Live in Busan

I'm in the city of Busan, South Korea, as we speak. Busan is the second largest city of South Korea, and its located on the southeastern tip of the peninsula, facing its most loved rival: Japan. I've been here one day, but there's a somewhat different feel to this place compared to the cities of Seoul and Incheon.

For one thing, Busan is another major port city, like Incheon, but this place is more displaced in terms of location compared to the nation's capital. So there culture seems a little different. My Korean skills still suck diddily-uck (quoting Flanders from The Simpsons), but there's a noticeable twang to the way they speak their Korean compared to the folks back in Incheon and Seoul. Basically, its like going from Washington DC to Atlanta.

But to me, Busan is like Baltimore, a decent comparision. An important hub of East Asia, loads of cargo ready for trade and shipping comes here and goes throughout the rest of Asia, i.e. to Japan and/or Southeast Asia. Seafood is obviously the staple here, something I realized when I ate breakfast at a Korean restaurant. My soup consisted of these UFO seacreatures, I can't even remember how to describe them, but they were tough to eat. Nonetheless, the food was energizing.

So far, I rocked Busan's most famous beach, called Haeundae, went to one of the biggest bathhouses in Asia (never felt more refreshed), and visited the notorious Jagalchi Fish Market (where anything that swims becomes food, even whale meat). This is definitely different city from the capital, but similar to Incheon in some ways.

So I am doing a solo trip here in Busan, and solo trips are a fresh way to get your mind off things and try things on your own. So far, so good. The 1 and a half years of studying Korean is starting to pay dividends now as I begin to travel around this nation, like this morning I had a small conversation with a local who helped me with directions.

Meanwhile in other news around this nation, North and South Korea are having a major summit in Pyongyang, North Korea. Big news, it is being followed by every major network here in Korea, and in some other world major news networks, but most people are skeptical about the progress being made there.

Will the South concede more concessions? Will the North start to roll back some of its forms of terror and start to reform to the real world? Its all up for grabs, but for now, God's in control. Just keep in mind that North Korea is a poor nation that needs all the help it gets, and I'm talking the citizens, not KJI himself.

After touring more of the city, I'll update this solo travel later.