I'm always amazed and baffled by the page hits I keep getting on this blog, almost 2000 to date and over 500 in November. I know the previous teacher was forwarding it to all his buddies posting crazy messages when I first got here. But I'm curious as to who and why all these people are that still keep having hits and on older entries??? I know its showing up on google searches so I have to be careful with keywords or phrases.

Since I can no longer keep this blog private to just my friends I added it to the koreanbloglist website and the numbers spiked again . Comments will remain off. People that know me can email me privately. Anyone else can sign in thru Facebook on this site and own up to their comments. This eliminates cowardly juvenile hit and run attacks (or using fake broken english pretending to be pissed off koreans) which is a wider problem on the net than just my blog. Those fellow ESL teachers need to grow up! :-)

So this weekend a group of us went to Gatbawi. This is probably the most famous sight of Daegu on Mount Palgonson in northern daegu. Its a giant rock carved buddha statue resting a flat rock on his head as a cap. Not sure how old it dates back but it does go back a few centuries. A local city bus from downtown will take you and it terminates on the mountain trail.

Like other mountains you have to hike up the trail and as you go along you pass smaller temple shrines along the trail. The first one had a large upright buddha. Further along the second one had a figure of what looked like a king and people would kneel before him and pray or light candles . He also had a couple of pigeons resting on his head and hand. The third temple further along was a larger complex of several buildings and had some rock carvings beside.

So the hike to the summitt is one hour of rock stair climbing. It took us an hour and a half with rest stops. The trail is 2km to the summit and there were markers kept reminding us of how much farther to go. Finally at the top we rushed to see the actual Gatbawi statue. Not as giant as I had imagined but impressive nonetheless. There were also people kneeling and praying. This is an important religious site and the trail was busy all the way up. We were told not to go a week or so earlier or it would be crowded with mothers praying for their childrens exams.

At the top there is a panaroma view but facing the other way from the city. People were also placing coins on the rock for good luck. Back down was another hour of eneven, winding, rock stair descent . After a while your legs dont want to respond to the repetitive motion. It was a nice visit but I dont think I want to do that climb again, certainly not in the summer. We were all drained and wanted a big lunch for energy so we ended up going to a Nepalese Indian restaurant back in the town centre. The next day my legs were still feeling it, which hasnt happened on previous hikes.

Finally found and joined a gym in my neighbourhood about a 15 min walk from my school and apartment. I got the six month membership for $160. Theres no way i'm walking there and working out in the really humid summer and still want to look into getting a bike. So I wanted to pay by debit card and they said they charge 10% more. I didnt have cash and they said that was ok, I can work out today and pay tomorrow... um, ok! When I went back to pay she took the cash and said thanks, didnt enter it on the computer, write it down or give me any receipt. I was told not to worry, they just dont want a record to avoid paying tax .

So you dont need to take your gym clothes. You pickup a grey top and black shorts in your size from the shelf. When you are finished chuck them in the laundry basket so no laundry either! If you want to take a shower they provide towels too. The showers have soap and shampoo included. So basically I just have to take my own running shoes. Also, I had my own fitness trainer coaching me for the hour or so I was there, and he speaks decent english. All the machines were in english too and was very well equipped. I'd been wanting to do Taekwondo which is on every other block but its only for small kids, not adults

At school for lunch we had penny sized fish tadpoles solidified in some crystal glaze, or fish sperm as I called them!. Weather is still hitting daytime high in double digits and overnight single digits. There is no wind or rain which makes the winter very manageable so far. Also they told me how to turn the heating on in the classroom which makes a difference . The lady in the bakery who's son is in my class keeps giving me freebies. Another girls mum makes traditional korean dresses a few doors down from me.

Finally got my internet banking setup which we had to goto the branch to do. Did a test transfer of $100 and it was in my TD account in 24 hours! My bills seem to have developed a pattern, Gas $15, Electricity $15, Cell $15. I think water is combined with one of them and still not sure about internet/cable as this months bill is only $14 and they told me it was going to be about $40? Internet speeds are also shocking as I keep hitting 1MB/s which I never got with Rogers in Canada throttling the bandwidth.

Updating your passbook is also simple.  Just slide it in the machine, no card or pin number needed, there is a barcode it scans and reads. Even turns the pages for you, I was shocked! Also paying bills is simple. The statement has an account number so you just do a transfer at the atm into that account number, simple! Atms have an english option . Sometimes it feels like life is too easy here and I dont have to make any effort to learn Korean.

Have to start planning vacations for Jan/Feb. Aside from my official 10 days vacation when I'm doing a supply run back home, school is closed from New Years to March 1 so I might be allowed to leave a few times for 'research travel days'. I have to do 13 days of Winter Camp in January before I leave at my school and another school. Otherwise we are required to sit in an empty school for February referred to as 'deskwarming'. We might get time off end of December so could do a new years trip.

Here is a hilarious movie someone made about teaching in korea... it probably happens in private schools, not public where I am, but hilarious nonetheless! :)

 http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7839719/