Busan
So this post is LONG overdue. But, I have to at least catch you up on my week in Busan over Chuseok. So, the last week in September Koreans celebrate their "Thanksgiving." It's kind of like the American Thanksgiving in the sense that they eat A LOT of food and go to their relatives house to honor the holiday. But, they go visit their deceased relatives graves for the main day of Chuseok. It lasts about 3 days, which means...we get a week off from school! Woohooooo
Since we had only just arrived in Korea, many of us did not have enough money for a huge trip yet since we had not gotten paid yet. And some of us didn't yet have the multipe Visa we needed to travel to different countries, so we decided we would spend the week in Busan, a beautiful beach city about an hour away on the KTX train. Busan was actually the city I wanted to teach in originally so I was pretty excited to see it.
We arrived in Busan late at night on the first Monday of our week off. I was lucky enough to have Monday off from school, but my friends had to teach so we took the late train after they got finished that night. Let me first mention that after going to the wrong train station and realizing this 10 minutes before our train left we arrived at the right train station at 9:00 and our train left at 9:02. Not the best way to start vacation, but nonetheless we made the train!
We arrived at our hostel after somehow finding our way off the train. Keep in mind this was my very first hostel I ever stayed at so I was not sure what to expect! We walked in and a man named Lee greeted us. He had pretty good English and the hostel looked much like a house, filled with bunk beds. The room we were put in had nets all around the beds to keep the bugs out. I was not too sure about the netting when I first saw it and the idea of "bugs" in general, but it turned out to be a great, clean and safe place to stay where we met alot of other really cool people there. We roomed with two other girls who were teaching in Daejeon, another city in Korea. We met a few more English teachers who were teaching in Seoul who we ended up going out at night with the week we stayed there. I now love hostels because it lets you meet so many other travelers and just really feel like your a kid again with bunk beds and only a backpack!
Our week flew by in Busan but I would say the most amazing part that was most different than Daegu were the beaches. Hyundae and Gwangali Beach were absolutely breathtaking to say the least. Especially when they were lit up at night it was honestly absolutely gorgeous the way the colorful bridge looked over the water and the bars and restaurants lined the streets right next to it.
We explored the fish markets during the day where we watched live fish get chopped up in front of us and served raw to some Koreans. I didn't work up the nerve to try it...maybe next time!
Our hostel owner, Lee, cooked the entire hostel dinner on the night of Chuseok. We had some traditional Korean good and Soju that was absolutely delicious. We sat around a long wooden table on the floor and feasted with the other guests at the hostel.
We went to Busan tower one day where you could literally overlook the entire city once you reached the top. Below the tower the streets were filled with markets, shops, and street food. We walked around for about 7 hours that day just exploring. I feel like a little kid again everytime I turn down a new street I am just amazed by what I see. Everything feels so new and fresh to me, I love it!
We went out to the bars that lined the beach at night and met a lot of other people who were visiting Busan over Chuseok as well. They were from all over: Sweden, others from the UK, Canada and "the states."
5 days flew by. We had gotten a bit of everything: a sunburn, new clothes, tried new foods, saw new places and met a lot of new people. Busan is definitely a place I will be going back to very soon.
Since we had only just arrived in Korea, many of us did not have enough money for a huge trip yet since we had not gotten paid yet. And some of us didn't yet have the multipe Visa we needed to travel to different countries, so we decided we would spend the week in Busan, a beautiful beach city about an hour away on the KTX train. Busan was actually the city I wanted to teach in originally so I was pretty excited to see it.
We arrived in Busan late at night on the first Monday of our week off. I was lucky enough to have Monday off from school, but my friends had to teach so we took the late train after they got finished that night. Let me first mention that after going to the wrong train station and realizing this 10 minutes before our train left we arrived at the right train station at 9:00 and our train left at 9:02. Not the best way to start vacation, but nonetheless we made the train!
We arrived at our hostel after somehow finding our way off the train. Keep in mind this was my very first hostel I ever stayed at so I was not sure what to expect! We walked in and a man named Lee greeted us. He had pretty good English and the hostel looked much like a house, filled with bunk beds. The room we were put in had nets all around the beds to keep the bugs out. I was not too sure about the netting when I first saw it and the idea of "bugs" in general, but it turned out to be a great, clean and safe place to stay where we met alot of other really cool people there. We roomed with two other girls who were teaching in Daejeon, another city in Korea. We met a few more English teachers who were teaching in Seoul who we ended up going out at night with the week we stayed there. I now love hostels because it lets you meet so many other travelers and just really feel like your a kid again with bunk beds and only a backpack!
Our week flew by in Busan but I would say the most amazing part that was most different than Daegu were the beaches. Hyundae and Gwangali Beach were absolutely breathtaking to say the least. Especially when they were lit up at night it was honestly absolutely gorgeous the way the colorful bridge looked over the water and the bars and restaurants lined the streets right next to it.
We explored the fish markets during the day where we watched live fish get chopped up in front of us and served raw to some Koreans. I didn't work up the nerve to try it...maybe next time!
Our hostel owner, Lee, cooked the entire hostel dinner on the night of Chuseok. We had some traditional Korean good and Soju that was absolutely delicious. We sat around a long wooden table on the floor and feasted with the other guests at the hostel.
We went to Busan tower one day where you could literally overlook the entire city once you reached the top. Below the tower the streets were filled with markets, shops, and street food. We walked around for about 7 hours that day just exploring. I feel like a little kid again everytime I turn down a new street I am just amazed by what I see. Everything feels so new and fresh to me, I love it!
We went out to the bars that lined the beach at night and met a lot of other people who were visiting Busan over Chuseok as well. They were from all over: Sweden, others from the UK, Canada and "the states."
5 days flew by. We had gotten a bit of everything: a sunburn, new clothes, tried new foods, saw new places and met a lot of new people. Busan is definitely a place I will be going back to very soon.
GLOBAL GATHERING: SEOUL
So, I'm not much of a techno music kind of gal, but my weekend in Seoul may have changed that. It's hard to even explain Seoul because it's so massive. It's basically a lot like NYC but with alot more Koreans...
We arrived in Seoul around 10 p.m. Friday evening. Our hostel was right out of the subway station so it made it easy to find. We were greeted by the hostel owner who was hilarious to say the least. He was in his late 20s and had traveled all over so he knew very good English. He had to split the 5 of us girls up because they had a full hostel. So, Alexandra and I bunked with a room full of guys from Europe. Gotta love hostels...
We literally slept on a mattress on the ground in a loft. We could barely even stand up all the way without hitting our heads on the ceilings but it was clean so that's all I cared about! Plus it was only for 2 nights so we were hardly ever there.
We dropped off our bags, freshened up and headed out the door to explore the night scene in Seoul. We stumbled upon this bar with alot of Westerners but also a lot of Koreans. It had cheap drinks and good music...that's all we needed.
About 4 hours later we headed home to "rest up" for the next day, not before making a pit stop at one of the street food tents on the side of the road. After some dumplings, fried hot peppers and some mysterious meat and noodles we headed back to our hostel to our "bunks" to pass out for a few hours.
The next morning we woke up and decided since Seoul is known for its shopping we had to set out on a little shopping excursion for a few hours. Well, we should have known...about 6 hours laters, 300 dollars each (at least) and tons of bags we were EXHAUSTED. I mean, we had finally found stores with our shoe sizes, a 5 story Forever 21, an H&M and many other very cool botiques that we just did not have back in Daegu. We acted like we had never gone shopping before and that we would never go again. We soon realized that the Global Gathering music festival that we had come see in Seoul in the first place for had begun many hours ago so we headed back to the hostel quick to drop off our new purchases.
In the cab on the way to the festival everyone was pretty worn out from the day but that all changed the moment we stepped out of the cab. It was like walking into a massive rave. There were glow sticks, thousands of people, beer, loud techno music, food tents, mimosas, wine, and a field full of dancing with a huge stage and screens in the front. You would literally have to be dead to go there and not have fun.
Only after about a few minutes of being there we made our way through the crowd and got pretty close to the front of the stage where everyone was just dancing and jumping around. I looked at my friend Amanda at one point and said "If only my friends could see me now." Dancing and jumping around to techno music. Who was I? Haha. But I mean, when in Korea...I guess you gotta give everything a shot. About 6 hours later, we had seen Fat Boy Slim, Justice and a few more I totally forget their names. We had all had about enough and headed back to our hostel for a few hours of sleep before calling it quits the next morning and heading back to Daegu.
Yet another successful weeked excursion. More to come....
We arrived in Seoul around 10 p.m. Friday evening. Our hostel was right out of the subway station so it made it easy to find. We were greeted by the hostel owner who was hilarious to say the least. He was in his late 20s and had traveled all over so he knew very good English. He had to split the 5 of us girls up because they had a full hostel. So, Alexandra and I bunked with a room full of guys from Europe. Gotta love hostels...
We literally slept on a mattress on the ground in a loft. We could barely even stand up all the way without hitting our heads on the ceilings but it was clean so that's all I cared about! Plus it was only for 2 nights so we were hardly ever there.
We dropped off our bags, freshened up and headed out the door to explore the night scene in Seoul. We stumbled upon this bar with alot of Westerners but also a lot of Koreans. It had cheap drinks and good music...that's all we needed.
About 4 hours later we headed home to "rest up" for the next day, not before making a pit stop at one of the street food tents on the side of the road. After some dumplings, fried hot peppers and some mysterious meat and noodles we headed back to our hostel to our "bunks" to pass out for a few hours.
The next morning we woke up and decided since Seoul is known for its shopping we had to set out on a little shopping excursion for a few hours. Well, we should have known...about 6 hours laters, 300 dollars each (at least) and tons of bags we were EXHAUSTED. I mean, we had finally found stores with our shoe sizes, a 5 story Forever 21, an H&M and many other very cool botiques that we just did not have back in Daegu. We acted like we had never gone shopping before and that we would never go again. We soon realized that the Global Gathering music festival that we had come see in Seoul in the first place for had begun many hours ago so we headed back to the hostel quick to drop off our new purchases.
In the cab on the way to the festival everyone was pretty worn out from the day but that all changed the moment we stepped out of the cab. It was like walking into a massive rave. There were glow sticks, thousands of people, beer, loud techno music, food tents, mimosas, wine, and a field full of dancing with a huge stage and screens in the front. You would literally have to be dead to go there and not have fun.
Only after about a few minutes of being there we made our way through the crowd and got pretty close to the front of the stage where everyone was just dancing and jumping around. I looked at my friend Amanda at one point and said "If only my friends could see me now." Dancing and jumping around to techno music. Who was I? Haha. But I mean, when in Korea...I guess you gotta give everything a shot. About 6 hours later, we had seen Fat Boy Slim, Justice and a few more I totally forget their names. We had all had about enough and headed back to our hostel for a few hours of sleep before calling it quits the next morning and heading back to Daegu.
Yet another successful weeked excursion. More to come....
Busan Fireworks Festival
It's safe to say that July 4th will never be the same for me ever again after going to the Busan Fireworks Festival. No words, nor photos can do justice to the unreal, most amazing fireworks I have ever seen in my life. Although my July 4th's have been some of the greatest, I just can't even begin to describe the ones in Busan.
Picture thousand and thousands of people lined along the beach that have been camping out there all day just so they can get a good spot to watch the fireworks. We arrived around 6 p.m. and the fireworks were not starting until 8p.m. so we figured that was more than enough time to "get a good spot." Well, little did we know, people had been there since early that morning setting up shop.
Koreans were spread across the beach with blankets, picnics, chicken, snacks, soju, beer, and any other thing they packed to keep them occupied and comfortable while waiting for the fireworks to begin. My first thought was "all this for fireworks? wow Koreans are dedicated.."
Well, I now know why they get there so early, they are well worth the amazing view!
The streets were closed off surrounding the beach, vendors were selling chicken in a box and blankets for people to literally just "pop a squat" in the middle of the street to watch the fireworks. I was with a few of my friends and we ended up snagging a spot sitting on the side of the curb in front of the bars that lined the beach. We were still in view of the beach where the fireworks would be set off so it was a good enough spot! Not to mention the Gwangali bridge that is over the beach is lit up in all different colors and there were screens floating on a dock below the bridge in the water that would be part of the fireworks show. The view was already breath taking I couldn't even imagine what the fireworks would add into the mix.
It was a perfect night, not too hot and not too cold. We grabbed a few drinks and sat on the curb waiting for the fireworks to start...we had no idea what we were in for.
Next to Amanda on the right are the 3 'Korean Magicians.'
We sat down next to 3 Korean men probbaly in their late 50's all dressed in business suits. They immediately emptied out their plastic bags and motioned for us to sit on them so we wouldn't get dirty.
One of Korean Men had on big gold rings and dark sunglasses. His two friends next to him looked at us with curiosity and interest as most older Koreans do when they see Americans. They began talking back and forth to each other and motioning towards us. We kind of just watched out of the corner of our eyes wondering what they were saying. My friend Amanda was sitting cloest to them and one of them men pulled out a deck of cards. He had her pick a card and show it to us and he would find it in the deck. This was then followed by a "coin" trick, then a "magic rope" trick, followed by a "slapping hand game" (I'm still confused about how that one works) but we went along with it! They proceeded to show us magic tricks for the next 30 minutes and would become soo excited every time they would finish and we would laugh or act "amazed" at how they pulled that trick off. Haha, some were actually really good, but we had seen many of the coin and card tricks before. How's that for some free entertainment while waiting for the show to begin! Ha, we chose the right curb to sit down on...
Fireworks.
Around 8 p.m. the first firework went off and it was like someone had hit the mute button because the entire street and beach went silent. It was time for the show to begin...
The screens in the water lit up along with the bridge and the most amazing set of fireworks began that I will ever see. As I mentioned, pictures and words just don't do justice, but just imagine the entire night sky lit up with huge colorful fireworks going every direction. About 50 different fireworks set off at once in the sky. There were even "flying fireworks" at one point, which were fireworks designed as birds that literally flew across the sky and had firework wings. Too hard to explain, but trust me it was unreal. The screens would play a song of the theme the country that the fireworks were representing. They did Korea, the UK, America and many more. It lasted over an hour and I don't think my friends and I said one word besides "Oh my god," the entire time. Our jaws were dropped and we stared in the sky in amazement at how beautiful they all looked. Being on the beach in Korea, with the streets filled with people all over the world and the most amazing fireworks on the water all played into making it one of the most memorable nights in Korea thus far. July 4th, you have some big shoes to fill next year...
Doesn't even capture how many people were lining the streets and beach
If you look close you can see the floating screen in the water where the music would play during the fireworks
