So, I realize about two posts ago, I mentioned how I was going to write about my new apartment, and I still haven't made good on that promise, but it's coming. Just not now. Now i'm going to write a short(!) post about why my school deserves to win the loud, obnoxious award. Although the atmosphere of an elementary school is naturally loud and obnoxious, lately there have been various construction projects adding to the overall decibel level of my class time. Let's take a look at exhibit A:
They're building a new gymnasium where the old garden used to be. (Progress?) There's hammering and sawing and drilling and jackhammering going on for a large portion of the day. Notice in the background the large crane dedicated to the construction of a new high rise apartment complex two blocks away (that is a larger discussion on the ever changing urban landscape in Korea). That is project number 1. Let's look at project number 2, exhibit B:
Now, the cynics in the readership may comment that this is just another part of exhibit A. The laying of gas and water pipes is an essential part of constructing a new building. However, you forget that this a) adds noise, as there is an entirely additional crew working on this portion of the project, and b) creates a fenced barrier, hindering my maneuverability (are we at war here?). Instead of being able to walk directly through the door adjacent to my classroom every morning, I have to go around the building and enter from the other side. Minor, first world problems, I know. Just explaining why I treat it as a separate project.
Then there is exhibit C:
It's difficult to discern with my stellar iPhone camera, but in the background, there exists a rail line resting atop cement pillars between lines of orange coney things. This is the ongoing Daegu light rail project that was started before I came to Korea and may very well end after I leave. When I moved here, the road pictured was just a normal four lane road with no median. Since that time, they have widened the road so that a median space for a rail line exists. In order to do this, they have torn down establishments, physically moved my school's historic landmark auditorium 20 ft east, and, most annoyingly, destroyed and shut down part of the subway station adjacent to my school, as they need to physically move the elevator and the stair entrance to the underground. Luckily, I moved apartments and I don't have to deal with the closed subway station anymore.
Not that ironically (at all, really...), my new apartment is adjacent to a different portion of the new light rail line. This portion is objectively more finished than the portion near my school/old apartment, and I can see what will clearly be a light rail train station looming above the intersection.
I can quickly see how this blog post is graduating from short to overly long and from the noise/aggrivation level at my school to the new Daegu light rail line, but I don't much care as this is my hot bloggy and I can do what I want. As I mentioned, this project was begun before I came to Daegu in February 2010. It is not scheduled to finish until summer of 2014, and, being smack dab in the middle of it, that deadline seems like wishful thinking.
I have mentioned before the industriousness of Korean construction teams and how quickly they can produce a finished product. This rail line seems to be the opposite of that. Mired by ongoing money shortages and battling with rush hour traffic, this project has been going painfully slow. I have seen progress, obviously, but the rate at which I see it is definitely lower than the Korean standard (see also: the Namdaemun reconstruction project).
It makes me especially sad since the route this line follows would be really convenient to getting around the city. Let's take a look at the new route:
Represented in red and green are the current subway lines, making a crude X, meeting at Daegu's downtown business district. Notice how much of the north and southeast are not represented by subway coverage. Now look how the new line (represented in cat puke yellow) will almost exclusively cover those areas. To the north is Chilgok, an area I frequent that has a unique shopping/restaurant/nightlife district. To the southeast lies Suseong, the affluent area of Daegu, boasting a really nice lake, unique nightlife, and exotic restaurants. To me, these areas should have been represented by subway coverage a long time ago (especially since Suseong-gu surely has lobbying power). But, Daegu's subway is a recent venture, so it's understandable that they are still expanding. I'm just going to stop there, as I'm sure you've gotten a broad overview of what I wanted to share.
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