Extras, Extras!

Here are just some of the last few pictures from the first memory card dump. Nothing special or specific, just some things I was interested in enough to take a snapshot of. Remember to click on the photo for a bigger version if you so desire. I hope you like them.


The campus where I work is pretty nice. It is set up against some hills. There is also a lot of space compared to the last place I worked. Plenty of room for Frisbee. Now if I can just find someone to play with. Here are a few sculptures in front of the Art and Physical Education department.


Behind the art department building are these, a bunch of student projects that have no where to go. It looks like a few of them have been there for a while. It makes for an interesting crowd.


Several of the individuals in the crowd.


Maybe she was stretching for the finish line or something.


Another face in the crowd. She has a nice expression.


There are even a couple of children there.


Some of the sculptures are a little less finished than others. And no, the one on the left is not flipping me off.


In the hills up behind campus is some nice forested area. And, as can be found in any hills in Korea, there are some graves. Koreans are only recently burying their dead in graveyards due to space constraints. Traditionally Koreans chose a gravesite based on their own version of mortuary feng sui. I have heard that the best spot is on a hill with a view of the valley with some water somewhere in the view, especially running water. Yes, that guy is taking a nap against the grave mound.


The hills can be colorful in the fall.


Just some totems on campus.


Just outside of town, situated on top of a hill, is what is left of what used to be a small amusement park. Muryohng Land. This Ferris wheel was the biggest thing left, but it too has since been removed.


There is nothing sadder than a forgotten amusement park and Ferris wheel.


If only I could have made it work ...


... this would have been the view from the wheel. Well, the bottom of the wheel anyway.


Here is what apparently was a slide. You would place some sort of seat down, sit on it and slide down to the bottom.


This is a closer view of what you slide on. A bunch of plastic golf balls set in some kind of egg carton like frame work. The frame is a bit springy so the golf balls do spin a bit.


These are some of the buildings left standing. That is the ticket "maypyoso" office to the right.


If you look back at that expansive view, you can just see the edge of a river. Follow the river around to the right, and you get to here.


While not actually part of Muryohng Land, this small park obviously benefited from the amusement park customers. Now the customers are few and far between.


It is still a nice place to visit for a picnic. Here a spring comes directly out of the rock wall.


In the other direction along the river, in a completely different area, is this.


If you change angles and look into the sun, the color changes dramatically.


An individual portrait ...


... and an individual walking through the field.


Parts of the river have a lot of algae, probably due to all the field fertilization, but the water is still very clear. Kind of pretty, isn't it?


In a small village are some persimmons drying in the sun.


They tie them up like this to make it easier to dry them. The Korean name is gotgam 곶감.


These have a bit of time left to dry. Dried persimmons are pretty good. Like a giant raisin only a lot stickier and a lot sweeter.


Something else drying in the sun. This is the beginnings of 된장 dwenjang (different spellings available). Basically it is fermented soybean paste. Here the piles of paste are formed into blocks, rounds in this case, and left to dry to preserve them for later.


Later these rounds are reconstituted and allowed to ferment a little more before using the paste in soups and stews. The smell is strong, and it is an acquired taste, but it is generally pretty good. Yes, those are flies on the block. Hey, the flies are nothing to worry about by the time it is finally cooked. The cooking usually, but not always, destroys the aflatoxin in the homemade varieties, too.


Still more things drying in the sun. Jotap-dong ocheung jeontap 조탑동 5층 전탑. This particular pagoda has been rebuilt or repaired a couple of times, but it still retains some of it's original look.


An old house with the family tablets shrine in the back.


Heading to the field ...


... where grandma is knocking the soybeans off the dried stalks.


The colors can really be nice out away from dust of the cities.


...


Again, change the angle with the sun and you get something completely different.

Well, that is all for this time. For the next batch of photos I will take them from the most recent dump of the memory card. It is a 1 Gig memory card, so those photos are still a few months old or so. If you liked anything this time, feel free to leave a comment.