Busan

I took a trip over the summer to Busan, South Korea. It is the second largest city in South Korea and also the southern most city on the mainland. The population is about 3.6 million. It a young city that is growing rapidly. After a few days there I could see why!

Busan was wonderful. I cannot wait to go back. The first thing I did when I got there was locate a Starbucks! Ha ha ha. My friend Josh (from my TEFL course in Prague)knows how much I love Starbucks so he made sure to point out the closest one to my hotel that I stayed at the first night. He now lives in Busan and teaches at a private institute.

The first night I stayed on Heaundae Beach. It is in the Guiness Book of World Records for the most umbrellas on one stretch of beach. I believe it! I was there on a Thursday and it was still pretty busy. I hear the weekends are really crazy! It really was a great beach with the city sitting right on the water. There was a Starbucks on the street that ran along the beach. No city mugs for Busan yet, but I still picked up a new mug to have at my new home in Jeju.

The second night I stayed in the Busan National University area. Not sure where the actual university was though. I wasn't able to find it. On this day I went to Beomosa Temple. It sits up high in the mountains. You can hike to it if you please but I didn’t have any real shoes to do any hiking in. Maybe another time. This temple has been around since 678 but has been burned down a few times. The last re-build was in 1613. There are lots of small buildings all over the grounds. The monks walk around freely and interact with visitors. I was shocked to see this because most of the time, the monks seem to be in hiding. My favorite part of the temple other that the gorgeous insides, were these three little Buddhist statues that were hear no evil, speak no evil, say no evil. They were wonderful. The view from that high up was also amazing. That night I had dinner with Josh. A traditional Korean meal called Galbi. It is like an indoor BBQ. Great fun with friends. We decided on pork and it was in fact the best Galbi place that I have been to yet and I eat this often.

The third day we went to Gwangalli Beach. This beach sits on a bay. It reminds me of something you would see in Southern California. It has a boardwalk and everything. Not to mention a three story Starbucks that sat right on the beach. We of course stopped in and had a coffee and watched the people on the beach below. There was a Farris Wheel and other carnival rides. We returned that night to the beach to hit the bars and nightlife. Lots and lots of foreigners were out and about. It was great because they close the streets on the beach at night and put out tables and chairs. You can just eat and drink and hangout with people. Also there are no laws telling you where and where you cannot drink. I was pretty surprised by this. But it seems that as long as you are not out of control or harming other people you are free to drink wherever your little heart desires. A lot of people drank on the beach. It was wonderful.

All in all Busan was a great place to visit. I am actually going to be there again October 3-5th for the International Film Festival. Lots of my friends from Jeju are going, so it should be a wonderful time!

3 Month Check-in

It seems like just the other day I was saying to goodbye to all my family and friends because I was moving to South Korea! I cannot tell you how many times I heard "Are you crazy?" or "What are you going there for?"

Well I am not crazy! I am just a free spirit in many ways. I figure that you only get one life here on earth and I want to make the most of it. Traveling has become a passion of mine. Those of you that know me very well also know that I am talker! That is putting it mild. Ha ha ha. So what a better way to travel the world and talk at the same time, than to become an English as a Foreign Language teacher?! I was able to find a way to do both. It just so happens that I landed in South Korea! The plus side about South Korea, is that I live on the beautiful island called Jeju and have met some amazing people that are my age and have seen so much of the world.

So here I am at the three month marker! YAY. I made it! From what I hear the hard part is over. Most people that have done what I am doing said that the first three months are pretty rough. You have to deal with the initial culture shock and the obvious language barriers, as I do not speak Korean (yet). My "honeymoon" phase as they call it has come to an official end. I know feel that I am part of this place. Part of the city that I live (Seogwipo) in and the schools that I teach at.

Do I still love it? Absolutely! Don't get me wrong I miss all of you back home in the United States, and other parts of the world, but I know that I will return. Everyday brings something new. I am learning new things about the Korean culture and people. My students teach me as much as I teach them, I think. In fact some of them have started giving me small Korean lessons during breaks. Ha ha ha. I guess they figure they can only benefit if I learn Hangul (Korean).

I still have 9 more months to go here in South Korea, then onto another continent! I have had an amazing summer and it is not over yet, as we tend to get the seasons later. I will try to post more blogs about my summer adventures, so keep your eyes peeled :)