The weekend of the 16th and 17th, Katie and I wanted to go to Gyeongju, which was the capital of Korea for many centuries. It is rich with history: it has museums and castles and traditional Korean homes and clothing, etc. It's a cool place that we'll definitely have to visit before we leave, but the weather did not cooperate that weekend. It was supposed to rain all weekend so we decided against Gyeongju because Katie wanted to see it on a beautiful day. Faced with the prospect of a third weekend in a row in Tongyeong with the inevitable fourth right behind (due to the wedding), we decided to go back to Busan with the express intent of shopping and staying out of the rain. Both missions were accomplished.
We spent all of Saturday in Centum City, a massive mall unlike any I have ever seen before. I have been to a couple big ones in the states (D.C. and Syracuse), but those were mainly big because they were so widespread. This mall is fourteen stories tall with a few more underground, although the top five stories are a multi-leveled driving range.
We spent all of Saturday in Centum City, a massive mall unlike any I have ever seen before. I have been to a couple big ones in the states (D.C. and Syracuse), but those were mainly big because they were so widespread. This mall is fourteen stories tall with a few more underground, although the top five stories are a multi-leveled driving range.
Snoopy and Woodstock hangin' out in Centum City. There was a random exhibit devoted to Peanuts that day. 
I recognize everyone except for the kid on the right... Linas (sp?) maybe?
A classic Charlie Brown line. I used an internet translator to explain this joke to one of the Korean teachers and I thought that the humor would be lost in the translation or that the work it took to get to the punchline would ruin the joke (as explanations of jokes usually do), but she thought it was hilarious once she understood it.
Oh Linas
Anyone who knows Katie should find this funny. A more realistic sign would read: "Yes, I did take the last cookie, but I bought another box already."
A Lord of the Rings modelOn Sunday we ventured to Nampo-dong in search of more places to shop, specifically for a soccer jersey for my brother that we never found. We saw a MLB store, a golf store, and other broader sports stores, but no soccer store. However, we did find a funny store that sold "American" clothes and we accidentally stumbled upon Busan tower in Yong Du Sang Park.
A store that sold "American" clothes. It was interesting and hilarious to see what they think Americans think is fashionable. They were way off.
A huge bell in Yong Du Sang Park. Apparently celebrities go there and help ring the bell on important dates, like Korean Independence Day and the two New Year celebrations (International and Chinese).
A flower clock. They were proud of it because it had a second hand, but I would contend that it would be more impressive with just the hour and minute hands as long as it kept time correctly.
An aerial view of Yong Du Sang Park from the top of Busan Tower. The statue in the middle is of none other than Admiral Yi Sun-Sin again. I told you he was everywhere!
A cool painting
A view of the bay from the tower
The concrete jungle that is Busan
I got hungry and decided to eat a ship, but I bit off more than I could chew
That little guy never stood a chance. He drove right into Katie's mouth
Attached to Busan Tower was a small museum devoted to musical instruments from around the globe. This is a bell tower.
A bamboo saxophone from Bolivia.
A shofar from Israel. My dad tried to play one of those one time.
An Avaga Bell from Ghana. I don't recall seeing any of those, but maybe I just didn't notice.That was our second trip to Busan in a nutshell. It was a nice mixture of shopping and tourism. If anyone has requests for gifts, say for Christmas or birthdays, the earlier the better. We've found that it's hard to find what you want when you want it here, but given plenty of time you can find anything. Leave a comment with your gift request :D
Today (6/4) was my first time teaching English to adults. The class was formed on Tuesday and it consists of the director's daughter, who is in charge of the Korean kindergarten program, the director's sister-in-law, whose daughter is in one of my upper classes, another lady who is high up in the school somehow or other and is either related to or is good friends with the director, and the school receptionist. No pressure... riiiiight. I've only taught them once, but so far I think I like it better than teaching the children because we can get a lot more accomplished and I don't have to deal with behavioral issues or lack of effort. I just wish my audience was a little less related to my boss, haha.
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