for a nice hike when the trails aren't too muddy. The blocks of identical apartment buildings are fairly typical. They are usually surrounding by lower-lying business district.



Another view from the mountain showing the soccer and baseball stadiums. Inside the soccer stadium are a children's museum, gym, public bath, golf driving range, singing rooms (karaoka), and some other stuff. The area around the stadium includes an artificial stream, fountain, climbing wall, lots of benches, and a playground. It's about a mile down the street from me, and is where I catch the subway.



Not to far from my house is this ship restaurant. Since most Korean streets don't have names, you navigate by landmarks. You'd think that this would be a good landmark to direct cab drivers towards (the cabbies usually know the bigger apartment complexes, but I live in a small building with only a dozen or so units).



But no, there is another ship restaurant on the other side of my apartment, and further down the street.

Osaka

My second trip to Japan this year, and sixth overall (although four of them have been for three days or less). I did get to revisit Osaka Castle, but due to timing I wasn't able to make it to Kyoto. I was also there for the Japan-Australia World Cup game, which Australia pulled out in the last few minutes. There were some pretty fervent rooters, but I didn't see the crowds like they had in Korea.

Here are some pics of the castle.

Goodbye Pohang, Hello Incheon

Well, it's my last full weekend in Pohang. I'm moving again. This time up to Incheon (which is a east of Seoul, and home to the international airport). Hopefully I'll be able to finish up a full year there. I visited the school a couple of weeks ago, and it looks pretty good. I'll be teaching kindergartners in the morning, and middle schoolers in the afternoon. The curriculum includes teaching math, science, and social studies in addition to English. So at least there will be some variety to my routine. My apartment is a nice two-bedroom place, with an oven (which are rare in Korea). It's a bit far from the school, but just a 20 minute walk to the subway and stadium complex, where Incheon's baseball and soccer team play. It does look like riding a bike would be doable. The sidewalks had bike lanes and not too many crossing streets.

In the meantime, I took another jaunt around Pohang. Headed down to the beach and towards downtown. For some reason, the Koreans don't have an affinity to the water. Along the river, they have a nice park area with bike and walking paths, exercise equipment, volleyball courts, soccer fields, and even a rollerblading track. But this only lasts for a couple of kilometers and POSCO faces you from across the river, belching out smoke and blocking the view. Once you hit the mouth of the river, there is a beach. The beach is not very stellar, lots of crushed oyster shells, and seaweed infested waters. But it's still the beach. But along the back of the beach, there are all these dilapidated buildings. Many look like they were at one time seafood restaurants. A few appear to have contained holding tanks for the day's catch. But most are closed and out of business. As valuable as land is here, you'd think someone would actually put these places to use. But you'd think wrong.

Going further along, there are fields, where people are growing crops. Again, I wouldn't think that it's the most effective use of ocean front property. But again, I don't understand the Koreans. Past the fields, there is more industry - dry docks, fuel tanks, and a couple of piers for ferry boats and the Coast Guard. Beyond this are the fishing boat docks. Rows and rows of fishing boats. That's as far as I made it, but that seems to be the gist of Pohang's coast. So pretty much no seaside parks (aside from a few beaches), no sail boats, no ocean front views to desire. They could really learn a thing or two from Chicago. Oh well, I'm leaving next week anyways. Maybe Incheon will show more appreciation for the water.

If you look closely, you'll notice light bulbs hanging from most all of the boats. They catch squid at night, and the lights are used to draw them to the surface.

Pohang Steelers

POSCO, the second, or maybe it's the third, largest steel producer in the world is located here. It's hard to miss, as it consumes a large swath of land and bellows smoke and burning flames at night. They also own the appropriately named Steelers, Pohang's soccer team, who play in the K-League, Korea's major soccer league. I finally managed to make it to a game a couple of weeks ago, and the atmosphere was electric. Okay, not quite electric. A shade more electric then the atmosphere at a soccer game in Uzbekistan - and without the overbearing eyes of a massive state police force looking on - but rather pale in comparison to South American action. So rather then spending all of your money to come and experience the spectacle yourself, I present the full grandeur of it here.


The opposing Daegu fans. Corralled into one small corner of the stadium.


The vocal Pohang superfans, on the other side.


And the game in action.


Final score - Pohang 0, Daegu 0, Att: 2,088