Bridge Update

Like it or not, it is time for a bridge update. After spending a week or so tearing up the dirt along the riverbank they started to put in some supports to hold the dirt so it stays where it is. I assume that this is the point where the new bridge will begin. As it looks now the new bridge will have to be almost twice as long if they want it to span the gap that they have opened up.

The supports are a piece of work, I am no metal worker but once again it looks like they are using pieces that have been used before. Nevertheless it is fascinating and frankly, a little bit distracting. What they are doing is lifting up twenty foot sections of metal by crane, linking them together and vibrating/slamming them until they are level with the ground. Since the school is right beside it I notice my kids attention span drop when ever they start a new piece of metal.

Here are a few pictures of it:

Homemade Mandu

I made mandu or Korean dumplings, for the first time the other day. While they were most certainly edible, they weren't good enough to keep me from buying them pre-made as that is much faster, cheaper and easier. 

Card From a Student

I got a card from a student the other day, which was a nice surprise. But as he handed it to me he said, "I'm sorry" which very much confused me.

His teacher later told me, that he had told his mom, that during a gym class that I taught, he had told me to go back to my country. I can only assume that his mom was not as shocked as my mom would have been seeing that I only got a card.

That aside neither of us remembered hearing him say it and the student has a history of telling his mom things that didn't actually happen so chances are it didn't. It's a winner of a card none the less.

Geoje-Busan Link Bridge

I finally was with in eyesight of the Geoje-Busan Link Bridge before they turned the lights out for the night. As it turns out it looks much better with the lights on. Here is a picture of it.

I will try to get one from closer one of these days, if it doesn't get to cold.

Man On a Wire

Man on a wire, pulling a wire.

Korean Safety Regulations

There have been many times since coming to Korea I question the way that things are done in Korea. As a foreigner this is a natural response to all the things invading the senses that are different from what I am used to. In this questioning I am not saying that the things that I question are being done wrong I am just saying that I am not used to it.

Korean safety regulations are something that I question almost on a daily basis. Many of the things that I have seen being done at various work sites I have encountered have caused me to ask my self "In what third world country would this be ok?"

Here is something I came across the other day. On the one side you have Kitty PC Zone filled with little kids playing computer games with out any adult supervision. While it is my opinion that there are better things to be using your time for, I certainly do not question the place of internet cafes in Korea.

But rotate 180 degrees and a potentially interesting senario is revealed. Not five meters the the internet cafe filled with unattended kids is door leading to a construction site. This in itself is not a big deal except that this is all on the sixth floor. Through the door is a narrow plank leading to the adjacent building with only flimsy caution tape to break your fall should you lose your balance.

Will it take one curious child to change Korean safety regulations? Only time will tell...

Scrap Metal

About a month ago now some workers started building a structure over a creek I cross on my way to work, that looked to be a bridge right beside a structure that already was a bridge.

It was puzzling at first because it just seemed like they were going to a lot of work to strategically place a bunch of scrap metal. But I didn't have to wait long, with in a week of anchoring what I now know are the support beams the bridge was finished, walking path and all. Like a large highly organized pile of scrap metal, all of it neatly fitted together and properly engineered(I think) to look like a bridge.

Shortly after the "new" bridge was up they set to work tearing down the old bridge. I heard them working all morning and I really wanted to see it so in the name of learning, I took my class along to watch. No pictures of the time unfortunately.

They made quick work of it. This is how it looks now: