KOREA Week XXIII

Monday, October 5, 2009 at 10:05am

Week XXIII here in K-town, following a long, hard holiday weekend in the South. Pusan was/is 10-15 degrees warmer than Seoul (on average), and aside from the torrential downpour my friends and I managed to find ourselves a part of late Thursday night/early Friday morning, the weather was beautiful. These heavy rains, I might add, make it extremely difficult to find a taxi willing to pick you up and transport you safely to your destination, especially at 3am. Instead, my friends and I stood in the pouring rain desperately trying to hail a cab and we found it frustrating that so many would pass us by or refuse to accommodate us.

Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving, and perhaps the most important Korean holiday, was Saturday and we did our best to celebrate by spending the day in Songjeong. Songjeong Beach is a 2km long sandy beach located 10-15 minutes north of the more crowded Haeundae and Gwangalli Beaches, and the Western-most Japanese island can be viewed from here. It's a perfect place to enjoy a sunny afternoon followed by late-night bonfire and cookout, and it was, in fact, a perfect day. The homemade potato salad, tuna salad, and pork tenderloin we enjoyed was also perfect.

Transportation to Pusan via KoRail (slow rail) was 24,000 Won and KTX transportation to Seoul was 51,000 Won. Travel time to Pusan on the slower, more traditional rail system was roughly 5 hours, while the impressive KTX delivered me to Seoul in less than 3 hours. A quick note about KTX; introduced in 2004, it's Korea's own high-speed rail system which has a top speed of 350km/h, though it is limited to 300km/h for safety reasons. It connects three of Korea's largest cities; Seoul, Pusan, and Mokpo, and it really is an efficient way to travel the country. The downside to this, of course, is the higher ticket price and the seats, unfortunately, are not as comfortable as the slower, KoRail trains. Regardless, when traveling over the Chuseok holiday, one is fortunate to have transportation anywhere, anyway.

This week commences month six of classes, and it's the usual first week of introductions and new students. Hard to believe it's month six, and I soon will have taught a total of 54 classes during my tenure at my hagwon. Also hard to imagine I have taught an average of 40 students each month, and probably over 100 students throughout my short time here.

October plans include a Buddhist Templestay, a renewed commitment to my Korean studies, guitar lessons, regular exercise, and possibly a Korean cooking class. All fun stuff, and certainly appropriate for the cooler October weather.

Check out the photos listed under Ethan's Flickr Photostream, if you haven't done so already, and drop me a line via Skype! (esparrow1) I am lonely for some conversation with friends and family..