Good afternoon friends, family and wellwishers - It is Saturday afternoon and the most beautiful day in the dong. The sun is shining and its one of those autumn days perfect for lapping up those golden rays. We need to enjoy it while we can before the northern hemisphere winter rears its not so pretty head. Okay so since our arrival we have managed to keep everyone up to date on life in Korea and in particular life in The Dong - just so everyone is crystal clear dong is the Korean word for suburb or neighborhood, the particular dong in question being Songchon-dong - Today I thought I would take some time to show what the dong looks like. So sit back, relax and enjoy....

THE DONG - A VIRTUAL TOUR

PART 1

I apologize to those reading this from within the dong as it may seem a little boring; but to all those outsiders reading, particular those downunder, please enjoy this pictorial guide of our new stomping ground.

Firstly, This is the front of our apartment - we have a pretty good apartment by Korean standards, for which we are grateful. We are on the 2nd storey. Note the pork restaurant downstairs these are EXTREMELY popular in our area. Also note the "Heaven" sign, from which we derived the title for blog. I'm not too sure what it is exactly some people say its a hof/bar, but the word on the street is that its a front for a brothel - very common in Korea.

Above and below are shots from outside our schools building. Swaton language school is on the 7th floor.

This is one of the most important stops on the tour. The Beer Hunter - our local watering hole. Half Price Tuesdays is very popular with the foreign teacher community in The Dong.

Sunbimal - The local high rise apartment buildings. A bulk of the kids we teach live in these apartment buildings

Dongchundang Park - the local park. Complete with cultural relics. Today was such a beautiful day we took our lunch there to bask in the sun. Its a beautiful park to have right at our door step.

Kimbap Cheonkuk - Our favorite place to go for tasty and cheap Korean food - you will usually find us here a few nights of the week. Check part two of the tour for more of our favorite places to eat.

Our local convenience store - good for late night beer, chip, ice cream, and chocolate runs. Convenience stores are on every corner in Korea. "How convenient!". Unfortunately this particular one has just changed hands recentky and is no longer 24 hour. Drag.

Heaven - a better shot of the afore mentioned establishment


Stay tuned for Part 2....