Unraveling Traveler

With any job there are good days and bad days.  November has come and gone and just as was prescribed when we embarked on this journey, the honeymoon moments are becoming fewer and farther between. We have come to terms with our reality and surpassed the stage where everything is new, shiny and exciting.  There are fleeting moments where we just wish we were home, gearing up for the Christmas season and surrounded by friends and family.  But it's not going to happen.  You just have to give yourself a good shake and come back to reality.  It's only then that you realize that you've been staring blankly at your computer screen or stopped in the middle of repeating "my mother likes to make sandwiches" for the fifth time to a grade 6 class.  Mildly sexist textbook curricula aside, one blessing I have is coming home to Louise who still sees this country (and most things in life) through rose coloured glasses.  She is there to pick me up on the frustrating days of being a glorified tape recorder or when I just can't get my head around why they leave every single window and door open throughout the school in the dead of winter.  (Apparently it is to "change the air" so the kids don't get sick....)

But alas, this blog is not intended to be an outlet for all of my life's frustrations but rather as a means to communicate to the world all of the adventures and misadventures that have come my way.  I live for the weekend and the job allows me to do that.  This blog will mostly revolve around two separate trips I took to Busan, a city just south of Daegu on the coast (about 40 minutes by KTX train).  On my way back from the Gyeongju field-trip a few weeks ago, my friend Maurice and I decided to venture to Busan to meet up with friends and catch the last night of the International Fireworks Festival.  Everything was hunky-dory until we stepped off the train in the city and were met with heaving crowds in the subway stations, all vying for spots to the Hyundae and Gwangali beaches where they could watch the show.  The military police had been employed to keep order in the stations but mostly to ensure that as many people were crammed into each carriage as was physically possible, pushing hard on their backs just as the doors closed.  Limbs seemed an afterthought.

Busan from Above

Arriving at the correct Subway station, Maurice and I stepped out into the pouring rain.  Great.  We had made the trip and now we weren't even sure if the fireworks would go ahead.  But we started the walk towards the waterfront along with thousands of other people, trying to ignore the street vendors.  Every alleyway was a sea of hoisted umbrellas.  After giving up the effort to meet our friends in the crowd, we staked out a spot on the street and waited for the show to get underway.  When it finally did, it was definitely worth it.  Even in the rain and and a partially obscured view through the branches of some trees, the spectacle blew me away.  It went on for about 45 minutes, each section bigger and brighter than the last and all set to music.  There is something special about fireworks that is unlike anything else.  Fireworks haven't really changed drastically since they were invented, yet mention that there is gong to be a show and the people will show up en masse.  They appeal to people of all ages.  For the young, they incite wonder and awe, for the old; they give a taste of simpler times.  Even in today's technology driven society, we are able to stop everything for those few moments to watch some exploding bright lights in the sky.  It's so simple, yet awesome.

Our second trip to Busan was just this past weekend.  Louise and I seized the opportunity to head down on Saturday morning since I had a soccer game the next day against Busan (3-0 win for Daegu Devils!).  Without a specific plan in mind, we picked up a tourist map and decided there and then that we would check out Yongdusan Park and Busan Tower to get a bird's-eye-view of the city, a large port and trading hub.  It was a clear day so it afforded us a great view of the water on one side and the mountains on the other with a sprawling city-scape below us.  From there, we went to the largest fresh fish market in Korea which was right by the water.  We took in the sights and sounds often with mouths gaping open. The vendors were set up on either side of two large rows. Cold fresh water flowed over all of the fresh seafood, which seemed to reduce that fishy smell that I had been dreading on the walk over.  We had never even seen pictures of some of the stuff they were selling.  There were things moving and crawling out of their baskets that we didn't think were even remotely sentient. If something delicious (or suspicious) caught your eye, the vendor would grab it out of the basket and behead it, shuck it, skin it, gut it or descale it right there and then in front of your eye with lightning quick efficiency.  They have probably been doing this their whole life, so their technique had become second nature.  They were easily able to carry on a conversation with their neighbouring stall or eye up their next customer (or victim) all the while passing a razor sharp blade down the length of an eel. What many people tend to do is take their purchases right upstairs where a series of restaurants will prepare a meal for you;  Sashimi style or BBQ, whatever your taste-buds call for.

Jagalchi Fish
 Market

After that, we headed to the Busan Museum of Modern Art for a change of pace to check out the free exhibit, walked along the coast to the famous Haeundae Beach and found a Thai restaurant which proved it's worth and left us satisfied. Having been to the city before (but mostly at night) I knew that the buzzing night-life was mostly around the Kyungsung University area so we took the subway over to try and find a bar to watch the soccer game at - Newcastle vs Man Utd.  We reserved spots at a hostel that I had found online and settled down with a beer.  When the game was over (great 1-1 result for NUFC) , we hailed a cab and attempted to explain to the driver where the hostel was.  No one seemed to have heard of it and they were unwilling to trust the GPS map I was showing them on my iPhone which showed exactly where the hostel was.  it was a frustrating end to a great day but we eventually found the hostel which was weirdly in a large apartment building with no sign or clue as to where it was located.  But alas, we found it eventually and settled down for a few hours sleep.  We awoke at 6:30 am to hike up to the cliffs of the nearby park to watch the sunrise off the coast.  It was a really awesome experience as the waves crashed on the rocks below us and ships crawled across the bay, more and more becoming visible as the light increased.

Our most recent news will surely lead to a host of other blogposts as we just booked a 2 week holiday to Vietnam in January.  We are both really stoked to take on another country, get off the beaten path and live by the seat of our pants for a little while!  My blog recently passed its 1000th hit which I think is quite an accomplishment!  I swear it's not me just hitting refresh over and over again... but I really appreciate that people are taking the time to read up on my travels. Hope all is well with you.

D