March 21, 2012
Dear Emma,
Today, I arrived at Keonkuk Middle School in Saha-gu, Busan, South Korea. Auntie Jayna was very excited to see me and I was very glad to be free of my envelope. It was a long journey!
Busan is a huge metropolitan city on the south east coast of South Korea. The population of Busan is about 3,600,000. It is not the largest city in South Korea however, the capital, Seoul is larger and much more fast-paced.
South Korea is a fairly small country, when combined with North Korea the two countries are about the same size as Minnesota. So, South Korea itself would be about half the size of Minnesota.
I had lunch with Auntie Jayna and her friend Hee Jung. Hee Jung is an English teacher just like Auntie Jayna and she is really nice! In the afternoon I went to an After School Class with Auntie Jayna, there are students from middle school grades 1-3 (similar to grades 7-9 in America.)
For dinner, we went to a “burger joint” called Farmer’s Burgers with Georgina, Laura and Caroline. Auntie Jayna ordered our burger, the Honolulu, which had a ring of pineapple and some balsamic vinegar on it. The burger also came with a drink and fries. It was delicious!
We rode the subway home and called it a night!
March 22, 2012
Dear Emma,
Today was rainy. Auntie Jayna and I were very tired at school, but we made it through the day! We made some Fried Rice after school which was delicious!
The locals tell us that it will rain often during the summer, which is typically hot and very humid. Spring is coming, the weather is similar to a spring in Minnesota with cool, fresh mornings, warm afternoons and very chilly nights. In the winter the average low is freezing, which is 32° Fahrenheit or 0° Celsius. It may snow here occasionally during the winter, but it doesn’t last long.
March 23, 2012
Dear Emma,
After school today, Auntie Jayna’s friend Yu Na came over to help us set up the new microwave. It is red and pretty basic, but Auntie Jayna is very excited at the thought of possibly being able to make ‘cupcakes’, it would literally be cake in a cup, in the microwave. Like the instant desserts that you can buy at the grocery store in America. After leaving the apartment we went to Starbucks and Auntie Jayna and I shared a Soy Green Tea Latte. It was delicious. Yu Na speaks English very well, but she is hoping to get better. We had a great time!
We went out to meet some friends and had some strawberry-kiwi juice. After that we called it an early night, heading home in the rain.
Yu Na said that she would like
to take Auntie Jayna to a Lotte Giants Baseball game here in Busan. Their biggest rival is the Seoul Twins and it is the kind of competition that the Koreans love. J The students love sports, especially soccer and basketball. Hiking is also very big in Korea, where there are lots of mountains that surround the countryside. Spring is an exciting time here in Busan, the cherry blossoms should start blooming in late March or early April. There is a Cherry Blossom Festival that is coming up soon, I will be sad to miss it.
March 24, 2012
Dear Emma,
We woke up this morning ready to take on the world! After breakfast, we worked a little bit. Then we got ready to go and left to meet up with some friends at Haeundae Beach. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, where Auntie Jayna ordered a coca cola and Chop Suey with rice. It was delicious!
After lunch we got on a bus and held on tight! The bus drivers are wild here in South Korea! It is hard to hold on, and there are not very many seats so you have to stand up. After we got off the bus, we walked up the hill to get to Yonggungsa Temple. There was a market on the way to the temple, selling lots of different things. Things like prayer beads and trinkets to bring home, silkworm larvae and boiled seashells for eating.
As we walked up to the temple there were many statues around and a staircase that lead down into the valley where the land meets the sea and the temple is located. It was beautiful, the sun was out and the shadows encased the valley just right. The sea was gorgeous, it was very exciting to see the sea.
We climbed the staircase behind the main temple to an elevated platform with a huge statue, and lots of little statues surrounding the platform. There were great views from such a high position!
After we left the temple, our friend Mark decided to try to eat some of the silkworm larvae. He said that they were not very good, and didn’t eat very many. Ewww!
We took the bus back to Haeundae and then a subway back to our neighborhood. We were so tired that we just put in a movie and relaxed for the rest of the night!
March 25, 2012
Hi! We started off today with banana pancakes topped with fresh pineapple. Hmm, it was so delicious! After breakfast, we finished up a little work and then left the apartment to meet our friend Hee Jung to do a little shopping. We rode the subway and got to chat with Danielle, she is also an English teacher in Busan like Auntie Jayna. We got off the subway at Nampo, a good area for shopping. There is a huge area under the streets of Busan that is great for shopping and sometimes you can find a good deal there. Auntie Jayna bought a new purse for 10,000 won, which is a little less than $10.00 US dollars.
After buying a new purse, we went to the Lotte Department store near the coast in Busan. Georgina met us there and we shopped around for a bit.
We decided to mosey out onto the street to find other stores. There were people everywhere, the streets were packed! Hee Jung offered to buy us a little snack, so she brought us to her favorite street vendor. We ate our snacks standing at the edge of the vendors stand, there were people nudging past us the whole time. The food was delicious and ready to eat quickly.
It was coffee time, we walked a couple blocks until we could turn off the block to get to a quieter street. We had coffee at a café called Tom n Toms. Auntie Jayna let me try some of her iced green tea latte, and it was delicious!
Hee Jung brought us to this wonderful restaurant that is well known for the pork that they prepare for their guests. There was a grill in the center of the round table, and when you sit down they bring hot coals for your meat to cook on. Hee Jung and her friend Su Jin ordered pork, and then grilled it; it was delicious! The server brought out a soup that was bubbling because it was so hot. It tasted delicious, but it was almost too spicy to eat. After the pork, they ordered something else that is supposed to be really good for your skin. It was pig skin. When we finished the pork, they grilled the pig skin and then we ate that. It was a little rubbery, and very strange. Neither Auntie Jayna or I had ever eaten anything like it before.
After that the girls took us to the Saha-gu neighborhood, which is closer to where Auntie Jayna’s apartment is. They ordered something that tasted good but very rubbery and was strange. It was the large intestine of a chicken. There is a first time for everything, right?
We went home a little while later, it had been such a long day of shopping and friends that we were really tired.
March 26, 2012
I have so many plans to visit other temples in South Korea, Beomosa temple looks wonderful, but I will have to cut my trip here short. Auntie Jayna said that she loves how beautiful Busan is with all of the mountains and there are always so many things to see and do.
Today, we went to work at Keonkuk school and then came home. Auntie Jayna was sure that she could try to bake a cake in the apartment. After doing some reading online, she thought it was absolutely possible to use the rice cooker to bake the cake.
She mixed up a homemade chocolate cake and then poured the batter in the rice cooker, keeping her fingers crossed.
It took nearly two hours for the cake to bake, but it worked! The texture of the cake is a little strange, but it was chocolate and delicious.
Just as the cake was finished, we had to leave to go meet up with Georgina. We met at Home Plus, which is like a large Walmart that is 4 floors tall. We only made it to two floors though, it was too big. We found all the things that we needed and got on the subway with Georgina for the trip home.
These last two pictures are from an evening that we went to a Mexican restaurant with friends. It was so much fun!
I had so much fun with Flat Emma that it was sad to see her leave. Now I will just have to remember that she is always with me!
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