Kyungpook National University (KNU) is actually a big campus spanning an area almost wide enough to fit several small universities of Seoul. Unfortunately, Daegu is still a conservative city and English is still not widely spoken as in Seoul. Nevertheless, I find Daegu Korean dialect the sweetest thing to my ears compare to the standard Seoul Korean ^^
I like the variety in my life. 진짜야!
Getting to Daegu is very easy from the Incheon International Airport. There are many ways to do it but the most convenient way is still by express bus. By taking train, there will be a need to transfer from one station to another. For example, from the airport to Seoul and then Seoul to Daegu.
Getting to Incheon airport from Daegu (the reverse is true too!)
Since I am going to the airport from my university, the first thing is to buy the bus ticket. Getting to the express bus station is by taking bus no. 937 at Kyungpook University Main Gate bus stop (next to "Buy The Way" convenience store). When the bus drops you off, walk some distance and puff - you are there!
Remember bus 937!
Opposite the express bus station
This station!However, taxi is still the best choice when you have big luggage. Skip the hassle of riding a bus and take a taxi instead! Less than 4000 Won one way.
The ticket is 34,100 Won but when I first arrived to Korea, it was less than 30,000 Won! Inflation or whatever, price of everything have really gone up! Only clothing seems to becoming cheaper and cheaper as time passes.
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Okay? Do you know Boys over Flower, a Korean drama series? Have you watched it? I haven't (I am not into Korean dramas since the story lines are always the same and why some people can just into such dramas? Hmmpff) but since I am living in Korea, I ought to know something. Right? Yes, I know one - How to get to the university where Boys Over Flower drama was filmed.
Big deal huh?
Hell yeah! (ps. only if you are interested lah)
Getting to Keimyung University (계명대) from my university (KNU)
First, go to the bus stop at Dongdaegu Market (동대구시장) directly next to the 7-Eleven, if you can't see this store. You're lost mate. Take bus 503 to Banwoldang (반월당), it's actually a transfer station so if you can get there without going to Kyungpook, you're still on the right track.
At the Dongdaegu Market Bus Stop
Next to 7-Eleven
The station you need to go...
Look for Keimyung Univ (Click to enlarge)
Subway map of Daegu
Go to Line 2 (2호선), the Green Line..
Get out at Exit no. 1
Here you are
Keimyung University Campus MapFrom that station, get into line 2 (2호선) and make sure you get to 계명대 (Keimyung Univ). I can remember it pretty well because I lost my Nikon Lens Cap! Ouch :( Info about Keimyung University? You can search the net or specifically Wikipedia for more infos.
In my opinion, this university lacks something important. It seems to lack values and the "feel" of a university. It embraces materialism with lots of big buildings, extensive use of electricity and some buildings with no real functions other than looking nice.
This is the biggest problem in most universities around Korea. No wonder sometimes tuition can be so expensive. The universities here construct big buildings and charge high tuition fees to fund their projects. Overall, a tad big campus only great for photography (especially during fall and spring). Some poor students of Keimyung University have to then work part time to pay the expensive tuition. What a life.
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I like observing people. I know I shouldn't say about some Koreans but well.. This is what I see, and I think it will be bad if this is projected to the world. In life, everyone are born equal - Asians, Caucasians and Africans. Though not all Koreans behave this way, some small minority tend to feel inferior as Asians and look mighty high on the westerners.
Private cram school (학원) in Korea tend to hire westerners, I believe it's not a bad idea but when the motives of hiring them were made known in some newspaper, I felt disgusted. Of course most westerners can speak in good English but if the parents hire these teachers because they want their children to be more "Westernized" or "American", I think it's just absurd.
I too felt sick when I saw some Koreans imitating how Americans speak with their unnatural accents and their so un-Asian way of conducts (It's more like they had watched some cheap American movies to act this way). I hate their pretentious accent, it sounds so weird to me. Sorry to say that.
To be proficient in English is all about being natural and constant use. I felt some Korean parents who can afford to send their children overseas to learn English have just made a mistake. Yes, they learn English overseas but who are they living together with? Are they living together with another Koreans? If they are, it's really a waste of money since we too tend to prefer speaking in our own mother tongue among our same nationality.
My roommate is a Korean, I want it that way so I can improve my Korean through usage. Another thing about Koreans learning English abroad is that after staying abroad to learn English, most Koreans will use English rarely when they are back again in Korea. As time passes, even a small kid can speak better English than them, they seem to have lost some of their English language proficiency due to lack of usage.
Coupled with lack of confidence in making mistakes when speaking (in English), I doubt many Koreans can be really proficient if they do not make any efforts to use English more often. I can remember that during my kindergarten years, I was asked to make an English speech. I wasssssssss soooooo nervousssss. Then, I was only 5, 6 years old... ㅋㅋㅋ
Luckily I made it. Of course I stammered because I had to speak in front of so many parents, students and moreover, this was my first time too. Nevertheless, it was really a great experience, and so sad that my dad had thrown away the VCR few years ago. Sigh.
Koreans and Asians in whole must accept and be proud of who they are. They must understand that they will not be Caucasians just by imitating them. What's so bad been an Asian? I don't get it. However, not all Asian values are great, the one that is really impractical is the seniority based promotion. In Korea, those who are older tend to be chosen for promotion no matter what his/her younger peers are capable of. This is a pull off when working in some parts of Asia.
I like western culture of working and studying. They tend to have more family time (they don't work until midnight in some Korean firms) and most importantly, the education there is more hands on approach than in Asian countries. Asians are more into books and rote learning. Through this, Asians tend to be more cautious when making decisions and are more fearful of making mistakes. Without mistakes, how do we learn?
It is really an impediment to creativity. Likewise here in Korea, I think I will not learn much too especially the hands on experience so I'll try to make up by being good in other things. Just to catch up with my lost time.
(Quite a long post by me again. :) Will stop blogging temporarily to prepare for my trip back home and also to write some articles for magazine and newspapers, if I'm lucky. I need to earn/save some money for upcoming backpacking trip to Egypt and Turkey - maybe if it all turns out well. ^^ Wouldn't it be great if money can just grow on trees? huhu)
