JUNE 6, 7, 8 2008
Friday June 6 is a holiday in Korea….I don’t know what holiday, only that I have the day off of work….I know that sounds really bad….oooops. At any rate, I had the day off and I wanted to do something of it. During the day I ran errands. Mostly boring stuff, but as you all know, still necessary.
Homeless
For the dinner hour I decided to feed the homeless. There is a men’s soup-kitchen that I just found out about, so I went there with Connor, Danny, Jenny, Jin, Rachel and Tina. Connor and Danny did the dishes, Jin talked with the guests, Rachel handed out soup, and Jenny, Tina and I handed out food. In fact, I was the kimchi-hander-outer!!!
A reporter (JoeMoon) from JoongAng Daily was there this time to write a piece about expats volunteering in their host country. I talked to him a little bit about being an adoptee, about being back in Korea and living here, about how Korean’s in general view me (like a foreigner, though I am Korean,) and of course about serving at the soup-kitchen.
I am thankful for the experience of serving at the soup-kitchen. Homeless issues are also part of Korea, and I am here to learn, to observe, to partake, to give and to love. It was a good experience and I will definitely go back if I have the chance to [normal hours are during my work time, so I can only go if I have a Friday off of work.]
After serving and cleaning up we (Connor, Danny, Jenny, Jin, Rachel, Tina and I) went to share a meal at Bennigan’s. Bennigan’s you wonder….well, so do I…. Why did I pay $20 for a plate of spaghetti at Bennigan’s in Korea when I won’t go near a Bennigan’s in the States? In the end that doesn’t really matter because I was in great company.
부산 [Pusan]
Coworker N and I left Seoul for a short on-the-whim-kind-of-trip to 부산 late Friday evening.
Saturday June 7.
We arrived in 부산 by 1am and immediately took a local bus to 해운대 [Haeundae.] 해운대 is a famous beach. It was beautiful! The ocean, the sand between my toes, the one star we could see in the sky, the smell of the ocean, the sound of the ocean. It was sooo refreshing! We sat in the sand til 4am and enjoyed the change of scenery.
By 4am we were both tired and decided to find a motel to crash at. We found a Korean “Love Motel.” It was my first Love Motel stay!!! The room was small, however, it furnished a big red bed….need I say more?!?!
We got up at 9am, had breakfast at Starbucks (N had coffee and a blueberry muffin while I enjoyed coffee and a bagel,) and then we headed for the ferry dock for a one-hour ferry ride.
A must-see in 부산 is 해동용궁사 [Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.] It’s a must-see based on its location on the rocky ocean coast. It’s also a must-see because of the sheer quantity of area that it takes up.
Not due to our inquiries of Pusan for the weekend, we happened to be there for the Sandcastle Festival. An important part of any Sandcastle Festival on a beautiful beach is of course music. There was a big stage set up right on the beach and different live bands played all day and all night. It was great, free entertainment.
In the evening we met my friend J and his girlfriend for dinner. J lives in Pusan but I met him in 2007 when we were both living in Seoul. The four of us enjoyed sharing a meal, and then we went down to the beach to chill, chat and enjoy the sand between our toes. Haeundae was really beautiful!
N and I wanted to get back to Seoul so we said our good-bye’s to J and his girlfriend and took the local bus back to Pusan Station. We got there at 11.20pm….just in time to learn that the last KTX for Seoul left at 11pm. We missed the last train by 20 minutes…but here is one great thing with Korea: there is always a way out.
짐질방 [Jimjilbang] here I come!
Sunday June 8
We went to a Jimjilbang…. A Jimjilbang is a bath-house with other amenities, such as computer lab, a little snack store, tv and movies, newspapers and magazines and of course sleeping arrangements (yes, on the floor.) I know that’s a vague explanation for you that have never been to one, but I truly have never encountered anything in its likeness. We slept on the floor at the jimjilbang. My alarm went off at 5am, we got up, got dressed in our own clothes, and left for the train station. “Your own clothes” you wonder…well, yes, once you enter you are to shower and hot tub in several diff tubs of diff water temperatures and then get dressed in a jimjilbang outfit (how else can I explain it?) while you are there.
On the 5-minute walk to the station we were “lucky” enough to encounter a red-light-district…. mostly Russians. Old Russians. We grabbed some coffee and some gimbaps and headed for the train….
