Bitter, Sweet Seoul: my Two Favourite Videos about Korea

When I saw this video, just made by some guy, it struck me as doing a better job, and making Korea seem more attractive, than almost every official tourism promotion I'd seen.

Other than a few seconds of footage taken in Japan, I think it's pretty much perfect. And wouldn't it be nice if some percentage of the Korea Promotion budget were simply set aside to find people who make beautiful videos like this, and to offer them free, all-expenses one or three-month trips to Korea, in order to make one really really great Youtube video. Or four.

What we have next, coming out just recently, is as good.

Famous filmmakers Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and Park Chan-gyong, have done something lovely.

They took crowd-sourced footage -- anyone could submit -- and hammered together a one-hour (plus change) video that I actually recognize as the Seoul I live in: the ones that's beautiful and ugly and funny and wild and loaded, loaded, loaded with life.

It's probably too long to grab casual viewers, but for anybody who lives in Seoul, who loves Seoul, they will deeply appreciate this video, which ultimately amounts to a gentle, knowing love-letter to one of Asia's most interesting cities.

Garbage collectors, crosswalks, breakneck motorbike delivery boys, urban gardeners, and yogurt ladies in yellow, runaways and street food vendors, mountains and crowded streets. I love this video, because the decision-making mucky-mucks who come up with junk like this appear to have finally stepped aside and deferred to the ones who have, you know, actual artistic talent. Now, perhaps that's because the makers of this video are award-winners and such... but it's a start.

I wish the video the greatest of success.

Read more about it here. And at the Wall Street Journal's Korea blog, "Korea Realtime." And of course, watch it, silly!

Are Koreans Afraid of Foreigners? Videoclip plus Facepalm

CJ Entertainment put this video out, to show how scared Koreans are of foreigners.



The only problem is, I don't think it shows Koreans are scared of foreigners.

I'm not surprised at all, given the fact so many Koreans' main experience with English is connected with Very Important Tests, or Evaluations That Could Bugger Your Upward Mobility Forever (even if you never need English in your work), that many are nervous about speaking English. If you could measure English Speaking Anxiety, I don't doubt Koreans would be near the top of the international rankings. But I'd say this video proves Koreans are afraid of speaking English, not of foreigners. Most Koreans I've met are pretty curious about foreigners, if they're brave enough to start talking.

I took issue with EBS's racism video earlier, basically for editing video to tell the narrative they wanted it to (that time, that Koreans like whitey more than South Asians)... and it's interesting to contrast these two videos, to demonstrate that yeah, the white guy also has trouble finding useful help, and some people walk by the white guy, too.

Another angle: if a Korean were walking around on the streets of Toronto or Baltimore, they'd probably have just as much trouble finding help, or being passed by. Because they're not speaking the language of the land. Not even trying.

As a traveller like this guy is dressed up to be, and especially as someone living here, not knowing the basics of the local language kind of inexcusable. It's not THAT hard to learn a couple of phrases, to learn to count, to learn left, right, straight, and "over there," and it'll help you find what you're looking for, and get along with the natives. If you can't be arsed to learn that, while staying here longer than a month, you should only travel to countries that speak your language, or stay well on the beaten track for tourists, where odds are higher you'll eventually bump into someone who can speak with you.

While we're in Korea, and while it's sweet that CJ cares so much about how anglo tourists fare in Korea (did they make similar videos for tourists speaking Vietnamese, Cantonese, Thai, Mandarin, Mongolian and Tagalog?), let's remember that Koreans in Korea are under no obligation to learn the languages of the people who visit Korea, and if they do learn, and if they speak it with you, they've doing you a favor, to which you are not entitled. Let's be clear about that.

And this doesn't prove Koreans are afraid of foreigners. That is all.

Weekly Round-up: Links from the Radio Show, and Something Funny

Every Thursday, at 8:30AM, I present a short piece called "Blog Buzz" on TBS English radio 101.3's morning show. In it, I discuss the stories that have been generating buzz, or just catching my interest as something unique, interesting, or worthwhile, on the Korea blogs, during the last (approximate) week.

Here are some of the things I shared this week:

My Two Favorite accounts of Seollal this year were Xweing, a Chinese Malaysian who lives in Busan, reflects on the differences between Lunar new year in Malaysia, and in Korea -- because I'm from a culture that doesn't celebrate Lunar New Year, Korean New Year is basically a family thing, where in Malaysia, there are street parties, decorations and fireworks -- it's a much more public event.

http://xweing.blogspot.com/2012/01/celebrating-cny-in-korea.html 

There's a wistfulness here, kind of like the writings Western expats have when they write about Korean Christmas, that you don't get from Western writers talking about Korean New Year, and it's very interesting. Western expats write about Korean Lunar New Year with more curiosity, because it's new to us, so Xweing's perspective is refreshing.

If I Had A Minute To Spare has a New Years account that seems more familiar to western expats, about visting his wife's family in Gangwon-do. 

Ask A Korean continued his series on Suicide in Korea with part four: worth reading, and a reminder that saying "Korea has a suicide culture" and leaving it at that is an intellectually lazy cop-out: observing a cultural phenomenon insists we ask, "How did the culture get this way?" --there's still work to be done. Especially in Korea's case, where in the early '80s, Korea's suicide rate was one of the world's lowest.
http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2012/01/suicide-in-korea-series-iv-how-suicide.html

What should you do this weekend?

If I had to choose only one thing Chris in South Korea has ever made, to be linked, spread, and shared, this would be it. The entertaining and helpful flowchart "What to do this weekend?" (a polished final version of one he made a little while ago) asks a bunch of simple questions that guide you towards a host of sights and activities to try or see all around Korea. Good weather? Bad weather? Flush with cash? Broke? Wanna live it up? Wanna take it easy? Tired of palaces and temples? There's something for you. It's Seoul-centric -- Going to Daegu or Busan are options on the "Get out of town" side, but it's interesting, and if you try to do every single activity on the list, you'll have a frantic year (or two) in Korea, but come away having had a pretty darn good experience of the country.

Give it a look! Bookmark it, link it, share it, and refer to it.

Last One:

Finally, we didn't have time to cover it on air, last week or this, but I'd like to send you to check out Charles Montgomery's great piece on the problems (he's had) with Korean self-study. It's an entertaining account of the circular "new book/tail off/forget what I've learned" cycle. The article ends with a good argument for getting into formal classes.

Interestingly, it's hosted as a guest post on the blog of Hanguk Drama, whose author is a self-taught Korean speaker, and has managed to find a method or motivation Mr. Monty didn't. Go read it here.

A couple more:
These weren't on the radio, of course, but Stephen Colbert's interview of "Where The Wild Things Are" author Maurice Sendak is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Part 1:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Part 2:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Source

And... I've been on a Tom Waits kick lately. He's probably my favorite singer... and that's some rare air up there... and he's made about ten albums I'll listen to without even thinking about hitting the "Skip" button... and that's hard to do. Offhand, I can only think of two or three other artists who have made more than two albums during which I'd never hit "Skip"

Maybe some day I'll blog a list of albums I listen to without ever hitting "Skip," but not today.

Today, here's a list of Tom Waits' albums, ranked from worst to best, and I'd recommend any of the top ten to you, if you love music that takes you on a journey, and a well-written song.

You Can Never Go Home

Soundtrack: hit play and start reading.
Tom Waits: "Pony"
Tom Waits sings about home like a man who's been lost a long time.




"I lived on nothin' but dreams and train smoke
Somehow my watch and chain
Got lost...

I hope my Pony, I hope my pony knows the way back home"

-Tom Waits 'Pony'

"I remember that time you told me, you said, 'love is touching souls'
Surely you touched mine,
'Cause part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time"
-Joni Mitchell, 'A Case of You'

I mentioned earlier that at 8:15 (or so) every Friday morning, I'm on TBS radio (101.3), yamming about the topics that have been catching blog column-space, and commenter love (where applicable). This week, as Christmas approaches, maybe it's appropriate to talk about home: December's the month I always feel the most homesick, the month I hanker hard for the foods and friends I left behind me in Canada, and the last Christmas I had in Canada was the hardest, but most intimate and intense Christmas my family experienced, or likely ever will: the first one after Mom had received a terminal prognosis for her stomach cancer.

This week, Chris in South Korea had a guest post from "Gone Seoul Searching" about reverse culture shock, and Bathhouse Ballads talked about why he dreads going back to his home in England. Gone Seoul Searching writes about missing trips to Daiso and kimbap, and the accidental "got back from Korea" blunders, where you refill your friend's drink with two hands, or bow when you meet someone, ultimately seeking out Koreatown: "anything Korean felt like home to me in a strange world that was not my own." Gone Seoul Searching clearly still has one foot in Korea, planning to return perhaps, and reaching out to her former students through facebook and email. Meanwhile, Bathhouse Ballads talks about the comfort and ease of living in Korea, and does not look forward to going to a country where restaurants and taxis are way more expensive, and the streets simply feel less safe: "Going back to the UK is a massive step down in terms of lifestyle, cultural opportunities and quality of life and even the massive hike in terms of pay can’t compensate for living in an expensive, insular little enclave surrounded by a cultural wilderness," he writes.

I have experienced this myself, most powerfully when I spent seven months in Canada taking care of my sick mom: I craved the jimjilbang (I have no idea what it says about me that I missed opportunities for public nudity so poignantly), and spicy food - I once went to a Thai restaurant and ordered the spiciest thing on the menu, just to remember. My heart still races to remember that meal. When I first got back, or when I vacation in Canada, I find myself being far too chatty with waiters and store clerks, because they can speak English! or being sullen and non-communicative, as is my habit here, so I don't have to tax the clerks' English ability, or their ability to understand poorly-pronounced Korean (and my ability to form it). My hand reaches for the not-present kimchi dish several times a meal, and when I am out socially, I fall into the habit of starting every third sentence with "You know, in Korea..." as my own, world-traveller version of "This one time... at band camp..."



The smell of world travel doesn't leave me, or other people. I can spot, in some odd way, people who have lived outside their home cultures, and those who haven't. This is also true of the Koreans I meet: the ones who have lived abroad speak (and I don't mean pronunciation) and think differently, for the most part, than the Korean Koreans I meet. They bring back interests and knowledge that simply don't arrive in Korea through the usual channels - their favorite western artists are Fleet Foxes and Frightened Rabbit, rather than Abba and Beyonce.


And maybe not everybody who goes overseas experiences this personal shift: maybe there are people who manage to live here (or elsewhere), tottering, without ever planting a foot here, by hunkering in expat enclaves, avoiding the activities and foods and places that would make Korea a part of them. Perhaps that is possible. I've met a few who tried, but I'm not sure how it turned out for them, because I didn't seek out their company, once I saw that they'd hit the reject button, and were utterly uninterested in hearing about my attempts to engage with the culture and people here. I don't know how I'd relate to such people anymore, even if I once could, or wanted to.

And this is what it is like to live with one foot in two different cultures. Does it make me better, smarter, and wiser? Not than other people (how could I compare?) but perhaps than myself when I was the product of only one culture, and lacked the self-awareness to spot what of my beliefs were the prejudices of my upbringing, and what were actually my earned and owned self. Travel is certainly not the only way to identify those distinctions, though I might have trouble understanding the journey of someone who had done it through some other route.

On the other hand, the sacrifice I must make is that I never quite belong anywhere, except perhaps with others who have feet planted in more than one place: other long-term expats, whose roots stretch entirely across oceans. Koreans all ask me about Canada, though it's been nine years since I lived there, and I can't relate to a lot of the things my Canadian friends want to tell me about anymore, unless I ask them for tiresome explanations, and I can't explain things without that same long-winded background.

This is why I say that you can never go home: part stays behind, and part hankers for pieces of that other place. You have reference points that you didn't have before, and will always have them.

So, readers, in Korea or Canada or elsewhere, where have you lived, and what footprints have those places left on you? What did you miss of the place you went to, once you came back home, and is it possible to come home again?

Nice Galaxy Tab Ad...I Mean, Nice Patronizing Stereotype-filled "Visit Korea" ad...

Warning: there is one slightly NSFW image in this post. It's down where I'm talking about the Netherlands.

So there's this new ad that has been spotted in places like CNN.



Yeah. Soak it in.

I have a few problems with this ad:

First, it looks more like an ad for the Galaxy Tab (if that's what the guy's carrying) than an ad for Korea. Seriously. In fact, it would make more sense as a Galaxy Tab ad - "Samsung is supplying the whole world with tablet technology...um...except Germany" In that context, the ad would have made more sense.

Next, very few people wear their nation's traditional dress when traveling abroad. Even Texans usually leave their horses at home. And maybe even their Segways.

Also, who the hell asks THESE kinds of questions (in their own language) of a random stranger on the street?  "Is it true that you're the 7th largest exporter?" (I don't know how google works.)

Anyway, what would Koreans do if somebody approached them, dressed like Napoleon,


and asked them a question in French?

Here's what they'd do:


(an ad aimed at Koreans - "don't act QUITE so scared when you see a foreigner, or they'll know Korean hospitality is only for non-strangers")


The ad ends with a whole line-up of stereotypes walking towards the camera in some sort of a xenophobe's nightmare.


I've got Dutch background, so should I be upset that there isn't someone dressed like this in the ad?

Should I dress like that (or at least the boy version) when I travel abroad?

Or maybe, like the Arabian belly dancer on the far right at the end of the ad (who almost certainly doesn't even dress that way on the street in her own blessed country)...




I should dress like one of the Netherlands' other famous identifiers. (the source)

Or a Canadian mountie -- after all, one of the Queen's Guard is there.

Other screen shots from the ad, in case it gets pulled from youtube:

Key message: "Even though we think you're all cowboys, we want you to visit our country, Americans."

To their credit, at least the cowboy doesn't have a Russian accent, like those "American" teachers in some of those trashy scapegoaty TV shows.

I wonder how many cowboys know what bibimbap is.

Yes. In some middle-easternern countries, people do dress this way every day. When they travel abroad? Perhaps.

Seems a little elaborate for a travel outfit... then again, I passed a pair of harajuku girls on a street in Hongdae a few saturday nights ago.

"Excuse me. I got lost on the way to the ballroom."

"Galaxy Tab: all the information you need to help random, oddly-dressed strangers"

Here's the whole crew of them in Gwanghwamun Square.

 Including Connor MacLeod

A Hopak dancer (I think)

A flamenco dancer. (correct me if I'm wrong on any of these)

A... shaolin monk, perhaps? Because Koreans wear Taekwondo uniforms when they travel abroad.

Oh. And a tall African wearing a brightly-colored toga. He's in the back row, so I can't tell whether he's carrying a spear, or if there's a bone in his nose. (we've seen worse, but still...)

A mexican with a sombrero. (At least they couldn't find anyone who was mexican, or looked mexican, and was shameless enough to wear a sombrero for the camera)

By the way, the Cowboy's name...

is cowboy.


This brazilian lady was busy: she had to go straight from the parade float to the airport.

I can't quite tell who this guy's supposed to be.

Thankfully, the American Indian (complete with feather, facepaint and buckskin pants) DID end up on the cutting room floor. Barely.

(image source)

Rest in peace, Iron Eyes Cody.

I think that if everybody else is wearing their national stereotyped clothes, they should put the Korean guy in a hanbok, or at least a taekwondo uniform, for one thing. I don't know how this ad is going to impress anyone enough to decide to come to Korea, when one of the messages it seems to communicate is "Hey. We don't know anything except the broadest stereotypes of your country. So why don't you broaden your horizons by coming to a country where our ad implies that people will expect you to wear a sombrero if you're from mexico." And if this ad were to reflect the actual flows of tourists to Korea, then the elephant in the room is, "Why so few South and Southeast Asian outfits?" Not even an Indian sari? Or one of those fantastic Thai headdresses?

There are other ways to have communicated that these people are from other countries, than dressing them like friggin' Napoleon - flags on backpacks, or you could even have a flag show up on the corner of the screen, or floating above their head like the character info on an online role play game, without diving into this "let's dress foreigners in silly costumes" mess.

I don't know if it quite heads into straight-up offensive territory, but it is definitely, definitely tone deaf. And if my sources are correct, and I'm pretty sure they are, the producers were told this ad was wrong-minded, patronizing and maybe a little racist, on no uncertain terms, and they ran it anyway. So... I guess they were keeping those westerners around to make their office feel international, and not because the people promoting Korea actually care what foreigners think about their "visit Korea" ads.

and yeah, this ad, seen by Koreans, will do a good job of making Koreans feel good about Korea.

But that's not the point of international Korean tourism promotions, is it? And it hardly requires buying ad space on CNN, when KBS or MBC will reach more Koreans anyway. Hell, why not just have the narration in Korean?

What have you been up to, Roboseyo? Wonju!

So blogging has been sparse, but it's good to fill y'all in on some of the stuff I've been doing.

Among other things...

I took a short trip out to Gangwon province with Chris in South Korea, who is a fine human being...

We went to Gossi Cave (you can read Chris's post about it here - my pictures didn't turn out as well, though I think I gave my helmet a few more nicks than him) and you can read more about the trip here.

We hit up Wonju Wife, one of my two favorite Danielles on the entire Korean peninsula (I heard there are some awesome ones in North Korea, but I bet none of them hold a candle to my two) and had some beers, and some amazing food with them in Wonju... Danielle is hella smart, and Danielle's husband Kenny is an absolute, stellar, class act of a human being too, and he's one of the sweetest husbands I've ever seen.

We also headed up to Chiak Mountain, and encountered this scene:


But we also saw this:

Chiak Mountain

Funny, obscene statues near Wonju Wife's favorite coffee shop.  No, that's not a flower vase he's holding.  It's a dick.

 And she's... yeah.

A roadside:

 At Jangneung, I took this striking of Chris Backe trying to blend into the surrounding fall colors.  He nearly matched the colors of the leaves with that shirt.

My three travel tips

So Chris in South Korea tagged me to share my three best travel tips. He shared his own here. Among his tips were to use Koreas super useful tourist help line, packing light, and getting it on in the love motels. Blogger David S Wills, the artist formerly known as... a different k-blog... added his own very worthwhile pointers, and now here are mine:

1. Preparedness: Zippers, layers and liquids. You want to spend all day stomping around your destination; you don't want to get stuck running around, looking for an extra layer, or get laid up with a headache from too much sun/not enough liquids. Carry a day-trip sized backpack or tie a few extra layers around your waist: unless you're traveling Korea in the summer, the temperature in these parts drops at night. A lot. If you travel a lot, invest in some mountain gear brands: they're pricier than your average sweater, but north face, napa, Columbia sports and the like have sweaters that pack way small, are light as a normal shirt, but warm as a spring jacket, especially when layered. A few layers of those (with zippers so you can adjust them, instead of having an all-or-nothing pullover) a bit of wool, and you'll be ready for anything. Doing the same with a raincoat isn't a bad idea during the summer, if this summer is any indication of summers to come. Also on the preparedness train, make sure you have your head covered, and a water bottle or canteen at your belt. Nothing derails a day trip as quick as a dehydration or exposure headache.

Tying your stuff around your waist ain't sexy... but you'll be ready to roll.

2. Buddy up. Everything is more fun when it's shared. That's one of the reasons I started blogging: sharing my experiences with my readers makes them more enjoyable to me. But nothing enhances a travel experience more than sharing it with am actual person. When I'm with someone I'm braver, more adventurous, and more fun, than when I travel alone.

3. Leave the devices home. Your mp3 player puts you in a sound bubble and shuts out the rest of the world. The mobile devices, even the phone, can work as tethers, holding you back from truly experiencing the places you go.  Why listen to the same old music on your player, when a tour bus in the parking lot is bopping with something you've never even imagined before.  Shut the devices off and be present where you are. The most perfect moments I've had as a traveler were the ones where I even put away the camera, and just turned on my five senses --developing a sense for which glorious moments photograph well, and which glorious moments don't, will help you get the most out of your travel memories.  This is especially important when you're traveling with someone: I've been accused by wifeoseyo, essentially, of "blogging" while we were out together, instead of attending to her, my actual travel partner.  Don't be that tool.

Not that it isn't sometimes good to have a camera along, of course. (Notice that wifeoseyo is following all of my preparedness tips in the above photo.)


Two bonus points for free: this one's similar enough to one of David's points I don't feel the need to repeat it in my "real" three tips, but:

Follow your nose. A lot of great things can happen if you loosen expectations, and listen for restaurants, paths and menu items to call your name. Sticking too rigidly to a timetable leads to mechanical travel experiences, while wandering off the map might lead to a totally unique travel experience. The safety flip-side of following your nose is trusting your instincts, but as you become a more experienced traveler you'll get better at reading people and situations.

Finally, remember that if something goes as planned, it's a great travel experience; if things go wrong, it's a great story for later. If that's your approach to traveling, you'll always come away with something memorable and worthwhile.

Tags:
I tag my well-traveled friends Tamie, Melissa, and Eat Your Kimchi's Simon & Martina.

Back from the Honeymoon!

Here's the score:

Spain World Cup: sigh. I watched the game on tape, and they DID deserve to win, but sigh. My dad's Dutch.

W Hotel Maldives: amazing! Amazing! Amazing!

Male: capital city of maldives.  Probably warrants a post of its own.

Coral: mmm.

Photos and videos: about eight or ten gigabytes worth (fortunately much of that is HDMI video) - will go through it, will post some of it, but have a lot to process.

Family in Korea: so so sweet!  My nieces and nephews are pretty awesome, and my brothers and sisters are, too.

The Blog: sorry about the light posting... fortunately I only plan to get married once in my life, and henceforward, I'll be back to my usual self.

Seriously though, that light posting: if you're pretty choked about it, let me know, and I'll send you a refund check.

Pictures: because the internet can be a very public place, don't expect every single picture, either of the wedding or the week with the family, or the honeymoon (especially not the honeymoon) up here... but I'll try to find some representative ones.  Every picture of a loved one's face (other than my own) that goes up here will be posted only once permission has been obtained, so bear with me, and forgive the smaller number.  Jagiseyo knows when I'm taking pictures for my blog, because I'm not including her in any of the pictures, and we've had a few conversations to the effect of "are you blogging right now?" which is a nice way of saying "you're not really present in this moment with me, are you?" and on the honeymoon of all places, I've been mindful of that.

However, I don't begrudge any of my blog-friends posting one or two of the (not unflattering) pictures they took of the wedding, and I hope Joy, from Foreign/er Joy doen't mind me re-posting a few of those photos.

I also certainly hope my friends who took pictures at the wedding send me copies.  Hint, hint, hint.

A few pictures from Joy's page:

Some of my own pictures, and maybe a few from the studio, coming as soon as I can catch up with the eighty e-mails in my "ATEK Communications" inbox...

of course visa requirements come up when I'm on vacation.  Of course.

Still alive, but...

Re-watched Thunderball, the old James Bond movie.

Ate breakfast at a W Hotel.

Narrowly avoided sunstroke.

Saw 40 different kinds of fish.

Life is good in Roboseyoland, but once things settle down a bit more, I'll be back to blogging as usual.

So far, the leader in the "Girlfriendoseyo needs a new nickname" sweepstakes is Selorm (seconded by Kushibo) with "Chagiseyo" - but I'll have to check with the official "updated romanization" whether I'll be using "Jagiseyo" or "Chagiseyo" or something else suggested by someone else in the comments, that's even better.

And now... it's Chagiseyo's birthday, and I have to get some stuff ready.

Stay joyful, dear readers.

Here's my mood right now.
Those who came to the wedding know why.  Chagiseyo's learning the words now.  The three times she's funniest are when she's singing, and when she's half-drunk.



Wedding and honeymoon photos later, once the huge mass of them (two different cameras) get processed.


Until then... Joy wrote up a nice little post about my wedding, which you can read. Thanks, Joy. I'd also like to take this moment to publicly thank Chris in South Korea for the photos he privately sent me of the wedding. Chagiseyo loved them, and sends along her thanks, too.

More of Busan: Taejongdae and Haeundae

I'm kind of loath to bury the post I wrote yesterday about ATEK under a bunch of pictures, so if you want to read something more important, rather than just seeing a travelogue, here's that thing about ATEK again. The pictures are nice, but this article matters more, in the grander scheme.


After my trip to Busan, I added a bunch of pictures from Jalgalchi market, which was great.

Next, I have more pictures from some of the other parts of Busan I visited.

The very best ones are all in this video, including some video of knife sharpeners and waves crashing. But below are also lots of pictures. The video has music. The pictures below have explanations. You must pick. Or do one, and then the other. That's OK too. I don't mind.


Taejongdae is a resort/cliffy rocky place/park on the edge of town: Girlfriendoseyo explained that while Seoul traditionally had only the one, main downtown area, because Busan is a port city, it always had two main strips - the city's always been spread out more than other cities in Korea.

So we took a bus out to Taejongdae, and saw this on the way:



Busan is one of the busiest harbors in the world.


Hong Kong Harbor just about blew my mind, but this sure wasn't anything to sniff at, either.

Taejongdae had beautiful rocks and water. Mmm.


Here's a white guy photoshopped into a picture of Taejongdae. There's a Japanese island somewhere on that horizon, that's close enough that you can sometimes see it with the naked eye. Tee hee. I said "naked".


There were extensive, winding, and uneven steps and stairs all the way down to the water at Taejongdae. We opted not to take the ferry to Haeundae Beach, but we could have. The waves were crashing. it was sweet.


The rocks there looked really interesting: there were some sedimentary, layered-looking rocks, but some other formations that made me wish I knew more about geology.



Once I took a rafting trip with my sister-in-law's brother, who is a High School science teacher, and he was pointing out all kinds of cool stuff about the rock formations in the Rocky Mountains where we were paddling. Very informative. I love that kind of stuff. you can see more of the rocks' neat features here:

Everybody's photogenic at beaches in the mid-late afternoon.


right down at the water in taejongdae


Hey buddy: wanna eat the freshest seafood in the world? The only way to get it fresher is to put on diving gear yourself.


This was waiting for the bus near a restaurant/lookout on the top side of Taejongdae cliffs, after we climbed down and came back up again.




Then, our hotel was near Centum City, and the monstrously huge "Bexco" - Busan's answer to COEX. It was big. Also in Centum City were a Shinsegye and a Lotte Department store built right next to each other in a kind of "who's the boss of this town" one-upmanship thingy, where Lotte built a huge department store, and then Shinsegye built a bigger one right next to it, just because screw you, Lotte group!
Lotte


Shinsegye (note the frame built above the actual roof, in order to make it seem to dwarf Lotte more than it actually does)

the red sign actually says "world's largest department store" Eat that, Lotte!

But the other Lotte Dept Store in Busan had an anchor. No Shinsegye department store didn't have no darn Anchor. Or maybe only a small one. So they can suck it too.

One thing that really struck me about Busan was how different it was than Seoul: here are some things I saw there that are impossible to find in Seoul:

Really tall, kind of ugly apartment buildings.




crowded subway cars.


big grey, monolithic highway structures


all kinds of coffee shop chains




and shiny cosmetics stores. It was all so unfamiliar.


And somehow, down in Busan, they love talking about "Hub" stuff


Nah just kidding, you can find those things in Seoul, too. But actually Busan DOES have a very different feel, and often a different look, than Seoul.

But the subway cars in Busan are narrower.
Also: not many of the apartments in Seoul are built on waterfronts this pretty, frankly:



Busan WAS different from Seoul, and quite a bit cleaner, to be honest.

Finally, Haeundae was fantastic.






The "what to do if a Tsunami comes" sign amused me, too.






I wonder if this sign was up there before the movie "Haeundae" came out.




We had a great time eating: Girlfriendoseyo's mom is a real food aficionado, not afraid to demand the best, or to set aside stuff that's less than the best. We went to a 복 (Blowfish) restaurant, which I've always wanted to do, and had all kinds of variations on Blowfish. Blowfish is cool, because if you slice up the fish wrong, there are some deadly poisons in the fish, but if you cut it right, it's really really good. Whichever brave soul discovered the edible and inedible parts by trial an error wins my respect. I've always wanted to try it, and right next to a beach is always a good place to have a first experience of a seafood.

This restaurant was mad packed already at 9:30 in the morning, when we came. By the time we finished eating at 10:30 the line was going out the door.


one version of the blowfish - the nurungji squares on the bottom were the best.


another restaurant - I don't even know how she found it, it was tucked away in a winding back alley, but she'd found it on the internet, and it was one of the better-reviewed restaurants to be found in Busan.

The name of the place;


and the location:


Last few kicks: climbed a steep hill and walked around this nice park: can't remember the name of it, because I'm either dumb, or too lazy to find out, or too inattentive to find out the name when we went there. Busan Mike has helpfully let us know it's called "Yongdusan" and he even wrote about it.

The dragon was cool, but we also got to see our first flowers of the year, which was a big reason why we went down to Busan in the first place. Seeing as most of march was snowy in freaking Seoul, we were due for a bit of spring's promise.



Spare pics: the downtown shopping area:


you can see the covered, escalator-d entrance to the hill/mountain park at the end of this lane.



and I don't know what to do with this shop name... it kind of fits with "red face" another Korean brand of hiking gear... but I don't dare say anything more. But I had to include it.