Welcome to my neighborhood

OK, I finally got some pictures of the lanterns as promised. I have had a few friends say they were curious what some of the things around the neighborhood looked like, so I decided to go out and take a few pics of that too...nothing special, I just snapped these on the way to school the other day, but I thought you might like to see where I am everyday. There are of course some pics of the lanterns, they look really cool...hard to capture that in a picture but I really like seeing those everyday, they're very colorful. My apartment building is really tall, so I couldn't get it all in the picture, I should have taken a picture a few weeks ago, there were some really pretty flowers on some of the bushes out front, but they've all gone away. The big building is the library on Nazareth University campus looking back toward my apartment. I believe Nazareth is a branch of the university of the same name in the States. They are building several new buildings on campus right now. It's a nice campus and I walk through there each day on my way to catch either the bus or the subway. The next picture is looking down from Nazareth to the Ssangyong subway station. The last picture is of course the basketball courts at Nazareth, I've met quite a few cool guys over there playing. They just re-surfaced the courts and they are really nice to play on. There are usually quite a few guys out there playing, so it's always a good time. I might try and get some pics next week out in Asan near my school so you can get an idea what that area is like. They are building several HUGE apartment complexes out there by the school...if I'm still here teaching in a few years we could probably get quite a few kids from there.

I had to post this...

OK, sorry...still no Buddhist lamp pics, the camera is getting a little dusty, I need to recharge the batteries and get out and get some pics. So, tomorrow NO SCHOOL for Buddha's Birthday...

So today, I was walking to the subway station as always...it was a beautiful day, I looked and a girl was walking my way wearing the Gold and Black! That's right, a Pittsburgh Steelers shirt, now...I'm about 99% sure she has NO CLUE who the Steelers even are, but still cool. Then (and this was the BIG shocker of the day) I'm sitting on the subway, and I look and the old guy next to me is wearing a Colorado School of the Mines ball cap! I kid you not! I am 100% (I hate when people say 110% so I'll max out at 100%) sure that the guy had no clue about what the hat said or where that even is. It baffled me to see that, I had never even seen one of those hats in the US. It's common to see Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, etc. and some major college stuff, but Colorado School of Mines?!
Unreal!

A blog with no pics...

Is like no blog at all...BUT...I know it's been forever and I haven't posted and I've thought about this several times, quite a few actually.
So I don't have any pics but wanted to just say HI and let everyone know I think of all of you often. The weather here the last few weeks has been amazing, really nice sunny and relatively warm...still a little chilly in the evenings. I love spring time, all the trees are green again and with Buddha's birthday coming up on the 21st there are lanterns all down the street near my house. Each day I think I need to grab my camera and snap some shots, and I aim to do that...so, maybe I can remember. It looks pretty cool, they are really colorful and I like seeing them when I'm on my way to school each day.
I saw something funny/sad the other night, depending on who you are in the scenario. I was riding the bus back the other night from school like I do each night. Well there was an older guy maybe 65-70 and he was really loud (which isn't common in Korea on a bus) he seemed like he was yelling and stuff, but not to anyone specific. Well, I had my MP3 on and was basically just ignoring him since he wasn't close to me anyway. Well, about 3 or 4 minutes went by and he was still yelling and then I noticed that the bus driver was now telling him to be quiet (I do know that in Korean! HA!) Well, that just escalated the whole thing, and the older guy was yelling at the bus driver now. Well, the bus driver had had enough and pulled the bus over at a gas station. He was older too, maybe around 60, and he went back and got in the old dude's face. Well the old guy started kicking at him, and then got up...then went the rounds for a bit and NO ONE, not one person on the bus even blinked an eye, just stared straight ahead. Well, finally the driver pushed the old guy back into his seat and was walking back to start driving again. Just as he was about back to his seat the old guy jumped up and ran up from behind and kicked the bus driver right between the legs from behind...a spot NO MAN on earth wants to be kicked. The bus driver dropped like a rock and just laid there groaning on the floor of the bus. The old guy was over him laughing and pointing and calling him a "bad guy." Well, still no one said or did anything, and there were guys like my age on the bus. Finally the driver got over and turned off the bus...the funny part is NOW people started grumbling because I guess they were going to be late getting home. About 2 or 3 minutes later some other buses came by and pulled over. They didn't say anything to the old guy (who at this point was just sitting back in his seat like nothing even happened! HA) Well, everyone started jumping off our bus and onto the other buses. I was going to just chill since I wasn't in a big hurry...but then I noticed that it was just me, the crazy old guy, and the bus driver still sitting on the floor on the bus. At that point I bailed out too and jumped on the other bus. I have no idea if the old guy got in trouble or if the bus driver will ever be the same again, but I have NEVER seen anything like that here before. Koreans are usually pretty chill and not very aggressive. I don't know if the older guy was crazy or drunk, or what. Poor bus driver! HA!
So, that's my interesting story of the week. I hope everyone is having a great week...
I watched a movie the other night and at the start was an interesting quote (I love quotes, I usually write them down when I see one I like) from Confucius. It goes:

By three methods we may learn wisdom
First, by reflection, which is noblest
Second, by imitation, which is easiest
And Third, by experience, which is the bitterest