Busan - Future Home?

After deciding to stay the night in Busan, we asked William for some advice on what to do. He recommended an inexpensive motel in Gwangalli Beach and gave us the phone number so our taxi driver could get directions. It turned out to be an adorable place with a view of the beach and at $40 bucks a night for all three of us, we were happy.

Gwangalli was supposed to have a decent nightlife, and though it was a Sunday, it was also a holiday weekend so we wanted to check it out. We took a stroll along the beach and admired a gorgeous bridge lit up in technicolor against the dark sea and sky. The bridge is just part of the reason why they call Busan "the San Francisco of Korea." After, we checked out the numerous cafes lining the shore and chose one to have dinner at.

We were only half way through dinner when the requisite group of crazy British boys invited us to check out a local bar. We headed over after we'd finished eating and had a few beers outside. All of a sudden a Korean man who had been observing us quite shamelessly handed me a pair of sunglasses and showed me his phone. It was open to a Korean-English dictionary and said "paying back a kindness; saying thank you." I was a bit confused but understood that he was trying to give the sunglasses as a gift (I later learned you got them free when you bought five Heinekens...). He introduced himself to our group as Kevin after we invited him outside to join us. He then proceeded to buy the six of us several rounds of beer.

Later on, Kevin asked us if we wanted to go to "a wine party." If the words "wine" and "party" are used in the same sentence, I am automatically in, so we followed him to the top floor of his hotel, where he rented out a noraebang. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, a noraebang is a Korean karaoke room. They are EVERYWHERE in this country and an absolute favorite of Koreans to end a night of drinking. Basically you rent a room, play music, act a fool, eat, and drink. I had never been to one because I hate singing in public, but in the interest of culture, spontaneity, and crazy fun, I figured it was time.

The room was huge, and featured a large screen and a huge table with about twenty chairs surrounding it. It seemed more like a board room than a party, but that quickly changed when Kevin started ordering bottles of wine, beers, and huge fruit and cheese platters. We started the music and shortly after the singing, dancing and tambourine playing commenced. The best part of all, however, had to be when Kevin started singing Korean slow jams.

We stumbled out into the street at about 4 am and the three of us passed out on our beautiful circular bed. In the morning we had coffee and sat on the beach. The weather was still warm enough for bathing suits, although too cold to swim in my opinion.

After lunch it was time to head back to Seoul, but I had really enjoyed Busan's laid back atmosphere. Seoul has so much to offer, but I seriously miss living by the ocean. The mild weather and beach bum lifestyle in Busan might be enough to have me considering a move next year. Thoughts??

I'd tell you to wake up, but you haven't slept in days

No doubt about it, life has been a lot of fun. Spending the past week on my death bed, however, has made me realize that maybe I need to get my act together a little bit. Now that the beautiful weather has rolled in, there are a lot of things I want to do and see.

Seoul isn't exactly one of the world's greatest tourist draws, but I would like to check out some of the palaces and temples in the city. I want to do some hiking before the weather gets too hot and to finally make it to one of the Seoul Veggie Club meetings. I'd also like to find the English bookstore in the city and buy some books to help me study Korean.

Seoul nightlife is a lot of fun, but the late nights and the hour long subway ride in and out of the city make it really hard to accomplish much during the day. This weekend was Maddy's 23rd birthday, so we decided to go hard and celebrate then become functional human beings next weekend.

Well, its Sunday, and things are looking up. I'm feeling better and I went on an apartment cleaning rampage all day in an attempt to disinfect the "sick nest." I'm not what you would consider domestic by any stretch of the imagination, but I am starting to see what's up with this whole cleaning thing... it does feel kind of nice. Just don't get any ideas about me becoming an obsessive compulsive tidier like my extremely deranged (wonderful and beautiful but yes, psychotic) sister -btw Lee, you would have loved to see me scrubbing away at my counter tops in sweatpants and rubber gloves.

Now I'm in the process of organizing my finances in the hopes of sending home that student loan money AND taking a little trip for a long weekend in May (the Philippines? Japan?) Sure, maybe I don't need to take a trip, but it is my solemn duty to make sure that I see as many sights as possible while I am here... and to write about it all and keep everyone interested at home. See? It's for you much more than it is for me.

So, I welcome myself back to the productive lifestyle. It's been a little while, but I think I can get the hang of it again. It was always easier to sleep when the sun is down...

Window to my Life

My name in Korean - apparently it's not an easy translation

Street fish: pancake outside, red bean inside... so good!

A note left for me after English Club from Kelly(her "English Club name")

Late night in Seoul with my left arm and my right arm

Seoul Tower

A view of the city from Seoul Tower - high rises stretch to the horizon in every direction.

The Whole World is the Same

My second week at school went a lot better once I started drinking coffee again. The past month I got by fine with just tea, but that was only because I had absolutely nothing to do with my life. I need a lot of energy to keep up with the kids every morning, so caffeine is a must. Koreans mostly drink nasty instant coffee with creamer and sugar already mixed in. I was not having that, so I managed to find black instant coffee, which while still kind of gross, does the trick. I have to put at least two packets in each cup to make it even resemble real coffee, however.

Friday was class election day, so all the kids were ridiculously roudy. I teach 5th and 6th grades on Fridays and I nearly lost my voice by the end of the day from yelling over them. Luckily we were only doing fun things like a Little Mermaid role play and a country game, so I managed to keep their attention. I was a little sad because I didn't get any candy for White Day. White Day was on Saturday and it is a lot like Valentine's Day, only bigger. In Korea, on V-day women buy candy for the men they like and on White Day the men have to reciprocate. Apparently nobody loves me. Oh well.

Friday night I went out with some people who live in my neighborhood. It was great to finally meet other teachers in Sanbon. A lot of them live in my building and have been in Korea for at least a year. They had a lot of good advice for me, the best one being an introduction to yogurt soju, which, if you know my yogurt loving ways, I obviously am obsessed with. It's clear, comes in a pitcher, contains two bottles of soju, and tastes exactly like a drinkable yogurt. Oh heavenly! They also showed me the elusive Pirate Bar that I had read all about before I came here but couldn't find. It wasn't as exciting as I imagined, but they serve beer in ice glasses which you then throw at a target on the wall. The ice smashes and if you hit the target you win free drinks. I'm all for smashing things and free stuff so I'm a fan.

On Saturday afternoon there was a huge St. Paddy's Day celebration in Seoul. I met Maddy and we spent the afternoon enjoying Irish music, free Guinness, and a whole bunch of cool Westerners. We had a really great time - a great time that extended from noon until 6 am the next morning. I ended up falling asleep on the subway ride home and waking up every so often because I hit my head on the metal pole behind me. Luckily I didn't miss my stop and managed to climb into bed by 7:30.

I slept it all off this afternoon and now its back to work for another week. I'm crossing my fingers that my alien registration card comes in the mail this week so that I can open a bank account and get a cell phone. I managed to pass my medical exam even with my hearing impairment, and I made it to the dreaded immigration office, so once my card arrives I will officially be a resident of South Korea for the next year. I've got absolutely no problem with a year of this...