Busan

Blogger is currently NOT letting me upload any pictures, so I apologize, I had a really nice one to head this entry with. I'll try to edit it in later.

Also, this entry might get a bit long, there's a lot to catch up on!

We'll start with Cinco de Mayo, which we had off, because in Korea it is Children's day! There's no school, and apparently the children get presents. I enjoyed having the day off. Unfortunately I had to work that Friday, while my friends didn't. We were all heading to Busan for the weekend and they got to head out a day early. I left for Busan immediately after work and arrived at about 1 am.

Busan was the first time since I'd been in Korea that I was reminded of South America. Coming into the city and seeing colorful buildings creeping up the hills reminded me of Quito. The city on the beach reminded me of Rio, right down to the wave pattern on the sidewalk. Of course I felt about 1000x safer in Busan than i did in either Quito or Rio.

I met up with Mieka, Shanna, and Angel at our love motel, where I promptly went to bed. Love motels are for one of two things: prostitutes or a cheap place to stay. Our love motel seemed mainly to cater to the latter. It was actually pretty nice. It was right on Haeundae beach, which is a big foreigner hangout in Busan.

Saturday I woke up with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. Two advils later I was up for a delicious American brunch and then a trip to the Busan aquarium. Rather than bore you with all the fishy details I will say that the highlights for me were the silver arrowana and the oceanic sun fish!

From there we went to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. This temple is unique because it is built on the rocks overlooking the ocean, as opposed to the traditional forest and mountain locations. Because of Buddha's birthday (which is today, the 10th) the temple was decorated with hundreds of brightly colored paper lanterns, which added to the amazing visuals of the temple. Ironically though, the lanterns proved problematic as they blocked the view of the East Sea (or Sea of Japan, if you're not in Korea) and of the temple's golden Buddha statue. Even with large crowds of people surrounding me, this temple still felt serene and peaceful, and it is right up there with Mont St. Michel on my list of incredible places.

Unfortunately by the time we finished the temple I was fading fast. I now know I have a sinus infection, and that's what was knocking me out, but at the time I just felt inexplicably horrible. We all headed back to the hotel and while everyone else got ready for a night out I lay down and felt awful. I pulled myself out of bed to get dinner with the group. We went to an Irish pub where I got fish and chips and would've enjoyed myself and the food immensely were it not for the fact that I was starting to feel feverish. As soon as I finished I gave Mieka the money for my portion of the bill and went back to the hotel, where I was in bed by 10.

I felt better on Sunday, but do to cosmic shenanigans we didn't get the chance to do anything. Still, I would consider my first and only trip to Busan a success.

We had to work on Monday, but we have today, the 10th off, because it is Buddha's birthday. I thought about going to one of the local temples, but it's been really rainy, and I have a lot of things that I can get done here around the apartment. I also need to rest up and get healthy, because this weekend is my final trip to Seoul and a DMZ trip with the aforementioned friends. I really don't want to be all sick for that! It's back to work tomorrow. I only have 23 days left in Korea! Exciting!

I'd also like to just send a small note out to the Elmira College community. Dr. Kiskis was an amazing man and fantastic professor. The school will truly not be the same without him, he will be dearly missed. I hope that everyone is holding up well, and you're all in my thoughts.

~Hannah