The Busan Experience

Let me just begin by saying that I could live in Busan the rest of my life. I read somewhere that Busan was known as "The Rio de Janeiro" of Southeast Asia. First off, I woke up at noon and headed right for the KTX train station to buy a ticket to Busan with my friend Andrew. The ticket only cost a mere 27.000 Won which is cheap and the trip was easy as pie (only two hours). Along the way we made friends with some young children because we bought some chocolate chip cookies and gave them some. That is another thing that blows my mind about this country. An exchange like that in America would only be met with suspicion. Here gestures like this are welcomed and honored. Can you tell me why this is? Why in this day and age a kind gesture would be interpreted so differently in one first-world country than another? What does this say about the U.S.? There are many logical theories I can come up with, but what do you think?

When we got to Busan we headed right to Seomyeon, the most happenin' part of town. We instantly started doing what most twenty-somethings would do in this situation (I love euphemisms). This trip was marked by a total disregard for nutrition. We ate at pizza hut, chicken and beer (yes, that was the name of the joint.), Then we ate late night cheeseburgers and french fries, a huge buffet the next day, fish and chips, and many drinks. Wow, and all in 36 hours. We slept until noon on Sunday and got very little exercise; needless to say, it was the same as setting off an atomic bomb in our major organs. I will be running very much this week. It is only Tuesday now, and I already have 10 miles under my belt and two and a half hours of gym time in. I don't say this to brag but to give you some perspective on how paranoid I am that I gained at least five pounds over the weekend.

We decided to stay at Lotte Hotel in Busan (Lo + Tay Hotel) which was not that smart. It cost 266,000 Won ($175), Which in the grand scheme of things isn't that expensive, but it was really nice and definitely worth it. It was expensive though if you consider we could have stayed somewhere else for less than half that amount. We spent the night at a really cool flare bar called Fuzzy Navel, which was something right out of Cocktail. Some of the craziest things I have ever seen with fire and liquor! I would be chilling out talking to a girl and a fire ball would graze my hat. When you have had a few beers, it's enough to give you a heart attack and dive for cover. There were tons of people there; it was by far my favorite bar I have ever been to. We went to another place after that, but I can't remember the name. By that time it was really late and getting close to time to leave. I finally decided to go back to the hotel when some idiot followed me around for half an hour trying to get me to buy drugs off him. He would not leave me alone no matter what. He kept asking Andrew and me if he could sleep on the floor in our hotel room. In America, I would have had more than serious words with this fellow. After I finally tired of dealing with him I decided it was past my bedtime and caught a cab home.

The next day we woke up with the question: go home or check out the beach? We decided to check out the beach (a wise decision). The beaches in S. Korea have cliffs and mountains that go right up to and into the ocean. It is very beautiful and like nothing I have ever seen at any of the U.S. beaches I have been to, although I know that outside of the southeast these beaches do exist in the continental U.S. The water is very clean and clear. It was about 60 degrees that day, but the sun was shining very brightly and made it feel warmer than it was. Andrew and I decided to take a nap there right on the beach. It was one of the most relaxing experiences I can recall. After a good snooze, we spotted The Westin Chosun down the beach and decided to go get a drink in their bar that overlooked the ocean thru large pane-glass windows. So we sat there drinking and relaxing. The drinks there were slightly disappointing. I ordered some Sunday morning drinks like--a Bloody Mary, Fruity Margarita, and even tried a Whiskey Sour. I found that Korea still has not quite grasped the finer points of American Cocktails. This still could not put a damper on the day. Then out of the blue came an older Korean man. His name was Mr. Cho. He was a retired, high-ranking customs official. He spoke very good English and was well-versed in American Literature. We talked for quite sometime about books and politics; it was a pleasant surprise. He made us promise to look him up when we go back to Busan. I definitely will.

After that we decided it was time to head back, and we did. It was a place I will never forget and an experience I will never forget. It is an overwhelmingly huge city and overwhelmingly beautiful.

SUCKS ASS: I got a bill in the mail today for credit card purchases on my debit card. Unlike America, if you have to ring up your card as credit (like is the case at many gas stations in America that only do credit), it does not automatically post and withdrawl from your account in three or four days. You get it two weeks later like a credit card bill. Thanks for the heads up, right!?! I thought I had kept up with my expenses and now all of a sudden I am in the hole further than I thought.

KICKS ASS: BUSAN and the space toilets they had at the Westin Chosun. You know the ones that have all the buttons and luxury features that you can purchase out of a Brookstone catalogue.

(DID NOT PROOFREAD)