Fishing with Korean Friends

Yung June and Pil, two Korean coworkers, invited Brandon and I to join them for a fishing trip to Songdo Beach. After a 40 minute bus ride and 30 minute cab ride to the south west side of Busan, we arrived at Songdo Beach. Our new Korean friends bought us a couple buckets of chicken and a few drinks to enjoy as we sat on the beach. We swapped stories about our experiences in the US and asked them numerous questions about all the intricacies of Korea. We then decided to swim for about an hour prior to fishing. Pil and Yung June were having a great time (I know this because they told us as much several times throughout the day) and so were we, so when they asked us to do some late night fishing in the area and stay the night in Songdo we gladly accepted. The fishing was unsuccessful except for a 3-inch fish I happened to snag on my second attempt. But, the trip was a big success. We learned a ton about all things Korean, shared our knowledge of all things American, and ignited a friendship with 2 really cool Koreans.

USA vs. Korea Olympic Baseball Game

So there I was, finishing up my first class of the day, encouraging my students to practice conversational English by telling me their plans for the night. Several of the students mentioned that they planned to watch the Korea Olympic baseball team on television. "Who are they playing?" I asked. When they informed me that Korea was playing USA I gathered up some friends and we decided to watch the game at a nearby sports bar. We entered the bar in the 5th inning and the US was down 3-1. There were several tables full of Korean businessmen, still wearing dress-shirts and ties, who clearly dashed to the bar right after work to watch the big game. Although it was clear that the Korean spectators were quite interested in the game, they were doing a lot more passive spectating than active cheering. We decided to infuse the bar with a little energy. We began cheering like a bunch of American baseball fanatics over even the simplist of plays, and we stood up and sang "Take me out to the ballgame during the 7th inning stretch. Our plan worked to perfection. Before we knew it, the bar was packed full of Korean men and women who were on the edge of their seats, celebrating every Korean success and groaning over every failure. The US rallied late in the game to take an 8-7 lead into the bottom of the 9th. With two outs in the inning Korea dealt the final blow to win the game in dramatic fashion. Everyone in the bar (except us of course) went nuts! They sang several chants and congratulated us on a game well-played. And, of course, they bought us drinks. To top off the night, a Korean opera singer happened to be sitting a few tables away from us. In his excitement over the Olympic victory, he stood up, made some announcement in Korean to the entire bar and proceeded to sing a Pavorotti-esk opera song at full volume. It was awesome! Life here is just a little different.

Island Adventure (night two - Yeondaedo Island)

There I was, staring at a giant map on the wall illustrating various islands in the TongYeong City area. We had just completed night one of our island adventure and were contemplating our next destination, when an English speaking Korean guy offered to share his insights. He recommended 3 different islands and from those we chose the most isolated one of the group, Yeondaedo Island. Only a small group of farmers, fishermen and their families called this island home. They were all extremely friendly and were more than willing to help out a group of ignorant Westerners. One woman walked us through the village to the back side of the island where we found a beautiful rock beach. Amazing view, but very rocky. A good place to take pictures but a horrible place to sleep for the night. So, we decided to search the island for a nice, sandy beach. After walking several kilometers up and down the rather steep roads and trails, we found a small patch of sand near an abandoned school building. We set up camp for the night and were extremely proud of our construction work...until we noticed the rising tide. After a half-hearted attempt of building a mote/sandwall defense structure we quickly realized that the ocean had plans of her own. We quickly relocated to the old school yard and erected our tents as the sun disappeared over the horizon. We'd been surviving primarily on cheese crackers so we decided to hike back to the fishing village in search of a proper meal. We landed at the only eatery in town, a make-shift general store housed in an elderly couple's sun-porch. Spent the next two hours eating Korean noodles and a bit of rice while watching the Olympics on television with the old woman who ran the general store. The Korean female weight lifter won a gold medal that night. We cheered as though we had lived in Korea all our lives. The elderly woman smiled and served the local children icecream before bed. We then returned to our campsite in the old school yard where we built a campfire and watched the stars play "hide and seek" with us as they peeked in and out of the fast moving clouds. Early the next morning, I decided to explore some of the more secluded areas of the beach. Found a walking trail leading through a pretty dense section of trees and decided to follow it. I'm glad I did as it led to the top of an amazing cluster of cliffs overlooking the village on one side and the ocean on the other.

Island Adventure (night one - Bijindo Island)

We arrived at Bijindo around 7:00 Friday evening and decided it best to search for a suitable campsite so we could pitch our tents before dark. Found a great spot on the beach, only about 30 feet from the edge of the water, behind a small rock formation and in front of the only Pension (hotel) on the island. Successfully pitched our tents and established our campsite just in time to watch a handful of Koreans shoot fireworks over the crashing waves. I couldn't resist so I went for a brief swim. When I returned, the rest of my camping crew were making friends with a small group of Koreans who were staying the night in the Pension. As we've grown accustomed to in our short time here, before long they bought us some drinks and invited us to join them for appetizers on a nearby outdoor picnic area. A few beers later, we found ourselves singing karaoke (some in English and some in Korean) with our new friends on a machine that was connected to an extension chord and was rolled out onto the boardwalk. After a few songs, we invited them to join us for some campfire songs near our campsite. A few of them accepted our invitation and we ended the first night of our island adventure singing "Jesus loves me", "God is an awesome God" and various other tunes sitting around our campfire.

Island Adventure (The Ferry Ride)

Less than 20 seconds after boarding the last available ferry of the day, we set sail for Bijindo Island. We had no idea where this was located, how long it would take to get there, or what to expect once we arrived. Spent the majority of our 50 minute ferry ride taking pictures of islands and rock formations as we passed by and introducing ourselves to Korean kids scattered throughout the ship.

Island Adventure (The Beginning)

Heard a rumor from our friend Alia about some amazing islands within just 2-3 hours of Busan. We had a 4-day weekend thanks to the celebration of Korea's independence from Japan, so Jesi, Brandon, our new friend Brad, and I decided to check it out for ourselves. Rode the Busan subway for about an hour, jumped on a tourist bus for 2 hours, and arrived in TongYeong City, where we planned to board a ferry to get to one of the islands. Problem was, we failed to realize that just about every Korean family in the country was planning the same vacation during the holiday weekend. In not so good English, every single teller at the ferry terminal ticket office politely informed us that all tickets were sold out so we would have to stay the night in Tongjeong City and try again in the morning. At 5:55pm (5 minutes before the last available ferry left the terminal) Brad had an idea. He decided to call Korean Charles, a middle-aged man who is known throughout Busan as a foreigner's best friend. As the story goes, Charles took a trip to Europe several years ago, where he met a nice older gentlemen who took him sight-seeing all over the continent free of charge. Charles decided to do the same for tourists & foreigners in his home country, Korea. So, a couple times a month Charles takes foreigners on various trips throughout the country just so they can get a taste of all Korea has to offer. Anyway, during Brad's 8 months in the country he has gone on several of these trips and formed a friendship with Korean Charles. Charles asked to speak with one of the ferry terminal tellers and within 2 minutes we were handed four tickets aboard the last ferry of the day headed for Bijindo Island. Relieved and thankful, we climbed aboard the ferry with enough camping gear and supplies to last a couple days.

Rock Fest

- So there I was, on a 55 minute subway ride to Dadaepo beach for the 9th Annual Busan Rock Fest. Jesi, Brandon, and I managed to find our way to this new section of town and we arrived just in time to catch the shuttle bus that was hauling people from the subway station to the beach. I went to this event expecting to be blown away by massive crowds and rowdy rock-and-roll fans, but it was the beach itself that stole the show. Dadaepo beach is a much more scenic, uncommercialized beach than Haeundae. It was refreshing to get away from the city life for awhile and enjoy the natural beauty of the landscape. The beach is almost entirely surrounded by a mountain range containing some really cool rock formations. It’s also a pretty popular fishing spot for locals. I took some great pictures from various positions on the rocks and watched as Korean men fished in the shallows and women went digging for crabs on the beach. After dark, we met up with some new friends who were camping on the beach for the weekend. Finished the night by joining a group of Sri Lankan guys who were playing music on drums and water bottles and singing some really interesting chants. Life here is just a little different.