Busan.. again!

What can I say? I love that city. I also despise it for basically the same reasons. But more on that later.

So, last weekend was another Busan trip. Somewhat impromptu and definitely for one main purpose: Bachelorette Party. One of Felicity’s work pals, and lovely gal I have met before, was getting married and since it was soon, but not in Korea, she decided that a Korean Bachelorette Party was necessary before getting hitched. Thus, at literally the crack of dawn last Saturday 12 girls met up at the Bus Station with their one bags packed with their cutest outfits, best makeup, and hair products galore. We got our tickets and I realized that once again we were in the back of the bus. I swear riding the express buses through Korea is like pre civil rights movement America. They ALWAYS put us in the back. I’m sure it’s for just reasons though, we tend to be loud and overly excited for wherever our destination may be. I, however, was not in that state that morning. I grabbed my window seat, turned on my iPod, got out my travel pillow and attempted to fall fast asleep.

Once we arrived in Busan we really only had one main goal for the day, food and beach. Luckily they are closely located and equally amazing in this city. We ate at a place infamous for its brunch and burgers and Felicity and I shared something very special: a real cheese burger and a smoked salmon and avocado sandwich with capers and horseradish sauce. Seriously, why can’t we get that in Gwangju? We are only like 3 hours away! Anyways, after the mouth orgasm we headed to the beach.

It was sunny but not quite as warm as I would have liked. But that didn’t stop some of the girls from stripping down to their bikini’s and soaking up that sun that the Koreans are deathly afraid of. I soaked up a little sun myself because I had to switch over into a dress after yet another one of my jeans split. And no, it’s not because I’m a fat ass, well it could be, but mostly because I only brought like 4 pairs of jeans with me and wearing the same jeans for 4 months tends to result in a bit of wear and tear. But I put the sorrows of losing another pair of pants behind me and I had a few beers on the beach. Obviously I soon had to pee so a few of us walked the beach and found a public restroom. Much to my dismay, it was a squatter. Luckily, I have actually conquered my fear and used one a week before so I was ready and willing for round two. There was only one problem, almost seconds after assuming the position my underwear fell in the squatter hole. So as I’m contemplating what the hell to do with this situation and also mid stream my door starts rattling. I figured it was one of my friends who were also dying to pee bugging me to hurry up, but no. As I spouted out in English, “Hold on!” they let me know that it wasn’t them. Then I spouted out in Korean to hold on. But nope, this Ajumma (Korean word for old lady, but not any old lady, an old lady in which the world revolves around her) wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop either. Peeing while squatting seriously means you pee for twice the time, something with the positioning of the bladder I suppose. After about 2 minutes of her pounding and my peeing it was time to leave. Unfortunately I also had to leave my underwear behind as well. Less than two hours in Gwangju and two articles of clothing gone. At this pace I would be naked before nighttime. As we walked back to the beach and I contemplated my clothing misfortune I let out a sigh of relief knowing that at least I packed extra underwear.

A few hours later we decided it was time to get ready for our evening and we headed to our Hotel. Actually, it was a “Love Motel”. In Korea they have special Hotels dedicated to one thing, and one thing only, banging. This may seem a bit gross but hey, people bang in regular hotels too, these love Motels were just much cooler inside. So disregard your notions of boring furniture, shitty TVS, and bedside tables filled with the King James Bibles. These Hotels come equipped with big screen TVS, equally large beds, and the “couples” pouch filled with everything from combs to condoms. Since there were 12 of us we also splurged and got the suite so we also had a great stereo system hooked up to two computers and a pool table. The strange thing about these love motels though are their abundance. They are seriously everywhere. My theory on this revolves around the fact that most Koreans live at home until marriage, and anyone knows that the last place you want to get it on is under your parents roof. Not to mention they all sleep on floors so a nice private place with a BED seems like a legit option.

After a few hours of music, makeup and some champagne we headed out to the same place we always go in Busan, The Fuzzy Navel aka FN TACOS *that’s really what their sign says). We had Burritos and Margaritas galore. We also all took turns with our toasts, to the bride, to each other, and to the one thing that all of us surely have in common, our life in Korea.

The night ended in a fancy night club with free plastic rings with green laser lights attached, real American music, and wayyy too much money spent.

Now, back to my theory on Busan and why I love and hate it almost equally.

The Pros: It’s a legit city, it’s got everything you want food wise/ You aren‘t destined to only Korean with the one or two non-Korean foods which are mainly of the fast food nature. Con: You will spend a shit ton more money on that food because it‘s in demand and well, I would be a broke ass.

Pro: They are way more culturally diverse, on the beach there were clusters of different ethnicities, White, Black, Indian, South East Asian. Con: I didn‘t come to Korea for it to be the same as America. I really enjoy experiencing Korea through Gwangju because it is, well, Korea.

Pro: They speak English EVERY WHERE. Con: They speak English EVERYWHERE. I enjoy my private conversations that are held very publicly because I know no one will understand. Plus, I enjoy practicing my Korean and nobody even tries to speak to you in Korean there.

Pro: It’s definitely a vacation destination. Con: If I lived there, where would I vacation in Korea?

Anyways, the reason I’ve been thinking about these is because I will be signing on for another year in Korea and the hardest decision is do I stay in Gwangju or move to Busan? Oh well, I have another 7 months to decide.