Anyway, Foundation Day warranted a day off from work and I used it to the fullest. I went to Daegu, a city about an hour or so out from where I am.
When I was applying for jobs, Daegu was my first choice. I heard it was a beautiful city with lots of parks and lakes and historical sites. I was not disappointed at all! I arrived with two friends at about 9am. Daegu doesn't wake up until 10 so we walked around for a while until places opened.
The first big thing we did was spend the morning and a bit of the afternoon at Dongmu park. It's a park situated around a lake in the center. There are duck boats, water and jet skiing, a butterfly garden, and a hiking path that circles the park. We spent some time skipping rocks and then made asses of ourselves motoring around in a duck boat. Someone was water skiing on the other half of the lake, and the people who run the water skiing dock kept pressing in on the duck boat territory. We'd be well within the limits for boating and the speed boat would come in hot and honking. He even did it to a family where a toddler was driving the boat! (The boats went maybe 5 miles an hour, no cause for alarm). Maybe it's some kind of turf war between the resort and the old man who owns the duck boats. After that we went to see the butterfly garden. It was actually pretty boring and had hardly nothing for butterflies, but it was free and you get what you pay for.
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| DUCK BOAT! |
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| The outside of the butterfly garden. More exciting than the inside. |
After that, we made for one of Daegu's historical sites- 불로동 고분군 공원 (Bullodong Tombs Park). It's an ancient burial site for people that are believed to be rulers from Daegu. They were buried a particular way in the ground and then covered in mounds of dirt that are now overgrown with grass. There are 210 mounds, scattered around the park alone or in groups, all of different sizes. The hike is similar to the hiking at the park- exercise, but nothing strenuous. Along with the mounds were chestnut trees in a few spots around the park. People were harvesting the chestnuts, which come in bright green, sharp, prickly pods. We learned how to open them and get the nuts out, eating a few but giving the rest to the Korean family that was collecting them. They probably roast and sell them on the street. At one point (started by me, of course) we climbed up one of the trees to shake the pods out. We scared an elderly couple who didn't see us at first, but then they just laughed and took a few pictures for us. We gave them some chestnuts on our way past.
This is a chestnut pod, otherwise known as an "Ow dammit, that's sharp" plant. You have to step on them, working your feet back and forth until it pops open (the spines will prick you, so you have to use a sharp tool or your shoed feet). When it pops open, there are one or two chestnuts inside. It can be tricky to pick them out, but after you do, just peel off the thin layer of skin and enjoy! I had SO MUCH fun doing this. It really is the small things, right?
We stayed until the sun started to set and then used the subway to get downtown where we had AMAZING fire grilled meat for dinner, found an Auntie Annie's pretzel shop (ate that too), and headed for the bus stop. We missed the second to last bus home due to crowding that we never expected, but made it home just fine on the last. After a taxi ride and a short walk, I was home and it was 1am. I had quite a day.
Daegu was seriously such a beautiful city. I'm still kind of bitter that I didn't get offered a job there, but (spoiler alert!) I am most likely staying in Korea another year and I can try again if I don't go big and head to Seoul. I'll leave you with two last pictures, both taken at the Tombs Park. Happy Friday, everyone!
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| The sun setting over the burial mounds. |
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| The view of Daegu from the top of 불로동 고분군 공원. |
