I figured that it was about time for a change. After 6 weeks in Busan I was getting comfortable enough with my surroundings that everything suddenly seemed less fascinating. That, or I suddenly became less fascinating and was unable to appreciate the awesomeness that surrounded me as a result of this...? Scoff! Impossible. There is simply too much awesome here for it to depreciate to that level!
A friend of mine from the good ol' University of Guelph happens to be living in Daegu. A while ago he brought my attention to a charity event that was being held there this past weekend. My usual sarcasm and attitude aside for a moment, this event was held to raise money for two very good causes. To summarize, half of the money raised was going to support children in Kenya, and the other half was going to fund medical care for children in Korea who can't otherwise afford it. For more information, click here
Originally I was going to just donate a few bucks, but not actually go. "Daegu is too far, I'm tired!", was my working excuse. As it turns out this is a really crappy excuse; it needs even more work than I had thought. It actually takes me longer get to parts of Busan via subway than it does for me to get to Daegu on the KTX. In other words, the travel time is negligible. Of course, hardly anybody that I met that night seemed to realize this. Hence, I spent the entire night explaining to people that yes, I had in fact come alllll the way from Busan! Blowing minds is what I do best. Before this turns into another rant on how I'm so bloody amazing that I felt the need to spread the awesome around Korea, I'll point out that I only ever made it up to Daegu because my coworker really wanted to go to the event. Apparently I'm not quite as awesome as I thought, eh?
I have the misfortune of working early Saturday afternoon; as a result, my coworker (from here on out known as "Ann") and I could not depart for Daegu until about 3pm. Had time permitted, it would have been better to go earlier and take in some sights during the day. This is what I get for agreeing to tutor on Saturday.
Departing Busan around 3pm meant that we had about an hour of daylight left once we arrived in Daegu. It was vitally important that we used this time wisely. Hugging random statues that I found and posing in front of signs at the train station like an asshole were absolute musts. As was stopping by my friend's apartment in order to see if it was bigger than mine or not. It wasn't, natch. In case you've forgotten, my apartment is amazing. A fucking castle, fit for the princess that I am. I digress.
The event itself kicked off around 7pm; it was due to start earlier, but this is Korea. Among other things, there was a buffet dinner, swing dancing, fire dancing, belly dancing, a magic show, a round of speed dating, and not nearly enough free booze. Isn't it about time that charities gave back a little by liquoring people up? They almost made up for this by providing actual beef at the buffet. I had not eaten real beef since leaving Canada. I've had a McDonald's hamburger here and there, but who knows that the Hell that is made of. Everything else that I ate was just filler as my taste buds prepared themselves for, and then recovered from the wonderful beef. Ah, beef. How I miss you. I'm getting a bit carried away here; it's not that I can't buy beef here, in Busan. It's just that I'm a cheap bastard and pork is way, way, wayyyy cheaper. But not nearly as good. Sigh. Moving on, all of the dancing hooplah was enjoyable. The fire throwing lady and belly dancers weren't particularly fond of clothing. Neither am I, so I understand their angst. "Speed dating" was mildly entertaining. I thought that it would be a good way to practice my questionable social skills without actually having to deal with anybody for more than a few minutes at a time. I was correct. Overall, the event was pretty fantastic. More importantly, they raised something like $7000 CAN to share between the two causes.
I concluded from my experiences at the event that in my next life I should be a fire throwing belly dancer who can make birds appear from thin air and fly out of her hands. Is this asking a bit much, perhaps? Because I'm willing to just settle for the bird bit, as I'm almost certain that the key to everybody's pants lies in being able to make birds appear in and then fly out of your hands.
As there tend to be any time I decide that staying out the entire night is a good idea, there were some shenanigans to follow the event. Stay tuned for Episode 2.
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