Sinchang seen from up at SoonChunHyang University.

During this semester I've done a substantial amount of travelling across this one area of South Korea.  Travelling during the week is much more difficult to do since you have classes, so getting to know the immediate local area's important too.  So for this last 'regular' blog I'll tell you a few things about that local area - the town of Sinchang.  It's actually part of Asan city but is somewhat separated from Asan - it's about 10 minutes by subway to OnyangOncheon, which is a more urbanized part of Asan.

In some ways Asan kind of reminds me of home - it's a smaller 'town' near a major urban area (Asan/Cheonan), and on the boundary between urban and rural.  There's also a lot of restaurants just like in Forest Grove, Oregon, where I'll be in just over a week now.  Also there are many convenience stores for a quick snack, and a good number of bars and norebangs (karaoke rooms) as well.  We're in the mountains, as you can see from my pictures here. Also when you leave the Sinchang 'downtown' area there are a lot of farms and fields under cultivation.  Since this means there's not much to do in Sinchang apart from eat and study, you'll want to travel if you're out for some fun most likely.  However the reality of Sinchang's small town-ness is that if you frequent a restaurant they're likely to remember you name and what you usually order.  At Kimbap Nara, one of the employees even wants to make sure my friend and I come in one more time before we head back to America!



An intersection near the edge of Sinchang.

One of two Christian churches in Sinchang.

If you're up for walking you can always go exploring in Sinchang and maybe even find some unexpected things in this small college town.  Chicken restaurants are everywhere, and their delivery bikes are a common sight at SCH.  Finding a bowling alley was much less expected, and you have to head away from the area immediately in front of the university's back gate to find it.  I was also kind of surprised to find out there are no less than three authentic Chinese restaurants in Sinchang as well, which gives you a bit more variety than the usual standard Korean or samgyupsal (pork or beef cooked at the table).

Near the intersection above once stood a pedestrian bridge that while rusting provided a safe way to cross over towards the bowling alley (and more restaurants).  It's a sign of the ever progressing nature of Korean cities that this bridge has since been removed.  Presumably it will be replaced by a new structure but for the moment all that remains are the metal bases on either side of the street. 

Even though the town is small, it has some important history.  During the Joseon dynasty - Korea's last monarchy - Sinchang was apparently and administrative center for Chungnam province!  This was something we were told during my Introduction to Korean History course, by a Korean instructor.  It may not seem like it these days but there is a little evidence to suggest Sinchang had some greater importance then than it does now.  Near Sinchang elementary school is a simple stone slab with Chinese writing on it, protected by a small metal fence.  It says something to the effect of 'The Westerners are invaders.  Not fighting them is treason'. 

This is from a time when America, France and Japan were all running amock and trying to convince Korea to open up by force of arms if neccessary.  The king had the slabs built to warn everyone that any kind of collaboration would not be tolerated.  Korea put up a tough fight against the West - they prevented the French from forcing the issue, and set fire to an American ship. A testament to that resistance is still present even after the Japanese had them mostly removed post-annexation; it rests in little Sinchang, tucked away from the main thoroughfares.





Jaws from Lotte: It's Shark-tastic!

There are a lot of odd things in Korea: weirdly phrased signs, t-shirts that make no sense, Mr. Toilet House and more.  Another one of these is a particular kind of ice cream bar that is exclusive to South Korea as far as I can discern.  It comes in a wonderfully colorful wrapper with a confusing combination of waves and fruit... and a shark.  That's right the bar is actually shaped like a shark, and the bar itself is called 'Jaws'.  So if you come to Korea you can eat a Great White shark... in ice cream form!

Being that we're in the lower mountains and it's December, it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that it's been snowing.  Korean snow seems to be almost cotton like as it floats on the wind and can look big and fluffy.  It doesn't seem to stay around very long as the first two times we had snow it melted by the evening or the next morning.  As I write this blog though it's been snowing much more than when I took pictures of the first snowfall.  Yet it's not deep at all and transportation should still be perfectly reliable unless you're going on foot.  In that case I'd recommend taking your time and choosing a safe path to your destination; the many stairs here are even more dangerous when slippery.

Saki doing some window shopping at Alpha.

Ben debates seriously whether to purchase something at Alpha.

Finally you might want to know where you can get posterboard for presentations, office supplies and make copies.  The most convenient place off-campus would be Alpha: a small variety store at the bottom of the hill near the back gate.  They've got a lot of stuff in that space, from notebooks and office supplies to wooden models and paint.  Much of it's very reasonably priced so you should consider shopping around for things if you need extra stuff for classes. 

That's all for this week!  You can send comments/questions/feedback to my followon project email: HangukMartyn@yahoo.com

My video blogs for the project are at: http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperBombadillo?feature=mhee

Next week I'll be doing some reflection upon my semester abroad in Korea.  Here you'll find what I will miss and some things I won't miss about life here, as well as some special thank yous and last thoughts.  My video will be my thoughts on what it's been like here, what I've learned about myself and Korea, and other such things.  Thanks for reading!