Wenvin Weekend: Part 1

I'm done teaching for the next FIVE DAYS (I don't know if I've mentioned my 설날 vacation enough times yet) and I've got some minutes before I leave, so a brief rundown of the awesomeness that was Wendy and Kevin's visit to Busan.

Also, [ here's ] Wendy's blog entry that talks about that weekend.

Ahhhhh, them guys. Well, we didn't have any real plans (especially because I had only lived in Busan for 3 weeks), but I looked through Lonely Planet Korea to find some highlights, asked around a bit, and made a plan to get them a place to stay on Gwangalli Beach.

Getting into town AND THEN scouting out a place to stay is a giant pain in the ass, so I ran about for a minute checking rooms and asking prices. AND IT WAS FACKING FREEZING. (That was the weekend my legs got windburnt). So, along the beach near the shiny blue lego buildings are all these fish markets and restaurants, with ajummas (technically married women, but generally [among expats] women in their 40s or 50s) yelling at passersby to buy they damn fish. "Hey! Young lady! We have delicious squid here!" Yes, that 15-year-old girl with all her friends was just waiting to hear about your sweet fishy deals. At any rate, one of the fish-hawkummas asked me if I was looking for a restaurant. I said no, a hotel for my friends and she told me to go around back, not on the boardwalk. "Why?" "Oh, here is veeeeery expensive. 150,000won (about $130)!" "Oh! Thank you!"

Now, Korean people that I've talked to on the street have generally been STUPIDLY kind and helpful and I had reason to believe this might be true. It was 7pm on a Saturday on a famous beach. Supply and Demand say: Shit's gonna be expensive. But this lady lied to me. Behind the boardwalk buildings prices were 60,000-90,000. I tried the boardwalk eventually just to throw it out there as a novel option and they were 50,000-60,00. Damn it, lady. The room we ended up going with had a neat view of fish shops, an amusement park, the ocean AND the double-decker bridge (nts: learn the name of it) that's absolutely stunning at night. It was VERY Korean...oh, you want a view? HOW ABOUT 4 ALL ON TOP OF EACH OTHER?

Wendy and Kevin had a lovely 5 hour busride (no, they did not...it's supposed to be 3.25 hours, but Saturday evening traffic into Busan is a bastard), got their room, and off we went for some weirdass soup.

Time to go home! MOAR later!