The life of a trotro!

So this weekend was a lot of fun! I went out on Friday with a couple coworkers--danced off my issues with work, haha, and met some folks. It takes a while to find a niche here, but then again, in comparison to Hamline cliques, I suppose that's probably a good thing. Finding your niche too early can guarantee that you're stuck there, for better or worse.

On Saturday I met with my Ghanaian friend--the man I met at Homeplus last week--who was still in the country. He was leaving on Saturday, so I went to hang out with him while he packed his things. He is a fascinating man! His business is to come to Korea, pick spare parts from scrap yards like Samsung, and then ship them back to Ghana. It's a tough business. Sometimes nothing good comes in. Sometimes things don't sell back home--and he said that things were selling very slowly.

But in the long run, it seems like there are a lot of trotros who start their lives here in Korea! I don't think he buys vans--he seemed more interested in trucks and 4x4s--but there are many other men like him. They stay in a company apartment for a few months, while they collect things for their containers, then ship their containers home. They haves someone meet the containers--a business partner, and then distribute their goods in various spare parts markets. There is a whole market in Accra devoted to spare parts! Of course, while I was there, I didn't go--because why would I need spare car parts? But next time I will probably meet up with him, and he will show me!

Anyway I find this to be a fascinating business. Taking other people's junk and turning it into a functioning car--the backbone of transportation in a country. These are the folks that make things spin around the world. It's amazing how things go back and forth. I love it.

Yesterday I went to church again, but the Sunday message irked me. I don't know if I will go back. Even still.. the church is a beautiful place and seems to be a good hub for English speakers doing various things. Though someone else told me that there was another English service over by one of the universities, and that I might have a better chance there.

After church I took a nice comfy afternoon nap, and then I went shopping. I didn't really plan the shopping too well--I just went to the place where I always go, and explored that area. But I know there are better, cheaper areas. Next weekend maybe. On this adventure, I ended up downtown, in "The Galleria" which was INSANELY expensive. I was wearing a tshirt and a long skirt. People stared at me, haha--"What is this dirty foreigner doing in here?" I didn't even explore all the floors before I knew I had to get out of there. So I wandered around the downtown area, took a few pictures, explored, and then ended up at Starbucks, haha, where I sat and drew for a little while. I haven't seen any Starbucks' yet, but this time I saw two literally facing each other from across an intersection. It's so weird. Why does Starbucks do that? I mean... you would think that you could diversify a little. Of course, it is REALLY expensive, and maybe that was part of it.

I am growing eager to go on some trips outside of Daejeon, but I don't know where! I have two days off for Chuseok, which is like the Korean thanksgiving. Stephanie is coming down, wooooo! But on Monday I will have enough time for a day trip, I think, so I am not sure what I will do! There are a few towns close to here that were the seat of ancient dynasties, which would probably make a good day trip. There are also mountains around here that need some serious climbing by Maggie-Cube. Anyway.. I'll leave you now with a few photos!

This is where I went last night! Downtown! Shiny and expensive, but very pretty!

And this is what I see when I get off the subway at 5pm! A glorious mountain sunset. Wowza.

And here is a view of the other side of Daejeon, from the river, last week when I took a walk.

And one more... this is the commercial area on my way to work! My school is at the very end of this strip. Hello colors!!