Chuseok 2k14

Hello again everybody, it's me Ryne!

Sorry for the lack of posts, it's been a long holiday weekend which lead to a two day school week and back into the weekend. I (and other colleagues) used that to our advantage and went off east into Busan, to a neighboring island Geoje the next morning and ferried to a botanical garden island called Oedo and back into Busan before taking off back for home. That's Chuseok lite digest... and a video

Here's the long version:

We start off Saturday morning, it's the 6th of September and I'm doing last minute packing, double checking, triple checking... and head off to the rendezvous for a cab to pick us up at 10:15 am to take us to the bus termintal for an 11:05 am departure. Needless to say, our cab showed up at 10:45 and we missed our bus. An inauspicious start, I felt, especially after being spoiled by the meticulous planning of my friends still in China, Becky and Neal, where plans are foolproof and there's small room for error. Anyway, right as we arrive to the bus terminal, we see all the buses leaving. Ugh. We go in and buy new tickets to leave at 11:30 am instead.

A coffee, Dunkin' Donut, 15 minute rest stop, and several dozen selfies later we find ourselves at the Busan bus terminal. We taxi about half an hour away over bridges into the other side of Busan at Haeundae Beach where our hostel awaits. We check in, settle our bags, and decide to go exploring.

Art inside our hostel

I love the feeling of walking into a new city for the first time... and I'm glad there are a lot of them to experience that over and over again. We find the beach, enjoy the water a little bit, and walk over to find food for dinner. On our way up the beach, was a commercial shoot which I'm assuming was a beer commercial; they kept yelling action and about 20 fit looking actors would run through a staged beach party full of picnickers and umbrellas. Up the street we discover a lively little street market full of live seafood, vendors selling foods on sticks, cocktails out of coconuts, everything! We eat some eel in a restaurant then continue eating more as we traipse down the market.

Eel for dinner

Street vendors

The inside of the room in our hostel. It's that small and still fits four people!

After having a Turkish Ice Cream man show off his entertaining abilities, we hang out once more on the beach to enjoy the night sky and people in the distance shooting off fireworks. THEN to sing at a noraebang which is conveniently located four floors below our hostel!

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Day 2 found us starting our day good and early at about 5 or 6 am to leave for Geoje at 7. We head back over to the bus terminal to catch a bus to Geoje then a cab ride over some hilly terrain and winding roads to another, more secluded beach. This time, however, we'd be meeting four new people (there's four of us already, so that now makes 8) to board some kayaks and paddle around the sea for a few hours.

A view from Oedo

Hours later, we buy some tickets to a nearby island called Oedo, known for their botanical garden. The ferry captains tour us around to show us some other, smaller islands before dropping us off for an hour and a half. Once there, it's up to you to decide how fast or slow you want to go as long as you're back at the wharf to catch the boat back. The landscape was awe inspiring and the views spectacular to see past the island into the deep blue sea and the amazing mountainous vistas off in the distance.

Coming back, we hang out a little with our new found compatriots in an unfinished hotel they're staying. It's a bizarre place to be: part studio apartment, part guesthouse, part cafe, part restaurant, and a gorgeous view on top of all that. A couple of drinks, fried chicken, and pizza and off we went back towards Busan. With their help of asking Koreans down the street to help us find a taxi, a kind stranger said no taxis really drive out that far into the village, so he was kind of enough to drive us without hesitation back to the bus station. We pool all our Korean together to try to entertain the stranger and he does the same. Making it just in time to catch the final bus, we head home... AND I forget one of my favorite baseball caps from my university on the bus.

Look closely and you can see a hummingbird looking for nectar

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Day 3 was very nice and was the official Chuseok day (it's a harvest festival to celebrate the moon as in most Asian cultures). There really was no plan until I remembered a message from an old friend about his favorite temple to visit outside of Cambodia. So we did that. This place was very nice, I've never seen a temple placed on the edge of the sea before, so it made for some beautiful photography. Being there on Chuseok made it a little more special to see that Korean people like to go out praying for their thanks of harvest.


















I had seen something on a map about a raw fish street that sounded great for lunch. This ended up an hour and a half later by taxi to Jagalchi, one of the largest fish markets in Busan... which unfortunately was closed. One of the gambles you take traveling on a national holiday I guess. We end up eating some very good Korean food anyway and head back by subway towards Haeundae Beach to wind down on the beach with our own set of fireworks to celebrate Chuseok.



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Our last day, Tuesday, was nothing much but a travel day to get back home. It's strange, despite living out here a little over one month, I missed Gwangju. It feels like home now. This is my community now. That's not to say I miss California, China, or any other places I've lived, I do, but it's strange how much I'm loving life out here.

Hostile cat or hostel cat?