My Neighborhood

It occurs to me that I showed you pictures of the inside of my apartment, but not the outside. Not that it's very interesting. In case you're interested, here are some pictures of my neighborhood:

This is the front of my building. I'm in the back left corner on the first floor, so you can't see my apartment, unfortunately.






This is the view from my back window. Just a dumpy street. Because my building is evidently built into a slope, the back of my apartment has a balcony, even though I'm on the first floor, and I could climb out my side window onto the ground, if I wanted. I think I've mentioned in another entry that the balcony isn't supposed to be for hanging out, though. It's only a couple feet wide, and there isn't a door to get onto it. I had to climb through a small, knee-high window to get onto it and take this shot. Cats hang out on it a lot, though.



This is the view of my block from in front of my building. My apartment building is to the right, outside the frame. You can see the tip of the Nambu Library on the left. To the left of the library is what seems to be a piano school. Next door to my building are a seamstress and a little jewelry store. A little past them are a boutique for kids and a clothing boutique, both of which are probably very expensive. Down past the library are two food stands, one at which I buy soup to take home a lot. There are also a couple little restaurants I've been meaning to visit. At the end of the block on the left is a bar called Orange Western Liquor. Even if I cared for bars, I probably wouldn't go there. I've only seen middle aged men going in there--no young people or foreigners, even though it's foreign alcohol. It's probably not the place for me.



This is the Nambu Library. I haven't been in there yet, but some of my students tell me it has some English books. I'll probably check it out once I run out of the books I brought with me. It's funny having a library right across the street, and on a little side street at that. Korea doesn't have residential areas and business areas. It's all one big smorgasbord.