architecture

Walking around town most of the buildings are just rectangles. Grime coated concrete with lots of advertisement banners, LED displays, and inflatable ads. ...I'll take some photos to include in the near future.

There are very few neighborhoods with two story homes, most of the city lives in giant apartment building compounds. Sorry about the poor quality of this photo, it was taken through a window. A love motel here in Gwangju with the Statue of Liberty, actually there are two of these motels. This one is downtown next door to the motel with the giant windmill.

A slide out of the second floor window of a daycare.
My favorite thing about buildings in Gwangju, lots of weird antennae.

sex work

this guy is having a reading break while his co-worker who is a "coffee girl" is upstairs "making coffee for a customer"

the coffee girls are escorted to their customers sitting side saddle on the back of a moped (mini skirt, legs crossed, no helmet, and hiding their faces against the back of the driver). the moped has a booming sound system and is blasting pop music and sometimes has flashing lights, the whole thing is very showy and works as a advertisement. yes sex work is a big industry in south korea. unfortunately there is a big problem with deceptive international employment, there are companies that bring women from other asian countries to south korea with the promise of work, and in reality are bringing these women in as sex workers. to add further danger and unbalance to the situation there are few resources for women in the way of clinics and women's centers, especially for women who don't speak korean.