Sites of Wonju

After we'd left the post office from sending our boxes to Japan, I realized that I had never just taken the camera out with me and gotten pictures of Wonju like I had done in DaeSan. Now with just a month left, I decided I'd better get busy, so I'd have some memories for later. As you will see, the city is much, much larger than DaeSan...about like SeoSan, and the comparison I made before was like Edelstein, IL to Peoria, IL, I think.

Here is a main road, 2-lane traffic, with traffic signals and walkways. Along the corners many times are street vendors who set up shop hawking their wares to the pedestrians waiting for the light to change.

This street is more of a main side road, filled with shops and restaurants on either side. It is on our way to one of the "downtown" areas--there are 3 main downtown areas here in Wonju. Each are nice, but this one is our favorite, and only a 20 minute walk to get to. Within a 10 minute radius, we can go to the post office, the market street for groceries, something equivalent to a dollar store, our bank, and then we have lots of fun window shopping at many, many different shops and smelling the tantalizing aromas drifting on the breeze from all the restaurants nearby.


Here is the "Market Street" we go to for fresh produce. I've got food pictures that I'll blog next time. Our diet mainly consists of a lot of fruit and vegetables, salads, some fresh bread, and some long-cook-time grains like brown rice, millet and oats. (not oatmeal!) We also eat some fish, but most of our protein comes from eggs and nuts since the meat is so expensive, we just don't buy it too often. Plus, by avoiding the grocery stores, we can eat a healthier diet anyway...and as you'll see in the food pictures later, buying chicken off the street is just not too appealing!


Here are two typical storefronts...narrow, with produce stretching outside, and the insides are long and narrow and usually packed.


The man in the white shirt is calling out something, trying to sell a product or advertise a sale - this is common and an often heard background noise normal in the bustle of markettown. It is also a normal sound to hear in grocery stores - instead of it being broadcasted by the overcom system.


There are many tiny stores, usually each selling a specific item. Here is a purse & backpack shop...one single narrow isle. It's like a storybook to me sometimes...like I read about in history when one had to go to the bread shop, the meat shop, the shoe shop, etc, etc. It is mostly the same here except that there are some larger chain stores opening - like E-Mart - and some of the "larger" grocery stores also carry other items as well. But generally, this is still what is seen. I feel like I understand better what Audrey meant when she said how the general world view is that "everything is bigger in America."


And here is the hat shop! Hats, anyone?!?!? One nice thing about a specific type shop is that you don't have to go from one big department store to another and then back again in order to decide and buy the one you like best.

Through the downtown area market streets, the alleys are also full of vendors. And even though it looks like pedestrians should be the only ones traversing these small spaces, mopeds and motorcycles will squeeze their way through somehow.
Socks are commonly sold on the street like this or piled into HUGE piles on small trucks and driven about the city, parking periodically in strategic places. This same concept also applies to private farmers with their food items--trucks filled with garlic or watermelons or other such goodies roam the streets with a loud speaker calling from the top to sell their wares.

And this is taken from our apartment floor...as we were headed back home, I noticed a grape arbor on the top of a building not far from us. I first saw this "greenery on top buildings" in France when I was there in January. It's kind of neat since you're not usually looking for green up in the sky!

And here is a video I took with the camera to show you the panoramic view from our apartment floor. It has been very enjoyable living here "on top of the city," and an experience of a lifetime. We feel like we've been staying at a hotel for long-term and are SO rich to do so!!! :) :) The fancy glass elevator, the beautiful view, and the walking around town with no car all contribute to that feeling, and especially now, that we are living out of suitcases.