My neighborhood

Life at Yonsei University is starting to become more familiar. After two and a half weeks I have a handle on the neighborhood that surrounds my campus, called Sinchon. Sinchon has all of the excitement of an average college town, just multiplied a few times over, squeezed into high-rises and with a few extra unique sites as well.

This is actually the view from my dorm room window, on one of the few mornings where rest of the city wasn't obscured by mist or pollution. The brick building in the foreground is a copy of my own.

I went for a run out of the north gate of my campus, which, rather than facing the affluent downtown, is closer to the small shops and poorer neighborhoods. I wanted to get a picture of all of the little produce stalls lined up against this canal, but I didn't dare take out my camera while all of the women who tended them gave me glares. This part of the city, being less wealthy, also sees far less white people.

This is a picture of the underside of the highway that runs through the neighborhood. It looks peaceful and idyllic, but the water smells like untreated sewage.

Just outside of the north gate is the local fire station, it's the building with the gold emblem in the background. I took this picture mainly to remember what the sky looks like without rainclouds, it has rained just about ever other day for the past two weeks.

The guy hailing a cab in the foreground is a friend of mine. Cabs are cheap here compared to just about anywhere in America, a ten minute ride is about $3.

Sinchon has dozens of internet cafes, which are also much cheaper than similar places in America. A lot of college and high school students park themselves here after class, playing Starcraft for hours.

Store promotions in Seoul are anything but subtle. Besides the clown inviting pedestrians into Baskin Robbins that I caught on camera, there are cellphone salesmen singing karaoke outside of their shops, beauty store clerks dressed all in pink talking rapidly into megaphones, as well as alleys full of restaurant owners jumping in front of anyone who passes by and demanding they try their food.
There's also bowling. Nothing really crazy about it, just bowling.