Jenna vs. the Bus

So yesterday morning I got terribly lost. And then last night I got a little less lost. I have learned that the subway system in Busan is super easy and yet the bus routes are super hard. I also learned that it’s much easier to have a good sense of direction when you can read and speak the language. The bus rides to the subway station(s) are fine but the rides back home are really difficult. I think the thing that bothers me most about this is the fact that back in the states (I still think it’s crazy to use that term since this still doesn’t feel real) I’m great at directions. Show me a place once usually, at the most twice, and I’ll know my way around. In Busan though I still have trouble recognizing my street. I mean I know it would be harder since I can’t read but I didn’t think it would be this difficult. My great sense of direction was something I took pride in until now. Now I feel like I’m completely clueless when it comes to finding my own apartment. Maybe it’s because I need to walk around my neighborhood more, or maybe it’s because I don’t have a car but this is way harder than it should be.



Even with all of my bus troubles I have really enjoyed the past few days. I’ve seen more EPIK kids than I thought I would by this point and that’s really great, and I’ve seen more of the city than I would have guessed by my fourth day here. Last night a group of us went to a full moon festival that was held on Haeundae beach (which is Busan’s most famous/popular beach). We ate before hand and so I think we may have missed a few things, but there was a giant bonfire and dancing in traditional costumes. This was where I saw the majority of the EPIK group that I hadn’t seen since Friday. Now I know this sounds like no time at all and it may be because of the culture shock or because we were used to spending most hours of the day together that it seems like I haven’t seen them in ages. It also may be that so much has changed for all of us in such a short time that we have that desire to catch up with each other in order to compare our experiences to the larger group.

After the bonfire a smaller group went to noribang (I still don’t know how to spell it) but it’s karaoke rooms to sing in small groups. There were something similar in Bloomington at one of the Sushi restaurants. This one was a little bigger and a little more high tech but it was still a great time. This one included tambourines so that’s always a plus. After there were plans to go somewhere else closer to the center of town and everyone else’s homes but since I live so far away I had to leave for fear of missing my bus. This was a wash since I learned at 10:20 while on the train that the buses stop at 11 and I wasn’t going to make it anyway. But at least I learned that if I take a taxi from a subway stop close to the bridge that connects my island to the mainland that it’ll cost me around 4 bucks. I mean it’s 3 bucks more than a bus ride but at least I know the price is not completely insane.



The night before that I went up to Pusan National University (where my friend Mike teaches, although I sadly didn’t see him) to go to a western bar and listen to some music. I was very thankful that I was able to sleep on my friend Sam’s floor in his ‘dining room’ since even the next morning in the daylight I still got lost. The down side of sleeping on the floor other than the obvious comfort is that with heated floors if you want to flip your pillow over for the cool side you’ll find it warmer than the original side (which is not fun when you’re half asleep). I have a feeling that if I want to stay out beyond 9:30 or 10 on weekends I’ll have to either pay for a taxi or mooch off my friends and sleep on their floors. I mean my friend Heather has a futon (the only couch I’ve heard of an EPIK teacher having) and she said I can stay there and my friend Seema said I could share her bed, but I’m just afraid that this every weekend thing will get old real fast, for both me and them. I also have a feeling that when people come to visit me to see me and my island that they’ll be expecting something new and realize it’s really similar to the rest of the city except you have to take a bus and then not want to visit again. Moral of the story is that I will be doing a lot more traveling to see my friends than most people here.



Okay so now is the time in our episode where we discuss my apartment. My friend Sam’s apartment (the only one I’ve seen so far) has sliding doors to create separate rooms where mine doesn’t and I think mine may be a little bigger, or at least appear that way.

So my co teacher on Saturday came and helped me clean my apartment top to bottom (thankfully I found no cockroaches and have yet to see one, knock on wood). After our cleaning we went to the mainland and got me a subway card and went to lunch. While walking around the open markets and the streets she bought these great little snacks. They’re these little puffs made of a batter of water and flour and maybe some sugar filled with a sweet red bean filling (now I know this may sound weird but it’s not like eating kidney beans). These are really sweet and the batter is light and fluffy and not too distant from American fair food. Other vendors put them in different molds and so while walking we found some that looked like goldfish, they’re super cute and I really dig them. For lunch we had a soup that was kind of like chicken noodle but with beef stock and some small pieces of beef. They treat it the same way we do chicken noodle soup as a healing agent. The Koreans also have a chicken soup with ginseng in it and that’s apparently even more restorative than the soup I had. It was good, could’ve used a bit of salt and pepper but that’s just my opinion. Also my co-teacher finds it super funny that I took pictures of my food.

Differences I’ve seen so far in Korea:

They sometimes throw away their toilet paper instead of flushing it (I still don’t get this especially for women each month) and also they use baby wipes in the bathroom at home and my co-teacher found it shocking that I didn’t see a need to buy them.



The ‘plain chicken’ ramen is way spicy, but really good



If there was as much Spanish found on American signs and on American packaging as there is English writing in Korea, people would be very angry.



Space is so limited that the cars can automatically fold in their side-view mirrors, and their parking spots are way smaller than ones in the US even though they do drive SUV’s here.



There is more English on tv than I expected. Most has Korean subtitles and the movies they show usually aren’t that great, but it’s nice to watch tv in English. This morning I watched an episode of Drop Dead Diva and another channel keeps advertising that Ugly Betty will soon be added to their lineup. Also there is a ton of English songs in Korean commercials.



Liquid detergent freaks my co-teacher out.



Recycling costs less than garbage so much so that my apartment building even has a compost bin.



Bob Dylan makes any place feel like home.