I’ve been in Korea for longer than I initially expected to be. Sometimes I lose sight of how long it’s been. Every once in a while I’ll have a conversation with someone that reminds me of how long I’ve been here.
However, it wasn’t until recently that I really felt the impact of how much time I’ve spent in Korea. I know there are some who’ve been here longer. Much longer. But for me, having not planned over three years in the ROK, it’s a big deal.
When I first came to Korea I lived on an island called Yeongdo which is connected to the main land of Busan by a few bridges. The bridge closest to me went directly to a shopping district called Nampo-dong. In that shopping district was one of the main department store chains called Lotte Department Store. About 6 months after I arrived, Lotte began breaking ground to add a new mall as part of the massive complex.
Every 5 or 6 months when I’d be walking to Nampo I’d take a picture of the progress thinking, “wouldn’t it be cool to take photos periodically of this construction until it’s finished?!” After about a year and a half into it I began to realize that I wouldn’t likely see the project through to completion.
Well, I was wrong. Here are the 7 pictures ranging from May 2011 to February 2015.
Building the foundation 5/20/2012
Them bones! 1/23/2013
Progress! 5/12/2013
Gettin’ there! 8/17/2013
Fighting! 1/5/2014 (Now with a new bridge to boot)
Almost there, guys! 4/29/2014
C’est fini! 2/7/2015
Pretty cool, isn’t it?