Loora

I wrote this over a month ago, before leaving Daegu, but I didn't have a chance to post it. My two-year stint in Daegu is approaching its end—just one more week until I fly from Incheon Airport to Kuala Lumpur, and then on to New Delhi. Because I haven't taught real classes since December 20 or so, school life has been super-boring. It has gone really slowly. But the rest of my life has just flown by the last couple of months. Between trying to hang out with friends a lot before they and I leave, small trips around Korea, and planning for India/packing up my life, I've been busy. I've said goodbye to most of my best friends in Korea already because they're on vacation and won't return to Korea until after I leave. Because ... read more

Having spent two years in this architecturally-ugly/mountain-pretty city, I thought I'd share some lists I made for people newly arrived to Daegu. Regular readers can just skip ahead to the next entry. Most pics are from other blogs--I just wanted to advertise the places a bit ~~ My Favorite Places in Korea: -Ulleungdo (Ulleung Island)--really steep hills, awesome rocks, and beautiful views and water colors -Tongyeong and Bijindo (Bijin Island)--Tongyeong itself is kind of a port city, but it has a replica Turtle Ship, cool mural-covered neighborhood up a hill, outdoor art museum, and lots of ferries to nearby islands like Bijindo, where you can camp on the beach (semi-illegally) -Upo Wetland—nice day-trip to nature; good place for bike riding or a stroll -Waterfalls near Bogyeongsa (Bogyeong Temple)--easily the best small waterfalls on mainland Korea that ... read more

This is a bit late, as it’s certainly not fall anymore here, but I had a busy few months of Korea-traveling. I suddenly realized I’m really behind at posting pictures. I didn’t realize how much I did! I’ll split it up into two parts. The first fall trip I took was to the Jinju Lantern Festival. Jinju is a small city split by a river about 2-3 hours southwest of Daegu by bus. Every year they celebrate their city’s (temporary) victory against Japanese invaders a long time ago with the Lantern Festival. (The Japanese returned the next year and the outcome was different). The lanterns are mostly actually more like papier-mache’d statues that are lit up from within. It was one of the best festivals I’ve been to in Korea. We spent probably 6 hours walking ... read more

I thought I’d fill you in on Korean heterosexual relationships. As you might expect, couple relationships in Korea tend to be different from those at home. Sometimes, these things are quite obvious. For example, often, couples in Korea hang out in public in “couple outfits”—matching clothing, which can range from only similar shoes or shirts to both wearing identical outfits. (However, there’s a saying that if a guy buys a girl shoes, she can use them to run away from him (dump him), so shoes might not be the best idea.) Public displays of affection are, however, way less common here. It’s not appropriate to kiss in public, although hand-holding is common. Young couples don’t have much privacy though. Most people live with their parents until they’re married, even during college and after they have a ... read more

Last weekend I went on a long-awaited group trip to an island to the east of Korea, Ulleungdo. I’d seen pictures of Ulleungdo a long time ago and had wanted to go, but I didn’t expect to have the chance because it’s a bit of a hassle to get to. In fact, I did spend a lot of time travelling and not more than 36 hours on the island, but I’m glad I got to go. The trip was organized in Seoul, so I had to go up there Friday night. We took a bus from Seoul at 11pm, which ended up at Donghae, a city on the east coast, around 3am. The bus ride was terrible because a group of people in the back were being loud and having obnoxious conversations while everyone else tried ... read more