Eats and beats in Busan

Last Saturday, I, together with a group of other way-guks (foreigners), headed to Busan for the first time by train. It was a super comfy ride, a couple thousand won more expensive but definitely worth it. We all set out to accomplish two main things...to eat Mexican food and to check out a new shopping district that was supposed to be pretty good. The shopping district was nothing great so Saturday turned out to be a day of eating, eating, and more eating. Wahoo!

First, we had lunch at Papa John's. It was glorious! Now don't get me wrong, there's lots of pizza places in Ulsan. But there's no Papa John's. Papa John's brings me back to late night pizza binges with friends in college. It felt rrrreal good to indulge once again. Then we headed to the shopping district where we immediately spotted a Cold Stone (also not available in Ulsan) so we had to stop to get ice cream. We browsed the streets for a bit then decided to head to the beach district to get the long awaited and infamous Mexican food that was located there.

The Mexican place was hilarous...literally a hole in the wall down a narrow alley (see pic below). There was seating enough for 4 people and one poor women doing all the cookin' in super cramped quarters.

While the others decided to call it a day, Kat, Jenny (fellow ELC teacher from the Phillipines) and I decided to spend the night in Busan and took our burritos down to the beach just a few blocks away to enjoy our din dins. After filling our tummies we strolled along the beach that holds the world record for having the most people on it at one time (true story, look it up...Haeundae beach...over 1 million ppl). It was so beautiful, the sound of the ocean so peaceful.
A sudden rain storm sent us scurrying into a hip-hopping joint called Fuzzy Navel. Ots and his friend met us there where we stayed to wait out the rain (none of us had umbrellas) enjoying some beer and the blood pumping techno beats...it was good stuff. It was pretty late so we take a cab to the nearest 24 hour jimjilbang (sauna/nakey bath house). It was packed so we curled up in the only available empty space on the floor and doozed off to sleep. I sat up in the morning and let out a loud gasp. In front of me was a huge window that looked out over the beautiful Haeundae beach and ocean, it was stunning!

We took our time to get ready, enjoyed the huge hot tubs, then went back to the beach for lunch. Many jumping and high five pictures later we go-go-shen (left) to take the train back to Ulsan.

Spring is in the air here people. The cherry blossoms are slowly appearing and everything is returning to its natural green color. The warm weather and beautiful scenery lifts my spirits like no other. I've put a new, cheery, springtime playlist on my Ipod that makes me bounce and dance down the street. Here are some pictures of Munsu lake just a 15 minute walk from my place. I love it! :)

Korean mysteries

Waverly, Iowa is trendy in Ulsan, South Korea.

Let me explain.

About a month ago Kat and I were enjoying a warm, caffeinated beverage at a Starbucks downtown when out the window Kat sees a girl wearing a sweatshirt that clearly reads "Waverly, Iowa" across the chest. In shock we contemplate accosting the girl but decided against it as she was moving pretty fast and the high potential of getting our comfy seats swiped. We laughed assuming she must have studied at Wartburg at some point in her life. Pretty random but the Iowa sighting brought forth some warm fuzzy feelings in our hearts.

Then not two weeks later we are riding in Ots' car through the hip hopping restaurant/bar area in our 'hood and spot another "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt. This time on a male. Not letting this one away we commanded Ots to stop the car, rolled down the window, and got the attention of the very nervous looking boy walking arm and arm with his girlfriend. We tried to convey that we were from Iowa but he still had no idea why we were so excited about his sweatshirt. He had no clue what or where Waverly, Iowa was. Super disappointed....our attempt at an Iowa connection failed.

Sidenote: The fact that we saw the same sweatshirt twice is strange enough in itself. There are so many unique, little clothing shops and brands along every street with only one or two replicas for each style of clothing that it's super rare to see people wearing the same shirt (unless it's a couple's outfit).

It happened again on another night. Another spotting of the sweatshirt. And then AGAIN! Totaling 4 "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt spottings in a matter of weeks. Each time gets spookier and spookier as we begin to realize that none of the wearers have ever been or heard of the town.

Which begs the questions: Why would someone just have a "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt hanging out in their closet? Why would FOUR people just have that sweathshirt...in Ulsan, Korea of all places? Reasonable answer: Some shop must be selling them. But why would some shop just have a "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirt? And, why would they just have a least 4 of them? And why would anyone feel drawn to this plain Jane sweatshirt with a random town name on it?

Gon, our Korean friend, recently solved the mystery. Some shop in the area is indeed selling "Waverly, Iowa" sweatshirts. While I still don't know the answers to the "Why?" questions, I can safely say that Waverly, Iowa is a trend in this city. Who would have thought?