Saturday was a beautiful day in Busan. With the entire day off, 3 friends and I decided to take an adventure to Geumjeongsanseong Fortress. After a rocky start of not being able to find one another (due mainly to the fact that I don’t have a cell phone yet…), we met up on a random street corner and went on our way to the Subway station.
Once we arrived Oncheonjang, we set out to find the wonderful cable car that would take us up the mountain (I was definitely not going to hike up…. It would probably take a couple days…). Arriving in this part of the city reminded me again of how big it is. I have only become familiar with a VERY, VERY small percentage of the surroundings and attractions in Busan, I can’t wait to explore more.
Arriving at the top of the mountain made me so thankful that there was a cable car. Looking out at the city below was amazing! It looks so different from North America in the fact that the entire city is built upwards… there is very little green space (if any)… it is purely a concrete jungle.
Being in the mountain was a nice oasis- the air was fresh, you could hear birds, people were very dispersed, and you could just really connect with nature. It was great!
I was told previously that Koreans love hiking, but this experience really reinforced that. Many of the Koreans had the full get-up completed with hiking poles and sporty gloves that grip the pole handles. At first, I thought that was slight overkill, but after I hiked for an hour or so, I wish I had the poles for stability. At various points, I would look over the edge and see everything VERY far down…. It’s important to know what you’re doing from that high of an altitude.
Dispersed around the mountain was a very large fortress. I can’t remember when it dated back to, but it was very old. The entire fortress was MASSIVE. We hiked for just over 3 hours and we only made it to the south gate. It was stunning though, I hope to go back sometime soon.
Later that evening I went out with people from work to have a Bulgogi meal-- which is basically Korean BBQ. We ordered mainly pork and duck, which were both smoked and then we would place them on a small grill that was fitted into the middle of the table. Once they were adequately cooked, you would place them in a leaf of lettuce with some kimchi or onions and eat up. It was quite delicious (although I’m still not a lover of Kimchi… that stuff is intense!).
After the meal we headed to a foreigners bar and had some beer and mingled. It was a great way to meet some new people and get to know the one’s I work with a little better. I was surprised to learn that some of the foreigners have been here for 6 or 7 years… it says a lot about the culture and working conditions in Busan.
The more I think about it, the more I realize what an amazing opportunity this job is. I get a nice, furnished apartment- rent free, round trip airfare, I’m pretty much living on the beach and I get to meet interesting people and learn about a new culture… and I get paid for it… no wonder why people stay!
The following morning I was a little ‘slow’ from my night before so I had a chill day. I slept in, then went to the beach and read a book. I had another exciting experience when ordering lunch… I just pointed to something--- it was decent although I’m still not sure what it was. I walked for a bit and then got lost… that was slightly scary. When all of the signs are in Korean, it’s difficult to remember if you’ve seen them before because they don’t register with me, so I was walking around aimlessly for quite some time, but eventually I figured it out.
The week so far has been pretty good. Tuesday was difficult for me because many of my kids were misbehaving. It made me question whether teaching is the right occupation for me because I had to settle my overwhelming urge to knock them out.
The other unfortunate situation currently is that my boys have discovered that flipping their eyelids back makes me scream. Last week, a boy did it for the first time and I shrieked (I totally wasn’t expecting it, and it grossed me out). Well it seems that the good news has travelled fast about how to gross out Laura Teacher because many of them are now doing it—yay! Hopefully they will find a new hobby soon.
Thursday morning I met with a Korean girl whom I work with; her name is Jasmine. I had asked her if she knew anybody who was interested in a language exchange, and she had told me that she was interested herself… perfect! She showed me around the University area of town and then we had coffee and she began teaching me the basics of the Korean language. It’s slightly overwhelming, but I’m so glad that she’s helping me because I’m sure it will come in handy. She is very self conscious about her English, but I think it’s quite perfect—I feel like I’m getting the better end of the stick here, but hopefully I can help her a bit.
Tomorrow is Friday and I’m very excited for the week to be done. Saturday I will meet up with people I met on the flight to Korea—they live in a neighboring city, so I will bus there and then we will tour around together. I’m looking forward to it!
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am perfectly safe and sound after all of the chaos and destruction in Japan. When the earthquake hit in Japan, we felt nothing here, thank God. It is absolutely horrible and my heart goes out to all those suffering in Japan. Thank you all for your emails and messages of concern—I feel very loved.
On a final note—does anyone know of a way to get rid of the smell of smoke??? My neighbor smokes and it comes in through the kitchen somehow. I open up the windows but it gets cold. I’ve got a scented candle, but it’s almost gone (have to search for one here now). I know that baking soda works in the fridge…. Think it would work on the counter???
Much love,
Laura
ps- I have a couple of videos on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0KpwqM0ZIs (hiking the mountain)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WDgjvXtsv0 (inside my classroom)
Making Memories:)
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