I started teaching on 6 July 2009, so Wednesday this week was exactly one month. Given that and the fact that I’m also finally comfortable with the complicated bus system (and I know how get a taxi if I’m stranded because one of the other foreign teachers wrote it down for me), I decided to do some exploring. One of the things that I’m always surprised by – although I’m as guilty as anyone else – is how little any of us tends to explore the fascinating cities and towns where we live. It’s so easy to get sucked into everyday life drama and forget to make the time. Also, and I suppose this is quite natural, people tend not to think of their home city as filled with fascinating places. We do it with our countries, too. It’s one of the reasons I’m such an avid follower of the fantastic road-trips one of my travel-addicted friends takes from time to time. It’s one of the reasons he and I headed off to find something interesting in Joburg on my last weekend in SA (Westpark, for the record – yes, cemeteries count).

I am determined not to do that here. So, I headed off today to see some of the city. My initial idea was to get on the first bus that came along and see where it took me. I’ll probably still do that but I’ve been meaning, since I arrived, to head Downtown and look around a bit. It’s the one place the guidebook (which is not particularly complementary about Daegu) recommends, plus everyone around me keeps telling me that I need to go there. So, armed with my trusty umbrella and the guidebook, I set off, feeling like an explorer from times gone by. I also took a quick look at the Daegu tourism website and thought it might be nice to try and find the two parks in the Downtown area that are mentioned – for the sake of a little bit of open space, as well as their historical value.

The adventure began a little frustratingly. My travel card is out of money, so I decided to go into the bank and load some more. I’ve loaded money onto the card once before, but it was at the subway station and I took the easy (i.e. English) way and got the man at the information centre to do it. The standard method is to use the ATM-type machine at the bank. I went in, found a machine that had a card reader (there was a picture), put in my card and then tried to figure out what to do next. 20 minutes later (luckily there was no-one else waiting), I gave up. Some Korean-language machines are relatively easy to use because they have pictures and numbers. The card reloading machine doesn’t. Luckily, the buses accept either card or cash, so not a huge hassle (although I will have to find someone on Monday who can show me how).

I decided to go to the bus stop where I usually leave for work and take the first bus that said ‘Banwoldang’ – which I know is downtown because that’s the subway station I took when I went to get my medical check. Oh, and because the guide book says so. Plus, I know I’ve seen it written on the route-indicators on buses at that stop. I took the 414-1 bus. This bus does a circuit of the city, including Banwoldang and returns to my stop (Beommul-dong). I was somewhat comforted by the knowledge that if nothing looked like the place I wanted to be, I could always just stay on the bus and come home (because I am a control freak who needs exploring-safety-nets). The first bit of the bus trip was the same route my bus takes to work. But then it turned off and we were driving through entirely new parts of the city. I revelled in the totally new sights. Ordinary places, like car-repair shops and Hofs (beer bars) and homes and Family-marts, but still new and different. Subways are great for speed, but there is nothing like watching the world from the window of a bus to get a real sense of the city. The bus I’d taken took quite a long loop to get to Banwoldang (at least 45 minutes), so I got to see lots of fabulous places that I can go back and explore. At some point, while driving through Chilseong market area – although I’m not sure why what appears to be a wholesale-household-goods (plastic baths, plates and cups) area inspired this thought – it occurred to me that this wonder, this fascination with things that other people might find mundane, may well be something like the wonder of travel/meaning of life concept about which some of my friends have ongoing conversations.

Eventually the announcement of the next stop (a disembodied voice announces each stop on the bus) said something that I thought sounded a bit like Banwoldang and things began to look somewhat familiar, so I hopped off the bus and headed for the major intersection. Of course, I was on the wrong side of a road without pedestrian crossings again, so, taking a deep breathe, I braved the Balwondang subway complex (the Metro Centre). This time I took careful note of the number of the place I came in, so that I wouldn’t get lost trying to leave. And promptly got lost. I have a reasonable sense of direction most of the time, but I tend to navigate by landmarks and, it appears, sunlight, but an underground shopping complex with a rabbit-warren of passages, all lined with shops selling roughly the same thing or one of the same limited variety of things, is a bit of a nightmare. After walking around for a while (at least 20 minutes), I started to recognise places in relation to each other. The forth time I passed the Paris Baguette, for example, I knew that I was about to reach the central arena area – partly because I was gaining some sense of direction and partly because I was hit, yet again, by a wall of sound created by a terribly distorted version of English songs sung by a Korean who really shouldn’t, and who seemed to be singing the same songs again and again – although it’s possible the lack of talent and distortion just made it seem that way. Tired of lingerie shops and desperate to escape the bad music, I took the plunge and rushed up the first available exit-stairs. I was close, too. I only had to go back down and try again twice before I found what I thought might be roughly the right area.

After a quick look at the map outside the Daegu Bank building – which turned out to be useless  because, of course, it was all in Korean, I headed in what I thought must be roughly a northerly direction. I am, for the record, considering buying a compass to help navigate the city – at least then I might be able to make use of the sometimes-useful maps. Bravely (at least it felt brave), I took the first left and headed off down a smaller street. I rapidly became aware of a rich, somewhat sensual smell. I’ve been very aware of smells since I got here. My initial impression, and if I’m honest one that resurfaces often, is that Korea smells funny. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way but it is not what I’m used to. After eating some take-away fried chicken and coming across the same smell (and taste), I have now deduced it must have something to do with the cooking. Perhaps it’s the red-bean paste that Koreans (according to super-reliable internet sources) eat with everything. The smell of this street was not that. It was the smell of spices, a scent that, for whatever reason, I’ve come to associate with Asia. I stopped and looked around properly for the first time, and discovered why. I was walking down the famous Herbal Medicine street – famous according to the guide book, at least. Or Oriental Medicine Street. I’m not sure which is more correct. It is a street lined, up and down, block after block, with shops selling oriental medical remedies. Most of which, judging by the gorgeous scent, have to do with spices. Some shops had horns and stuffed animals on display and through doorways and glass windows, I saw women and men sorting racks of plants and trays of seeds or nuts. I wandered all the way down, looking into the windows and doorways of every ‘Oriental Drug Store’ (spot the American influence), drinking in the wonderful strangeness and trying not to get knocked down by Korean drivers and people strolling past.

About half way down the street, I turned from avoiding yet another impatient Hyundai driver and found myself looking at something I’ve wanted to see since I first arrived in Daegu. This city owes it’s prosperity and growth partly to the arrival, late in the 19th century of Presbyterian missionaries who, among other things, grafted American apple trees onto the local crab-apple trees and gave Daegu the apple farming industry for which it is well-known. I’ve grown up in the South African Presbyterian church, so I was eager to find the first Presbyterian Church in the area, the first protestant church in Daegu, about which the guidebook and websites had all talked so much. And here it was. A lovely double story, ivy-covered, red-brick building, with a beautiful bell tower and stunning,, arched light-wood doors (which look remarkably like yellow-wood). I didn’t go in, it being a Saturday afternoon and the place being well-and-truly closed, but I did stop to take a really good look. There is a plaque outside, as with all Daegu’s important buildings, explaining the history of the place. This church is called Jeil (Jae-il according to the guide book) or ‘First’ Presbyterian Church. The church (congregation) was established in 1898 and the building was first built in 1907, in mixed Korean-Western Style, and then rebuilt in 1933 to become the beautiful Gothic building that now stands here. The bell tower (steeple) was added later (1937) and is, according to the information plaque, five stories high. It’s a very attractive building (and I say this as someone who has seen a lot of churches). It’s set a little back from the road (Herbal Medicine Street) with a little courtyard and garden and rows of bamboo and other plants to protect it from the neighbouring buildings. I’d love to come back some Sunday and attend a service there (even if it is in Korean) but the building is beautiful and of course, the history of it makes me happy, if only because it gives me a connection to my current home city.

Carrying on down Oriental/Herbal Medicine street, I noticed thick poles with what looked like super-large metal kettles (round belly and spout but without handles) on top. I saw pictures similar to the statues on some windows, so I’m assuming this is the symbol for herbal medicines here. At the end of the road, just where it intersects with a busy city arterial, there is the West Yangnyeongsi Gate. Not a gate in the sense of something that closes but a structure along the lines, I suppose, of what we’d think of as a Lapa at home – a platform with pillars and a roof. Although, of course, not a thatched roof. This Gate (again, thanks to the English language information) was built in 2002 to recognise the contribution of the Herbal Medicine industry and this particular street to Korea and Daegu. The structure has an ornate Korean roof, complete with intricate tiling and shape, dragons, colours and designs and at each end of the top of the roof what looked to me (in my uneducated state) like statue reindeer heads with antlers. At the base of each of the four pillars is a statue of a woman kneeling over one of the kettle-without-handle shaped bowls. It’s not dramatic in the sense that it stops traffic or that people would travel half way round the world to see it, but it is definitely fascinating and beautiful to look at. It’s also, it would appear, a good place for people to sit and wait for a lift or the bus – there were several women waiting when I was there.

After the joy of Herbal Medicine Street and Jeil Presbyterian Church, and the Western Gate, I headed back up another street (which doesn’t seem to be one of the named-for-its-single-purpose ones) and further into Downtown. I had come here seeking parks so, armed with the map, I tried to do just that. One of the websites had said that, to get to one of the parks, you should get off at Jungangno subway station and walk in the direction of the MMC cinema complex. Inadvertently (because I really had no clear idea of where I was going), I found myself outside MMC, with the subway station several blocks behind me and no sign of the park. I did see the catholic cathedral in the distance, which I also want to have a look at, but I was now on a mission to find the parks, so I turned around and went back the way I’d come. When I found myself back at the Jungangno subway-station intersection, with roadworks leaving me no way to go any further on the pavement, I took a deep breathe and headed down into yet another underground shopping centre. I determined to avoided getting lost this time and thankfully I succeeded this time, coming up on the other side of the street, exactly where I’d hoped to be. At this stage,though, I was really just moving for the sake of moving, because I had no idea how to get to my destination. Just past a ‘youth-themed’ department store and yet another cinema complex, I turned left into a pedestrian mall absolutely packed with people and lined with a mixture of clearly-designer stores and what appear to be cheap-rip-off-goods outlets. I am not a huge fan of crowds or overkill commercialism, so after one block, I grabbed the chance to go somewhere else and randomly wandered along a road to the left..

At which point – surprise, surprise – I found the park. Well, not the actual park I was looking for at the time, but one of the two I’d wanted to see. For the record, looking at the hurried notes I took from the internet earlier, this was actually the one I was supposed to find with the directions I had been sort of following. As I walked into the park, the whole world immediately seemed calmer. Even the cicadas seemed quieter. It’s amazing what well-maintained open spaces and gardens can do. Gyeongsang-gamyeong Park is not a park in the sense of large open space that I’m used to – it’s more like a small-ish garden area, but it is still beautiful. Daegu city officials have decided to do an interesting thing with their park areas: each park (green lung?) is also somewhere that is historically or culturally important. It makes a lot of sense when there is limited space and is also convenient for tourists. This park is situated the site of the first provincial governor’s offices (dating from about 400 years ago when the provincial headquarters were move to Daegu).  In the park are two halls (platform-pillars-roof with typical Korean colours and dragon roof motif) marking where the repeatedly-destroyed-by-fire buildings used to stand. There are also a variety of important (indigenous) plants marked with plaques that I assume give information about them (in Korean), as well as a beautiful water-feature/mini-lake. Water is scarce where I come from, so that’s is probably the reason that I love fountains and outdoor water features. This one is a little different. Instead of a large fountain, they use bubbles from between the bed of rocks to create circles and patterns on the water’s surface. Really quite beautiful and definitely with that Asian-garden-of-calm feel to it. There are various other bits and pieces in the park, including a row of what look like stone monument grave markers (without the crosses, of course, but with a similar feel). I couldn’t read the marble-tablet of information this time (in Korean), except to note that it included a list of dates from 1637 to 1878, so I’m guessing this is a monument to a lineage of people – perhaps the governors of the province. The park was also full of people, in groups ,or couples, enjoying a warm, Summer, Saturday afternoon, sitting around on benches, chatting, or walking the little paths. Some of them looked at me a little strangely – maybe surprised to see a foreigner in their park. In one corner, at a little collection of benches and tables under a roof, there was a gathering of men watching and playing (and I would imagine betting on) two or three obviously crucial and rather intense board games. I couldn’t help but think of grandfathers and young men gathered on Kasi street corners back home, playing games of chance and skill on a Saturday afternoon. I have heard similar tales from cities like New York, too. Perhaps a phenomenon that exists in slightly different ways many different cultures. I was also greeted enthusiastically by a man dressed in what looked to me (again, in my uneducated state) like Middle-Eastern/Arab dress, although his features were definitely Korean. I had noticed him as I walked along the paths, effusively greeting many people. I was a little surprised, when he greeted me warmly, to hear a Middle-Eastern accent. Perhaps a Korean Muslim?

By this stage, I was ready for a break, so I thought I’d see if the Expat bar, Commune’s, that I’ve been to a couple of times, was open. I even managed to find it on the guidebook map. It turns out the guidebook map is a very bad map (or I can’t read it) and that I am totally unable to find in daylight a place I’ve only been to at night. After walking along many streets, up roads and down alleys, I eventually gave up. I know the place is there, and I’m sure I’ll find it again some evening but by this time I felt like I did the day that Richard decided we should see all of Maputo in one day on foot , so I headed back to the bus-stop and caught the 6pm (and still light) bus home.

A good day of exploring, I think. I didn’t see everything I wanted to see – another church and park for a start – but it’s kind of nice to know that there is more of Downtown to explore another time. Right now, I’m sipping a glass of dry, white wine, looking at the (not very good) pictures I took and loving the fact that the city I chose to live in, no matter what the guidebook says, is full of fascinating places and wonderful moments of adventure.