Daegu Tower

As an individual pushes their personal limits, their sense of adventure quickly escalates to a craving to try new things. Overcoming fears are the largest strides one can take to improving their quality of life. My sense of adventure while younger was nearly nonexistent, however after constantly over coming new challenges, and pursuing ones of higher caliber, this craving has become a need for adrenaline.

On a random Sunday I woke up with the urge to acquire such adrenaline. I contacted two of my friends in the morning and said let’s go to Daegu Tower so I can jump off. Daegu Tower is the highest tower in Asia standing at 202m high and 312m in altitude in the heart of Daegu, South Korea. There they have a Sky Jump where you can jump off a platform from the top of the tower to a target on the ground.

Attached to a bungee cord and two parallel breaking cables connected to the ground, you take a leap from the outstanding view overlooking Daegu, just above Woobang Land Amusement Park. Although not nearly as exciting as bungee jumping from a bridge or jumping out of an airplane; it always gets the heart pumping being at such great heights preparing to take a leap of faith.

The initial bungee did give a good sense of free falling adrenaline down several stories of the tower. The following descent however was not quite free falling but rather decelerating to the ground, which was not as thrilling, but fun none-the-less. Regardless of this, the inexpensive price of $50USD to jump did serve its purpose of getting my heart pumping and ready for a new week of teaching!

4th of July Abroad!

A traveler can emerge themselves into any number of cultures or countries, but in the end of the day there is and always should be sense of pride for your native country.

I have had some interesting 4th of July's in the past, with my favorite being in Kampala, Uganda. After searching around all day I found the most patriotic thing I could. Eagle Beer! Sharing them with some locals at a bar and expressing myself as a United States citizen in East Africa, during President Obama’s election campaign, resulted in holiday to remember.

This year was no different, back in South Korea trying to maintain my American customs.
We had a classical rooftop barbecue rounding up any ex-patriots we could, drinking beers, smoking import cigars, and shooting off Roman candles into the rainy Korean night sky! It was by no means a glamorous 4th of July, but just as fun as home, being surrounded by other ex-patriot friends representing all corners of the United States.

The following day during the 4th of July in Western Hemisphere times, we also felt the need to celebrate in accordance with everyone else in the United States. The questionable nature of being able to purchase extremely cheap fireworks at grocery stores, gas stations and elsewhere surpassed our better judgment. 

We carelessly embarked on a second night of rooftop fireworks and beer. After a firework exploded in one friends hand as well as my face; accompanied by Koreans yelling at us in Korean from their windows; we relocated to the local park. There, we set off a makeshirt fire display of over 30 fireworks over a 15 minute period, finishing just seconds before police showed up.

We may not live in the United States but we still maintain pride in our homeland on the otherside of the world!