Busan... (Thursday 14th Aug 2014)

Dear Sal,

A few weekends ago I made my way down to Busan. We had been planning to go on and off for a few weeks, but every time something came up. Usually a hangover. This week however the excuse was lack of money. So I made plans to have a few drinks with some friends on Friday and spend my Saturday relaxing/recovering. That was until I woke up to find a message, "come to Busan. now." I hesitantly pealed myself off my friends sofa, where I had past out a few hours before and slowly made my way home to get ready to go. 

The KTX journey from Daegu to Busan takes about an hour and twenty minutes. It costs only fifteen thousand won, which is not bad, I don't know why I don't do this more often. When I finally arrived the veil of my hangover was gradually beginning to lift. I met Jason, who had arrived several hours prior, and we were off. The first stop was the fish market. The sight of some of these deceased fish did nothing for my stomach, which ached still from the night before. Looking into their googly eyes lifelessly staring back at me I thought, things could be worse. 

I don't know why but in every market in Korea they will all serve the same dish, a united front maybe. In Daegu it's soup, in Cheonan it was fried chicken and in Busan it's fried fish. We walked past fried fish after fried fish until we eventually decided we would reluctantly eat it, but which one? This wasn't a problem, as we where accosted by an ajummar, who swiftly took us inside her eatery. We removed our shoes and found our way to some empty seats, and by seats I mean a small flat cushion on the floor. I don't think I will ever get used to sitting like this to eat. 

Later, as we walked along the the cost to Haeundae through the light drizzle of rain, I had some stomach pains. They caused me to have to stop and sit down for a while. Maybe it was something I ate or maybe the soju we had with our late lunch, but after a sort time it had passed and we continued to look for food before finding a place to sleep for the night.  This isn't my first visit to Busan, in fact the first time I came here was over three years ago when David and I came to visit Lily. So I Had a weird sense of deja vu when we randomly found the the same jimjibang that the three of us had stayed in all those years ago. I couldn't sleep on the flimsy towel provided, so I sat on the balcony smoking a cigarette looking over the city, thinking about how much my life has changed. 

Then next morning I awoke in a room full of passed out Koreans softly snoring all around me. The clouds from the day before had cleared and the sun was shinning. I brought a pair of cheep flip-flops from a crazy Korean women, who kept proclaiming things like "sexy clothes for sexy ladies" and "you give me money" to random passers by. Jason responded with a firm "ha" which sent her in to hysterics, she had a need phrase to exclaim and she wasted no time in using it. We heard "ha" repeated several times as we walked away. We continued along the the beach all afternoon from Haeundae to Suyeong-gu, stopping at various locations along the way. We found sustenance in a nice Korean place, where we played the game of chance and won... kind of. We think we may have eaten raw eel, which isn't half as bad as it sounds.

 

Strolling in the hot sun felt wonderful, feeling the cool water rush over my feet kept me at a comfortable temperature. After several hours we arrived at the United Nations Memorial garden, another place I have been before and took a quick look around, just at the right moment. We witness the daily ritual of lowering the flag. Each move was so precise, so exact its was almost like a dance. So much love and care was taken just to to take down a colorful piece of fabric, which means so much to so many people.

Busans relaxed environment, make it the perfect place to get away too at the weekends, I didn't want to leave. If I stay in Korea another year maybe I will move down here... 

Love, hugs and raw eels.

Samuel James.