a long eventful weekend

Going back to work after a long weekend is always horrible, and it's no different in Korea. We took a short trip to Busan and visited the Huyandae Beach over the weekend with some friends. We spent a day at the beach, and even though we didn't venture into the water it was such a beautiful and calming atmosphere that we enjoyed our time there regardless. We also got to wittness a Korean style wedding on the beach, which was kinda neat. While in Busan we also met some new friends that live really close to us!!!

We ate KFC for the first time in Korea and though it was a little spicy it reminded us of the good ole SOUTH!!! We also had a nice dinner at a quaint little Turkish restaurant in the city, which ended up being an interesting experience. As we walked through the doors we walked into what seemed like a different country. We heard more languages than we could possibly count or recognize. At our table alone there were: two Russians , two Persian Canadians, two Americans (yours truly), and a Korean. That's four different languages all conversing at one table, not to mention the Turkish waitress who was doing her best to communicate in broken Korean! WOW, talking about cultural collision!!! The dinner and company was fabulous. The other adventures of Busan included a lesson on the Korean subway system and bartering with the street salesmen for a Louis Vouiton purse; they have great knock offs here!!! The trip to Busan was a huge success and we can't wait to go back again.

The weekend didn't end with the Busan trip. There was a foreigners festival held at Ulsan University so that all the foreigners had something to do over the long weekend. We made our way up to the university and enjoyed a number of events at the festival. We also had a free Korean cafeteria style meal, which was descent :) But our favorite part of the festival was the song and dance competition. Everyone who competed in the competition sang in Korean and the MC spoke Korean the entire time, which confused us a little bit. Of course, we being Americans think everything should always be done in English!!! Anyway, the contest was so funny. The guys would go crazy and the girls had a ridiculous amount of energy (and this is coming from me). For such a reserved culture, they really know how to let lose and entertain. The festival ended in a riot because there were a number of prizes that were to be given away by drawing, and a group of people didn't like the way the MC was conducting the drawing. I'll admit it was a little shaddy, only Vietnamese and Philipino names were being called and every now and then the MC would look at a name and then put it back. I seriously doubt he really cared who won the mass packages of Ramen noodles or the area fans that were being given away, but nevertheless, people became angry. So, then everyone in the building for Sri Lanka got up and began shouting and booing for a while, and when nothing changed they all left. This was so intersting because we never think of racism occuring between the different Asain races, but it is in fact very common around here. No one ended up fighting, that we know of at least. But once again, we were very entertained.
Tuesday, we decided that we would splurge and go to this seafood and sushi buffett that we have been hearing people talk about. It was absolutely amazing. All you can eat seafood and sushi is like a dream come true for Chris and myself. We literally ate until we could not eat any longer, and then we finished the night out at a singing room. This is a tiny little karaoke room that you can go in and sing until you can not sing any longer. Ater about an hour in the hot little room, we decided that seafood buffett and karaoke room are not two events that work well together.

The weekend was wonderful. We greatly enjoyed the time off, sightseeing and time to just chill a little and take it all in. Back to work now, and it's almost the weekend again....yahoooo!!!!