Night Life, Work, Weather, The Streets, No Normal Stops, Daily Living, and The Story of a Stroll -- in photos

Yanggu Night Life

Not much neon, but there are a few lights. 

One light, in particular stands out.  I'm not sure
about the details, but to my understanding, this is
one of the world's largest sundials... and it's in Yanggu.

Might be worth a trip in to town one evening just
to watch it change colors. 

Regular old light show. 

Yanggu Work Life (Girls' High School)

My desk!  (It's much tidier than this now!) 

Several of the Korean teachers at the school.  The man standing
at the far end of the table is the vice principal.  The lady
wearing blue (4th from the left) is my primary co-teacher. 

Yanggu Weather

The weather's been pretty nice for the most part.  Today it got
up to 70F.  (But I only included this photo so you'd have
something to compare the next one against.) 

It wasn't foggy when this photo was taken.  Compare it with the
one above.  Note the haziness of the trees in the foreground as well
as the mountains beyond.  The air isn't as fresh as I expected it to be
in the countryside... Apparently it gets stuck between the mountains.
This is the worst I've seen it so far, though.  Usually it's not bad. 

The Streets of Yanggu

Every 5th day is "Market Day."  All the sellers gather in this
parking lot, like a farmers' market...  Although I'm not sure
how much of the products/produce are home-made/grown.
Still, it's a nice, lively little-town event! 

The work of local craftsmen. 

Military territory. 

Below a small graveyard are piled the remnants
of what is often used to heat houses in the winter.
These blocks are known to produce CO so they
aren't used much these days.  In the poorer, more
rural places, though, they're still the norm. 

Farmland surrounded by mountains, with a few tall apartment
buildings standing in the center. 

My first walk home from work!  It took an hour, but I arrived
just ten minutes after the bus did.  (If I don't walk home, I have
to stay at work, or wander around, for about 40 minutes due to the
 infrequency of buses... A bicycle might be a good investment after all.) 

Greenhouse farming. 

What appears to be low-income housing.  Some houses are
in such bad condition that I wonder if they're actually lived in.
A lot of people, especially elderly people, here seem to
survive by farming a small plot of land -- by hand.  

What was once a convenience store.  And perhaps a home as
well.  Now closed and empty. 

No Normal Bus Stops

I guess this makes sense.  The buses are often late... and if you
miss one, you could be waiting a couple hours for the next one...
Might as well be comfortable! 

Hanging art at a bus stop, on the other hand, I have yet to understand. 

Daily Living

I try to cook Korean-style in the evenings.  It usually looks
something like this (especially since that's the only kind of
soup I "know how" to cook!). 

Visitors are always welcome!  There are restaurants to go to
(i.e. There is something to do) in Yanggu!! 

The Story of a Stroll

I went out for a walk near my apartment one day, and was
pleasantly surprised when I  found this nice, quiet road...

...Until I saw a sign marking the way to an Army training site...

...And another one warning people about canon fire in the area,
and stating that people who enter are doing so at their own risk...
And that's when I turned back... And resolved never to return... 

...But it's too bad... The view was sure nice. 

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

First Impressions of Yanggu

Yanggu (Yahng-goo) is small but spread-out.  It's home to about 24,000 people and its main industries -- agriculture and military -- are everywhere.  But everywhere is not as big as it sounds in Yanggu.  The city center consists of one small street.  There are a couple cafes, a few clothing shops, two grocery stores, a sprinkling of students, and a whole lot of military men.

(Two years of military service is mandatory for Korean men and many of them end up serving in rural places near the DMZ, like Yanggu.)

As far as scenery goes, Yanggu's got it.  The town is surrounded by mountains, with a river running through it.  Weather has been pretty nice so far as well.  It's been chilly, but dry, every day except for today, when it snowed and hailed pretty heavily in the morning, but cleared up by afternoon.

Here are a few photos to give you a better picture (haha?) of where I am...

My Apartment

Out for dinner the first night with several of the other foreign
teachers.  All of the foreign teachers in Yanggu (about 12)
live in the same apartment building. 

The "foreigner" building.

Inside my apartment... View from the front door.
Washroom and kitchen are to the left, bedroom
and laundry room (with huge, balcony-style window)
are straight ahead.

In the bedroom... a desk...

...bed and TV... This apartment is far larger than any
I've lived in in Seoul!

View out the laundry room window... 

Nothing says, "Good morning" like a nice, big mountain. 

Walking Around Yanggu

In "downtown" Yanggu.  Notice that every phone booth is full. 

Crossing the bridge near school.
Notice that a bit of the river remains frozen. 

What did I say about agriculture? 

I think those are rice paddies.  Should be turning green soon!

Driving into Yanggu, it reads: If you come to Yanggu, you'll
grow 10 years younger.

Driving out of Yanggu, it reads: If you come back to Yanggu,
you'll grow 10 MORE years younger.  (Don't ask me how it works!)

My School

Yanggu Girls' High School... This is where I work!  Actually,
what you see parallel in front is the middle school and what
you see perpendicular on the left is the high school.

Going up the stairs to class.  I took this one for you ;)

The English Room!  I'm quite lucky that this school has a designated
English Room so I can set it up the way I like, and not have to
worry about running from room to room.  (In Korea, oftentimes
the students will stay in one room all day while teachers come in and out.)

Some of My Favorite Responses So Far 
(Students responded to the question, "Do you like learning English? If yes, why? If no, why not?")

"Yes!!  learn and learn long time funny."

"yes. because english used all the world so I learn English and
talk all the world so I like learning english"

"Yes. I like learning English becaus English teacher is beautiful."

That last one obviously made my day!

Thanks for reading :)