Sickness and Daegu City!

Shawn and I at Amy and Ellen's university in Daegu

So we haven't posted in a while because both Shawn and I have been sick with some strange kind of cold. I was sad because I had to take a day off of work last week resulting in a loss of 200,000Won from my no absense bonus. Feeling feverish, I felt I had no choice in the matter but to try to sleep it off. This cold came in many different phases; First fever, then loss of voice, sinus congestion and a deep chest cough. Apart from still feeling tired, I feel better now. Of course, that did not stop us from going to Daegu last weekend albeit mid-cold.

The "Big Man" at the university

Before coming to Korea, I had promised my former adult students I would visit them in Daegu. Daegu is the fourth largest city in Korea with a population of about 2 million. We took a train from Suwon and enjoyed a 3 hour trip. Unfortunately, it is hard to get a train on a Friday evening and we had to wait for 3 hours at Suwon Station before we could even get on a train.

Korean countryside-lots of mountains and farms on any available land

When we got there it was after midnight so we decided to find a hotel to sleep in. We chose what is commonly referred to as a "love motel". These motels, found everywhere in Korea, are catered to the affairs of married businessmen. They are very cheap and offer such luxuries as a huge flat screen tv, jacuzzi, computers and everything you might need if you did not plan on staying in a hotel such as razors, toothbrushes, hairspray, etc...

Our motel room- At Motel Zen

Of course, you can rent a room for the night or even just for an hour!!! It really blows my mind how many there are, in fact, there are probably at least 10 of them within a block of my apartment. Although I don't agree with it, I find this to be an insightful peek into a seedy and not-so-secret part of Korean society.

Amy, Me, Ellen

But on with the trip. When we woke up, I called Amy and we decided to meet. Amy and Ellen took us to their university which was quite nice. Imagine a 20 floor skyscraper for your library...very nice! Then we ate a chicken stirfry which was very delicious. We went shopping and eventually called it a day. We spent 9 hours walking and exploring Daegu so I think we got the experience we were seeking. Amy and Ellen were a little worried about showing us around Daegu, because I guess when you've been to Seoul, you've pretty much seen it all. And they were right, Daegu was a lot like Seoul and Suwon. We were happy to have seen the girls in their hometown and to see that they are still doing well.

That night we stayed in another love motel but unfortunately, it was not as nice as the first one. Oh well, it was only about 30, 000W (30USD), so you get what you pay for!!! We returned home happy we had a good weekend journey.

In other news: I might have to have my wisdom teeth taken out! Aaahhhhhh! Updates to follow....