So, I guess now that I've been here for a while, I should give you some idea of where the heck I'm living, and what a normal day looks like in South Korea. I live in Ocheon in Pohang City. Pohang (pronounced Po-"hung" not "hang" like I made the mistake of calling it at first) :) is a coastal city of around 500,000 people. It's location on the southeast coast of the peninsula has made it possible to become a major city of international trade in Korea. The largest company in the city is a powerful steel company called POSCO.
As far as tourism goes, Pohang also has a famous annual fireworks festival and a half-dozen beaches. Probably the most well-known tourist site, however, is a statue of an enormous stone hand rising out of the water at Homigot Tourist Park. The city is also a great place for delicious seafood.
I live in Ocheon, which is about 15 minutes away by taxi from downtown. I live on the same street as my school, in a somewhat rural area. Here's what my walk to school looks like...Enjoy!
View overlooking residences from my laundry room/kitchen. Note the guard tower, as we have a Republic of Korea Army base near our building, as well as the Pohang airport.
View from the front step of my apartment building. Even though those look like condo buildings you might seen in Destin :) they are apartments. I can't get enough of the mountain views! I've never lived so close to mountains and the beach!! <3 it!
My street the direction I walk towards school.
A kindergarden I pass walking to my "hagwan" which is a private after school English academy. Who wouldn't want to go to Kindergarden here - this looks like a castle playground! haha
Powerful Pohang! :) gotta love the Pride!
again! :)
Trampoline playground - who needs slides and tire swings when you can just jump your heart out!? :)
Our "hagwan" BB English - 2nd floor - educating 100+ kids daily.
Yep, that's me! :) "Come learn English with a REAL American!!" I just saw that I'm on the side of our school's bus too - local celeb status = official.
street view
"Do Your Best" universal positive self talk.
I don't know if it's because I have so much free time or what, but I cannot get enough of the beautiful scenery!
And there you have it, a day in the life of an Expat teaching English! :)
Bet you never thought you'd see yourself all over the place - ha! Very cool :)
ReplyDeleteHi Emily -
ReplyDeleteI moved to Pohang (Handong Global U - far north side) a few months ago and miss CHEESE! I heard that Ocheon Mart has a small selection of cheese and a google search of "pohang ocheon mart" gave me your blog. Any tips on how to find this miraculous place of cheese? I know that getting directions here is more about landmarks... :)
Cheese is a hot commodity in Korea, especially Pohang where we are lacking global marts. EZshopkorea.com is life changing! I'd say they have the best cheese selection. (and iherb.com for all kinds of other goodies, not cheese though) :) EZshopkorea.com has all kinds of cheese, it's very easy to order, shipping is cheap and easy, AND ordering online saves you the trip to Daegu or Busan. You can also order all other kinds of items - meats, green beans, oatmeal, etc. If you really want to shop in Pohang, I've found Indeok Emart on the way to Ocheon - not the one in Idong - to have a decent selection of cheese, but it's $6 for a block a third of the size you get from COSCO! :) I hope this helps, please ask other questions if you have any. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh and they have DILL pickles too! :) real DILL pickles!
Delete