Korean Countryside

The senior citizen's center where we went to the acupuncture clinic was just outside of town. It was nice to feel like we were in the country. Somehow the air seemed cleaner, even though we were barely five minutes away from the city. Joel managed to get a few pictures, so here's a little slice of Korean country living for you.

In town, everyone lives in high-rise apartment buildings, but people have houses in the country (obviously). A lot of them look sort of like shacks, but they're not that bad.


Kimchi pots--there's someone's supply of fermented cabbage for the year. Mmm, kimchi!


Drying peppers by the road (there's probably no other place with enough space and sunlight).


Korea has tons of mountains (though none are very big)--there's a saying that if you flattened all the mountains, Korea would be bigger than China. But you don't really notice the mountains when you're in the city. It's not until you get outside of town that you realize you're actually surrounded by them.

Mountains and rice fields (in the distance) and some other kind of fields (in the foreground).


According to different people we've talked to, the Korean Dream is to one day be able to retire to the country and live in a house instead of an apartment. I can see why--it's so much more relaxing and refreshing when the air is clean and there aren't a million people fighting for the same space. You don't really notice the added stress of city life until it's gone. Of course, I didn't grow up in the city, so I'm a little biased! I always wanted to live in the city, and I still do for now (there are so many great things about it), but the Korean Dream is also starting to sound pretty good to me.