Just before Christmas last year Daegu opened its own Hyundai Dept Store. Many of you outside Korea will be surprised to hear Hyundai has dept stores in major cities across korea. Overseas Hyundai is known as a car manufacturer. In korea they manage gas stations, shipbuilding, cargo terminals, cable tv and internet to name a few. The hyundai store is at Banwolding, the intersection downtown of the two subway lines in Daegu. Its next to the Donga dept store, anothe...

Banwoldong is the main intersection in downtown Daegu where the two subway lines meet. It is a popular hang out destination for koreans and expats as a convenient location with many restaurants, retail stores, and bars. However, a while back I noticed a large temple on the west approach to Banwoldong, the opposite side from the retail/bar area which is on the east side. This side is not frequently visited due to low commercial development. As its only a short wal...

The English Teachers in Korea debate has taken another turn. EPIK the public school program in Korea has announced changes to the Aug/12 intake. I teach thu EPIK in a public school and they hire about 1000 new teachers twice a year in February and August. The new application form has announced five changes http://www.thewaygookeffect.com/2012/03 /epik-announces-big-changes-to-hiring.h tml - No level 3 teachers. To be level 2 you need one years prior teaching or a...

Koreans like Teddy Bear Museums. There are two on Jeju Island and one in Seoul at the Namsan Tower. I found out there was one in Gyeongju and waited for spring weather to visit. Later we found out we went to the wrong one and there are actually TWO Teddy Bear Museums in Gyeongju too so we'll have to go back to see the other one!I found out about the Gyeongju Teddy Bear Museum while reading the inflight magazine when I recently flew on Air Busan to Taipei. Their b...

Another attraction about a ten minute walk west of the Coex mall is the Seonjeongneung Royal Tombs. This was my last stop of the day and I thought it would be just a park with a couple of round burial mounds but turned out to be quite interesting. Entrance fee is 1000w ($1) and best to follow their map as the park is quite big so you dont want to wander aimlessly on the paths. Just by the entrance is a small building housing an history centre. Its all in korean b...