Saturday, April 6, 2024

Korea 2

 Happy to share plenty more photos and tidbits I've acquired over the past few weeks. Enjoy!




Biggest strawberries I've ever seen.


Golden ratio! Probably a mis-translation, but made my Soul wink at itself :)


My kindergarten hagwon (private academy)


Kimchi croquette


Our gym downstairs. If the kids do well in class they can have some reward time down here to get a lil loose.



Anyone seen Starbucks gelato anywhere else?




Our b-day parties are quite extensive. Every other classmate gets a gift for the b-day student. Plenty of cake, and teachers must write a card and decorate with many stickers.


first cherry blossoms I remember seeing. Hidden in an alleyway.



Activity day; we do these once a month usually.


Furniture store. Useless for me, but great architecture.



Suseong lake is a short walk from my school/apartment


Unique and local blue-jay type bird. Wasn't able to get a pic with its wings. Blue white and black.



One of the tastiest and healthiest salads I've had in a while. Made by myself! - Baby bok choy, carrots, pickled radishes, avocado oil and black pepper.



Views from the roof of my apartment building


One of only 2 salad shops walking distance from me



Mushroom risotto. Plenty of Italian options nearby.


E-mart 24 near me. Even in Japan I don't remember seeing a convenience store this clean and classy.

'kawaii' cute hello kitty type culture is actually not so common here compared to Japan AND China









Happy Easter! Short walk from my apartment. Presbyterian.


First experience as a handy man in Korea, and pretty much Asia in general. If I couldn't borrow a power drill from my school I'd have to defer this job to the landlord.


Cherry blossoms. The guy walking here has a coat with a color that matches perfectly.







2 ingenius, mundane and practical inventions I've only seen in Korea. Those little rubber things on car doors may be ugly, but no paint scratchin' around here!
On the other side of this tape dispenser is a wheel. Rotate the wheel, and it automatically brings out the ideal size section of tape which is cut enough to take off without tearing yourself.
Perfect for kindergarten!


Never seen or heard of this before. Very yummy.
10.7k KRW = $7.9 USD (ouch!)
Grocery prices here are often worse than what I'm used to living in Acton, MA in '23 and '24.


Have yet to receive gifts like this. My students give praise a lot verbally, but this is next-level!


I like how the big red cross juxtaposes with big brother CCTV camera


Oddity


Drivers in traffic were probably confused and judgy about me stopping to take this pic. I just love how straight this road is.


I don't remember seeing cherry blossoms spotted on a hillside in the distance before





'As above, so below'




Not sure if this was a mis-translation or not...


Yes me like sum cookie please!
Baead too!