Weekend in Busan
This past weekend, I had a three day weekend because Korea was celebrating Chu'seok. This is similar to an American Thanksgiving in that family gets together and cooks a big meal. However, Chu'seok is about celebrating the harvest and honoring your family. Many Koreans visit the tombs of their ancestors to perform bowing ceremonies and offer crops. This very traditional holiday meant a weekend at the beach for my fellow coworkers and I.
We embarked on a five hour train ride to the southern tip of South Korean to Busan. The funny part about the train is that a portion of the trip was sold out of seats, so three hours of the ride we had seats and two hours of the ride, we had to stand. The train oversells tickets and sells standing tickets. Everyone just packs in like sardines standing anywhere you can. I don't think this would be allowed in the states with all the impending safety risks, but then again... THIS IS KOREA. None the less, the trip was really fun and I am glad I got to spend time at the beach. Even in October, the weather was nice and the water, while quite cold for my taste, was still manageable to get in.
This is Joe, Amanda, and I waiting for our train. This is our tough pose, except Amanda looks scared, not tough....
Here we are with a normal pose still waiting for our train.
This train was going REALLY fast. It wasn't ours, which is a good thing because I would not have been able to jump on at the speed it was going.
Here I am standing on the train. The first two hours down we did not have assigned seats. The train made many, many stops and three hours in we were able to have seats.
People just stand in the aisles for hours at a time.
Once we arrived at the beach, there was a sign describing the rules. Rule #1: learn how to swim. Yes people, if you are going into the ocean, you should probably know how to swim. If caught in a rip current, please remember to not be embarrassed to grab your inner tube.
At Haeundae Beach in Busan.
Lots of Koreans were at the beach, but completely covered up. This is one such example. You have to remember that having very light skin is highly regarded, so while Koreans may love the beach, they do not want to get tan. I saw a ton of people in long pants and long sleeves, and laying underneath towels wearing visors to shield their faces.
YAY! I'm at the beach! This is ust before spraining my ankle. Joe was calling me out for not getting in the frigid water, even though I had, so I decided to prove it to him. I grabbed his arm and said "Let's go!" Just before getting to the water, I yelled "run!" We started running and I completely forgot the sand dropped off about three steps in and just as it dropped off, a big wave splashed up in my face and I fell, thus resulting in a terribly sprained ankle. I thought for sure that I had broken it again, but it slowly got better.
Another view of the beach.
A statue outside of a store. Not sure what it is, but it looked funny.
Chrissie, Joe, Amanda and I in front of the beach.
Busan is home to Jagalchi fish market, one of the 10 must-see places of South Korea. I unfortunately passed up seeing the fish market to see a street market, but being in Korea, you see LOTS of fish markets. There were lots of these little boats around the harbor, but there were also some really big fishing boats.
I suppose with so many boats, you need lots of buoys too.
A nice view of the beach.
This is my giant beach hat that I bought for a mere 3,000 won, equaling about $2.50. Not bad.
Bad translation at its best. I'm sorry, but the chili dog- seven source and the sausage match with the beer together highest eating between meals??? and the rock'n roll dog- the blood will grow with perm....????
Another example of the amazing translation this restaurant did. Read carefully the tortilla pizza- with a rustle grudge also the belt Oh above the pizza of the style inside this detachment. I mean, really, I just couldn't decide what to order!!!
Korea never ceases to amaze.
We embarked on a five hour train ride to the southern tip of South Korean to Busan. The funny part about the train is that a portion of the trip was sold out of seats, so three hours of the ride we had seats and two hours of the ride, we had to stand. The train oversells tickets and sells standing tickets. Everyone just packs in like sardines standing anywhere you can. I don't think this would be allowed in the states with all the impending safety risks, but then again... THIS IS KOREA. None the less, the trip was really fun and I am glad I got to spend time at the beach. Even in October, the weather was nice and the water, while quite cold for my taste, was still manageable to get in.
This is Joe, Amanda, and I waiting for our train. This is our tough pose, except Amanda looks scared, not tough....
Here we are with a normal pose still waiting for our train.
This train was going REALLY fast. It wasn't ours, which is a good thing because I would not have been able to jump on at the speed it was going.
Here I am standing on the train. The first two hours down we did not have assigned seats. The train made many, many stops and three hours in we were able to have seats.
People just stand in the aisles for hours at a time.
Once we arrived at the beach, there was a sign describing the rules. Rule #1: learn how to swim. Yes people, if you are going into the ocean, you should probably know how to swim. If caught in a rip current, please remember to not be embarrassed to grab your inner tube.
At Haeundae Beach in Busan.
Lots of Koreans were at the beach, but completely covered up. This is one such example. You have to remember that having very light skin is highly regarded, so while Koreans may love the beach, they do not want to get tan. I saw a ton of people in long pants and long sleeves, and laying underneath towels wearing visors to shield their faces.
YAY! I'm at the beach! This is ust before spraining my ankle. Joe was calling me out for not getting in the frigid water, even though I had, so I decided to prove it to him. I grabbed his arm and said "Let's go!" Just before getting to the water, I yelled "run!" We started running and I completely forgot the sand dropped off about three steps in and just as it dropped off, a big wave splashed up in my face and I fell, thus resulting in a terribly sprained ankle. I thought for sure that I had broken it again, but it slowly got better.
Another view of the beach.
A statue outside of a store. Not sure what it is, but it looked funny.
Chrissie, Joe, Amanda and I in front of the beach.
Busan is home to Jagalchi fish market, one of the 10 must-see places of South Korea. I unfortunately passed up seeing the fish market to see a street market, but being in Korea, you see LOTS of fish markets. There were lots of these little boats around the harbor, but there were also some really big fishing boats.
I suppose with so many boats, you need lots of buoys too.
A nice view of the beach.
This is my giant beach hat that I bought for a mere 3,000 won, equaling about $2.50. Not bad.
Bad translation at its best. I'm sorry, but the chili dog- seven source and the sausage match with the beer together highest eating between meals??? and the rock'n roll dog- the blood will grow with perm....????
Another example of the amazing translation this restaurant did. Read carefully the tortilla pizza- with a rustle grudge also the belt Oh above the pizza of the style inside this detachment. I mean, really, I just couldn't decide what to order!!!
Korea never ceases to amaze.
posted by robin brown at
9:50 PM
2 Comments:
i like the contrast of the woman sitting on the beach all covered up, followed by the explanation of her covered-ness, and then you leaping in a mini dress in the sun as if to say "screw you traditional korean beauty, i like to be tan".
I really like that hat. In fact, you should bring me one. :) I'd like regular straw color. Haha
Megan
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