Pope-o-meter (or whatever it might actually be called)

Most people know that Korea is pretty super-Christian. I tried to take a picture of the crosses that dot the night sky, but they come out blurry. When I go to the gym, the window by the bikes looks out onto a giant red cross on top of a nearby building that looks like it's sitting on top of one of the mountains in the background - just like the cross on top of Mt. Royal in Montreal (hence the subject line).

I was also standing in 7-11 grabbing a Coke and I turned to my friend and commented on the extra-large Spam gift pack. VERY quietly, who knows who's listening, right? Next thing we know, we're hearing all about how this guy has received a giant gift pack of the stuff from his boss. Who knew Spam was still a staple over here? Much less a highly regarded item...Think I'll pass on this one.

I've taken a few pictures of what my neighborhood looks like.

Ok, I'm trying my best to put up pictures as much as possible. The area of Seoul that I live in is Shihung, it's kinda on the edge of the city. Here are a few shots from my neighborhood...

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g)

(a) All over the city, there are little setups like these. Kinda like Seoul's answer to lack of gardens, grass, and trees. They're usually pretty busy at lunchtime, and old men are always napping in them. Can't forget those who have had way too much soju by early afternoon and are passed out in the corner...

(b) and (c) The first picture is this odd collection of what looks like could be lawn ornaments or memorabilia taken from a movie convention. Can you see the Golem statue? Do you see the guard house in the next picture? This two pictures go together - this little garden is along the wall of the army base near my house. See the guard house? These lovely dinos stand beneath it. They're about 6 ft tall...Interesting...

(d) The front of my apartment building. I'm on the third floor, on the other side, and of course, my apt is messy, so I'm not going to show you a picture of it right now.

(e) This is what my street, and most of the ones around it look like. I walk up and down this hill every day - I'm going to have killer legs by the time I'm outta here!

(f) Market Street. At least that's what we call it. You can find ANYTHING. From fakes to food to clothes, dishes, and toys. It's cheap. It's fantastic. I'll miss it.

(g) These little bundles you see all over after lunchtime are because when you order delivery from Korean restaurants, you get real dishes and they come back and pick them up. So much nicer to get take out in a real bowl with real silverware instead of plastic and cardboard. And it cuts down on trash, which they're big on here. If you want bags at the grocery store, or most stores for that matter, you have to pay either per bag, or a small fee. My big red bag not only fits a weekend of clothes, but a pretty decent amount of groceries...

I'm craving bacon and eggs like only Place Milton can make them. Or a bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel from Commuter. Aaaah! If only you could mail such things...