Theme Trip

A few weekends ago John and I were invited by one of his co-teachers on an "English Theme Trip" put on by her church.  Never ones to turn down a "theme trip" we were whisked away via train to Ulsan, an hour train ride north of Busan.  The itinerary included a tour of the Hyundai manufacturing plant, lunch, and an afternoon hike.  I'd like to mention, that aside from our trip to Seoul, the only time we had ventured out of Busan was to tour an industrial facility (that time it was a steal manufacturing plant).  Koreans are very proud of their manufacturing.

We toured the ship manufacturing portion of the plant and were quite impressed to learn that the plant we toured produces about 100 massive ships a year (or about one every 3-4 days).  When they're done, they sit out in the ocean waiting to be picked up.

After a rejuvenating lunch (there was a lot of sitting in the morning), we spent the afternoon walking along stunning coastline which made up for the morning bus time.  It was a great trip, totally something we wouldn't have been able to pull off without some insider knowledge.

Getting ready to board the train.  We were asked to hold up the water bottles given to us.  Don't worry, we're not supporting bottled water.

Our bus for the day.

John seems to know he's getting his photo taken, where as I do not.

We watched a 20 minute film about Hyundai in Korean.

We were allowed off the bus to tour a traditional(ish) Korean house and asked to take photos.

Outside the guest house at the Hyundai factory.

Small, medium and large.  

Our trip mates really enjoyed thinking of this as part of our honeymoon.

Cherry blossom time.

Our hike.  It felt a little like an amusement park.

Legend goes that lovers come here with a lock, lock the lock to the railing and then throw the key into the ocean as a symbol of their love.

Here are some of the Hyundai ships waiting to be picked up.

Baseball Game

And so I write another sports post.  As many of you may know (because we made a big deal out of it when we were leaving for Korea) but the baseball team here in Busan is also called the Giants.  Go Giants!  Fun.  Turns out the logo is very similar and the colors are also orange and black.  However, there are many quirky differences helping to remind us we're in a different country.

The bat girls wear adorable pink helmets.

Whenever a pitching change happens, the new pitcher is driven out in a convertible.

And possibly most striking, instead of a 7th inning stretch, we have a 7th inning, "Wear the plastic bag on your head for the rest of the game."

The whole stadium wearing plastic bags on their heads.

Not going to lie, it took us a little while to figure out how to do it properly.

What better way to celebrate your birthday than with orange plastic bags on your head.  Happy birthday John!

Soccer in Busan

Korea and Japan co-hosted the World Cup together back in 2002, and that same year Korea also hosted the 2002 Asia Games.  As a result, Korea spent a bunch of money building really nice athletic facilities which we have the pleasure of enjoying.

A little surprisingly, the turnout on a Wednesday night was so low that bleachers were set up on the field so the few fans that were there could be very close to the action.  The energy was low compared to the basketball game, so maybe next time we'll go on a weekend.  This time we decided to try some stadium food instead of bringing in our own.  The other downside to the low turnout was the slim pickings for dinner options.

Empty.

Dinner.

Notice the dried squid for sale. It looks like they took a whole squid and lay it on the dehydrator.  No thanks.

Smart move ducking at that point.

The die-hard fans in front of us with a sign for a player (the sign is laminated).

I'Park scores!

At the end of the game the players came over and bowed to us and gave us a round of applause.

Announcements and Art

I wanted to begin with this photo.  You'll notice the speaker at the top of the photo. Occasionally, sometimes twice a week, sometimes not for two weeks, an announcement will be broadcast straight into our apartment.  Each time we're uncertain as to whether there's a cause for panic, so we step outside and look to see if our neighbors are evacuating the building.  We have yet to experience an evacuation, and last time it happened we heard the names of places listed, almost as if it was a radio announcement of which schools were closed for a snow day.  Either way, it's an infrequent source of entertainment.

The second thing is the painting above our telephone.  We got this when we unsuccessfully went in search of a cherry blossom festival but happened upon a small craft fair outside one of the universities.  After much hemming and hawing, we decided on the painting above and the postcards below.

We also got these nice postcards now hanging above our bedroom.

Basketball in Busan

This is an over-due post and the first in my sports sports series.  The second weekend we were here, us and a couple friends from orientation went to a Sonic Boom basketball game. A few great things:

#1: The Busan team is called Sonic Boom and is sponsored by our internet provider KT.

#2: All sports games for decent seats are less than $9

#3: You can bring your own food and beverage (including glass bottles and alcohol).

Our bashful mascot.

Our cheerleaders and mascot after an outfit change.  "Alleh" seems to be the cheer (for lack of a better word) of KT (our internet provider)

Busan wins!

Cherry Blossoms

No ex-pat Korean travel blog would be complete without cherry blossom photos.  Last week according to the Korean presses was cherry blossom weekend, meaning the height of the cherry blossoms in Busan.  I think if we ever end up living somewhere for more than a year, I will plant a cherry tree.

Here is the progression of the cherry blossom tree outside of our apartment.  Each of these photos was taken one week apart.

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Here's a photo from our bus stop.

Looking up.

Hike About

One of the many things I did not expect about living in Busan was the popularity of hiking and the ample hiking trails across the city.  It's been nice to take in some views, get away from the neon lights, and meet very friendly Korean hikers.

View from about 1/2 way along our hike.  

Along this particular hike last weekend we encountered who we thought was a hiker, but turned out to be a hillside farmer who spoke minimal English.  Regardless, he proceeded to talk our heads off while his friends laughed at him.  I think he might have been hitting the soju a little early that day.  He wouldn't let me take a photo of his garden while we were there, but here's one from the bottom of the hill to give you a sense.

My face after what was a hilarious and crazy 20 minutes.

Meeting Places

John and I informally are keeping a running tally of things that are better in Korea than in the U.S, things that are worse, and things that are just different.  The waiting areas in the subway stations fall in the better column. Notice the ornamental plants, flowers and waterfall.