Four Day Weekend

With summer here I decided to book a four day weekend and relax, get some studying done, and visit Darren in Daejeon.

On Saturday I made my way up there, rode the Daejeon subway for the first time, and met Darren in West Daejeon.

When Darren said how much he liked Daejeon I was a bit surprised to say the least. I've been to Daejeon 4-5 times before, but have always been to the east and south of the city. What is called the old downtown. Or more precisely Donggu and Chungu. I had always thought of it as just a bit of a poor/ run down Daegu. More working class but also quite poorly maintained. West Daejeon, the Seogu/Yuseonggu area is, however, more like parts of east Daegu and a bit like the nicer parts of Sangin. Actually it reminded me a lot of the Beomeo area of Daegu by the river. Large parks, a river, tall apartment buildings and very well maintained. I instantly took back everything negative I said about Daejeon (which admittedly isn't much, I like the old downtown. It has a charm). But I see how Darren is happy there and can talk about a few years there. I could. Anyway, here are a few pics:

We went around the neighbourhood for a while before meeting his friend Greg and heading out to a place called Weizenhaus. It reminded me a bit of Ariana Hotel, minus the live band but with much, much better beer and great food. We hung out there most of the night. 

I booked tickets on the midnight KTX home, so got in around 2am.

Sunday and Monday were a mix of chores, our regular Sunday date, and schoolwork.... plus too much Civ 5. With Yen working graveyards this week it has thrown my own schedule off a lot. Both of us are getting up later and sleeping later, with the result that Sunday is the only day we can hang out, at least until the end of this week.

Tuesday I met Zeke at Lake Park for outdoor BBQ and a few beers. Probably my favourite place for a casual beer (non-restuarant/bar) in Daegu.

New Curriculum

On Thursday I had to make my way down to Beomeo to get orientation for out new curriculum. I met with Matt (who is a sub/office guy at Moonkkang and lives in Sangin, and who is also quickly becoming a great guy to hang out with) and met Jarrod (who I would see weekly if he didn't live across town).

We went to Starbucks to see our options were decaf or ice coffee.

We sat down at Dunkin Donuts and chatted for a while before going to orientation.

The curriculum seems very "fun". More group work and less studying. Part of me likes it, as it will be more communicative. The kids may actually learn to use English to talk. Part of me questions how many parents will agree to pay for less test and more communication, especially since the Korean MOE has decided that studying English to communicate is silly, and so has brought back the old CSAT testing (looks like a math test, multiple choice etc.). Also, it is all material that was meant for China, and includes science and history for, I assume, older learners (I wrote some of it actually). I'm not sure how a presentation on peasant revolts in early modern France can be made fun (or how much relevance it will have to the students - when will they use vocabulary such as 'monarch' or 'peasant' in their day-to-day lives?), but I guess I'll find out in the coming weeks. For now I am keeping an open mind, the new speaking classes introduced two months ago are great (although they looked great from the beginning). On the plus side I can burn the A6 writing books and never look at them again.

I guess we'll see if parents value communication over testing, and whether the kids do find it as fun as it is claimed that they will. If it iworks out well, it will be a great change actually..... if it works out well.

Seoul Summer

Last Saturday I made a run up to Seoul to meet Mike to discuss school and get a burger at a place in La Festa in Goyang. Great American food with San Miguel on tap. Good late lunch. We also wanted to watch The Room with Jon, who hadn't seen it. He brought the beer he makes at home, which could rival anything in Korea. It was great and it made the Room even better. Oh hai beer.

But the main reason I went up was to meet Ange, who I hadn't seen since she left Korea last February, rthe same weekend I turned 31. She went off to SE Asia before winding up in Cambodia, Victoria and back in Cambodia. Now she is back to Vancouver for good, but on her way back took a two day stopover in Seoul, as she was on Korean Air. We went down to Hongdae for a bit but Mike and I were back in Goyang fairly early.

I missed Bobby and Jenny this time, mostly because school dominated the first half of my trip, but also because I saw Bobby the weekend before when he came down to Daegu to catch up and enjoy Daegu BBQ (I always want international food in Seoul or Busan but Daegu does Korean better than any city on the peninsula.

Overall a good, if somewhat short trip to Seoul.