July 2018
Contents
Master Weaver
in Korea
My vacation story in Korea
Michael has lived in Asia for 21 years including 6 years in South Korea. He is currently teaching English Conversation. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and exploring markets or just walking around.
Written by Michael Lesser, Professor of English Conversation
Busan, like being on vacation everyday
My first step in to this dynamic city of Busan, I couldn¡¯t help but stunned by its modern city vibe yet in harmony with beautiful nature of gorgeous beach and the mountain. Busan is best known for Haeundae(ÇØ¿î´ë), the beach, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people in Korea in summer including a lot of foreigners like myself. You will never miss fancy hotels and restaurants lined up along the shore that would impress you with a wide variety of food. As a local, I enjoy the luxury of wandering around or visiting small and big festivals in the city in my free time. I would also see the tourists enjoying themselves around Busan, which always gives me a smile. It¡¯s like being on vacation every day without the hassle of actually going somewhere else.
Most of Korean summer vacation starts in July. That¡¯s when I usually start to see the city fill with people although it happens earlier every year due to the early visit of summer heat. When the weather allows, without the sun blazing too much, you can use Busan City Tour Bus to take you around all kinds of famous spots in Busan. Since the second floor of the bus is open, it¡¯s quite neat to breathe in some cool salty air of the beach while enjoying the sightseeing. Busan opens its two arms to everyone regardless of your taste for the travel- its diverse ocean activities and festivals you can find almost every day, you will get the most out of your time here.
Let¡¯s hit the road
Since I live in such a touristy place where everything is so busy and festive, although I do enjoy the perk of being a local, I prefer to spend my vacation somewhere different that most tourists wouldn¡¯t usually visit. This allows me to fully enjoy all different colors that Korea has to offer. When May, my mother-in-law, visited me in Korea in 2015, I took this opportunity to challenge ¡°life on the road¡± trip with her and my wife, Carol.
Seocheon
Seocheon is located in the west coast of Korea. It has a beautiful beach that is known for the unique sunrise and sunset you can see from the same spot! The Ma-Ryang Po Sunrise/Sunset New Year¡¯s Festival (¸¶·®Æ÷ ÇسÑÀÌ Çص¸ÀÌÃàÁ¦) is dedicated to the unique sunrise and sunset. While traveling in Seocheon, we found the ¡°glamorous camping¡± grounds, also known as GlamPing (get it?). We stayed in the nicest tent I¡¯ve ever been in, complete with Ondol (Korean floor heating system), sofa, and a kitchen! Nice people you meet on the journey are always a pleasant bonus. The couple running GlamPing was kind enough to take us to an all-you-can-eat Hanjeongsik, complete with meal, soup, and many different kinds of Korean side dishes. We then went to the beach, which was so beautiful we walked around it and the surrounding hills for hours. The next day, we toured the look-out towers and rope bridges, where one could take in the excellent views. We also explored the local farming village. They had set up a night market of sorts, selling many different kinds of Korean street food, which we ate all day and night. We made sure to wash all of it down with generous amounts of Korean ale and lager, too.
Daejeon
In the middle of Korea, there lies Daejeon, the city which hosted an Expo and has many museums. The real appeal to me was, as one of Daejeon's claims to fame, Sung Sim Dang Bakery, open since 1956. When we visited, there was actually a lineup around the block. But I must say, the famous bakery was all it¡¯s cracked up to be. After enjoying some delicious baked goods, we headed to Gye-Ryong Mountain. We saw Buddhist Temple which was serene, beautiful and busy. We walked a little bit through the streams and surrounding hills. Once we were done sightseeing and eating our Pajeon, Korean pancake made with scallion(you can¡¯t miss out on this food once you are in the mountain), we took another bus to the Pottery Village (µµÀڱ⸶À»). We were walking around the village where every home seemed to have various pots out front and we could see pottery stores and schools. The next day, we went to the Expo and science museum area, which has several museums with themes of arts and sciences. You actually have to book months in advance to get into the famous Daejeon Museum of Science and Technology, as schools from across the country go there in droves. Too early to be disappointed, though. There were plenty of other things to do and see such as arboretum, art bridge, 3D digital Plato exhibit, art museums and etc. The downtown mall area of Daejeon reminded us of a scaled down version of Las Vegas with all the bright lights and dynamic vibe.
Going back home
We¡¯ve made some mistakes along the way, which is the par for the course for a backpacking trip. It¡¯s safe to say, however, our trip was successful: palatable Korean meals and drinks, beautiful nature unique to its own, and people willing to help us to get wherever we needed to be.
Korea & I features contributions from non-Korean, reflecting the opinions of the writers as faithfully as possible. Thus the opinions expressed therein may differ from the opinions of the editors of <KOREA> magazine.
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