Friday, June 17, 2011

Seven to Eleven

Why a post about 7-11?  Well, for one thing, it is an enormously popular chain here in Korea.  They sell snack foods and candy and red ginseng tonic and banana mik and GALLONS of coffee.  In the winter they sell steamed dumplings and in the summer they sell something resembling a slushy.  They NEVER sell gasoline.  But the main inspiration for this post is my sister-in-law in Idaho, who has put together a really fun blog about 7-11 buildings that get transformed into other businesses.  You can find that blog at 7-11 No More.  In the spirit of her endeavors, I have kept my eye out for 7-11 buildings in Korea. There are LOTS - here are just a few.

In Korea, it is more like "7-11 What Did It Used To Be?"  I don't think very many of them were built just for 7-11's.  This one is at the base of an office building.

So is this one. 
This one - the white sign  in the middle of the picture(seems the green and red sort of "bled out" of the shot) - is inside the COEX Mall, which is the largest underground mall in Asia.  It is a huge mall.  I love the lights.

This is the only free-standing 7-11 we have seen the entire two years we have been here.  The green plastic chairs are a hallmark of Korean sevies.  Though this is free-standing, a dumpling stand has set up shop at the corner of the building.



What is the difference between this 7-11...
...and this 7-11?  About 1  block - maybe a hundred yards.  The first 7-11, across the street from the east corner of our apartments,  has been here since we moved in.  The other one, equally very busy, opened a month ago, at the west end of of our apartments. What did it used to be?  A restaurant.
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Sunday, July 26 2009

Sunday, July 26 2009
Remember this sign?
We have learned something really interesting about this "welcome sign" which we thought was a big billboard that was pasted onto an old overpass. It turns out that this is a defensive emplacement known as a rock drop. It is a big concrete box full of rubble and rocks. In the event of an invasion by North Korea the panels underneath the drop will be opened and release the rubble across the roadway, hampering movement into South Korea.

SOLAR ECLIPSE!

SOLAR ECLIPSE!
Might look like the moon - but it's the sun!
On Wednesday July 22 Asia experienced a solar eclipse and we got to see it! Miraculously the expected day of monsoon rain did not materialize and the sky was mostly clear for the duration. During the eclipse, which occured around 11:00 a.m., the sun was much too bright to view directly - we had to be satisfied with reflected images. But, as the sun began to re-appear, just enough clouds came in to allow us to look - and take a picture. It was quite something to behold and we feel lucky for the opportunity.

On A Clear Day...

On A Clear Day...
We had 2 days of church meetings in the Seoul area. Today the weather was remarkably clear and I was able to get a great view of the city skyline and the radio tower. Usually the sky is too hazy for a view like this. Pollution, rain, high humidity or dust storms are contributing factors.