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. 

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Thanks for reading :)