Blogs from Daegu, South Korea, Asia - page 4

I can’t believe I’ve been in Korea for over 2 months now. At first I was counting by days, then weeks, and now suddenly I’m counting in months. I’m keeping busy in general so time is going quickly. A couple of weeks ago I had the revelation that I no longer care that I am the 'foreigner'. I used to feel really strange getting on the subway and knowing that I was the person who didn't belong. I guess I felt Koreans analyzing me. It's not that now I feel Korean--it's more that I live here and this is my home. So there's no reason for me to feel so strange. It's like a small weight has been lifted off. I’m still enjoying teaching. After about a month, I was really starting to get the hang ... read more

I know I'm overdue to tell you all about my “Korean life”. I bet you want to know about my apartment, the area where I'm living, my school and school life, food, The Korean Person, and everything else new that's going on. If you don't, then just stop reading now. Stop. Okay you kept reading, so let me get started. Don't expect to find out about everything in this one post. I will write it and then probably think of 100 more things I could tell you. One of the biggest problems already is how familiar things are that were strange at first. I think this post will just be about school, city, and apartment, and the rest will have to wait. It all begins with my school. I wrote before that I was placed at ... read more

I'm not exactly sure the reason why it's so hard to blog on a continual basis. Maybe it's some sort of internal fear or intimidation of writing and the difficulties that lie within. Perhaps I need some educational incentive through grading, and it's simply a lack of motivation. Worse even, maybe it's just apathy. Well, I couldn't tell you, but either way, here I go! It's hard to believe that I'll have, as of next Monday, been in Korea for 52 full weeks. 365 sleeps on a small hard Korean bed. Who knew I could make it? I guess I figure I owe it to at least myself to write one more diary/blog/whatever this is, at least for the simple fact as to draw some closure to this absolutely magnificent experience I've had here in Asia. ... read more

With the winter quickly approaching, we decided to take one last trip before the weather turns frigidly cold and we all become hermits. The plan was Daegu: Not too far, but far enough that we feel we’re exploring uncharted territories. We were most looking forward to the Medicinal Market, which we built up in our minds to be aaaaaamazing. So, we board a bus, and 3.5 hours later we’re checking into a love motel (oh how I love love motels). The following morning we make our way to the medicine market, which we had read was the oldest medicinal market in all of Korea (possibly all of Asia). The walk to the market took us through “Rice Cake Alley,” which is an alleyway booming with rice cake shops. Rice cakes are so colorful and enticing but ... read more

Date Wednesday 25th August 2010 City Daegu Climate Low 21c - high 24c Fine and sunny then a thunderstorm The day dawned a bit cooler with an overcast day today. We can always tell what the weathers doing without even getting out of bed due to the fact that we always have our Chinese laundry strung between the open curtains of our room! Today was orienteering, with Shaun “The Navman” DC trying his hand at it for the first time. He was going to go in the team event but his partner didn’t show, so he was going to have to get lost on his own! Good turnout for the event with approx 15 in the novice category. It wasn’t until the briefing that the organisers revealed that it was a ‘sprint’ race over a short ... read more