:) :) :)

The best thing my parents ever taught me was how to ride a bike. I can't name many more things than just taking off on a bike somewhere that make me that happy. I was wasting away a gorgeous day yesterday, when I finally just hopped on my bike and took off in a vague general direction. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. And my cellphone. And a watch. But it worked in my favor, completely freeing me of any possible distractions. The only thing I regret is that no one was there with me to see my jaw drop at the ridiculous beauty I saw, or the permanent smile I had on my face all day.

At first I just set off heading west, but when I saw 4 junior high girls on bikes turn the to right in front of me, I decided to follow them because they looked like they were headed... I don't know... somewhere. Well, my stalking didn't last long because I got distracted by a group of geriatrics playing croquet. If there was a day to forget my camera, this wasn't it. But if there was a day to remind me why I came here- this WAS it. I just kept biking and biking and eventually I came to the Samunjingyo Bridge near Hwawon Resort in the Seongsan-ri section of Daegu (southwest of the city, if you're looking at a map). Sidenote, just spent 20 minutes searching google for some photos to post, but no dice. So you'll have to wait until the next time I go back!

Anyway, so I'm peddling across this ridiculously long (and totally empty except for me) bridge, and a gathering of parachutes in a flat field right next to the river on the opposite side piques my interest. Like a creep, I park my bike directly above them on the bridge, and in genuine stalker fashion watch them for the next 20 minutes, trying to will myself the courage to suck it up and go down there and talk to them. What did I have to lose? I'm already completely out of place just by existing here, so I had nothing to lose! I wound my way through the sand until I eventually got to the field they were in. I precariously parked my bike in the sand, and walked slowly and unsteadily as if I'd never walked before into this group of foreign strangers, just because I was in awe by what they were doing. They all smiled at me (about 8 middle aged men and one woman) and waved, a few saying hi, one asking me where I was from. Basically they were paragliding, only not leaving the ground. So it looked more like a mix between paragliding and flying a kite! I could tell it was hard work. They were all sweating. But it was a truly unique experience to be right in the midst of something like that. The picture below is basically what they'd be doing if they were actually leaving the ground. Perhaps they were just practicing? I may never know.

After the paragliding, I saw this little pagoda on the top of a mountain and it was my next goal- to figure out how to get there. Trees have started blossoming, and it's quite gorgeous to bike through a park in early spring with nothing but blue skies above you and flowering nature surrounding you. After winding my way up into the mountain, I finally get to the top, and to my surprise there's a petting zoo! But also to my surprise, even the deer here didn't know what to make of me! They were walking riiiight up to all the Koreans, feeding directly out of their palms. They ran away when they saw me, then slowly yet skeptically approached me again. I had to laugh.

Yesterday was the kind of happy, carefree, encouraging day of exploration that makes all the other emotions I'm feeling here totally worth it. I probably had bugs in my teeth from the constant barrage of smiles I was producing. It was nice. Really, really nice. I'm sad I don't have any pictures to show, but I will most definitely be returning. To top of my day I bought a few new plants to adorn my apartment, make it feel more like mine.