My apologies as this post will be absent some very interesting photos. For those who know me well, you will remember that I love to use disposable cameras. I have three awaiting development, but I have not had time to find the photo shop. Before I begin, a special hello and hug to Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Pearson. I love you and miss you very much.
And here's what I've been up to ^^ (this is the korean's version of a smiley face emoticon)
I live in the Dalseo-gu west district of the city in a single bedroom apartment near to my school, DukIn Elementary. My apartment is not swell, but not too shabby. I am working on cleaning the roof of my building so that I can have a nighttime barbeque with friends sometime this winter. At school, I am the English teacher for grades 3,4,5,& 6. I also teach two kindergarten classes, but it is less teaching and more storytime/wrestling match. My school has about 450 children, and I teach 23 40-minute classes each week from Monday through Friday. I have three female coteachers; Mrs. Jung, Mrs. Choi, and Mrs. Lee. They are each mothers in their 30's (or so I believe...it is quite rude to ask the age of your elders). Together we work with classes of 20-30 students on varying levels of difficulty with English skills (reading writing speaking and listening). Just to give you an idea, my sixth graders are just getting into the past tense (i.e. "how was your weekend?") I am very good friends with the gym teacher Mr. Yung. Together he and I are coaching the elementary soccer team. Mr. Yung was kind enough to invite me to join his badminton club. To my surprise, it is quite a workout. 3 hours of intense sweat 3 times a week in the evenings. Koreans, however, do not sweat. I am the only sweaty one after badminton practice. As for the city, Daegu has some fantastic things to do. The first weekend I was here, I went to see the international bodypainting festival in Duryu Park. Daegu is known as the fashion capital of Korea, and this event proved it for me. Teams of competitors representing nations all over the globe painted and decorated their models and then sent them on a fashion runway walk with thousands of cameras flashing. That same week was the IAAF international track and field competition at Daegu National Stadium. I got to see Usain Bolt (a jamaican sprinter), the "fastest man on the planet" compete in the men's 200 meter race. Also quite a spectacle. The second weekend, I got to go visit an ecology park called Herb Hills. It is a beautiful nature park with gardens that is situated on the side of a mountain. Come to think of it, a relevant statistic is that over 70% of the Korean landscape is mountainous. The views are spectacular. At Herb Hills, some friends and I got to have an adventure doing a high ropes course that involves climbing and ziplining through a forest high atop a mountain. This weekend is Korean thanksgiving (Chuseok "chew sock"), so I have had a marvelous time relaxing with other English teachers. Yesterday I watched the world cup rugby tournament match between Wales and South Africa. The United States squad having been defeated, I allowed my friend Braam to convince me to cheer for his south african squad. Tomorrow, I am hiking with my friend Che up Mount Apsan. The country is really a wonderful place. I have only here given the brief synopsis...because I've left my travel journal at my apartment. Tonight I am just getting back from a Texas HoldEm' poker tournament with some Australians near Kimyeoung University. Sadly, I lost 10,000 Korean Won. (about 10 USD). I went "all in" on a hand with King diamond and 7 spade where I had a pair...but I lost out to the spade flush (terrible)"Hyong Pyon!" as they say... It's very late here and I must be awake in a few hours to start my hike. I will come back to the blog later and give more detailed versions of these stories. This is just an appetizer. I hope that you are all doing very well. I am posting my contact information below. All the best! -David-
대구광역시 달서구 본리동 405-3 아인아트빌102호
Dalseo-gu bonri-dong 405-3 Ain art ville 102, Daegu, Republic of Korea704-914
(the address is listed twice above first in Hangul and next in english.)
cell phone 010-2999-1431 (korea)
email: dave.minervini@gmail.com
skype: "eyelikethabeatles"
