I spent last Monday through Thursday in Busan (or Pusan) for Chuseok. It was absolutely beautiful and just what I needed to do for myself. We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday on the beach: jumping in the waves, getting a tan in the lovely sunshine, and reading plentifully. Wednesday was rainy and cold so we went to a jimjibang (a Korean bath house). The one we went to is called "Spaland." It was only 14,000 won to get in (less than $14) and we could stay as long as we wanted. It was luxurious, new, and so relaxing. In a Korean jimjibang, you begin by soaking in different hot springs and mineral water hot tubs in the segregated portion of the fascility. There were plenty of Koreans there who hastily exited any pool we foreigners ventured into, which was actually perfect because we got large parts of the very crowded spa all to ourselves. There was plenty of gawking from the Korean women, but that's to be expected at this point. There were two saunas of different teperatures and they had televisions in them playin Korean soaps. Oh Korea..people even carried their cell phones around the space with them. I'm constantly surprised by how plugged in this country is, especially compared to america where everyone thinks we're to connected. There was an outdoor hotspring area as well which was my favorite part because it was cold and rainy out and it felt so lovley to sit in a hot, stone-bottom hot spring.
After an hour or so in the women's area we went to the co-ed section in our matching korean pajamas. There was a lovely foot bath area with excrutiatingly hot water and countless saunas of varrying temperatures and themes. There was even a dvd relaxtion room where you could sit in a lounge chair and watch a movie. The whole experience was pretty fantastic and also rather unusual to say the least. On the subject of technology in odd places, I went to my first yoga class today. It is a hot yoga studio, which was really great and taking yoga from an instructor who only speaks Korean was a lovely challenge in and of itself, but someone in the class had brought her phone in and it kept vibrating...so strange to me, so un-yoga like...
Anyway, back to Busan. It was so much fun at night there too because all of the bars and restaurants are right on the water. There are two beaches: Haeundae and Gwanganli. Haeundae is the largest beach in Korea and is tipically blanketed with beach unbrellas, sun bathers, and frisbee throwers in the summer. It's too cold now for Koreans to go to the beach (even though it was 80+ degrees) so the beach was roomy and fun, filled with foreigners. Gwanganli is smaller but is more fun at night. There is a huge bridge stretching across the outer part of the bay and at night it's lit up by rainbow-colored lights. On Tuesday, the night before actual Chuseok, there was live music, portrait artists, and fireworks there. We sat on the beach with a bottle of wine and just enjoyed the atmosphere: perfect.
A few thougths on train travel: we took the commutor train from Daejeon to Busan and back. It's a little under three hours to take the trip and much cheaper than the KTX. Many locals buy standing room only tickets, though, so every aisle and space between the cars is covered with people standing, sitting on the ground, tucked in to corners. Seems like a fire drill should be in order at some point, because the whole thing seemed like it would be very unsafe in an emergency. The snack car was also closed for our return trek, so at one of the stops I darted off the train and tossed 10,000 won to a woman at a mini mart for two candy bars and some chips. Mallory and I were grumpy and starving and I was terrified the train would leave without me.
Lastly, I broke down and cut my hair the other night. I was so sick of it being long and I'm so glad I cut it. I feel like I'm back to my old self!
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