Chelsea and Erin are HERE! But mostly Boseong green tea Heaven

Monday night Chelsea and Erin arrived in Busan, tired but very excite! After moving them into the apartment we went out for what is now my new favorite Korean food, and I don't know what it's called. The visitors ate bulgogi barbecue (cooks over a flame at the table) and Brian and I ate seafood delight. This seafood delight consists entirely of shellfish and shrimp, and the shell fish are raw on the half shell with spices and seasonings piled in with the meat. You use the shell almost like a frying pan to saute up the goodies and it's a tasty treat indeed. Chelsea and Erin said that meal was their favorite they'd had so far in Korea (they'd been in Seoul with Erin's friend for a couple of days already), and though they didn't eat the seafood, they were intrigued by the cooking method. Yeon Jae ended up meeting us there for soju and coming back to our apartment for a bit. We haven't seen much of him this semester because he's become a 6th grade teacher and he's much more busy than he was as the PE teacher. That also means he no longer shares an office with Brian, so the poor chingus are separated. It was good to see him that night.

Tuesday we mapped out the route to Beomosa, the biggest most beautiful temple in Busan, for the girls... and they made it there! They reported back in time to meet Brian and I with Eun Hi (Brian's ex-co-teacher from last semester) and Soo Jeong (Brian's current co-teacher) to check out the cherry blossoms at Dalmaji hill. They were impressed with the temple and later the hill where we checked out a beach Brian and I had never seen before. After saying goodbye to Eun Hi the rest of us subwayed over to GwanganLi to see the night view of the bridge and get some dinner. There Soo Jeong took us to a famous deokbeoki (rice cake sticks in sweet spicy sauce) and fried squid restaurant. I loved it, Brian loved it, Erin and Chels could take it or leave it, so we also kimbaped before heading to a bar with pictures of Russel Crowe on the sign - no sign of Russel Crowe within though - to admire the night view. By then we'd thoroughly exhausted our guests so home we went to rest up for the real gem so far.

Wednesday morning we were up before 6 to catch a bus (that we missed, but that gave us time for breakfast, which I think I preferred) to Boseong, a town famous for it's green tea plantation. It turned out to be farther away than we'd hoped; it took over 3.5 hours by bus, but it was beautiful. The picture below shows the hills of tea plants.
Even the entrance to the place was beautiful. The cedar lining looked magical and serene.

I think the bamboo forest looked even more magical though, and the wind blowing through the stalks made them clack together just so like wind chimes. You can hear it too in this video.

And here's a close up of some of the bamboo graffiti. It's a list of names, nothing juicy.

After climbing through the fields and admiring all the scenery we ate some green tea dishes like green tea noodles and green tea fried pork cutlets, and of course, green tea ice cream. When we finally got back to Busan we heard about the North vs. South Korea soccer game to determine who would go to the World Cup and caught part of the game in a restaurant. And South Korea was victorious, hoorah! We were trying to get to the famous bath house of Oncheonjang, but we were not success, as our Korean friends would say. It closed before we got there. Perhaps Sunday. Here are the pictures of our adventures so far.

Today Erin and Chelsea are headed to Gyeongju (the former capital of Korea (before there were N and S)) for a temple stay at the same temple we went to with Ryan and Shannon. We'll see them again Friday night for more adventures in Korean wonderland. Also, check out the Konglish blog, we found a gem on the bus station snack rack.

Jess

Birthdays in Busan!!!!

This past weekend was my birthday! And we celebrated accordingly. Friday when I got to school Sun Ja told me I could leave at 1:30 because it was "same grade teachers' cultural education day", but we didn't have a plan for cultural education so we all just left early; of course it was! Thanks for the birthday present Dong Cheon! I went home, straightened up for the eminent arrival of Chelsea and Erin, and then wined myself silly til Brian came home.

Then we subwayed to the 7 Luck Casino where we met David and Duck and I met with 20,000 more than I'd walked in with at the roulette table. Free dinner, free drinks, even a free tooth brush if you request it, which we didn't, and free money, not a bad start to the night.

We met Ryan and Shannon on our way back to Kyungsung where we tried out a Japanese bar we'd been eyeing for a while. There we did presents (thanks everyone!) and played a rowdy little game of drinking Jenga which Brian had gifted me earlier.

Me and my birthday hat Shannon made me.

The mini drinking Jenga Brian made.

The penalty for demolishing the jenga tower was to eat 3 bondaegi. Bondaegi are either cocoons or larvae, we don't know which, we've heard people swear to both, that are steamed and served with no sauce or flavoring of any kind. They smell absolutely foul and I was the only one with enough sense not to try one. And no, I don't regret that decision as Shannon and Duck tried to convince me I would.

...Bondegi

Our new friend Will met up with us too, and at some point we moved on to an arcade where by some miracle we were able to fit 6 people, including David, Brian, and Duck, into a 2 person noraebang (kareoke room to all you waegooks). We sang old favorites like I Like to Move it Move it and that stupid Rick Ashley song I can never remember the name of. We all emerged unscathed somehow, and straggled on to an interlude at the Family Mart (a 7-11-esque convenient store with a random patio and seats) but not before a quick girl fight.

I blame the heels for that awful performance. We eventually met back up with Will at Zorba Buddha, a cozy little hookah place, where we stayed until the drinks and plush pillows lulled the night to an end.

Saturday it was birthday time again! Brian and I met Duck at Haeundae Beach were a pod of foreigners was basking and volleyballing. We soaked it in for a while before adventuring towards Dalmaji (that means moon hill) in search of the famed cherry blossoms there. We took an unorthodox route in some back streets past backwash waters and on through somebody's vegetable garden, across some railroad tracks and then we saw them! The streets were blooming all round with cherry blossoms, or cherry flower trees as Sun Ja calls them. We even found a short woods walk where we overheard a group of people singing traditional Korean songs. Have a listen.

Cherry flower trees!

These birds were drinking from the flowers.

The woods walk reminded me of Myst. I was awful at that game.

On the top of the hill we dined on makulli and popcorn under the cherry trees before deciding once again that it would be a good idea to get free food and drinks at the Haeundae casino. And once again I walked out with 20,000 won from the roulette table. Improbable, but true. On the subway back to our place we met a group of kindred spirits and decided to go with them to O'Briens, the Irish bar in which we'd celebrated St. Patrick's day. That night they had a great band, cheap drinks, and we ended up playing darts until strangers became friends.

Sunday was a day for recovery, and I'd just finished The Kite Runner (great story, but reading it concurrently with Ulysses made the writing seem a bit wanting, though that would probably be true of most books) (thanks Margo!) and was craving Indian food so it was birthday time again! And we ate at a place with an open kitchen where we watched the Indian chef make our naan fresh and delicious. I don't really miss the food in America so much as I miss the variety of foods available all at around the same price. There's Italian and Indian and Vietnamese food here, but if it's not from Korea, it's at least 3 times as expensive, and usually not that good. But the food at Shabana was delicious, though still not cheap.

And now the weekend's over but tonight Chelsea and Erin arrive in Pusan and I can't wait for all the gallivanting to come. AND Brian's school and mine have the same founding day, which is this Wednesday. So we've both got the day off to carouse with the visitors! And to sweeten the whole sweet deal, Da Bin, one of the third grade girls who cleans the English room, gave me a notebook for my birthday and the note on it said "My best friend Jess (heart drawn here) happy birthday! -from Da Bin-". I love this job and I love these kids even more. As the drunken man in the first Korean restaurant we ever ate at once said, Korea number one!

And to put some faces to the third grade girls who clean the English rooms' names...

From left to right there's Da Bin, Min Su, Ji Eun, and Hye Jin. They're eating chocolate covered cookies sticks with sprinkles - YUM. They're so cute and sweet and I love them so much.