Alex goes zip-lining in Daegu...

Friday I was sitting at my desk when my friend Silent Bob messaged me asking me if I had plans for the weekend. No? Well then I should go zip-lining with a bunch of people in Daegu at Herb Hillz. It wasn't too expensive (10,000 for the train round trip, 19,000 for the adventure). His group was planning on taking a bus from Nopo-dong but since there is a train station near my house I decided to just meet them there. Upon arrival in Daegue I call Silent Bob:

Me: So where are you arriving?
Silent Bob: Errr the bus terminal?
Me: You do realize that there are 4 intercity bus terminals in Daegu right?
Silent Bob:....Really?
Me: Could you read your ticket and see where your arrival is?
Silent Bob: ~pauses~...My ticket is all in Korean, I have no idea.
Me: ~face palm~ Does anyone with you read Korean?

We finally figured it out, met up and took a local bus south for about an hour to Herb Hillz.

Here is the thing about doing adventurous things in Korea--the safety courses will be in Korean.  When I went bungee jumping in Seoul, there were enough foreigners that the staff just memorized the key phrases they needed. An hour south of main Daegu we were a little less fortunate. Luckily, between the girl who spoke semi-decent Korean and the girl who used to be a camp counselor we managed to figure out how to not kill ourselves. It was pretty visual anyways and we practiced the key safety moves on a mini ground level practice course before being sent on our merry way. I was much comforted by the fact that all of the safety gear was by Petzl, a well respected French gear company that makes fabulous stuff. I wouldn't have been so comfortable with safety gear made in say, China.

See that lovely face! You are definitely not supposed to hit the crash pad with your back but it took me a couple of times to figure out how to hit it with my feet. Mainly because I didn't realize that flailing a bit really does not help your flight path...

 The things that didn't involve tarzan like moves and flinging yourself into the air felt like a cake walk...or rather, a wire walk...

 The only thing that actually made me scream in terror is when we had to step on a snow board a glide on that through the air. Not the most secure feeling in the world.

 See this? This is me being very bored. Despite the scariness of the snowboard (and the following obstacle, riding a bike across a wee little bridge). I managed to get right on and just do it....and then waited 20 minutes for the other girls in the group to work up the nerve. To be fair, it was pretty terrifying. However, I did have fun talking with Koreans and other expats walking by on the ground. The Koreans pretty much gave everyone universal looks of 'oh my god are you crazy?!' and then asked the usual round of questions.

Voila, my weekend! Today I am going to get bibimbap with the Partial Asian and then do the dreaded x...study for the GREs.  ~shudders~


All pictures are care of Kevin Beale (or whoever he passed the camera to at that moment)--the only one of us who was brave enough to risk his camera.  Knowing my spaztastic record, I definitely decided to keep mine in my locker.