So I'm in Changwon, South Korea. This city is about 30 minutes outside of Busan (which is one of the largest cities in Korea). Changwon is close to the southern coast, so apparently it takes about 30-40 minutes to get to beaches somewhere. It's also bordered on the other side by beautiful green mountains, and it takes less than 10 minutes to get to those. The city is pretty big, and it has been taking me a while to walk around all of it in my free time. It's also hard to walk around because it's so freakin hot and humid over here! It's been vacillating between 80 and 90*F, with 70-80% humidity. One day it was 60%, mmm, that was nice. And you know, these little old ladies will walk around in the heat with a visor hat covering their head, scarf covering their face, and long sleeves covering their arms to prevent from getting tan! I don't know how they do it, because I'm melting over here! But I heard that this weather will only last for about 2 more weeks and then you get to the beautiful fall weather.
My school and motel room are right in downtown Changwon. There are several blocks of tall buildings with tons of flashing lights on them, to the point where it's incredibly amazing (like Vegas on steroids) yet at the same time every block looks the same, which makes it really hard to find your way around. Having a 7-Eleven or a MiniMart on every single corner doesn't help either. But I am starting to get the hang of it, believe it or not! The city is visually awesome and fun, but it smells like garbage or fish sauce, depending on which way the wind is blowing, and there are always bags of garbage collected in random spots along the streets. The drivers here are crazy too. I am SO glad I do not have to drive here! It's risky enough just walking because pedestrians do not have the right-away, in fact, they are the last thing on any drivers mind. You basically just walk around and through the cars willy nilly, and if one bumps you then you just thump his hood and go along your way. No biggie :) The men take about 8+ attempts to park their car, and the women keep the bad-female-Asian-driver-stereotype alive and kicking. But so far the people have been either very nice or indifferent toward me, and no one has yet asked me if I am a Russian prostitute! I met a lot of the other foreign teachers on Friday night at a local "international bar" (aka: where all the white people go) and some of them told me that that's what some Korean men will ask blonde girls! The foreigners were all nice and from various parts like New Zealand, England, Ireland, and Canada...lots from Canada actually. I can't get away from that country, can I?? Meeting them was fun and really informative since a lot of them had been there much longer than the whole 3 days that I have been here!
My school and motel room are right in downtown Changwon. There are several blocks of tall buildings with tons of flashing lights on them, to the point where it's incredibly amazing (like Vegas on steroids) yet at the same time every block looks the same, which makes it really hard to find your way around. Having a 7-Eleven or a MiniMart on every single corner doesn't help either. But I am starting to get the hang of it, believe it or not! The city is visually awesome and fun, but it smells like garbage or fish sauce, depending on which way the wind is blowing, and there are always bags of garbage collected in random spots along the streets. The drivers here are crazy too. I am SO glad I do not have to drive here! It's risky enough just walking because pedestrians do not have the right-away, in fact, they are the last thing on any drivers mind. You basically just walk around and through the cars willy nilly, and if one bumps you then you just thump his hood and go along your way. No biggie :) The men take about 8+ attempts to park their car, and the women keep the bad-female-Asian-driver-stereotype alive and kicking. But so far the people have been either very nice or indifferent toward me, and no one has yet asked me if I am a Russian prostitute! I met a lot of the other foreign teachers on Friday night at a local "international bar" (aka: where all the white people go) and some of them told me that that's what some Korean men will ask blonde girls! The foreigners were all nice and from various parts like New Zealand, England, Ireland, and Canada...lots from Canada actually. I can't get away from that country, can I?? Meeting them was fun and really informative since a lot of them had been there much longer than the whole 3 days that I have been here! 
Great photo, Bits! Looks like a big Pachinko machine. ;-)
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