On the Road in South Korea: Busan Field Trip

Daegu University has a rather unique program called the "Buddy Program." They pair up a Korean student of theirs with a foreign student. The idea being they can each help one another with their respective languages they are learning as well as help with the culture shock that happens. I was fortunate enough to be paired up with "Min Jin Jung or MJ as she likes to be called. She is a "Family Services" major here at Daegu.

The buddy program went to Busan (Pusan) on Saturday the 14th of May for a day of fun and exploration. I left straight from the field trip on my backpacking adventure rather than returning on the bus to Daegu with the rest of the students.

While in Busan we visited the Busan Museum of Modern Art, as well as the APEX House, the beach, and the Bexco Exhibition facility. The Apex house is where the world leaders met in 2005 for the signing of the Busan Declaration, which was in support of the building and enhancements of the area as a world necessity. The Bexco exhibition hall had a major 3D/4D equipment show going on as well as a cultural tea show and a high school makeup/hair styling competition going on.

Just a note to those considering visiting this area. Even when a local offers you a tree limb to munch on while he is doing the same, it's best to resist the urge. I am speaking from experience as you may guess. A local fellow came by and very happily offered me part of the tree piece he was munching on. Being somewhat at a disadvantage in the Korean language I asked my Korean buddy if it was safe and was assure it "probably was." So I tried it and other than tasting as nasty as you might guess did give me a slight burning sensation on the tongue. The fellow smiled and shook hands and wandered off while I turned and got rid of the chewed "yuck". Later as we were leaving the beach park we noticed a sign that had a picture of the very tree piece I had munched on. Jokingly I asked my Korean buddy if that sign said "Poison" or some such thing and I was headed to the "great beyond". She looked at me in horror and said "it says eat and you will die" I laughed and asked her again what it really said only to be told rather remorsefully that it did indeed say they had been sprayed with a toxic herbicide and was poisonous. Thankfully the sign was from 2010 and after a sever weather and loads of rain it was a moot point.

So the moral of that story is never eat a tree you are offered no matter how tasty it may look. And NEVER accept a "probably" from your interrupter!

Needless to say after that I was ready to hit the road or so I thought. I spent the night in the local Jimjilbang or public bath house that had 24 hour sleeping facilities. It was quite the experience! Sitting around in the "men's" area with about 25 guys watching a Korean music show and a few dramas with about 2/3 of them naked or exercising. The women have their own bath area and then there is a communal sleeping area that had to be as hot as the beach. There were 4 rooms to take a sauna in and one room that had ice hanging from the walls and ceiling. It was a long hot night but thankfully they had a small cafe in it that had very cold beer. I hated to see it close for the night! It was the beginning of a great trip!