I've been spending lots of time on the subway semester after barely using it the first few months here. Two big reasons for this change were switching churches (over an hour away via public transit) and hanging out with friends from church. Also, now that the weather is warmer, it's much more tempting to go farther across the city to do things. Anyways, I shot this on the sly at one of the busier times of the day, but this isn't as crowded as it can get.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so I figured this picture would be appropriate. While it's not the best angle, I hope you can see that it's part of the interior of a bus. Many Korean churches have various modes of transportation to pick up people. Many of the church buses have decorations very similar to this one. Curtains, seat covers, etc. are the norm. I ride one of these luxurious shuttles every Sunday.

Yesterday was Ashley's birthday, so she gets to be the picture for Friday. A few of us went out for dinner and then we ended up at a cupcake place (I didn't know there were specialty places like that) for dessert. That's where I found this gem:

The Statue of Liberty with a cupcake for the torch. Oh yeah, that's how they roll in Busan.

Land is highly prized in Korea, especially in the cities. You don't find many yards here, so people grow things wherever they can. I've seen various plants in buckets, crates, bowls and all kinds of other containers. People will put them outside in the sun, and then bring them inside at night. I've also seen little squatter gardens in vacant lots and up on the mountain.

Week 3 completed

Here's most of a meal I had a few nights ago. Everyone got rice and soup and then you share all the other dishes. I don't take pictures of food very often, largely because I forget or I'm used to most of the dishes. But you can see that it's quite different from Western food, in this case both in what's served and how it's presented.

...they might bite you. I love Konglish

Usually Buddhism is considered a peaceful religion, but these guys look like they're really pissed off. The question is which guy will get you first. The one on the left looks like a vampire...a Buddhist vampire. How does that work?

The other day after classes, the English Department had a bowling tournament. Here's my team with me: Song, Jin, Kevin, Mary and Alexander.

Yesterday was Buddha's birthday. A few of us went up to Gyeongu and checked out the temples and other festivities. There were lanterns like these everywhere. Often they had "wishes" or prayers hanging from them, which people had to pay for (kind of like indulgences?).

This pagoda is one of the national treasures of Korea. It's pictured on the back of the 10 won coin.

This is from the car ferry to Goejedo the other week. One of the rooms on the main deck was a sleeping room, Korean style. I snuck this picture without appearing too touristy...I think.

Day 14

Here are some of my students watching a basketball game recently. The perception here of getting sun is quite the opposite of America where we almost worship the sun's rays so as to get darker. These girls (and guys) are using parasols to protect themselves from the sun because they want to have white skin. They were kind enough to offer me one so that I could protect my pale skin (I politely declined). Some of the guys simply popped their collars to protect their necks. It was quite an interesting comparison to American (beach/summer) culture. I guess the grass is always greener...

Day 13

Although this is from earlier this month, it's similar to today's weather. Many mornings these last two months have looked like this with fog and rain. Yeongdo sometimes seems to have its own weather, so the fog is especially bad here as compared to the rest of Busan. Needless to say today has been really foggy and rainy which makes students sleepy...or they just skip class altogether.

Day 11 & 12

Here's the northern part of Yeongdo that I hadn't seen from this angle. I always drive through this area, but hardly ever have a reason to stop there. The area right across the bridge is called Nampo-dong. It's a popular place with shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, etc. You can also see two of the bridges going off the island, the famous fish market (with the seagull roof), and Busan tower. I hiked the mountain directly across (with the tower on it) last weekend.


Here's a Korean picnic table up on the mountain. While I did see one or two Western style ones, there were a few of these as well. Traditionally Koreans eat on the floor, so this same principal applies here.

Day 10

Yesterday afternoon, Andy and I hiked Kosin mountain. We spent a couple hours up there exploring the whole ridge and taking in the views as it was one of the clearest days we've had in awhile. Besides the views, one of my favorite things about going up the mountain is being surrounded by trees and other plants. Korea is a very mountainous country which means that most of the flat land is built upon, especially in the cities. It's nice to be able to get away from the city, even if you can see it half the time you're climbing.

Day 8 (and 9)

Here's our group from the baseball game last night. From the left, Kevin, Andy, myself, and Min. The bags are kind of like a rally cap, and also serve as trash bags on the way out.

While there are many differences between the Korean baseball experience and American baseball, one of my favorites is the fact that you can bring any food or drink you want into the game. Take that food vendors! Part of our snacks was the obligatory kimbap (think something similar to a California roll) which is pretty much the Korean equivalent of PB&J.

Day 7

Although I've never made it to Rome to see the famed Trevi Fountain, I had only to come to Korea to feel like I've been there. In what I can only imagine is an effort to look even more upscale, the Lotte department stores have Romanesque style faux fountains in or near their stores. I ran into this one last Friday in front of the "largest department store in the world" which is apparently here in Busan. Sometimes the borrowing of Western culture truly boggles my mind.

Day 6

Here's a typical Korean outdoor exercise area. In many parks there are a couple different machines or contraptions to help you work out. The best part about this one was that it was on the side of a mountain. "I think I'll take a break from my hike and pump some iron." While this might appeal to some, I just find the concept funny for this particular situation. But I suppose that it's "good for health" like everything here, and who am I to complain after losing weight since coming to Busan?

Day 5

A scene I came across on Goejedo this past week. Yes, those are gutted fish hanging to dry. I see trucks around with these dried fish for sale, but here we have some laundry hanging to dry right next to the fish. Reminds me of the time I saw squid hanging from a clothesline here on Yeongdo.

Day 3 (and 4)

Yesterday I went to a car show here in Busan. While that was pretty cool, one of the neatest things was actually outside. Portable ATMs! Pretty good idea for large events, eh?

Since I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the office tomorrow, here's another picture. I had the privilege of a mosquito waking me up at 5:30 this morning (Saturday)...but then I got to see the sunrise before I went back to bed.

Day 2

Here's Kosin's iconic "Coram Deo" sign. Some of you have seen it before, but not like this. No, in this picture we have beautiful azaleas and a gold spray painted bench. Apparently, sometime in the last two months it was decided that the bench needed to have a more regal touch to it. Now I'm just waiting for them to add some bling to the actual sign.

Photo A Day

I've been toying around with the idea of doing a picture a day for a little while now, and have now committed to it. I'm not sure how long it'll last, but I figure this will force me to take more pictures and also to share the ones I have. These pictures won't really have a connecting theme except perhaps that they'll show some daily life or perhaps unique things about Korea (or at least differences from America). We'll see where this experiment goes.

Day 1

Apartment moving made simple. "Worried about how you'll get all that stuff up to your new 5th story apartment? Why bother yourself with hauling things up elevators or flights of stairs when we can deliver it right through your window?" They just load up that platform and send it up. This is the building next door to my apartment. Those are two little restaurants on the bottom there. You can see some Kosin buildings across the street.

Rameon Social, Spring Edition

If you're a faithful reader of this blog (the rare few), you'll remember that last semester we put on a rameon social for the English department and international students. We decided to do this again as it's a good way to have people mix, and what college student is going to turn down free food? We were able to have it outside this time which was a plus as people were able to mill around more readily.

Some of the seniors. Tim, Patrick, Snout, Kevin, and Hermia.


With some of the juniors. Naomi, Brenden, Troy, and Jack.