Busan!

Last Wednesday morning, I boarded a cross-country bus and rode 4 1/2 hours southeast of Seoul. I was headed for Busan--the second largest city in Korea. If I look sleepy in the picture above, it is because I spend most of the 4 1/2 hours with my eyes closed!

I booked a room in an apartment/hostel for $15 bucks a night, dropped off my backpack and headed out into the city. There were only three lines on the subway (as opposed to about 12 in Seoul), so it was no problem getting around! I walked the first day for a couple of hours and found my way down to the pier. By then, it started to get dark and I didn't have a very good impression of the city (I made a mental note to cancel the third night at the hostel and go home early). The next day was much better though!


I met a few cool people at the hostel, so a Canadian girl and I decided to hang out for the day--we started at the fish market, went to the PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival shopping area--Busan is spelled with a 'P' sometimes), got a sushi lunch and headed to the beach! It was a fun day and I was sad that I had forgotten my bathing suit! Later that night, we met up with an Australian guy from the hostel and got $4 Galbi (BBQ pork) for dinner!


This sculpture seems out of place. Is it just me? Does anyone else have the urge to draw squiggle flowers growing out of it?


The next day, I left the hostel a little earlier and headed to the beach with my book. I finished reading "Mutant Message Down Under"--it was really a great book! I recommend reading it! Anyway, I brought my bathing suit, but didn't have anything to sprawl out on--sometimes this is OK, but the sand was, like, a million degrees, so I dug through my backpack and found a garbage bag I put in there to use as a poncho if it ever started raining while I was hiking. I tore it open, spread it on the sand, and carefully placed my clothes over the top to create a nice "Left Behind" scene! I got in the water a few times, but had some trouble drying off with my black, plastic towel. Another mental note: ALWAYS bring a beach sarong! My summer tan is coming along nicely with the help of some 38SPF sunblock! Gotta take care of my skin before I turn into leather! :)

During one of the 15 minute rest stops, I decided to get a snack and found this treasure! :) Anyone want to try some of these onion cookies? I opted for some french fried, boiled potatoes with sweet ketchup instead, and sat out on one of the plastic picnic benches away from the crowd (I was the ONLY foreigner amidst the hundreds of Koreans). A bus driver came over and purposely sat next to me (normally, people tend to avoid me and stare from a distance). He handed me a Pocari Sweat (an awesome Japanese sports drink) and told me in Korean that the potatoes would make me choke if I didn't drink something. He proceeded to ask me questions about my comings and goings in Korean and I answered him in English. When he finished his drink, he promptly got up and said, "OK, bye." It was a nice exchange.