A Piece of America for the Asians

ATTENTION!

SunHwa "Sunny", Hyeong Ju "Sky", Kyeong Sook, Park Soon Ja,

AeRan & Kyeong He, and all the rest of our friends in Korea:

I am posting these pictures specifically for you who have not yet visited the U.S.A or have just been there briefly. As I took these pictures, I was overwhelmed with two major thoughts upon returning to America....HUGE and FLAT!!!!!

The rolling fields of corn below huge open skies

Beautiful (& flat!) country sunsets

Gigantic houses and front yards!

...and humongous dogs that would make lots of dog soup! :)

More Countryside

Here are some more pictures of the countryside in central Illinois where I grew up. (Can those of you in the U.S. recognize where these photos were shot?) The roads are so wide, the big, flat fields, and the barns and silos in the distance. And yes, I snapped the picture while I was driving! No one else was on the road at the time, as you can see. Driving is so much more relaxing there in the country! Driving in the U.S. is on the same side of the road as in Korea, but opposite than Japan.
More soybean and corn fields in the distance with a private lake in the foreground.
Here is my Uncle's farmplace---he has been a farmer all his life. There are sheds for holding the large machinery and the large round bins on the right to hold the grain after harvest until they sell it. They used to have the "old red barn" seen in many American country pictures, but a tornado tore it down several years ago and they had to rebuild.

I like this picture...a small country church in town.

(what an oximoron!)

I did not like this view...these new "windmill-like" structures are popping up all over the place. I think they have something to do with producing energy or something, but they sure are ugly! Ruins the nice county view in my opinion.

Downtown in the City

Here is the downtown of the city I grew up near. It is not as large as Chicago, but is the third largest metropolitan city in the state of Illinois. Here is what Wikipedia says about it:

Peoria (named after the Peoria tribe) is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. The Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 372,487 in 2008, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the state after Chicagoland and the Metro-East portion of the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Peoria has become famous as a representation of the average American city because of its demographics and its perceived mainstream Midwestern culture. On the Vaudeville circuit, it was said that if an act would succeed in Peoria, it would work anywhere. The question "Will it play in Peoria?" has now become a metaphor for whether something appeals to the American mainstream public, and Peoria is often used as a test market for new products, services, and public policy polling. It has withstood well the housing market crisis as its housing stock is very affordable in comparison to other markets around the US.

Peoria is the home of Ray LaHood, now serving as Secretary of Transportation in President Obama's cabinet. It is also headquarters for Caterpillar Inc., one of the 30 companies composing the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Peoria is one of the oldest settlements in Illinois, as explorers first ventured up the Illinois River from the Mississippi. The lands that eventually would become Peoria were first settled in 1680, when French explorers René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti constructed Fort Crevecoeur. This fort would later burn to the ground, and in 1813 Fort Clark, Illinois was built. When the County of Peoria was organized in 1825, Fort Clark was officially named Peoria.

So here is overlooking part of the downtown area from the interstate road:

And here is a sampling of the housing which is more common in the cities...lots of large houses in rows rather than the many tall apartment buildings seen in Korea.

And I just had to get a picture of McDonald's for you!!! ") :D

Apparently iced mocha's must have been all the rage for the summer months.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed these few pictures! One thing I will not miss about Korea this year is the very cold winds! Something I miss a lot is the food -- especially the kimbap and traditional way of eating what I call "wrap-ups." We just made a Korean style meal for supper tonight after church and I got some good pictures that I will post. So check back in again soon! I hope you are all doing well. We miss you!