Gunsan

We have not had a great deal of time to explore Gunsan, mainly because school gets in the way (kidding!), but this past weekend we were able to venture (by taxi) into the Downtown area. Our taxi driver was extremely helpful and was very excited to spreak* English and share the details of his life with us. We were privy to the videos of his children and then offered Korean lessons. Okay...now everyone close their eyes and imagine what you think a normal downtown would look like...crowded streets filled with people frolicking about with shopping bags - all ready and willing to spend money, perhaps a cafe filled with those drinking coffees and reading books, and maybe even a street entertainer or two twisting their lyrical tunes through the busy streets.

Well. The Gunsan Downtown area has one main street with many shops that are designed to be westernized. I think this is why visiting downtown was so highly suggested to us. Dan and I think that our boss, and maybe even all Koreans for that matter, believe all Westerners to like things like McDonald's and shop in only familiar places that have English names. But then again, we haven't told her/them otherwise. Anyway, Downtown was bare and there were no places to eat or drink. Simply a row of shops on one street - pretty boring. But, once we left that main street, the stores became more and more Korean. And that is what we were looking for. All of them are crammed to the brim with the most random things and there is barely any walking space between the aisles. So we bought some cups. The designs that are on Korean paraphernalia is also very interesting. There is a lot of color and a lot of strange figures and animals, often times with hysterical and nonsensical English phrases. I have posted a few pictures to show you examples. All in all - we had a great time downtown!

Another note...we have noticed a strange smell that emanates from certain parts of the city. At first I thought it was Dan. (HA!) But we have boiled it down to rotting vegetables or something like that. Many of the stores smell too...you know the aroma - when you enter a place and it smells...old. Like old mothballs or something old-ish. I can't put my finger on it. But when you smell it...you know. Other than that, all is well and we have been "super mega busy" (a phrase from one of my students) writing up lesson plans, learning Korean, trying to cook and enduring the heat.

Oh yeah, our favorite solution for cooking is just adding soy sauce to everything. Typical, eh? It's been fun. We love you all and miss you!

*misspell intended :)


Crazy colors and crazy animals enjoying a frosty treat. Despite what the box looks like though, these Rinky popsicles are pretty good. Flavors available: Strawberry, chocolate and chocolate mint (we think). We cannot really tell the difference between them.


We bought these cups downtown. Not sure what they mean, but he was so happy when he knew that friend. Hilarious.


Trying to read a Korean menu. This is a posed shot, obviously. It was a real scenario, though, just minutes before.


The main street Downtown. Bustling with people, right?


Perhaps this is where the smell is coming from? One can only guess. But there is a great deal of random stuff lying around on the streets like these dried out fish.