Busan. Remember when I thought I was moving to Busan?
In the months of October and November I thought it would be a good idea to travel and see stuff- in return feeling very poor and quite tired. I will stay in Daegu for a while (not including the KPOP concert this weekend.)
First off, Jeff and I headed to Busan to visit our friends we met at orientation (Stacey and Eddie– who have a blog too) They are a couple who is from Oregon! It was nice to talk with people who know where you come from. We skipped DEESC Korean Class (sorry Bridgette) and took the slow train to Busan. Did you know that you can buy a “standing seat” on the train? It gets quite awkward having people stare at you as you are sitting ever-so-comfortably in your reclining chair. I almost felt guilty.
Friday Night: Soju and delicious juice. Stacey and Eddie picked up from Busan Station and I was greeted with-
This fountain was playing "Gee" by Girls Generation and flashing beautiful lights at me. I knew it was going to a great weekend.
Saturday: Stacey and Eddie had things to do in the morning so J and I went to the beach that is nearest to them, Dadapoe Beach. Highlights include:
Jeff has over-pet the dogs and cats here because I can't : ( We found these two poochies!
Dadapoe Beach, Busan South Korea.
We left this tranquil beach and were swiftly swept up into chaos.
This is ONE exit from the subway. ONE EXIT. It was so extremely crowded. To Gwangalli Beach we go...
After over 2 hours in transit- we made it to the Fireworks Festival! Now the trick…to find a seat.
We found a seat...so did other people.
It got more crowded.
5 hours early- DON'T GET UP TO GO TO THE BATHROOM.
Actually, I did not know this little tid-bit about not going to the bathroom or going to get anything to eat or drink. Jeff and I went to the convenience store across the street and nearly were crushed to death on our way back. The beach had been capped- full capacity. Nobody could go into the beach. We tried to explain- we have a seat, we have a seat! The officers didn’t speak much English so it wasn’t very helpful to keep repeating myself. We waited patiently then all of the sudden the 4 or 5 officers that are barricading the crowd LINK arms and blow on their whistles profusely. I was smashed RIGHT up against one of the officers. His whistle blowing in my ear, a mom crying to the left of me because her small daughter was just trampled by an ajumma. People in back of me pushing and crying to be let in, I couldn’t handle it I just started crying. Jeff was trying his best to keep people from smashing me but he was being forced by rows upon rows of people pushing forward. This terror lasted only a couple minutes until the officer pushing us through. It did take us about 20 minutes to make it back to our seats but I sure as hell wasn’t about to eat or drink anything until the show was over.
Once the show started it was all worth it!
I recommend the Busan Fireworks Festival to ANYONE wondering if it is worth it or not- I don’t even think fireworks are that cool, but I was not BORED at all. So fun!!!!
Daegu-ber 