Busan, Round Dos

This past week has been my "Summer Vacation." I utilize the quotation marks because this is the first summer vacation in my life that has been ONE week long (or short, depending on your personal views). The sweet and glorious days of summer which entailed rushing to tidy the house for my mother and immediately followed by watching Bob Barker's The Price is Right and giving Papa John's a holler with our pizza order, with my sister, Rachel and brother, Chris, are far gone. This summer, two of the three Denbow children are employed full-time and the third just got his driver's license so he can bop around the corn fields in the Denbow children's '99 Black Honda Accord. I will give Chris credit, for he mows a lawn or two and accrues significant funding. That being said, he is so successful that he may have to look at hiring me too when I get home!

On Monday, I left for Busan, Korea with my friend Anna. Prior to our departure and with the wonderful help of Korean friends, our KTX fast train tickets and accomodations were booked. On the train ride to Busan, and just as my last trip to Busan, other passengers complained that Anna and I liked to chat. I could have a) apologized to the mute Koreans surrounding us or b) not have cared and continued to rattle my gums at a steady pace where non-native speakers would have no idea as to what I was saying. I opted for the latter. When I am on vacation, I am going to carry on an adult conversation at an appropriate decibel level with my travel buddy without notions of guilt. Just because I was surround by meek little beach-seekers did not require me to wear a muzzle for a 2.5 hour train ride.
By the time we arrived to Busan, it was about 5 p.m. and Anna and I hailed a taxi to find our accomodations. I was responsible for where we stayed and amongst all of the hotels in Busan, not many of them have English websites. I found an establishment with great reviews and it was entitled "Busan Beach Tourist Hotel (BB)." Now, from the name, one may assume that this hotel is directely in Busan, on the beach and hosts tourists potentially of various nationalities. Now if you were a character who also hypothesized such, you, as I, were incredibly wrong. First signal that something was not right: the taxi driver had no idea as to where we were headed. Second signal: the area hosted an extensive stench of unappealing fish. Third: In order for us to go to the beach, it was a $20 and almost 30 minute cab ride...

The accomodations were very nice with splendid linens and a great bathtub, however being 30 minutes away from any hint of Western cuisine and so close to 60 year old men who did nothing but fish all day caused us to reconsider our location. After we dropped our belongings off at BB, we ventured 30 minutes in a taxi to Benigan's for dinner (which is still so delicious although it no longer exists in America...) and then to the beach! Further contemplation caused me to give a ring to the very kind gentleman I am seeing by the name of Kang Sang Ho, for he speaks Korean. I briefed Sang Ho on the situation Anna and I faced. As I pouted and emphasized my inability to have access to Western food while on vacation, dear Sang Ho called to make reservations at a different hotel for the next two nights so we would be closer to the beach and non-octopus dishes :) After all of that was settled, Anna and I went to BB for the night to prance in our robes, drink wine and watch the Top 10 Celebrity Breakups. Korea only has the finest television shows in English.

The next day, we got an early move on and spent the next two full days, Tuesday and Wednesday, on the beach. We each rented a chair under an umbrella all day for about $3.50. Tuesday was extremely overcast and although I knew we would get sun, I had no idea that having gone an hour without an umbrella would leave me completely charred. Anna and I did make friends with Jin, a university student who was selling chicken on the beach. He gave us his card and told us that when we wanted lunch, that he would deliver to our spot. Jin is awesome. The chicken was scrumptous and Jin also made sure that we became friends on facebook. After beach side beverages and lunch, Anna and I packed up for the day and headed to get massages for only 15,000 won (less than $15)! I had been there before and they leave me with bruises... but in a good way.


Wednesday consisted of more beach time, as well as a boat ride on the ocean! It was a beautiful day for such an excursion being that it was a bit overcast and not too hot. After that, we had lunch at TGIFriday's (and a colada!) and then hauled it to the beach for the rest of the day!

The final day of our beach adventure arrived much too quickly! We were able to enjoy the last bit of the ocean, eat lunch at McDonald's and then board the train again. It will soon be back to the normal routine of work, but I have only four weeks left of work! I am very anxious to wrap it up and return to my friends and family in the states!