Busan

So this past weekend I took a trip down to Busan which is a coastal city in the south of Korea with friends and coworkers. The trip was a much needed break from Seoul and especially the colder weather. We left early Saturday morning on the Korean train system, KTX, at 530am for our 3 hour train ride south. We were a group of about 16 people.

When we first arrived a Korean staff worker from my work, Leo, began taking us around the city as it is where he is originally from. Our first stop was a famous restaurant that has been around for over 50 years and serves a rice soup which is a common breakfast meal. A little bit of meat, lots of bean sprouts, seaweed, onion, and rice where the main components. The soup was cooked in giant pots out front of the restaurant and was quite tasty.



After eating we walked to the beach and the surrounding area of Haeundae since we could not check into our room until 2pm. While the weather was warmer than Seoul it still wasnt beach weather.







Found the greatest name for an Irish bar in Korea. O'Kims.







After walking around for a walking around for a while we went to the hotel and got settled in. We stayed in a hotel that was basically a large apartment with a kitchen and two rooms where we slept on the floor in true Korean style.





The view from the balcany





That night we ordered a bunch of food and drinks to the apartment and had a little party with everyone before heading out that night. When we were out we met up with a friend of mine from college who is teaching in Busan who then took us out to a couple places. The next day Leo's parents invited us to lunch and paid for everyone which was very nice of them.









After lunch we went to a Buddhist temple which was on top of a mountain with a nice view of the ocean. The temple was called Okransonwon or 옥련선원 in Korean.















After the temple we went to Nampodong which is another district of Busan with lots of shops and street food.



After eating a bunch and walking around we went to the seafood market. While there we got to see the skinning of an eel which was quite the site especially since they continue to move and squirm around after the fact.







The weekend was a really good time and definitely made going back to work on Monday all the more painful. I will definitely be going back when it is warmer to enjoy the beaches.

Spring Time For Hitler

I don't know why but I always make the association with spring and Mel Brooks thus the title.

Although it is technically spring and I have started the new spring term it does not feel like it. Spring was promised to be warm and nice but that has yet to come. It was getting warmer and nicer a couple of weeks ago when I was told that it was the end of the cold, but then it snowed decided to remain cold. This happened 3 times I think and it still has yet to warm up. I hesitate to say that today was nice and that it should for the most part be the last of winter as I wont be surprised if it snows again.

As I said earlier it is spring and therefore there is a new term at work. The year is broken down into quarters coinciding with the seasons and for every new term we get new classes, kids, and schedules.

So far I am quite enjoying my classes and was in need of the change of pace and new faces. I am still teaching memory English and interactive reading but my levels are now different. For memory I am teaching giga which is the lowest level memory class and for reading I am teaching bridge which is the step in between memory and reading as well as par reading like last term. Although the classes are the same the books change every term with spring and fall paired and summer and winter paired. I don't think the books are all that great content wise for the classes especially reading but this term is even worse. The topics are even more boring and much longer with more things to go over and more homework to assign which sucks for the students. Nonetheless the classes are going well and I cant believe that this week will be the end of the 4th week already (1/3 of the way through the term).

Another nice change this term is my schedule. No longer do I have half days on wed and Friday I now have Wednesday off and a full day Friday. The full day on Friday is not so fun knowing that I could already be off but it is definitely worth the day off on wed and my class is good too which makes it ok. So now with my Wednesday off its like I have 2 weekends which is nice. Tuesday night is Friday night and wed is now Sunday. Breaking up the week allows for the week to go by even faster, next thing I know the term will be over and my contract will be halfway through.

Doctor Doctor, give me the news

Ive got a bad case of...dead foot skin?

This past weekend I went to a Dr. Fish cafe. No, there is not a Dr. at the cafe but there are fish acting as such. In Korea there are popular cafes where you can go drink coffee or tea, read books, and also have your feet cleaned... by fish.

In the cafes there are tanks of what they call Dr. Fish that you can put your feet in and have the fish eat your dead skin cells. Curious to try this strange but interesting concept i found a Dr. Fish cafe in my neighborhood and decided to try it out.

At first glance it looks like any other cafe in Seoul, full of people drinking coffee, talking reading etc but then you notice towards the windows the Dr. Fish zone. I went in and ordered some tea to drink before heading over to the Dr. Fish zone. You are required to purchase a drink first before proceeding to see the Dr. It was like the doctors waiting room.

After finishing the tea I was brought to the Dr. Fish area and was required to wash my feet off with warm water before submerging them into the tank for the Dr. to work on. When I first put my feet it I instantly started to laugh at the strange tickling sensation. The fish instantly swam over to my feet and began their feast. It was difficult at first to keep my feet in the tank without squirming from the tickling sensation but after a minute or two I got used to it and it began to feel almost like a massage....kind of.





I couldn't get a good picture since my feet were underwater and the filter made it so the water was moving and not easy to see through in a picture but you get the general idea.