Greetings and Salutations!
It is 11 p.m. on a Saturday night and I find myself in the comfort of my own little American haven home, sipping a cup of egg nog (courtesy of a mix provided to me by Carly J. Guy) and listening to the Sex and the City movie in the background. Seoul has had extremely beautiful weather lately! From what I hear, May is the best month of the year and it will progress in a downward heatwave spiral as we approach the summer months. Last weekend, we had a four day weekend because the holiday, "Children's Day," fell on May 5th (ironically my favorite
holiday, Cinco de Mayo). As a child, I always asked my parents why there wasn't a day for the children. Korea is on the ball. In addition to Children's Day, May 8th was "Parent's Day" and May 15th is "Teacher's Day (!!!)." For the Children's Day holiday, five friends and I ventured to Busan. The group of beach goers included myself, Miranda and DeWet from South Africa, as well as Steve, Dan and Curtis from Canada. Busan is located in the southern part of the Korean peninsula and it takes approximately six hours to drive by car, however it took us about 2 1/2 hours each way via the KTX fast train. We departed from Seoul at 9 p.m. last Friday night and arrived in Busan at almost midnight.
As the four of us arrived into Busan (Steve and Dan met us the following day), we hailed a cab to take us to our lodging, Orange Motel. We apparently summoned the NASCAR superstar of Busan. The vehicle was moving at 160 km/h (about 100 mph) and it took a mere ten minutes to reach our destination. We made prior reservations, however such establishments are not difficult to find in large cities in Korea (as I hear they are common in much of Asia). I will not beat around the bush, for such establishments are referred to as "love motels." They are intended for rather short stays, they are cheap and in abundance. It was a wise move to pull off our holiday conducive to our economic statuses. Anyway, the four of us got settled in and had a night's sleep before going to the beach the following day.
We spent Saturday on the beach for the day for it was mostly sunny but then turned overcast.
We meandered to TGIFriday's for lunch. I had the most delicious grilled chicken Caesar salad I've had in a long time and a piña colada. After lunch, Miranda and I bought black sun hats and canned blueberry vodka drinks at 7-11. I wished everyday could be vacation.Our friend Curtis's girlfriend (who also teaches English in Seoul) was in Busan for holiday as well with her friends. We met them all on the beach and later on in the evening, we met them near our temporary place of residence for Korean BBQ (grilled beef=bulgogi). The individuals in my party enjoyed ourselves at dinner and we held no qualms when it was time to pay. It had surfaced that a couple of the girls were vegetarians and were rather hissy when the waitress insisted that we each pay 15,000 won (~$15). I really have no idea what the girl who was wearing the hippy head band and peace dress thought when she agreed to this carnivorous dining venue. The minor tiff was remedied when we strongly encouraged that the girls pay what they were told they owed and leave. I have found that when groups get too large, chaos ensues.
We parted ways with the group of girls after dinner and headed to a foreigner hang out called "U2." I didn't find the crowd to have been enticing. The point has been reached by myself where I prefer to attend places where locals go rather than foreigners, who are "dodgy" or "sketchy," the majority of the time. Busan hosts a large number of Russians, who I have been told, have mob ties. The Russian mafia is probably one of the last things I think or care about, but I just wanted to get a look at them after all of this talk. Unfortunately I did not get a glimpse while in Busan. Maybe next time.Sunday rolled around and we all slept in fairly late because we are worked to the bone (dealing with phonics, peed pants, bloody noses and perpetual sass) and get only 2 weeks of vacation in the whole year (and if you "contemplate" being sick, consider yourself done and back on a flight to your homeland). My Sunday essentially consisted of waking up at 1 p.m.; eating pumpkin soup (so delicious!), a chicken quesadilla and strawberry-ade at Bennigan's at 3:00; massage at 4:30 and then nap at 5:30. I seriously need more vacation days.
On Sunday night we had a late dinner at a place called Miami on 88. It was clear to have been a foreigner bar/restaurant but it had a colorful and glitzy interior and delicious hamburgers. We were there for a couple of hours for dinner and post-dinner refreshments. After that, we ventured onto the beach because the boys had excellent plans of buying and shooting off fireworks.
I am not sure why but I don't seem to have taken to this worldwide fascination of fireworks. They seem to be popular in Wooster, Ohio and very rural areas. ('I gotta pasture, let's go shoot some 'works!' Even boys from Toronto and Johannesburg get a kick out of these potentially dangerous entities. Nonetheless, Miranda and I were merely onlookers that evening, specifically as we witnessed DeWet make multiple purchases of sparklers and fireworks. Ajumas (middle aged Korean women) waltz down the beach with an array of fireworks for sale. When all else fails and a tourist runs out of money, they (DeWet) may attempt to trading fireworks for cigarettes. Such bargains were quite humorous to witness. Miranda and I had a long day of resting, eating and massage so we called in a night before our male counterparts were prepared to head back to "Orange" for the night. We bought convenient store ice cream, watched a Hillary Duff movie and went to sleep.
Monday, the day of departure, rolled around too quickly! We woke up and had brunch at TGIFriday's (really the only restaurant we trusted because we would not be served octopus legs) before taking cabs to the train station. Our train departed from Busan at 2 p.m. and we were all back in Seoul by 5 and ready to rest after a fantastic weekend away from the city! My Tuesday was spent catching up on sleep, making pancakes with Miranda and catching up on laundry and cleaning after the weekend's festivities.My weekend is once again half over but I plan to rest and recuperate tomorrow, as well as call the Denbow clan in Wooster. I hope that everyone is well and I want to a Happy Mother's Day! to all of whom it may apply.
