Our Dong - Part II

Our Dong Deserves Another Post!

So, we ended up being placed in a neighborhood we never thought we would live in. Typically the families with kids our kids age live in a giant apartment complex called Good Morning Hill. This is a complex of more than ten very tall (25 stories) buildings circled around playgrounds and open space. Surrounding the complex are shops, restaurants, and other complexes.

Good Morning Hill

We ended up in Gungnae-dong, a fairly rural little community about 1/2 mile long and 1/4 mile wide.

At first we were a bit taken aback by our placement. The kids are fairly removed from others their age, with no spontaneous meetings at the playground. On the other hand, we have some anonymity, live in a 4 story building, have beautiful hills surrounding us, and are a close walk to school. All the hustle and bustle is a short bus ride away. It seems the possible downfalls of our dong are the benefits of Good Morning Hill and vice versa! We have come to really like our dong and the other families here.

Our new home. Our apartment is in the two windows on the left above the street level.

Friday is casual day. This was taken this morning on the way to catch the bus.

 We have a little playground just down the street which includes exercise machines for the adults (very common along bike paths and in parks).

Here is our local dry cleaner. Just around the corner.

Typical shot of our dong. We have little "farms" scattered throughout the apartments. Our friends live in the apartment behind the garden on the far left of the shot. We are just down the block. Notice the skyscrapers in the near distance. They are just across the highway. It is a whole other world over there.

One cool thing about our dong is that the kids can just go out and walk through the neighborhood with their friends, pop down to the local market (oops, forgot a picture), or walk to the park. It is SO safe!!! Stay tuned for more about our dong.