Daegu

Until recently, I'd only gone to Daegu for day trips. This spring that changed and it will definitely be a city I'll go back to. Both trips, a few weeks apart, included the exact same festivities with different friends.

April 7:

Two very good friends, Emily and Leigh, and I went to Daegu to go zip-lining. There's a really cool eco-friendly park that has a ropes course with about 12 obstacles and 3 zip lines, all suspended high in the air. It was my first attempt at anything like it and it was awesome. I'm not typically afraid of heights but there were a few times when I was a little freaked out.

After we were finished it was time to head downtown to find a hotel. Boy was that a challenge. First, it took forever to get a taxi. The lady at the convenient store insisted that we take the bus, even though we insisted that we want to take a taxi (and asked her to please call for one). We eventually flagged one by ourselves. Then all the hotels in a three block radius were booked. So we walked to another side of the downtown area to get one. $40, no bed. But it was our only option besides staying out all night.

We went for a delicious Mexican dinner and were soon ready to boogie! My absolute favorite thing about Daegu is the bag drinks you can get. There are several little "drink shops" that sell them. Think bigger Capri Sun with alcohol. And you can choose any kind of drink you want for $5!

We also got to see a new sight never to be seen (by us) in Korea. Military MPs were actually arresting US soldiers for curfew violations. Emily was so curious that she approached the arresting officers to ask questions. She was asked to step away...

The night was full of fun, laughter, dancing and a late night snack: Turkish kebabs that taste great during the day but even better at 4 a.m. The fun quickly ended when we realized we were lost. I had no clue where we were at all day, so I definitely had no sense of direction after who knows how many drinks. Even worse, we didn't even know the name of our hotel. Three drunk people trying to trace our steps but ironically could barely step straight. We did find our hotel finally and slept soundly. Until the owner woke us up early.

May 5:

This time the trip to Daegu was Girl's Weekend! Three other friends and I left all the boys at home for a weekend of fun. We started this trip with a delicious western meal. Then we decided it was a good idea to find a hotel right away rather later to avoid what happened last time. We got a hotel. Score. It was very comparable to the Dirty 30 in Busan in every way.

Next we were back to Herb Hillz to zip line. Because of a stupid injury, I didn't go this time. Neither did Christie, who is deathly afraid of heights. We had a few beers while waiting for Nicci and Emily. Once they were finished we wandered around the park a little. Took some pictures, looked in the shops. We spotted something fantastic on our way in and decided to check it out once again. Kind of like a Zorb (here's a link if you don't know what it is) but different. Fact: We only saw children partaking in this activity. Fact: That didn't stop us!

Four grown women sat among the the younger participants waiting for our turns. You had to crawl into the giant, clear, inflatable beach ball then they blew it up and rolled you into the pool. We had a blast. And a splash zone of like ten feet on every side of the pool. It was a challenge to walk so we mostly just rolled and did somersaults. [Quick side note... I had no idea that's how you spell that word. I always assumed it was summersault... Wrong. That was my spelling lesson for the day. Thanks, Google.]

We finally made it to the restaurant by like 11 p.m. It was, afterall, Cinco de Mayo so Mexican food was a must. I distinctly remember telling all passerby, "My people are free!" Dinner was less than impressive this time around but we made fun of it anyways.

The rest of our night included a meet-up with one of my business students who was in tow! And, of course, some friendly chats with the MPs. This time we offered to buy them drinks. They politely refused.

Wrapped up the trip with a trip to Costco the next day for some cheese, lunch meat and tampons! The only three things you really need in life.

Daegu: I'll be back soon!