Yesterday, we hiked. I thought to myself, sure, I could use the fresh air, the exercise, the being in the peace and quiet. It all sounded good. Plus, Mike was like, Oh, we’ll just hike until we feel tired. Because, I mean, I was looking up at those hills (moutains? they were probably mountains) and I was not thinking about getting to the top of them. However, once we started out, on a very beautiful sunny day (don’t worry mom I was wearing my sunscreen!), well, my competitive spirit took over. I mean, we talked about stopping, but come on. Plus, hiking is a huge thing in Korea. For seniors. And I was not about to have my ass kicked by the little old lady hiking beside me. Actually, at one point, on the stairs just before the very very top, I was about to sit down because my legs were rubber, and Jeff was like, “Alli, look beside you.” And sure enough, an older woman was slowly making her way up to the top. Faster than I was. Well, that gave me another wind, let me tell you.

From Daegu

I was not especially ready for the view from the top. It was incredible. Mike mentionned that he thought the city looked like a little circuit board from this high, all ordered buildings and streets, and I had to agree with him. It was incredible. I mean, we were up high. Really high. Giving Jeff vertigo high. I’m not sure I’ve felt this proud of myself, oh, in years. I’m hoping that you can tell how large these hills were from these pictures. If not, please pretend and act suitably impressed.

From Daegu

Of course, we had a wee bit of a snack up on the top, oranges and granola bars, and then debated how exactly we were going to get down. I wanted to walk, I mean, hiking is up and down right? But the boys had their hearts set on cable cars, and besides, they argued, I’d just complain about how it hurt my big toes to walk downhill. So, I gave in, and we headed over a peak to our left to take the cable car down. It was about a twenty minute walk and it was nice to get in few more views. Along the way, we saw a brilliant man who was selling popsicles at the top of the hill (which both Jeff and Mike proceeded to cut their lip on). We kept on walking, practicing our “hello” in Korean as we passed groups of people (unbelievable how many hikers were out and about…I remember hiking through Luxembourg with my friend Saskia for three days and seeing no one…here, there was at least a hundred people, its a real national past time.). Nursing my popsicle, I wasn’t really paying attention as we came up to the gate. The gate of something that clearly was not a cable car. It was clearly something military related. Mike asked someone passing where the cable car was and the man pointed. Pointed very far away, several peaks away along the ridgeline. It was about a forty minute walk, he said.

From Daegu

This is when I looked at the boys and thought about killing them. Instead, we just laughed, and started walking back. We caught up to the popsicle man and he became our guide to the cable car. And, sure enough, forty minutes later, we were seated safely on it. It took a little longer than expected to get there, but the boys made a good call. Even on the short downhills on the way were anough to make my big toe nails hurt and I would have been a complaining mess by the time I got to the bottom. You know, even more so than usual.

Before we really got going up the mountain, we did stumble upon a temple hidden on the sides of the mountain. Okay, let me back up a bit. Daegu is basically surrounded by large hills. You can see them from most parts of the city, as long as they aren’t hidden by the smog. They are extremely green and extremely large. And on them, there are still traditional temples. Traditional temples that are home to things like statues of Buddha and, for lack of a better term, a prayer room with candles and lanterns. I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos inside of it, but, it was beautiful.

From Daegu

After the hike, Mike headed off to work, and Jeff and I wandered around Daegu for a bit. I might even go so far as to say that we are getting the hang of things. We’ve eaten a few Korean foods (he likes them much more than I do), we’ve drank a few Korean beers, its amazing how quickly even foreign places can become familiar and how quickly another’s home can feel like your home. Mike and Ciara have certainly made this a seamless transition, for which I will probably be grateful forever. We’re still trying to figure out how exactly we’re getting to Japan and then to China, but we’ll work it out. I mean, we’re here, we can’t lose.

From Daegu

Today, we spent wandering around downtown Daegu, and tonight, well, we’re officially going out. It is Friday night after all. I had this idea that maybe we should start at one bar, and then, when we saw another foreigner, we’d move to the next bar. Jeff looked at me and was like, “Oh, so you just one to stay at one bar tonight?” I laughed, but he’s right. We walked around for about two hours and saw, one, yes one, other white person. Its the opposite of multi-cultural. Jeff was wearing shorts today and recieved a few giggles from the Korean girls because of his legs which, oh, have typical anglo-saxon hair on them. I cannot imagine that kind of blatant, well, making fun back home. And I suppose that’s a good thing. It is certainly an alienating thing to be laughed at openly. On one hand, people are so friendly, on the other, they’re just not. When Jeff inquired about a particularly cool hoodie, the woman just said “no size.” (Note: after that, there was no way I was going to ask about anything!) Things here are for Koreans, pure and simple.

Of course, every once in a while, we do have a taste of home. Today while eating lunch, I burst out laughing when I saw the bowl they brought my salad in. Mom, do you approve?

From Daegu

Also, a special thanks to Ian, who pointed out Picasa to me. Its made everything a lot easier, seeing as how I don’t have to worry about my monthly Flickr limit. Also, if you click on Daegu, you can see the rest of the photos I uploaded. Most likely, I’ll be using that from now on.