40 to go...

Went to Daegu and Busan, to catch up with a few friends before I go. I can't meet up with everyone... If I don't meet up with you before I leave... well (sorry to he harsh), but deal with it *^^*

Here's a couple of photos from the weekend:




I have mixed feelings about why I'm leaving. I'll be honest - all things said and done, I like Korea, and I will miss it. I just really hate my job, and stuff to do with "English". I'd be happy working in a restaurant waiting tables in a 갈비집 for 6-12 months, coz it's something different. Lol

Meh... as long as I get home safe, it'll be all good ^^

New Friends, New Year, New Andy ^^

Got to Busan after my Geomdo lesson in Jeongeup. Was going over the first half of all the stuff I learnt in the past two years, just to see what I remember, and get used to my new teacher's style. I learnt a few things wrong, and couldn't remember a few things, but its all good. I started learning the stuff for the competitions as well. It is a lot harder than it looks. Gotta bend my knees a lot, and my knees are fucked.

Met ㅂㅅ in Seomyeon, and then ㅌㅁ found us as well. Her friend (ㅁㅈ) was a little late, but when we all met, we found a nice Bossam place to eat dinner, then went to a coffee shop, and waited for ㅌㅁ's other friend to show up. A few mins after ㅅㅈ turned up, ㅁㅈ had to leave to meet other friends. It was surprising that the four of us felt really comfortable together. After talking and coffee, we went to Noraebang. ㅂㅅ's voice is really good... like, "when is his album coming out?" good. Then went to another place for talking, eating and drinking, and then tried to get a taxi for the girls, and then got one for ourselves.

Met ㅅㅈ and ㅁㅅ in Nampodong, and had Galbi together. Both ㅅㅈ and I didn't eat breakfast, so all together, the 3 of us ate 7 servings of Galbi, but the servings were pretty small, but it tasted damn good. We then went to say hi to ㅅㅈ's parents, who own a shop in Nampodong, and then did some shopping (I remembered that there were a couple of large clothes shops in Nampodong, so ㅅㅈ showed me where they were, and I bought a new jacket), and then went to Noraebang (hehe). I got the subway to Busan station, and then travelled to Daegu.

I met ㄱㅁ and ㅇㅈ at Daegu station, then had dinner. Got some icecream at Baskin Robbins, and then, yes, Noraebang. 3 times within 24 hours. A record for me. But, it was good to see them, and to hang out. Stayed at ㄱㅁ's place. His Grandmother is really kind, but his dad is rather reserved, to the point where I don't feel comfortable. I know its not mine or his fault, ㄱㅁ says he's just really quiet. ㄱㅁ and I walked around Lotte Department Store for a while, there were some nice things there, but wanted to save my cash. Got a subway sandwich to eat on the train (which tasted damn good), and headed for Daejeon.

After taking a taxi to change train lines (the Seoul-Busan line stops at Daejeon station, the Yongsan-Gwangju/Mokpo line stops at West Daejeon station), i was waiting the train, when a Korean guy starts smoking next to me. Normally, I don't give a shit, but there was a sign on the pillar next to us, saying don't smoke, so I said to him (넌 한국거를 몰라? - Don't you know Korean?) and pointed to the sign. He just looked at me, so I said (난 너의중독대문에 안죽고싶어 - I don't want to die because of your addiction), so he put it out. He look a bit younger than me, and we was smaller than me, and if the wind wasn't blowing the smoke into my face, I normally would have ignored it. After being in a country where everyone seems to smoke, and doesn't give a fuck about anyone else in the vacinity, I'd pretty much had enough.

Anyway, got the train back to Jangseong, and then the bus back to my apartment. Even snow doesn't slow bus drivers down!

To everyone who reads this, I hope you had a good ending to 2007, and have an even better start to 2008. I plan to. ^^

Gyeongju International Culture Festival

I came to Daegu after work on Friday night. It only took 3 hours and 5 minutes, which was really good. So, arrived at 동대구 at 12:10... and met 강모 at 경북대 just after.

The Gyeongju International Culture Expo was really awesome ;) We saw Turkish dancing, Korean b-boy and martial arts performance, Russian Ice-skating performance, ate a Turkish Kebab, and watched a performance called Silk Way, wish was rather fun ^^ 강모 fell in love with one of the rall Russian ice-skaters. Silk way had many types of dancing and other things, including a trapese act (the girl who did that was soooo sexy!), many styles of dancing, and some kind of clowns ^^

After that, we rode ATV bikes, and then went to a shooting range. My shooting was a little more consitent than 강모's, but he did military training for 2 years! haha

Its one of the best days I've had in Korea ^^ Thanks 강모 ^^

I had such a great weekend this weekend in Daegu this weekend. Thanks 강모 and 은정 ^^ I went skating around 경북대학교 with 강모, and my skating skill slowly came back. We had dinner with 은정, went bowling, and then went to see "The Reaping" at the cimena. It was an okay scary movie ^^ Actually, I enjoyed it more than "Sunshine" the last movie I watched.

Today, 강모 and I were tired from skating, so we just slept in, and walked around the area where he lives. There was a school reunion at his old school - a lot of people, and noise ^^ hehe

Skating at 경북대

Weekend in Daegu

I had such a great time in Daegu this weekend ^^ It was good to finally see Mie in Korea. She arrived in November last year, but it was the first time to go to Deagu since Juy of last year. Daegu is a nice place. I met Mie downtown on saturday afteroon, and we had a coffee together, and did some shopping. Mie wanted to buy a new bag. We looked at a few stores (Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc)... at the Nike store, I saw a nice satchel bag, that has a compartment for a notebook computer, but I thought it would be too small, so I didn't buy it... But, i really liked the color!

But, then we went into the North Face store. It was so quiet there! We were the only ones in the store. Mie found a bag that she really liked. Then, 동균 arrived in Daegu, and we had dinner together. It was good to see 동균 again too. After dinner, I met 강모, and we went back to his house. He's such a cool guy, and a good friend. Its been a long time, since I've lied awake in bed, and talked to a friend. I dont know what time it was, but we talked late ^^

On sunday, we looked at a few things around Daegu. We went to 전자관, kind of like a mini iPark Mall at 용산. There were some nice computers and other electronic things there. Then we went to the Confucian school (향교), and had a look. A guy came up to us, and started talking about the school. 강모 did a very good job at translating for me, because the guy was talking in korean ^^ We walked back to downtown, and had lunch. I can't remember what it was, but it was chicken, with 동면 (is that right, 강모?) and vegetables. It was so delicious!

Before we left 강모's house, I checked the size of my notebook, on the Apple website. I was still thinking about that Nike bag I saw when I was with Mie the day before. I wrote down the measurements, and took that with me. After lunch, we found a Nike store, and we asked a sales person, to measure the pocket for the notebook, to see if it would fit my notebook. And it was a perfect fit! So, I bought it! hehe.

강모 walked me to the subway station (since I can easily get lost in crowded places ^^). We said "seeya later", and I took a train to 동대구station, while he went to Church. I arrived at 동대구 station at 3:50pm, and I was hoping that I could get a seat on the 4pm bus, but it was full. The next bus at 4:40pm was also full. So, I had to get a seat on the 5:20pm bus. While I was waiting for the bus, I walked around for some time, though the train station, and to Tourist information, on the other side of the station, and got a few pamphlets about Daegu, and 경상북도.

Anyway, I had such a great time with Mie, 동균 and 강모, that I will have to go to 대구 again soon ^^ Thanks everyone for a fantastic weekend ^^