Exploring Bucheon: Day 1

Yesterday, Sunday, I explored the city. It was my last day off before school starts on Monday. Which is now today! For me... It was a little overcast, but no matter. I should have gone out yesterday, but I haven't been feeling my best since I've arrived. Something of a cold... but I wanted to explore and maybe find another foreigner. No such luck with the latter, but I had plenty of fun exploring!

First off, what I wore... because that matters to me! I wanted to look half-way decent. Korean girls all look so trendy! Although, I knew I'd probably just be wearing my coat around anyway... if I know I look good, it doesn't matter if someone else needs to see it. It makes me feel better just knowing :)

 

-Anna-

shirt: Old Navy

sweater: garage sale (Gap)

pants: American Eagle

socks: TJMaxx

my (already) messy apartment

Next, I went wandering, with no particular place to go...

the building i live in. i'm up on the 8th floor!

a street corner across from my building.

everyone builds up here, instead of out.

 

I turned down one of the smaller streets, not accessible by car. I was drawn in by the pretty colors and big signs. As you may know, I love my visual stimulants... Unfortunately, everything was closed, probably because it was Sunday, so it seemed kind of like a ghost town. Maybe it was better this way, less people to look at me while I take pictures of their city.

This block had a lot of restaurants and a few bars. As you'll notice to the left, there's a silhouette of a woman on the sign. Seems like an upstanding place, right?

There also seemed to be some type of film theme... although I didn't notice any theater or anything... But of course, I couldn't read the signs, so who knows.

.... and there was this big chicken.

I can't read the signs outside this bar.. or restaurant, but it looks I'd fit right in among these other American icons....

Next I went back to this giant store, Toona, to get a better look at all their merchandise. This place is 5 stories tall FULL of different vendors selling all types of clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women and children. I'm talking floor to ceiling stuffed. It kind of reminded me of a giant Forever 21. But then again, so do most of the other stores I've seen carry clothes. This stuff is of lesser quality, so its pretty inexpensive (hello, Forever 21...). PLUS you can bargain for a couple bucks off. Elly and I came by the other day to pick up indoor shoes that I'll need for school, and she taught me the word for "cash", which I guess also means discount. I successfully used it today!

 

they can appreciate my tacky sensibility!

umm... this lady...?

some traditional korean dresses for formal occasions.

and for the little ones too!

this cute button :)

 i bought an umbrella! it started to rain while i was walking. also, i didn't pack one, because i planned on buying one when i arrived.

gingerbread men!

a neat little path a followed that ran parallel with the sidewalk. blah blah blah robert frost quote.

some wildlife. pretty blue, right?

fishies for eatin'

 i saw a number of dogs on my little adventure. this one seemed very happy to see me.

this was also the largest i saw. the other ones were much smaller, little yippy things. anyway, animals are cool where ever you are, even if they don't understand "hello, happy dog!"

a less busy city street i decided to take... more homes, other than tall apartment buildings. also, a church in the distance.

i haven't seen any house like how I'm used to. but i imagine these are closer to them than apartment complexes.

Then as I was walking, I came upon this structure thing. Of course I went to explore, and discovered it was this long market place full of vendors selling food! There were a few restaurants and convenience stores, but mostly it was people with tables and boxes and displays of food, like a grocery store. So there was fruits, veggies, fish, meats, breads, sweets... it was a lot to take in. I bought four onions for 1,000 kw, which is like a dollar. I wasn't sure what else to get! There was so much stuff to look at! And I couldn't even recognize all of it! Aside from the fact that I'm a foreigner, I'm also definitely not a cooker, so I was at even more of a disadvantage. But I imagine the food here would be cheaper than, say, at a grocery store. I'll have to do some comparing and inquiring.. Either way, I want to go back.

And there was so much more stuff than what I took pictures of. In retrospect, I took pictures of a lot of seafood, which seemed to amaze me at the time. Amaze and kind of disgust....

i'm pretty sure that's kimchi up there with the tongs... it's, like, korea's favorite food. they eat it with EVERYTHING for EVERY MEAL. it's okay.. i'm easing my way into it ;)

songnae station, the subway to seoul. it's very close to my apartment.

this guy! outside of a park..?

what koreans think americans look like.... just kidding!

So I know this is very picture heavy, but... whatever. You know you wanted to see some sights like I did today. More to come. And hopefully I'll get better at taking shot of myself. I need 1) practice using self timer and 2) confidence to do it in public. I also don't have a tripod for my itty bitty point and shoot, so I'll need something to place it on... agh! details...

작별 인사
(goodbye via google translate, lol.. and how i pronounce it, not necessarily how it's spelled:
an-yong-hee kah-say-yo... now you try!)

Anna!

also!!

this is from the holiday dinner I had at Elly's home last Thursday:

 We had a very lovely and delicious dinner of pork ribs and pork meat with rice and kimchi (of course), a dipping sauce and... something green in the middle there. Also a green vegetable, which Elly provided two options for me, one spicy, one not. And a bowl of various leaves for wrapping the rice, meat, and veggies (in no particular combination). I'm practicing using chopsticks, but they offered me a fork to use too because you can only struggle for so long until you just get too hungry to care, lol. Also, for the adults, beer! In kid's cups, haha. Elly was also gracious enough to buy us some beer to drink, and gave me the bottle caps to keep! What a doll! 

they cook the meat and veggies right there next to the table!