First Weekend in Busan

- So there I was, resting on the beach following a marathon Frisbee tossing event, when my new friend Mia (a coworker with a hilarious Australian accent) introduces me to her friend Katie, a teacher from Ontario, Canada. Katie introduces herself and shortly thereafter invites us to have supper at a nearby Outback Steakhouse. We accept the offer and during the 10 minute walk along the beach to the restaurant, we run into another friend of Mia’s (an Indian looking South African whose name escapes me). He and I talk about common sports interests during our meal (mostly table tennis and he teaches me a little about soccer). Following the meal, Katie invites us to join her at “Me World”, an amusement park near the famous Gwangan Grand Bridge. We spend the next 4+ hours hanging out with a pack of drunk, rowdy Canadians at a not-so-safe amusement park on a hilltop near the edge of Busan, South Korea. It begins to rain as we all attempt to climb onto the “Viking Voyager”. Ordinarily, the rides close down during rain and lightning but we convince the young Korean “Viking Voyager” conductor to entertain us with one more ride. We scream at each other like crazed pirates as we are drenched by a Korean-style downpour of rain while riding our final ride of the night. We finish the night with a walk down the boardwalk to a local Korean restaurant where we share a variety of Asian cuisine and late night conversation. A 15 minute, 3,000 won ($3.00) cab ride later and I’m back to my apartment and in bed by 4:00am. Life here is just a little different.