Allie's Adventures: Hello Busan!

This weekend I traveled out of Daegu for the first time since I arrived... and we went BIG! On Friday after school, Adrienne, Kaleena and myself headed to the train station in downtown and hopped on a short 2 hour train ride to Busan. We arrived and had a 10 minute walk (if we hadn't gotten lost) to our hostel.

Here it comes!

On the train to Busan

When we arrived, we were greeted by several other Daegukins waiting for us and we were shortly joined by several others. We decided to head out to dinner, where we ate (slightly expensive) Korean BBQ and were joined by several native Koreans. The conversation and company were great, but they decided not to join us for drinks at the pub. After a few drinks, a few of us decided to turn in, while the rest stayed behind to continue the evening.

Our new Korean friends

The next morning a few of us headed to the large fish market in town. The Jagalchi Market sits right on the water, and you can find any type of creature food you can imagine. The stalls went on for ever, and we kept finding little areas that had even more seafood. One of my favorite memories was finding 2 men playing a traditional Korean game, kind of like chess, right on the waterfront. It was interesting to see the Korean people in their element, women selling the catch, the men bringing it in. In the building, you can go have your fresh fish prepared for you and you can eat it raw, right there. It doesn't get much fresher than that. However, we decided to pass and go for a little shopping and bibimbap for lunch.

The beginning of the fish market

Little men playing the chess-like game

Fishing boats

Building where you can eat your raw fish

Best bibimbap, EVER

After lunch, we headed to H & M to do a little shopping (and by a little I mean drop some serious dough). After we had broken the bank, we went back to the hostel to meet up with the others and go out for a Chinese dinner. Man let me tell you, we had NO IDEA how spicy it was going to be! We struggled to get through dinner, but it was a great time.

Spiciest Chinese dish

After dinner, a friend of mine from college, Mark, joined me and the group for a night stroll on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful outside (though a little cold) and getting to talk with everyone and enjoy the beautiful beach was so relaxing. We hung out for a bit, dipped our toes in the water (my first time in the Pacific Ocean!) and then headed inside to warm up. The pub we ended up in was on the 14th floor of a building that was extremely narrow and had beautiful views. I couldn't believe how wonderful the sight was.