This week was quite productive as I obtained my alien certification card from immigration, opened up a Korean bank account, did a tour of a big chunk of Incheon by bicycle and knocked out the first important chunk of work at KEMTI. Plus, I finally made it to Chinatown.Here's a map of the ride that took me to Chinatown and the location of my language school near City Hall that starts next month.
In Chinatown, I ate at a restaurant called Song 송.
I had mapo tofu and it was excellent! What's a little strange to me about Incheon Chinatown is that seems by my first observation to be exclusively upscale and decidedly touristy. The restaurant served Korean side dishes and I don't think any of the diners were Chinese... all Korean. I wonder where the Chinese folks go for reasonably priced fare?
In Chinatown I also visited the 100 year anniversary monument for the US/Korea treaty established in 1882. It's located in a park on the top of the hill above Chinatown.
An exciting new project I'm working on as a volunteer is helping the 2009 Expo with their PR. As someone who has strong opinions about city planning and urbanization in general, I hope I can help make a difference in the new city I live in. One of the primary goals of the 2009 Expo is the showcasing of Incheon's intelligent, high density urban planning. I am very much a proponent of urbanization as an alternative to suburban sprawl. The focus on alternative transportation options and open space in the development here is excellent! To learn more about Inchon city visit here.
To learn more about the international cooperation program, and the host of my upcoming Korean language class visit here.
The construction activities here are phenomenal. Incheon is constructing a 22km dual tower suspension bridge from where I live in Songdo to the airport. It'll probably have begun long after and be completed long before the new SF Bay Bridge.
Gale and Posco are currently constructing four 65 story buildings a few blocks from my apartment and office. The plan is to build the world's tallest building a few years down the road nearby as well. This website has a live webcam of the construction.
There was big oil spill earlier this week about 2 hours south of where I live. It has totally wiped out the fishing industry along the shoreline in that area and lots of volunteers are arriving to help. I'd like to help too but not sure if I'd be more of a distraction than effective help with my poor Korean skills and being so new to everything here.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200712/200712140016.html
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200712/200712140016.html
It may take more than a decade before the oyster beds recover from this terrible event.
This link take you to an oyster ranch I am looking forward to visiting but it is probably one of those affected by the spill:
I have not watched TV on a regular basis in 25 years. Prior to that, I was a TV junkie-kid. Now, I'm being drawn in once again. Korean TV is refreshing to me. Educational TV is big and EBS has at least two channels. Turn on the TV at any given time and you can learn English, mathematics, Korean or Chinese. I enjoy having two Chinese stations and at least one Japanese station to watch. I'm starting to learn so many new things about Asia.
Included in this post are some photos of the central park in Songdo at night. It's very lovely for winter and futuristic looking, don't you think?
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