Herb Hillz

This past weekend a few other teachers and I went to Herb Hillz, a nature-themed amusement park in southern Daegu. The park was quite a mish-mash. There was a petting zoo, an eco-adventure obstacle course, carnival games, and some very strange pop culture displays. For instance, here's the scariest Michael Jackson you've ever seen:

Naturally, we were there for the eco-adventure obstacle course. For only $17, we a ziplining harness, a helmet, and a pass onto one of seven obstacle courses up in the trees of our choosing. After signing the waiver, we had to sit through about 20-30 minutes of instruction. Of course, it was all in Korean, so we had to guess at the gist of it based on gestures and common sense. However, most of it was "here's how to use a carabiner," and "don't jump out of the trees," so it wasn't hard to follow. We were briefly tested to make sure we were paying attention (and to see how good our Korean was, perhaps?), and then it was off to the trees:

And here's a video of Matty ziplining to a graceful stop:

We walked through the fragrant herb garden and checked out the petting zoo (some goats had escaped and were running amok through the rest of the park...you know, to the extent that goats can run amok). There was also a small pool with six inflatable hamster balls, each one with a child inside. They were rolling around and knocking into each other. Naturally we wanted to try, but we were told it was kids only. I call that discrimination.

All in all, it felt very similar to a Western amusement park. The musical selection was a touch odd -- I heard, as three songs in a row, PSY's "Gangnam Style" (obviously), Vivaldi, and then a ridiculous instrumental remix of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff." They may need to work a little bit on their transitions. One refreshing difference was the lack of litigious overtones. Aside from the waiver, there was just a general agreement that your well-being is in your hands, and that no one would be stupid enough to sue for something that they did to themselves.

One more full week of classes, and then it's the five-day Chuseok holiday. Should be a blast. Until next time!