Confessions of a Dangerous Blogger:

I did the height trick again today on two unsuspecting victims. Works like a charm. I seem to be having a Radiohead binge again this week. I have been playing the same song all day on repeat. My iTunes jukebox records how many times I have listened to a song and currently i’m up to 26. Given that I have been at school most of the day and unable to listen to it, plus the fact that I have it on my mp3 player as well, this would tell you something about my listening intensity. It was in my head all the time I wasn’t playing it anyway. I think the kids I’m teaching are getting sick of listening to me sing too. Can’t help it, its just in there and wants to escape and keeps bouncing around until its set free. Yesterday it was the Bluebirds song on repeat, the day before it was the Fog song. I was in Busan at the time and went to sleep with my mp3 player playing the songs and woke up to the songs in the morning. Most people will say I’m a radiohead myself. I won’t dispute this in the slightest.

The Bluebirds song is quite sad in fact. Its about an alcoholic whose life is wasted away. He says, “there’s just a body, there’s nothing left to see”. Its sobering and makes you want to live your life as best you can without wasting it on activities that get you nowhere. At least that’s what it means to me.

[audio:bluebirds.mp3]

I have been adding pictures today for the photo section and I realised that now I have more pictures of Busan than I do of Seoul. Its funny, you go on holiday and take heaps of photos, but overlook the place which you live. So this weekend I’ll have a holiday in Seoul and take lots of scenic pics to even the score.

Lastly for the day, I’d like to take time to thank all of the people I have met here so far in Korea. You have been great friends to me and have each shown me a great time and taught me many things that I wouldn’t have known. I won’t forget you. I’m sorry if we don’t get to spend much time together, but I hope I can see you soon. I’m really going to miss you guys when I’m gone. Oh, I’m getting sad now, so I think I’ll stop.

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Woke up this morning at the ungodly hour of 7am. This is not what I think of when I stay in a hotel. I think, long rests, TV in bed, more sleeping, long showers with the massage jets on high and some lighthearted jumping on the bed. But no, I had a train to catch so all of that had to get sped up. I rested for a whole 2 minutes after the alarm, turned on the TV and turned it off again straight away, took a 10 minutes shower with no massage jets (I didn’t want the temptation) and had a casual flop on the bed. Then I had to rush and get out of there. Grabbed McD’s on the way, hopped into a taxi and got stuck in a traffic jam. I started panicking when I had only 15 minutes to get there and was sitting in some alley with 20 cars between me and the nearest intersection. I made the taxi driver perfectly aware of my train time just to make sure he wasn’t planning on giving me a the scenic tour. Got there, magically I think 5 minutes later and dashed to the platform. Phew! It took me a good 10 minutes of down time on the train to relax again. I hate early starts.

Getting back to Seoul was a little bit comforting. The bigger the city the better I say, but I really did miss the holiday. And the beach… oh the beach. Going to school on the other hand was a total drag. Had a while to read before little hads started grabbing me from all directions. Constant requests for me to fling them about while they scream. “Teacher, game!” as soon as I enter the room. Oh, sometimes its hard.

But most of the time its not and after an hour or so, the infectious enthusiasm of these little people had me back in the zone. You have to love kids. .

Tonight I went and had some dinner at my usual Kim Bap House restaurant eating the same dish that I eat every day, wearing the same clothes that I had been in since waking up in Busan and it occurred to me that I haven’t really given a good description of the local dishes. At the very least I should show you what I’m talking about when I refer to my daily dish. So here are some pictures of my meal to help you understand.

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Had a great rest last night after some exposure to the Saturday night scene here. It is relatively subdued compared with Seoul, but still lively and lots of people out having fun. I checked out the Hollywood Star 2 dance club and played some arcades and generally had a good time.

Today was a great day actually. I met up with my friend Liz and her friend and we went sightseeing around Busan. They took me to some really beautiful spots. First, we went to a place called Taejongdae which was a mountain/island with some spectacular views of the sea. Although we had to walk up a lot of hills, it was really worth it. My legs are probably going to hurt soon from all the climbing but its a small price to pay. Have a look in the Busan gallery and you’ll see what I mean.

After we had walked ourselves silly, we decided to catch a bus and do some more walking and climbing to the top of the Busan tower. Located on a hill, the tower is about 100 meters high and gave a breathtaking sweep of the city. We got there in the late afternoon and stayed until night, watching the lights come on one-by-one. Great way to end a day of hard labor.

It was funny though.. as we were walking up the hill to the tower, I noticed a temple at the base. Hmm that’s a nice temple I thought. I haven’t been to one yet and it might be nice to see one in such a scenic location. However, I got closer and found it to be a ‘temple cafe’ and there was nothing spiritual about it at all. It was blaring western 50′s music to make matters worse. Not everything is so tacky. For example, at the top of the tower I engaged the help of a Taoist master to tell me my fortune. He asked that I give him my hand for him to inspect. Then he told me that my hand was too big. So I tried again. I put my money in the slot and reinserted my hand… I told you it was a machine right? Well so its a little tacky. But I did manage to get my fortune read in the end and he told me some things that were very enlightening. He said that I love to travel and that the wide knowledge and experiences I have will be very useful to me in the future. He told me that I would be rich and that people liked me, but he said that I have trouble making decisions and that my hesitation is a problem which can cost me the things that I love. I thanked him and left him to his silent contemplation atop the tourist tower, waiting for his next chance to dispense universal truth for 1000 won. I wish I had taken a picture of him for you to see, but I’m sure that he wouldn’t have liked it.

We ended the night with a relaxing drink where we saw a cool cocktail show where the bartenders were doing all the things with bottles and fire that their mothers most definitely told them not to do. Blowing, eating, throwing fire, spinning, twirling, flinging bottles. It was great to watch. After the girls went home, I spent a nice couple of hours playing baseball and breaking every record I could on the soccer ball kicking, punching bag hitting games. So much fun. I am a big kid and I’m not afraid to admit it. Throw in some karaoke in the singing booth and you’ve got a perfect night. Glad I stayed a bit longer and went to bed quite content.

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Well, I had a great day to start the weekend off. Caught the super duper train which sped over the countryside like it had absolutely no regard for the laws of nature. So quiet too, all I could hear was a dull rumbling sound and a cool swishing sound. Watching the beautiful country sweep by my window was great, simply breathtaking. I managed to capture some pics of the countryside, although because they were taken from a train moving at a speed of 300km/h they don’t do justice to their subject. But looking at the miles and miles of mountains that you can see in every direction, you really can appreciate the topography of the country. Indeed, Korea is 70% mountain. It makes for some very beautiful shots.

Upon arrival, I didn’t really know what to do, so I resorted to my Aussie instincts and went to the beach. That was a great idea. Haeundae beach is about 45 minutes ride on the subway from Busan station. I planned to stay there but lack of nightlife changed my mind. I relaxed on the beach for an hour or two, and soaked up the sand and the salt air, in an effort to make up for my lack throughout this summer.

As I was relaxing on the beach I heard some shouting from an old man behind me. He was yelling “hey! hey! hey!” in a hoarse old voice really loudly. I figured that his grandkids were in the water and he wanted them to come closer. A little while later he started up again and I turned to see what he was going on about. He pointed at me and kept yelling “hey hey hey”. I looked over my shoulder and saw some kids swimming in the water behind me. So I guessed that he was yelling at them. Plus, he couldn’t be talking to me. No-one yells at someone they don’t know “hey!”.. do they? So I sit there with all the yelling and quite contented to watch the water, when I hear treading next to me. Suddenly I look up and there’s the old man looking down at me telling me something in Korean. I tell him that I can’t speak Korean (in Korean) and he just keeps blabbing on. So I told him sorry for what I guess was ignoring him and then he shook my hand and started laughing.. all the while blabbing on in Korean. What he said is anyone’s guess. Then he left and went back to what I noticed was a huge pile of junk which seemed to be his pad. I should’ve right there taken a picture of the crazy friendly old beach man. Then I would’ve had proof. But now you just think I made it up.

After the crazy antics at the beach, I headed back into the center of town to look for a good place to stay. It seems like Busan has less foreigners than Seoul and so generally people look and stare more (yeah more than usual… for those who didn’t think it was possible). The fact that I’m 192cm only makes me more of a spectacle. The big surprise comes when I actually tell people my height. The usual response is to take a step back and put either or both hands over their mouths. It’s fun to see. It’s cool. I like the attention. So anyway, I cruised back over the famous Gwangan bridge (looks similar to the Golden Gate of San Fransisco) and headed to the center to find a hotel. I read on the web (http://www.pusanweb.com) the names of some places to check out. As one of them was a bar and was open, I went in to ask for some help in locating some lodging. It was the Hollywood Star bar and the people there were really friendly and helpful. I’d recommend it as a great place to go to chat with some locals. Anyway, to cut a long story short I found a hotel… the “Angel” hotel (called a yeogwon – aka love motel). These places are a great place to stay if you’re on a moderate budget because they have great amenities and are relatively cheap. TV, A/C and massaging shower head are standard. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get the bed shaped like a heart and the window into the bathroom from the bedroom, but then I thought a little bit about the usefulness of something which I can’t really use and felt a bit better about it. So its here that I’m writing this entry. A great start and I’ve had a good look at what non-Seoul Korea is like. Makes me want to explore more. So on that note… *David exits the room *

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I’m up early and about to go and catch a train to Busan, the southern tip of Korea and the country’s second biggest city. There are lots of beaches there and I hope to do some serious relaxing. The train I am going on is the express rail. The normal train takes a lazy 6 and a half hours to get there. My train will take 2 and a half. So it must travel quite fast. Hopefully not too fast to take some pictures of the scenery. Anyway, I’ll be back on Sunday night or Monday morning and then I’ll show you some of the nice pictures. Adios!

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