Daegu has the hottest summer in all of Korea, and I was warned about this before I came. But I didn't think it would be this bad. One might think that after all the traveling I've done in tropical, developing countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India) that I would be more accustomed to the heat. But there are varying degrees of heat, and not just in terms of temperature. In Thailand and India the heat was always humid and sticky, but in Daegu there is a strange combination of dryness and humidity in the air. When the wind does blow, I can feel the dryness enter my throat and get in my eyes while the humidity turns my face and neck into a river of sweat that I have to dam continually with the small blue towel I kept in my shoulder bag as I walked around the downtown district of Jungangno last weekend. In spite of the heat the weekend was wonderful, the perfect balance of fun and relaxation. On Saturday I ate at my favorite burger joint, Burnham's Burgers, whose burgers would be perfection if only they did not put American cheese on their sandwiches and cheese fries, which I find utterly regrettable. After dinner I made my way to one of the coolest things about South Korea which is the DVD bang. Bang means room in Korean.These are individual private screening rooms. The way it works is, you choose from a selection of both Korean and Western DVDs and pay anywhere from 7-10,000 won ($7-10) per DVD. You can buy soft drinks and popcorn just like at the regular movie theatre and once you have chosen your DVD, you will be shown to your own mini-cinema, complete with a couch you can prop your feet up on which can seat anywhere from 4-6 people comfortably. You cut out the lights, they play your movie on a large screen and you're good to go! I think they're absolutely brilliant! I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, to ready myself to see the sequel which I'll see this coming weekend.

On Sunday I spent the whole afternoon with Jackie. She took me to the Seomun Market, which is one of Daegu's largest. We made it there just a couple of hours before closing time so it wasn't bustling and the crowds were thinning, but just about everything was on offer at this megaplex! There were traditional Korean fans and masks, mats and baskets made of bamboo, furniture, tea, food, casual clothes, material for hanbok, the traditional Korean costume worn on Korean thanksgiving, and much more. We did some shopping at Dong A Outlet Mall where I tried on an aqua blue pleated skirt with orange and yellow sequined, floral embroidery at Michaa, a Korean clothing retailer. It was stunning but the cost, at 199,000 won ($199) was just a little out of my price range. I looked at another equally stunning but equally unattainable beige shirt dress with a silver belt. It was sexy and smart and looked great on me but alas, I had to leave it behind. After our "shopping" trip, we stopped at Starbucks where I made the mistake of ordering a grande iced caramel macchiato. It wasn't a good choice because we followed up the coffee break with a Korean dinner, a very spicy one. I ordered my favorite soup, Soondubu, spicy soup with tofu, peppers, egg, and seafood with rice, bibimbap (mixed vegetables) and kimchi. Caffeine and peppers are not a good combination let me tell you. I was not at my best today, and I was so tired that I nodded off during one of my classes! But it was worth it for all the fun I had!