Beautiful Busan

This past weekend has been one full of both reminiscing over old memories and creating new ones. A freshman hall mate of mine who currently lives in Thailand came to visit Korea and stayed with me for part of her time here. It was great to see someone from home and moan about how much we missed William and Mary. Plus it gave me a chance to act like a guide book and pretend I know a lot more Korean than I actually do.

Since Ryann was here for a while, I suggested we use the weekend to visit another city in Korea. Where else would you want to go but the next largest city in Korea that happens to be 20 degrees warmer than Seoul and right on the ocean? So bright and early Saturday morning, Ryann, her cousin Sierra, and I boarded a KTX to Busan.

Since our hostel was located in a neighborhood further from the train station and we couldn't check in until 2:00, we decided to explore the downtown area and have lunch before heading north. Our first stop was the Jalgachi fish market, the largest fish market in Korea. Seafood is a staple in the Korean diet (and given the fact that the country is a peninsula, your seafood is always fresh), and Busan is known for having some of the best seafood in the country. The fish market was really huge and so much fun to walk around and look at all the strange shellfish. We spent the whole morning wandering from booth to booth looking at all of the oceans bounty (including sting ray!).

All kinds of shellfish: gooey duck, abalone, mussles, clams, scallops, crabs, lobsters, and more

This is just the front of the market. It went on for about a mile or so.

The three of us are pretty adventurous girls, and we all wanted to try the Korean specialty sannakji. While you can get it all over the peninsula, it is most fresh in Busan. Sannakji is basically a young octopus that is killed and quickly chopped into very small pieces, dressed with sesame and laver, and served still squirming around on the plate. Don't worry, the octopus is definitely dead, its just (as Anthony Bourdain says) "too stupid to know its dead". The key to eating sannakji is to chew quickly and vigorously before you swallow, otherwise you risk the cups suctioning onto your throat/cheek. Its such a strange sensation but you can easily pull it off and keep chewing. It actually tastes pretty good, like the ocean, and overall was an enjoyable experience. Here is a delightful video for your amusement. It actually looks a bit worse in the video than it did in person.

After that appetizer, we grabbed some real lunch of whole broiled fish that was delicious! I wasn't quite adventurous enough to eat the eye, but Sierra went for it! After the market, we headed toward BIFF square, a huge shopping area where the international film festival is held. We also went to the top of Busan tower to get a great panoramic of the city. The park below was full of families out enjoying the sunshine (did I mention it was almost 65 degrees and sunny!).

Busan Tower on a sunny day.

We headed up to Haeundae next, which is where our hostel was located. Haeundae is the main beach/restaurant/party area and was so cool to explore. We went down to the beach just after sunset and everyone was out listening to street performers and shooting off fireworks. After dinner, we headed to an Irish pub to celebrate St. Paddy's day with Irish Car Bombs and green beer!

So excited for a beach and new friends!

The girls out for St Patrick's Day. I forgot something green...

We woke up early the next day to head to Haedong Yonggung Temple. This is an absolutely beautiful temple situated right on the cliffs with great views of the ocean. It was super crowded but still so cool to explore. It also had a cool little market out front where I got a dress and a bracelet. After a delicious mandu lunch we headed to the aquarium to play with starfish and see sharks. Then we headed to the station and somehow got tickets on one of the last open trains back to Seoul that night.

This was actually a tank at the aquarium to celebrate White Day (March 14th, where the boys buy gifts for the girls). The teddy bears are IN the water with the (lonely?) fish.

Dolphin Baloon headband. Enough said.

Great view of the temple right on the water.

Just get rid of the industrial ships spewing black smoke in the background and you've got heavan!

All in all it was an excellent Busan weekend. I can't wait to go back later in the year for some beach chilling and seafood feasts!

xo Julie

Here Comes the Bride...

Well, I've officially done the most absurd thing Korea has to offer. I've mentioned before the plethora of coffee shops in Korea. They are especially fond of themed cafes. There are animal cafes (cat, dog, and even sheep), where you can play with furry friends whilst sipping a latte. There are Hello Kitty cafes, where all your drinks are topped with coco Hello Kitty faces. But the mother of all cafes is the Princess Diary Cafe, more fondly known as "Wedding Dress" cafe. So this weekend, a few friends and I went to check it out.

The idea is that you go to the cafe, buy a drink, and then choose a wedding gown to wear for an hour. The dresses range from 10,000-30,000 won per hour, and come complete with a variety of accessories to chose from. Most of the dresses were ridiculous looking, and its best to go in to the whole process with a sense of humor. After picking out your (preferably over the top poofy) gown, you were lead into a dressing room to be pinned into the dress. They even had "Up Bras" to help you look good in those strapless dresses (however, they were all the exact same size and they put one over top my own bra, which was absolutely pointless and ridiculous looking). After some pinning and strategic bow placement, you're ready to pose away around the cafe.

While we were busy hamming it up for the camera (I donned a pirate hat at one point), the rest of the cafe was full of Korean couples, taking the whole process very seriously. The girls brought giant make up bags and the boyfriends were giving lots of direction for the pictures. I have to say I was impressed by how involved the boyfriends were (whether willingly or coerced). They were dressing up in tuxedos to pose alongside their girlfriends. I felt a little bad for the poor guys...

Our angelic bride pose

Doing the "Korean" primp

Attitude at the Princess Diary cafe

The whole experience was crazy and bizarre and hilarious and definitely made me realize it will be quite sometime before I am ready to put on one of those dresses for real. But it was still fun to feel like a princess for a day.

In other news, we got a teaser of spring weather this weekend! Saturday it was a balmy 70 degrees! Unfortunately it dropped back to the low 40s the next day, but just that one day was enough to get me excited for warmer days to come!

xo Julie

Transience and K-Pop

Well it has been a week of goodbyes in Korea. Most schools finish up their semesters in February, so now is the time many teachers are leaving (as well as new ones coming in). This weekend alone I said goodbye to 4 friends. A constant flux of friends is inherent in the lifestyle I live, but it doesn't  make it any easier. I end up meeting these amazing and interesting people right as they are about to leave. I had the same experience senior year, where I wish I had more time to spend with the awesome people I was meeting at the end of my time at William and Mary. At least there is no shortage of goodbye dinners and celebrations to attend.

With the worldwide popularity of Gangnam style, I thought I might as well do a post on some of the more interesting (read- absurd) Korean music I have been hearing over here. Most teachers learn about Koren pop culture through their students, but as mine average around 3 years old, I mostly hear about Pororo and Friends.

You don't even want to hear the theme song.

I have managed, however, to pick up on a few songs via coffee shops. My current favorite is this gem. Why the world needs a sexual song about ice cream accompanied by Psy awkwardly eating an ice cream cone is lost on me.

I actually have really been liking Lee Hi, especially her song "1,2,3,4". She has a pretty soulful sound, which is much more pleasing than the standard-high-pitched-girly-noise-making most songs are full of. Plus, she is like 16 years old, which is crazy for how talented she is.

But hands down, my favorite crazy Korean music story comes from my pilates class. We listen to a wide range of music in class: plinky-plonky yoga stuff, the Bangles, 90s love ballads, etc. However, for the past two weeks we have been doing a crunch track to this house/electronica song. The idea is that you crunch to the beat of the song, and when the music breaks, you hold your crunch. So, the first time we do this I'm focusing pretty intensely on the workout when the beat pauses (aka hold the crunch), and the song goes "Why Don't We Just F***", resume beat/crunches. My mind goes "WHAT?!?!" as I look around the room. No one else has any kind of reaction at all. I guess between the crunches and the English no one really realized how ridiculously inaprops the song is, but I was left speechless. I related to story to my Korean coworkers the next day, which they found both inappropriate and hilarious.

xo Julie