Five Things to do in Daegu on the Weekend

I have found my rhythm here in Korea. Life has taken on the familiar pattern of get up, go to work, enjoy the evenings and repeat until the weekend. In some ways I’m sure that sounds monotonous but, truth be told, I’m happy to be at this point. I’m a creature of routine and along with my love of adventure comes just as great a love for the familiar.

One of my happiest moments last week was being able to confidently order dinner at my neighborhood chicken place, stroll around the familiar streets of my neighborhood, and running into three of my students and the Korean family that has adopted me (they took me home under the guise of teaching me Korean so they can practice their English. Honestly I think they were just worried about the foreigner’s ability to feed herself in a strange land. Of course my dinners at their home are by far my best two meals of the week so....).  I found myself smiling every time I turned a well known corner or heard someone yell “Bethany Teacher!!” and saw a smiling face waving frantically at me. It felt nice. I felt like I belonged.

However, just as the weekdays have become routine and ordinary I’m still finding plenty of new excitement to keep me occupied on the weekends.  So for all of you planning to make a stop in Daegu soon here are five things to do on the weekends:

1) Enjoy the Fall weather with some hiking.
Fall is my favorite season! I love the cool crisp air coupled with the warm sun. It’s the absolute perfect weather for hiking. Daegu is a great location for those of you who enjoy traipsing about some hills. Because it is in a valley there are plenty of trails nearby leading into the mountains. Although, be warned, Koreans take their hiking pretty seriously. My first outing around Mt. Apsan left me feeling incredibly under-dressed and unprepared. So I suggest you stop by the local North Face store and get yourself properly outfitted with clothes and gear, even if you’re going on a simple trek around the park, if you want to blend in with the locals!

You never know what you might find on your trek. 

2) Ride a swan

It seems to me that lakes and Rent-a-Swans go hand in hand here in Korea. Lucky for me I happen to have Suseong Lake within skipping distance from my apartment 

which means I can ride a swan whenever I choose!.... actually, I’m probably set now that I’ve done it once but it was a delightful 30 minutes or so around the lake with good company. And yes, we fulfilled our duty as the crazy foreigners waving at all the other swans to see who would wave back... it’s a thing we do.

Hello fellow swans!

My face is like that because I'm so excited about life... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Great spot to watch the sunset 

The first almost-too-spicy meal I've had in Korea.

3) Dinner out
Back home a weekend dinner out would be pretty common place and uneventful. Here in Korea it’s always a bit of an adventure. First order of business is to actually pick a place to try. Then one has to buck up the courage to walk in. Seems simple enough but I still have that moment of terror before I open the door when I see an image of myself trying to order something, the waiter looking at me as if I’m crazy and kicking me out of the restaurant with a “don’t come back until you can speak Korean!!”, which of course I wouldn't understand as they would be saying it in Korean. Thankfully this has yet to happen and all restaurant visits have ended with me happy and full.

One night Super Junior came with my dinner.

I have yet to eat here but anyone want to take a crack at the meaning of the name?
I've tried and am truly baffled.
(The phrase underneath says "The restaurant in the happy story")

Eworld entrance and Daegu Tower in the distance. 

4) Eworld
There’s nothing better then some roller coaster action on the weekend. Eworld is the local amusement park here in Daegu. It’s not huge but has enough rides and attractions to keep you entertained for an afternoon with some friends. Of course my opinion might have been swayed by the sheer amount of kpop music they were playing around the park. I mean what could be better than listening to Fantastic Baby as you click up the first hill of a ride? And yes, we also fulfilled our duty as the crazy foreigners here by singing and dancing along, much to the humor of the middle school girls sitting in front of us.

Yay for amusement parks!

Thoroughly enjoying ourselves on The Viking. 

5) Find a Festival
Pick a weekend, any weekend, and I can guarantee there will be some sort of festival going on somewhere! This last week it was the Daegu Sports Festival. It’s actually a pretty big deal with  different sports being played all over Daegu. Thanks to a friend who has better navigation skills than myself (we have established the fact that I have NO sense of direction, right?), I was able to see some cycling, swimming, diving, and Taekwondo all in one day! Certainly a productive way to spend a weekend.

Pretty bikes going really fast on a nifty track! I was happy!

 Really fun watching the taekwondo.

There was a surprising amount of whistling going on during the swimming.
Is that the official swimmers cheer?

I enjoyed the diving but got so stressed out every time they started a dive with a handstand,
that just doesn't seem like a good idea at that height!

The adorable podium girls wearing tradition Hanbok.

I’m sure there are hundreds of other exciting events waiting to be discovered and explored over the next several weekends. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on what I find!

Kpop Song of the Week

In honor of the Sports Festival here’s a song Super Junior recorded for the World Cup a few years ago.

A day in the life of an English Teacher...

Alright folks get ready for the crazy excitement that is the daily life an English teacher!

Ok, well hopefully it will at least be somewhat interesting or maybe slightly educational?

The day starts like most others around the world, with groaning and hitting the snooze button a few times.... er... I mean with birds singing and a hop out of bed.... yup, totally.
First thing is to get the gas in the apartment going.

Boiler for shower.

Stove for eggs.

Kettle for coffee.

Just remember to turn everything back off as soon as you’re done so you don’t owe an arm and a leg for gas at the end of the month!

Then it’s off to catch the bus. The 705 or 452 will do (skip Line 2 since it’s more expensive). 

I get off the bus about 15ish minutes later and walk across the street to the school. Students are distributed around the yard playing soccer, jumping rope, on the playground equipment and usually yelling “Hi, Bethany Teacher!” when I get there. I’ll admit, it’s kind of a nice greeting every morning.

I’ve pretty much established my classroom arrival routine by now: 

Walk into classroom.

Turn on computer 

(side note: The first three weeks my computer are all in Korean. I am counting my blessings that I used Word and Powerpoint so much back home that I’ve memorized where everything is in the programs! Oh but I do constantly forget to press the key that switches the keyboard from typing in Korean to typing in English, I’ve typed a lot of nonsense Korean since I’ve been here!).

Switch from outside shoes to indoor shoes.

Check the schedule and lessons for the day.

Classes start at 9:00 and from that point on I’m either teaching up front or sitting in the back planning. I’m still adjusting to the amount of time during the day I have for planning. After what I was use to as a US classroom teacher (i.e. no time. ever.) this is pretty different.

Around 12:15 my co-teacher and I wonder down to the cafeteria for lunch. As we walk to the line I usually do a quick evaluation of the menu checking for food familiarity (do I know what it is or do I get to be adventurous today?) and try to guess the required level of chopstick proficiency needed (will I be able to eat it without looking silly/dropping food in my lap?). I actually really like lunchtime since it brings a chance to get out of the classroom and “talk” with students in a different setting.

School ends at 2:30 but most students stay around for after school activities. These include English classes, Chinese classes, taekwondo, and my favorite out in the yard- Samul Nori! The 5th and 6th grade students all participate in the drumming and are really quite impressive!

My school day ends at 4:30 and it’s back to the bus stop for the trip home. Sometimes I’ll hop on the red express bus to get to downtown Daegu for a “waygook” meetup of some sort- also known as a chance to speak English at a normal speed over a beer. 

If I actually have to cook dinner I usually grab my backpack and take the 20 minute walk down to the Lotte Super.

On my way I get to enjoy the view of the mountains.

Perhaps explore down a new street or two.

Sometimes I get distracted by the pizza place before I get to the grocery store...

After dinner is usually devoted to some writing or catching up on Korean TV...

... yes, I’ll admit it, I‘m sadly addicted to Korean variety shows and dramas. Hey, it’s all about being in the cultural while I’m here right?

So there you have it! Ok well, day to day life may not always be crazy and adventurous. In all honesty I love that some things are finally starting to become "the norm".  It's starting to feel like I have some ownership over my daily routines, the neighborhood I live in is starting to become "my neighborhood", and Daegu is slowly become not just an amazing adventure but a wonderful home.