Here, safe and sound!

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Well, the flight went pretty well; I had two seats to myself so I could lay down a little bit, although it was still not ideal for sleeping. The group of teachers is great! Everyone is friendly and nice, and no one is left out. We've already done a little walking around Daejon, and are going to head back out this afternoon. I'm starting to feel a little tired (seeing as it would be about midnight Toronto time and it's 1pm here) and hoping to make it through the day before crashing.

Food here is INTERESTING! There was fish and rice for breakfast (fortunately it felt more like dinnertime to me) and then fish and rice again for lunch. At least this time there were also potatoes. 😊

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So what an interesting afternoon! A group of us decided to go downtown to see Daejon. We weren't really sure what to expect or what to look for, so we had the address of "E-Mart" to show to the taxi driver. Once we got there (3 cabs for the 10 of us), we walked into the 3 story shopping extravaganza, and unsure of where to start, a couple of us hit the washrooms. When I returned to the group, there was this unusual Korean girl speaking to the group, offering to show us around. Strange, but ok.... We check out some parts of the store, and she is telling us how she is from the mental hospital and out on a day pass, or something like that. She admitted to being crazy, and after about 15 minutes with her, we agreed that perhaps she was! She was carrying around this red pillow with the price tag on it, and we're not sure she ever paid for it. As we were leaving the store, we pointed out that she had the pillow. She apologized, went to go pay the cashier, and then walked away with it before handing over any money. One of my colleagues, Mike, kindly told her that we appreciated her showing us around, but we wanted to explore on our own now. She left after that. Phew!

As the rain started, we decided to hit the underground shopping area. That took a subway ride. 900 won to ride in this super clean, high-tech subway train. (Just over a dollar?) Instead of a ticket, you received a plastic token like a poker chip, and had to place it on the sensor to enter the subway. Inside the subway, on the platform, you were unable to see the tracks due to the large plastic shield with automatic doors that opened when the subway arrived and opened its doors. No jumpers onto that track! As we left the subway we had to deposit the token into the machines. Too bad! Would have made a great souvenir!

We walked around this gigantic underground shopping mall that had a million stores. There were at least three branches from the fountain where we arrived, and the hallways seemed endless. We walked around for a bit inside, and then as the rain stopped, went out to the outdoor market. Again, a million stores! The Koreans must really like their shopping! It didn't seem though, that the prices were all that much better than Canadian prices, though I did buy a cheap Paul Frank watch. :D

We came back to campus, had a dinner that was less than fulfilling and went on a campus tour. Also less than fulfilling. The tour guide basically showed us the outside of the buildings (no details or rooms shown) and told us what was inside, more or less. Guess I'll just have to check stuff out for myself! Gotta find that karaoke room I heard about!!!!

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