Pictures of my town (Hoengseong / 횡성)

As promised, here are a few pictures of my town, Hoengseong (횡성).

This is the main round-about. You're facing towards Chuncheon and away from Wonju (I'm in Hoengseong-gun). In this picture, you're facing Hoengseong's downtown.

The brown building is 1 of many Korean beef (Hanu /한우) restaurants in town. This town is famous for its Korean beef. I've heard this is where you can have the best hanu for the least expensive in the country. Don't know about that.

Oh, the man in the yellow jacket is running for election. So, he's waving to his potential voters as they drive by.

See the blue bus? That's where all the inter-city buses from Wonju stop (Bus 2 & 2-1).

Hoengseing Bus Terminal

Platforms:

1. Wonju (Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Gyeonggu (?), Pohang, Cheongju, Daejeon, Jeonju, Yuseong (?))

2. Chuncheon (Hongcheon, Sokcho)

3. Dunnae, Seoseok (local/small towns)

4. Jeongseon, Yanggu (small towns)

5. Dong (east) Seoul (mostly)

If I got some of those wrong, I apologize. I was going off what I could read from the picture (not too easy).

"Welcome to the Motel California!"

Emart is a huge chain in Korea (like Korea's Wal-Mart). This is a tiny version in town. It's actually more than enough.

A local landmark of something special.

So you can read about it.

or you can read it in Korea if you like.

Wonderful thing about Hoengseong: even though it is a not-so-famous town, there are tourist-friendly maps all over town.

Here's a full map of the town. Sorry that it's all in Korean. The picture of just the map from the previous picture didn't come out well, hence this picture/map instead.

Lotte is also huge in Korea (they basically own  Korea). This is not LotteMart; this town is too small. Hence, Lotte Super, which is the next-best thing for towns of this size.

I really like to eat here. This is a major chain all over Korea. This is the only place I don't feel too odd when I eat alone. Since they mostly deliver, there's hardly anyone eating there--at least not when I am. I feel as though I'm eating at someone's kitchen.

My bus stop to get to all 5 of my schools. The bus that stops here goes to both villages where I teach, hence to all 5 of my schools.

The Hoengseong SDA Church

(the part you see is actually the children's church and where they have lunch & other meals)

Gate

The actual church (coming in, you see the back-side of the church 1st).

The parking is quite spacious, although I don't recommend to fill it up.

The entrance to the church is on the left. You take off your shoes and put on indoor slippers before you can go up the stairs to the sanctuary.

The door to the right leads to a Sabbath School room and the restrooms.

Nice place to relax.

Here's the front of the Children's church where they have all sorts of activities for the children and youth.

The sign above the stairs going down is for the Children's Center. It provides after-school tutoring for free (I think). You can also get to the Pastor's home and the Missionary's home.

From here, you can see this Catholic church about 500 meters away.

The architecture caught my attention immediately. Doesn't it look medieval?

A 180-degree panoramic shot from the church's premises.

The main bank in town. There's another branch, but this is the one bank you can find everywhere. It's the only one in both of my 2 villages where I teach.

Downtown, facing the bus stop to go to Wonju.

The other round-about just beside the previous picture.

You've got the town's mascot with the time.

You can see the bus on the far left, so now I'm facing the other side of the street.

Election day is less than a month away (June 4th), so you can see how the candidates have been promoting themselves in all these pictures.

How I almost always get to Wonju and Wonju (train) Station.

This line doesn't go to Wonju Bus Terminal, 2-1 does.

Another major Korean restaurant chain. The menu? 

Porridge!

Hey, when I'm sick, this is where I go.

The biggest bus stop in town, although I've never used it.

Maybe I should just to see if the buses that stop here go anywhere else other than Wonju.

A taxi "stop".

I personally think you don't need a taxi to get around here, but then I've never had to carry many heavy things that much. Or be in a hurry to get to the train station/bus terminal.

This is the biggest American chain in Korea--yes, it's bigger and more popular than McDonald's.

This traditional market takes up about 3 full city blocks.

I'd say it's about the heart of town, just behind the "modern" downtown.

The street where I took the previous picture.

The street perpendicular to the previous picture, going away from downtown and to that large bank I showed a few pics before.

No, their shoes aren't made of chocolate.

No, they don't give chocolate with their shoes.

I've bought 2 pairs of much-needed shoes from them because they were very friendly and helpful, even though our communication was very limited and a bit interesting.

This is the best store. It's like the American "Dollar General", but on a much higher level--with the same (or lower) prices.

Also a big chain in Korea.

The other side of the traditional market.

This is actually the road I take to get to my bus stop from home.

The left is that huge bank. They've been constantly selling plants there for over a month now.

The right is a grocery store run by the same bank its facing.

A better, more direct view of said grocery store.

Alright!

Now you have several pictures of the main places I go and see in my town.