Pretending to be Chaebol

We relocate one last time. This time to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea located to the south. It is a 2.5 hour trip by KTX (Korean Transit Express) a high speed bullet train.

During the trip we are telling Lizzy and Carol of our adventures during the last few days and they are filling us in on theirs. Out of curiosity and related to our palace tours, Lizzy ponders the name for king. “Wang” we reply simultaneously. Kim adds, “Yeowang means queen.” while I chime, “Jeonha means ‘your majesty’.” At which point Lizzy holds up her hand in front of her and states, “Y’all watch too many historical dramas. I am soooo done with you.”

There are many reasons to visit Busan. You should have at least figured out that there are numerous KDrama filming sites that we want to visit. Close friends and family know that this is the area that Lizzy is interested in teaching in once she gets her degree. Last but not least to experience Korean life outside of Seoul. Besides, being a port city means lots and lots of seafood and every one us can put away some seafood.

Though I haven’t talked about them a lot, I have posted pictures of our apartments that we have stayed in which we booked through Airbnb. For the most part we have had very good experiences though we have learned some things to do differently the next time. Staying in local places has allowed us to avoid cultural isolationism as we are pretty much required to interact with locals to find out things such as where the nearest grocery store is located, which side of the street we need to be on to catch the bus, etc. It has also allowed us to experience how the everyday working person lives on a daily basis. Busan is different.

In Busan we are staying in a luxury condo. Surprisingly, it is cheaper than our most expensive place in Seoul. It is a complete contrast to everything that we have experienced before. It is large and spacious. In Seoul, everything was primarily studio style whereas here we have distinct rooms. We (half) jokingly say that for the remainder of our journey we will be living as ‘chaebol,’ Korea’s elite class. However, we are not far from the truth as we discover through little things like having to wait inside for a taxi which the doorman/security guard hails for us rather than going outside and doing it ourselves.

As usual we use our travel day to settle in to our new location and explore our surroundings. We ask the owner for a recommendation for dinner and we are directed to a place that has Korean buffet. Over dinner we make our plans for the following day.

***

Carol has gotten a place right on the beach. We are located downtown. In this way we have two ‘bases’ and do not have to travel ‘home’ in wet, sandy clothes when we do things along the shore. This comes in real handy when we go to the aquarium which is located right on the boardwalk and to the beach. We missed the sand sculpture competition on Saturday and just manage to catch a few before the backhoes destroy them as they even out the sand along the beach. They leave a few hills for the kids to play upon and they enjoy the treat.

The water is colder than we are used to living along the Gulf of Mexico; however, I grew up near the NE seaboard and it is not completely unbearable. I almost didn’t go in when I saw that the lifeguards were in wetsuits. Although there are many people at the beach, there are not many in the water. Mostly it is guys showing off how manly they are to the girls on the beach by enduring the low water temperatures. Lizzy gets several ‘wow’ comments from males and females alike as she not only goes into the water but under it as well doing her ‘mermaid flip’ where she propels herself out of the water, bends in half, and dives in. We are the only two from our group to brave the water at all while the rest sun themselves on the beach.

While laying out on the lounge chairs that we rented we surf the net trying to decide where we want to eat and discover something that totally amazes us. We came to Busan for fresh seafood and it was impossible to find a seafood restaurant. We could get seafood as part of buffet, but that was it. We also discovered that the most highly recommended places to eat were all western food. We even walked a few blocks in several directions and the closest thing to Korean food that we found was a place that sold chicken and beer. We passed a TGIF, Outback Steakhouse (very tempted here), Domino’s, Pizza Hut, McD’s, Burger King, KFC, Hard Rock Café, and even a taste of Louisiana when we see a Popeye’s. We settle on a local burger and pasta place which had 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor and was the closest place that wasn’t a chain. The food and service were excellent but as Lizzy says, ‘why did I come halfway around the world to eat something I can get back home?’

Back at our apartment, we take soju and snacks out onto the deck. Now you have to realize that the beautiful views that we have been posting come from the 44th floor and we have a private deck. Not a balcony. Deck. Chaebol, remember? For the most part, I have only been stepping right outside and snapping pictures and stepping right back inside. This is mostly because there are other things to do to prepare to head out for the day. And I discover that I have a bit of a problem.

I wouldn’t call it a fear of heights. I used to work on the 40th floor back in Philly. I have been taking pictures outside all along. However, when we are walking toward the middle, a wood plank gives way a little. Now, my head knows that the planking is all for show and that beneath it lies solid cement; however, something doesn’t translate properly and I find myself experiencing vertigo for the first time in my life. I didn’t panic. I didn’t drop to my knees though in all honesty I wanted to. I took another step and was on more solid flooring and was fine. However, a few steps later it happened again. Once I sat down I was fine but drinking in that state was not a good idea. I left the girls out there to enjoy the view and the night air and s-l-o-w-l-y made my way back to the enclosed porch area where I did some writing before bed.

To be continued ….