Homogenous Diversity: New Year's in Daegu

There was a tunnel of pretty Christmas lights at the park.

New Year's Eve in Korea is celebrated in a similar way as it is at home. Many people make their way to Seoul or Busan, the bigger cities, for special events happening there. We didn't realize this until later, so we opted to have a New Year's in Daegu. Wherever you are, it is very common tradition to watch the first sunrise. They do still have special things at midnight, but even more than that, people try to find nice places to watch the first sunrise of the new year. I think that's a really nice thing to do, although we did not partake of it this year. Instead, a friend from taekwondo told us about some things happening downtown, so we went there. We also went to see Ender's Game with Maria and Matthew before going to the New Year's celebration.

Giant Elvis and Michael Jackson puppets

Korean Jamaican...?

Korean Indian...?

At the park that we did the sharing life festival, Guk Chae Bosung Park, there is a big bell. They had a big stage set up next to the bell. From 9 to 12pm, they had all kinds of musical performances. There was dancing, opera, musicals (Mama Mia and Les Mis), and much more. There was one act involving 70's style dancing with massive puppets of Michael Jackson and Elvis, both of whom had nothing to do with the 70's really. There were also some dances from other countries, like Jamaica and India, performed by Koreans. Another attempt by Daegu to show it's "cultural diversity" despite the fact that all of Korea is homogenous. It was cool, but sometimes comes off a little racist because it's like...."do you actually know anything about the country whose style you are dancing in?" This made Maria coin the term "homogenous diversity," which I think pretty much hits the nail on the head to sum up certain aspects of Korean culture. The MC for the evening chose some people from the audience to help ring the bell, which they do every new year. Everyone in the audience (and there were a crap ton) counted down the New Year. It was kind of anti-climactic though because after the countdown, the mayor and some officials spoke, and then the bell
was rung and then there was a short fireworks display. We had a really good time, it just seemed like the last few things should have been done in a different order. After the fireworks, there were so many people trying to leave the park, it was almost impossible to walk. For some stupid reason, the police left up the barriers, so it was a bottleneck to get out. So annoying! Luckily, we got a taxi quickly after we got out. Our taxi driver avoided a lot of the traffic, and we got home easily. We stopped at kim pasa, Korean fast food, for a bite to eat before going back home. It was kind of weird to be in 2014 when most of the other people I know were still in 2013.


On New Year's Day, we didn't have school. I use the term "school" loosely because, technically, it is school vacation. During school break, we typically have a week of English camps, where we have a small class of students, and we get to do whatever we want with them. The rest of the time, we are just sitting at our desks. This period of time is called "desk warming." Sometimes we lesson plan, but most of the time we are just sitting, doing nothing, but we still have to be at school because them's the rules. Oh well. My English camp doesn't start until next week, and there weren't enough students to have 2 camps as we planned, so Niall and I are splitting up the days. I am doing a Harry Potter and a Sherlock Day, and we are both doing a cooking day where we are making ice cream. We also randomly have 1 week of classes the first week of February. It's graduation week for the grade 3's, but we are teaching all our classes for a week then the kids get the rest of February off too. I don't understand the Korean education system sometimes, but whatever, I guess it's their call. So anyway, it's desk warming now, but we had the day off for New Years.

Water Park area inside and outside

On New Years Day, Maria and Matthew came to our neck of the woods, and we went to Elybadin spa to have a nice, relaxing day. Spas, or jimjilbangs, are a really popular thing in Korea. More traditional ones will separate gender and are basically bath houses and saunas where people are totally naked. Additionally, they often provide you clothes to go into a resting area where you can read or sleep or whatever. This place was like that, but also had some extras. You get there, and you pay to get in. It was $27 per person, and we got the combined ticket to use the jimjilbang and the water park. Next time I go, I don't think I'd use the water park. It was ok, but it was small. The water is sulfur water, which is supposed to be good for your skin. It was nice warm water, and they had a play area for kids, hot tubs, and an outdoor area. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't think we need to go again. After you pay to get in, they give you a bracelet which you can scan on things to buy them, instead of using money while you're in the spa. We put our shoes in special shoe lockers then went into the changing room area where everyone was walking around naked. I mean there were old people, young people, babies. It was pretty crazy to see a culture that just embraces nudity when you're from somewhere that is so shy about it. In the changing area was the bathhouse and everyone in that room was nude. This area was the only gender segregated area at the spa. First, we got changed and spent a little time in the water park area. After that, we rented some jimjilbang clothes (a loose fitting, canvas or cotton shirt and long shorts) and went upstairs where there was a DVD room, a food court, an arcade, mini karaoke rooms, a resting area, saunas, an ice room, a comic book reading room, a massage clinic, and massage chairs. It was pretty incredible. We got some food and then went in the massage chairs (15 minutes for $2) for a bit before laying some mats down and taking a nap and reading for a few hours. You can stay in the jimjibang for 12 hours, so some people use it as a place to crash for the night when traveling because it tends to be really cheap and there are so many of them around (if you are just paying for the jimjilbang and not the water park, it is less than $10 to get in). After our naps, we went back to the massage chairs, got some milk bing su (shaved milk with red beans...delicious!!!), and went in the saunas and ice room. A little Korean kid went "OH! WAYGOOKIN!" when we came in to the ice room and proceeded to dance for us. It was pretty silly. My coteachers had warned me about going to a jimjilbang so close to school because they

The eating/PC/arcade/DVD area

said my students might be there, but actually, Gianni's students seemed to all be there. Either that or his students said hi to him and mine didn't. Anyway, at least he wasn't naked when they said hello! That would have been awkward. Next, we went back down and changed to go into the water park again. We spent some more time in there, wadding around in the sulfur. We spent a good 6 hours or so at the spa, so we decided to head home after that. Maria and I got up the courage to, separately, go into the naked area and wash up and get the sulfur off of us, which is apparently an

The resting room with saunas

important thing to do here. In the bathhouse area, there were showers, stools that people were sitting on and using shower heads to wash off, a sauna, a bath, hot tub, and an area to lie on with heated floors. I got a few stares, but I don't think people really cared too much. After a few minutes in there, I'd had enough though, so we got changed and left the spa. It was a really pleasant and relaxing experience. I'm glad I got to see a little more of Korean culture. It was also kind of expensive--around $100 in total for Gianni and I when all was said and done. I think I'd definitely do it again. Also, there is a really cute bakery outside of the spa that we tried because I couldn't resist. They bake their own delicious bread, and we got an almond cake thing that was amazing! I can't resist some tasty carbs. I also got a coffee, and it was my first coffee with a design in it :). Adorable.

So it was a fantastic New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Getting the year started off right. Happy 2014 everyone! I hope you all stay healthy and happy.