A Typical Day

It just occurred to me that I really haven't given anyone a good description of a typical day for me. My day usually starts at 7am, which is when I wake up. I jump in the shower, iron my clothes (I have to do this every day since I have no dryer, everything is air-dried) and maybe make something to eat. This usually isn't necessary since I get fed by one of the other teachers almost every day. Today was peanuts and some dak (pressed rice dumplings).

I arrive to school around 8:15am, and first period starts at 9:10am. I teach anywhere from 2-4 classes per day, along with after-school classes for 1.5-2 hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For the past week, and continuing for the next couple of weeks, I also meet with some of the other teachers to practice a dance that we are going to perform for the students at an upcoming school festival. This is not a traditional dance, but a modern pop dance to a very popular song by a group called the Wonder Girls (sort of like a Korean Spice Girls).

This means I am at the school until about 6pm everyday, even though I am only obligated to be there until 4:30. I enjoy the extra things that keep me busy. Around 6:30-ish I get home and change, then make dinner. On Wednesdays there is a large group of other foreign teachers that go out for dinner in the downtown area. We go to a place called The Holy Grill (awesome name, I know) that has great Mexican food and burgers. After dinner, which is usually around 7:30, we head over to a nearby foreigner bar, where we have a few drinks and listen to some live music, since it's open mic night every Wednesday.

I have only been to this once, and only plan on going once or twice per month since I will end up dropping at least $30 each time, but it's a nice way to meet up with people I don't see often and have some good western food.

On the nights I don't go out I usually work on my laptop, catch up on news, update my fantasy football teams, or just watch a movie or some episodes of Family Guy that I downloaded. Sometimes I might browse the tube but I only have like 3 English channels, so I rarely watch TV. But I have to be honest, I have yet to feel bored while here, my days keep me pretty busy.

The weather here is great, in my opinion. Daegu is the hottest city in Korea, since it sits in between a bunch of mountains which essentially form a bowl around the city, and heat and humidity all sit like a cloud on it. But at night, when the sun goes down, it is REALLY nice. The temperature is around 70 degrees and the humidity is a lot less. I only have to walk for 5 minutes to reach a park with a great view of the mountains and lake to the south of the city (pictures of which are in my album, look for the dark brown bridge.) Every store I could want is within walking distance, and there are tons of street vendors that sell bulk vegetables and snacks for dirt cheap. A 1-dollar bag of bean sprouts will last me at least a month, and a 2-dollar bag of mushrooms will last me a couple of weeks. I bought a bag of 6 HUGE onions for 2 dollars, and a 2-week supply of green onions for 1 dollar. I just hope there are indoor markets where I can get this stuff during winter.

I hope that gives you some idea of how I spend my days. If you have other questions, just post a comment or email me. And don't forget, look at pics if you haven't already. The link is in my last blog post.