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Published: April 11th 2010
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Well it's been over a month and I am sad to say I haven't blogged at all. I'm not sure exactly why this is, and I guess my only excuse is that I've begun to fall into a routine, and consequently, time has seemed to move at a quicker pace than my ability to keep up with my desired weekly blogs. I am already into my fourth month, and although looking back to the days when I first arrived here now feels like a century ago, I can't believe its already half way through April. I am really settling into life here. It is so completely different than Canada; both subtly and obviously. Unfortunately, due to both my poor memory, and lackluster daily chronicle skills, it is hard to explain every nuance, but I guess all I can say is us humans are pretty adaptive creatures, and I'm feeling pretty comfortable here in South Korea. I have continued my weekend trips; exploring what Korea has to offer.
About a month ago a bunch of us traveled to Gyeoungju, which is this beautiful city filled with museums, parks, ancient tombs, and other historical goodies. Naturally, rather than checking out
the 400-500 year old archaic tombs of famous kings and other significant figures we boarded a cab to the Gyeoungju amusement park and rented powerful ATV's! It was a bit outlandish, but absolutely fantastic. I paid about 30 bucks and had my way with my very own 125 CC ATV for 45 minutes. We received some haphazard instructions and that was it. I grabbed an old battered helmet and went on my way; all waiver free. Our playground consisted of jumps, boulders, a gravel pit, and water. I think at one point I hit 70km/h at my fastest. It was a really fun time. Near the end, my confidence had grown into a rather dangerous sense of ATV entitlement and invisibility. I two wheeled it once, caught some air off a jump another time, and pulled off some pretty reckless doughnuts in the gravel pit; I'm sure all to the chagrin of the old Korean men watching me. Still, I would definitely go back there again.
The next weekend Joel and I went to Wolbang tower land which is Daegu's version of Canada's wonderland, except 1/8th the size. They have three decent roller coasters; think dragonfly, the bat,
and vortex. We went on a fairly cool Sunday in March so the crowds were minimal. We lined up and hit the roller coasters three or four times each. They were actually really enjoyable, quite fast, and contained neck-jeering barrel rolls and G-force loops. The highlight of the day however was jumping off the tower. They offer a thrill experience where you basically bungee jump off the tower platform. It's not quite a free-fall as you're ziplined in, but it is pretty intense. The Korean onlookers treated us like super heroes as they high-fived us walking to the platform. I felt like an original astronaut ready to make history. Since we were two of only a few people to do the jump that day, crowds gathered to watch us take the plunge. Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures of this as the only documentation I have is a physical certificate, complete with a signed diploma and photos. It was an awesome experience that I thought I'd never do. Next step, Bungee jump!
I've also been back up to Seoul once more since my last blog. We went to Hongdae, which is near Hongik university. We went clubbing
that night and it was the strangest bar experience ever. Imagine thousands of sweaty koreans in a bar bumping, grinding, and dancing to mostly western music. The strange thing however was how insanely packed it was. The bar was down a couple flights of stairs, and right from the initial hand-stamping entry, you could not move. It was so completely beyond capacity you had to literally hold onto something as if you were caught out in the middle of a vicious hurricane just to remain standing. At one point I was honestly holding onto the bar simply because I was trying to keep myself from being ripped away into the waves of people. I eventually gave up due to fear of arm hyperextension and got swept back into the sea. It took 25 minutes just to get out of the bar; I kept thinking, "what if there was a fire in here? we'd all be dead" The next day we hit up the main attraction of the weekend: Insaong. It's this awesome cultural mecca with numerous teahouses, handcrafts, artwork, and traditional souvenirs. We went to this old teashop complete with wicker chairs and traditional art that possessed a real quaint
feel. I sipped away on this tea called '100 herb tea'. I can honestly say it was the best tea I've ever had. After this we went down to Itaewon (the foreign capital of South Korea) and I picked up an awesome Oakley shirt for 15 bucks. The lady initially wanted 50 for it, but I haggled the price down. It would easily retail for 80-100$ back home. Next, we grabbed some grub at The Rocky Mountain Tavern; a Canadian-inspired bar, and caught the KTX back to Daegu.
This past weekend, we all stuck around here. We've now turned the corner to spring, and with that has come the emergence of Cherry Blossoms. They are really beautiful, which is a welcomed change from the typical drab appeal of Daegu. We walked around Suseoung lake which is quite charming, hit a few balls at the cages, and took in a saturday afternoon with hundreds of other Koreans out with their families.
I have also made a bit of effort to learn the Korean Alphabet, (Hangul) and I had my first, "aha!" moment the other day showering at the gym. The different soap dispensers were in Korean and
I didn't know if I was washing my hair with body wash or what. That is until I tried to read the little Korean printed-on signs. I managed to sound out, "Sham-Poo, Rin-Se, and Bo-Dy Sham-Poo". It was a small accomplishment, but it felt so rewarding. I have really been given the opportunity to hone my reading skills quickly now that I have pretty well memorized the Korean alphabet and am immersed in the culture on a daily basis, . These past few weeks I have begun to read everything, wherever I go, and I can't help it. I've see "Yo-Ga, Sca-Reen-Go-lf" and other Konglish words that are simply english words translated and written in Hangul. Obviously, I don't understand the majority of words, but am surprised how much Konglish there is around the city. It also obviously helps with sounding out food since I know the Korean words for most food.
As I said, I am feeling pretty settled into Korea now, and although I don't always understand the motive behind certain actions, or why they do certain things the way they do, I do appreciate it as a brand new culture and revel in the fact
that it is something I never thought I would experience. I have some holidays coming up and I am thinking about doing a 2-day hike up the second highest mountain in Korea with the summit over 2000 meters above sea level.
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Tauri
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Thanks for the update
Been waiting for this update for a while. I think I'm gonna have to at least visit this country after reading about your adventures...keep them coming!