Technology, PAH!

I've decided to take a break from my washing machine watch to write the latest edition to my blog. I'm watching said washing machine as it decided to stop half-way through, and I'm a little worried that by just restarting, it might flood my apartment! If the last word I type is "gurgle", then you'll know what happened.

The main thing to talk about since I last wrote is last weekend in Daegu, which was quite possibly one of the best weekends I have had in a very long time. It was a strange weekend, in that so much went wrong that it should have been a bust, but it was quite the opposite. I'll start from the beginning. It seems like a good a place as any!

The plan was that Charlotte and myself would meet early evening in Daegu (5-ish), scope out somewhere to stay, then meet a few others for dinner, and wait until the Gwangju Two got in after 9. But we ended up meeting after 8, and eating at 11! Through various delays and waiting around and going back and forth to the hotel. We did have about 10 people to gather up throughout the course of the evening, coming from various parts of the country. So a late start to the night, but we found ourselves in a club just after midnight, and we stayed there a while. Until 5am, to be a bit more precise! It was a great night: after a slow start, we found somewhere to dance, strange people to talk to, and witches hats to steal from the bar! We got ourselves back to the hotel, but the fun was only just starting!

One of the girls with us went missing, and it was her first time in Daegu, so obviously we were a bit worried. Most of the others went to sleep, but Carol and I set out to find Phil. Through many phone calls, we discovered that taxi drivers were taking her for a ride, quite literally, and driving her all over the city except where she wanted to go. During this recovery mission, I managed to have a free taxi ride to nowhere: got in a taxi, discovered we had no money, Carol went back to get some, driver headed off anyway, I tried to get him to stop, he went back to the hotel, I realised Carol had already gone in a different taxi, also realised I had no money, so the driver just told me to get out!

Then I was joined by Char as we waited outside for the other two to come back. Ended up standing outside Daegu train station until almost 7.30am, long after the sun had come up. Oh, and Char was in her PJs, and I was in a t-shirt, skirt and bare feet. (I had come out earlier and hadn't expected to be out so long, and didn't want to annoy the lady in the hotel anymore!) So there we were, standing around for a while, being made fun of by the taxi drivers, who kept pointing to their feet and laughing. Eventually we found out the other two were already back in the hotel, so we went home to bed. Eventful night, but you know what? I enjoyed it. It was definitely an experience!

A brief few hours later, up we got, and headed off to the happiest place in Daegu: WooBang Tower Land! It did take us a while to get there, given that we kept getting distracted by shiny accessory stores and W1000 shops (we were six girls and one guy!) I guess we dawdled, but it was a good kind of dawdling. It was a perfect day for an amusement park, as you can see from this here photo. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was a nice 20 degrees - not too hot, not too cold.

Being Halloween, we hit the Ghost House first, and ladies and gentlemen, if you ever find yourself in this part of the world....stay as far away as possible from this Ghost House! It's the worst I have ever been in! Pitiful, really. We spent the first few hours queuing for a measly three rides (the ghost house being one of them), there were lots of people around, and the queues were frustratingly long. But as soon as the sun went down and it got a little chillier, the people disappeared and the queues got a lot shorter. So in the last few hours, we went on everything we could!

We were there until it closed: we watched as the shops and restaurants closed one by one, saw the crowds thin out, and walked up to what was to be our last ride to see it being turned off before us! We finished the day with a cable car ride, which showed us all of Daegu, which was very nice indeed. Late dinner, then we headed out for a few drinks, but given how tired we were, most of us were tucked in bed by 2am. An hour later, I got a call from the remaining few people to say they weren't being allowed into our hotel! So we tried to sort that out, but to no avail, so they had to stay elsewhere. The lady in the hotel did not like us, but honestly, if you run a hotel in the centre of Korea's third largest city, I think you should expect people to come back at all hours of the night!

We started quite early again the next morning, the girls from Gwangju wanting to do some shopping before catching their bus. So a lovely leisurely brunch, followed by dandering around shops, and then wasting some more time! By the time I headed to get my train, it was 5pm, and we had been "dandering" all day! The train was then a mission, as Sunday evening is obviously a busy time, and the station was packed, as was my train, when I finally got it. So much for getting home early and doing laundry and planning lessons!

Anyway, doesn't sound like the most exciting weekend ever, but it was the people that made it. The friends I've made here are wonderful people, the sort of people I feel completely comfortable around and can be at my most crazy self. The way I used to be around the cafe! I've been so lucky to have found people like this, it's just a shame they don't live closer! I will remember this last weekend mostly for the singing and dancing: we danced around the park, making right fools of ourselves, and sang everywhere, in restaurants and taxis, and most memorably, walking through the Metro station singing American Pie! We figure, we look funny anyway, and people are going to stare, so why not make the most of it?! It was a very laid back, easy weekend, spent with great friends feeling completely at ease. So that's why it was so good!

As for the rest of this week, it has been fairly uneventful. Teaching has gone on as normal. I might be starting some evening classes with the best of the best English students, so that'll be good: give me something to do in the evenings, and a little bit of extra cash wouldn't go amiss. I've also signed up to a few English camps throughout November and December - intensive weekends that kids attend to improve their English. Something different to experience, and again, a little extra cash. Plus I'm doing them with Char, so I know I'll be in good company.

Other than that, life has just been trundling on. I spend my days having bizarre, confusing, but very funny conversations with my fellow teacher, Tony, and having kids tell me how pretty I am! Apparently, I have golden hair. Oh, my lessons for the end of this week have been on British and Irish slang, so I've been having a brilliant time teaching the kids "craic", "bout ye" and "deadly", amongst many other gems! I spent ages in the office laughing to myself, as I searched online for slang to remind myself, and I came across things I haven't heard in years. Brilliant. We really do have a colourful language! Much better than American slang, methinks.

I'm off to Gwangju tomorrow, to visit the Gwangju Two, Carol and Phil, who were both up in Daegu last weekend. They're a bit mad, so they are, so it'll be interesting! Carol is Irish, and I'm taking her down some nice, proper bread thatI found, so that we can combine it with her butter, and the tea her mum has sent her, and have proper tea and toast! When she told me that, I got down on the groun - in the middle of the street - and worshipped the woman. I love tea and toast, and I miss it! So it should be another fun weekend, which I will write about in a few days. Or in a week, as my pattern seems to be going!

Keep reading, I'm so happy to hear that so many people are still with me, reading this whenever they can. I honestly thought it would just be my parents by this point! I hope you're still enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. That's all for now my dears!