Lord Beach Hotel Haeundae Busan

... 8221; “SO FAST” that I honestly was a little doubtful. “It can’t be THAT good” I figured. So my first ever solo travel experience in South Korea went like this:

Me: Donghae?

Bus man: no no.

Me: Gangneung?

Bus man: 5 minutes. Gate 2.

SO EASY. The goal was to get down to Donghae where my friend Dan is living and working and then head farther south to the city of Busan on Saturday. I ended up having to go ...

Flights I booked ahead from the start of the trip ended in Tokyo.
(To make it to Japan you need to show an exit ticket though... whatever the mean)
From now on, most border crossing will be by boat or by land, so that I took a ferry from Fukuoka to Busan. It takes about 6h.
I don't believe Busan has much to offer so after making it through Korean immigration I jumped in a bus which took me to Seoul in 4 hours of crazy driving and under heavy rain.

... can sit in the sunshine and people watch--or rather where people watch you! All of us foreigners attracted a lot of attention from the locals, but everyone was friendly. So basically, I spent a nice day at the beach, and then into the night at Blowfish last night. It got really crowded, but the music was good.





So, I did something a little spontaneous (Me? Never......). I booked a flight to ...

... me why I didn't w*ke him up. I look over *t the clock-8:53*m. Cr*p. We missed the 0730 bus out of Kuns*n St*tion. I quickly jump out of bed *nd fumble for the bus schedule to find our next ch*nce to c*tch one. 10:30. Gre*t. Now we're 3 hours behind P*t &*mp; g*ng. I c*ll him *nd *m getting re*dy to tell him wh*t h*ppened when he guess's *ll on his own. Yep. He knows me. For sure. So, *s is custom*ry with P*t, he just s*ys, "OK, th*t's fine. We ...

... write that book that I've been wanting to write--but I'm still gathering information.



I've learned that I need to be more gracious and polite in public settings. Thanks Oprah.



I've learned that my friends and family are some of the funniest people I know, and though their humor is a little backwards. (It's full of irony, and not always right, but I love it). ....Ok, I knew that last one already, but it's continuously being ...

... t feel like explaining.... I was pretty freaked out, but I'm whole. My jean skirt bore the brunt of the attack...thank goodness...), AND it started raining that day--so I didn't have an umbrella or proper clothing to walk home from school in... It wasn't your "traditional" Thanksgiving, but I enjoyed good company and pretty good food. What more can I ask for so far away from home?



So now, it's almost ...

... energy drinks--but their bikes are there, and they are in the full get up. Spandex, goggles, shoes, gloves, shirts--the works. Saturday and Sunday you'll see hikers. You can tell they're hikers because they're wearing their liesure suits (or sweatpants and sweatshirt--zipped up of course), they got their backpack, canteen, hat or visor, parosol, hiking stick, and of course...soju. Some of the trails here are pretty steep, and ...

... organizations at one of the universities. We met the students, then went out to dinner in a really nice area of Busan. Sometimes Busan reminds me of San Diego--with all the hills and views... It's really pretty. We ate a traditional Korean meal on mats on the floor with the servers wearing the traditional dress. I gotta admit, I can never get comfortable sitting on the floor.... :) The restaraunt had ...

... cool and definitely not cooked.' Yep, that was it. · Countess Who? As if putting us up for the night, feeding us, showing us around Busan and swinging us an upgrade on the ferry wasn't enough, Nick presented me with a 'Countess Mara of New York' (I've never heard of them either) gift set of accessories that any discerning business professional would be proud to be seen utilising - an umbrella, pen ...

... the warnings of our Korean colleagues were ringing in our ears. Hot? We could handle heat. But this was opressive! A thick, dense cloud of humidity followed our every step, slowing us down and creating nasty wet patches on our backs. There was no escape. And so upon arrival in Gyeongju, rather than hire a bicycle and set out to see the sights, we did the only sensible thing; hunted out the nearest McDonalds and sat, exhausted, panting into its icy, air conditioned ...