Sunday, February 17, 2013

Same Place, New Adventures

Last weekend I went to Busan. Now as you may know, my very first weekend in Korea was spent in Busan learning to surf for Chuseok. This time, it was Lunar New Year and MaLeah and I wanted to bust out of town for our 3 day weekend that are few and far between, especially for her. We found a trip last minute to Busan so we wired our money and were on our way at 11pm on Friday night.

MaLeah spent her 5 hours on the bus making new friends, while I spent mine sleeping. We rolled into Busan around 5 am and then slept until 12. At that time, we got up and went to brunch at a bar on the beach. The food was AMAZING and we hung out there all day playing shuffle board and such. Then we moved to the beach and hung out some more. After that, it was nap time until about 630 when we had to be on the bus to go to dinner with our crew. Dinner was a traditional Southern meal of pulled pork and baked beans (so delicious and nearly impossible to come by in Korea). We spent the night out, having a blast and making far too many memories (or lack thereof) as well as making new friends.

The following day we were supposed to go on a hike, but instead paid 1.50 for a train ride up to the top (well worth it after the night we had). There was a beautiful view of the ocean and a lighthouse along the way.

After our trip up the hill, we headed towards the famous fish market. It was fascinating and disgusting to see all of those fish. The main attraction of the fish market was closed. Supposedly there is a 3 story building where you can go in, choose your fish, they'll chop it up and serve it to you right there. That building was closed, however that's pretty much how the entire fish market worked anyways. As we walked along the outdoor part, we saw many fish, eel, and even a turtle here and there. We stopped to watch this man make something that seemed like it would turn out to be a fish soup. It was quite interesting to watch. A man told him which fish he wanted (this included a HUGE 4 foot fish that was like, a foot wide, and eel, 2 turtles, and a few other fish) and then the man threw it into a steamer. Then he mixed up some spices, mushrooms, and seasonings and added them to the pot. At that point, we got bored and continued along our merry way to find some skinless, headless, mini eel type things still squirming. We decided at that point, we were over the fish market.

As we were walking back towards the bus, I heard a small little voice say "Melissa Teachaaa!" One of my students, 6 hours from home, randomly in the streets of Busan, all dressed in her Hanbok for Lunar New Year. Adorable.

The evening progressed with another nap, more delicious "Western" style food and drinks for dinner and then a really cool bar that's 14 floors up in a building on the beach. Talk about gorgeous views!

On the last day, we went back to breakfast at the place we were at the first day in Busan, then we went to the temple by the sea. Sorry I was not too on top of pictures this time because I had already been to this temple previously. However we were there during the day this time, and it's still absolutely gorgeous.

The trip ended with another 5 hour bus ride back to Seoul with my new roomies and new homies and it was an entirely memorable weekend that I'll probably never forget.

(Pictures to come...)

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