A Pretty Full Weekend

The past four days for me have proven to be good ones. I kicked off my weekend by going to Daegu to visit a friend that I went to college with. Daegu was a lot of fun and had a downtown area that was bustling with cool bars and many foreigners. It was for the most part just another large city that was very much like Daejeon, but I did get the idea that Daegu's nightlife would take much longer to get old than Daejeon's. Next time I go there I would like to see what the city has to offer that lies off the beaten path.

I got back to Daejeon and spent the evening at a regular bar called Santa Claus. The next day, although I didn't want to or feel up to it, I went to Daecheon Beach with Jack, Colleen, Andrew, and Andrew's girlfriend, a Korean woman named Judy. Judy is very nice and gracious enough to taxi us all out to the western coast about 100km away. Daecheon was a blast! I do find it strange that Koreans will go to the beach in their Sunday's best! I saw one girl have her picture taken in ankle deep water by her boyfriend while she was wearing nice dress shoes! People took pictures of Colleen and stared at her because she was wearing a bathing suit (like she was the strange one!). They go into the water fully clothed and walk on the beach in expensive jeans and dress shoes. Old men in suits wander the beach in contemplation, and it is hotter than hell. I don't get it.

It is the site for the mudfestival in July where people flock to the beach and fling mud all over themselves and go nuts for a couple days. It is also the most popular beach on the west coast of Korea. At the beach I rented an enormous ATV and went flying around the beach like an idiot. We stayed there all afternoon and did what all of my students told me to do when visiting the beach--eat the seafood. We went to a restaurant and ate fresh seafood and sashimi. The shellfish and sashimi was taken right out of large tanks, killed, prepared, and served for us in a matter of minutes. It was the best food I have had here and the best seafood I have had in my life. Afterwards, we got some ice cream and walked down to a small amusement park that had carnival rides. We rode a couple, acted like four year-olds and finally piled in the car for the ride back.

I was really stressed about starting back to work, but I found out my schedule is changing last week. How did it change? For the next three weeks I only teach one class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and five short classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Very nice! It changed because April is a big month for national standardized testing for the placement of high school students over the upcoming academic year, and they can't be bothered too much with extra work from academies.

KICKS ASS: I found a website that streams every episode of Rocko's Modern Life, my favorite TV show ever.

SUCKS ASS: Every where I turn someone is offering me sweets or food. It is really hard to diet here!!