May Roundup

1. My wonderful (former) head teacher, Esther on her last day. She made the very brave decision – after four years at my hagwon – to set out on her own and blaze a new trail. I am wishing Esther all the best in her new adventures – school will not be the same without her!

2. Celebrating Children’s Day and Teacher’s Day at school was so perfect. Pictured above is the whole of my school’s kindergarten program after a riveting game of Corn Hole. I was absolutely soaked with sweat after running around to set up this game, subsequently garnering the new nickname “Wet Teacher”. You’ve got to love these children’s imaginations.

3. I began a new weekend routine in May: spending the entire weekend with my lovely ladies, enjoying the Busan nightlife on Saturday evenings, waking up, heading to the beach, eating Quiznos, getting a killer tan, doing headstands, going to Vesta Spa, and then finishing the weekend with some kimchi fried rice at my favourite local diner. It is a scientifically proven way to brighten life, and I feel so grateful that my last few months spent in Busan will be during the summer.

4. It’s back! Beach yoga began at Gwangalli during the first weekend in May. The last time I did beach yoga was in mid-October with Jess, Maddie, and our former teacher Amanda. Much like the seasons, my beach yoga crew has changed, but I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by the bendy and the zen. Even if I weren’t though, the view would more than make up for it.

5. You’ve got to love school field trip day. My school recycled the Daeyeon Arboretum (we already visited in September) as the location for this month’s field trip, but I still managed to have a lovely time in the great outdoors with my munchkins! I taught the kids to play classic childhood games including “What Time Is It Mr. Wolf?”, “Red Rover”, and “Duck, Duck, Goose”, and somehow, only one child managed to fall and scrape their knee. If you’ve ever worked in a school, you know that’s a small victory.

6. I spent a Sunday afternoon with a trio of my former middle school students in Jangsan, and it was a lot of fun. They recently left my school in favour of private tutoring and were very eager to meet up for lunch. They were initially so jarred to see me outside of a classroom setting! We enjoyed a nice meal at the Korean diner and played some arcade games before calling it an afternoon. God love these derps – middle school is a hard time, but they all have such good heads on their shoulders!

7. Life is nothing if you don’t fill it with the special ones. Pictured here is my “Bu Crew”: Mary, Katie, Steph, and Brandi, just missing our lovely Nina. There is certainly not a lot of time where I’m without at least one of them: Steph and I are basically attached to the hip every night after school; Mary and Nina make the long trek from Hwamyeong to Jangsan every weekend; I meet with Katie through the week to jog at Daecheon Park and have a nightcap at Thursday Party, and I’m so lucky to have sweet old Brandi as a co-worker. I’m truly #blessed.

8. It feels like I’m always saying goodbye! After ten months of shaping Korea’s next generation together, I bid farewell to my co-worker and friend, Brittany Teacher. My boss took all of the foreign teachers at my school to a dessert bar early last week as a thank you to Brittany for all of her hard work. She’s currently travelling around Southeast Asia for the next two months before plotting her next move. Best of luck, Britt!

9. Since I’m nearing the end of my contract and want to spend my last few weekends soaking up the sun, I was quite aggressive with my Bucket List (very typical). Amongst those that I was able to check off were Samgwangsa Temple, a Lotte Giants Baseball Game, the Oryukdo Island Cruise, and Bujeon Market. I’m so excited that I’ve nearly checked everything off of my Korean Bucket List!

10. I always love a good birthday party. Each month at my school, a birthday party is held for all the students celebrating that month. May has a solid line-up – five of my favourite students were turning a year older, and choosing which one to stand with in this photo caused me some serious anxiety. As per usual, Nina was the winner.

May was just as busy as its predecessor, April. It had long catch-ups on Skype with my friends back in Canada, lots of beach yoga and beers, meeting lots of new people – basically everything I could want as I usher in the summer season. I booked my flight to Thailand for summer vacation, my school booked me a flight back to Canada in early August, and one of my best friends, Yusra, booked a flight to South Korea for a visit in June! May had many hits and only a few misses and I’m happy that my sun kissed face broke into laughing fits easily and often. Au revoir, May!

Busan Museum of Art

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

Photos by Jess Sternberg (go check her Instagram out here) and the Korean Tourism Organization.

Blogging about the Busan Museum of Art is a stark reminder about how put together I was not upon arrival in Korea. I visited the museum during the second weekend of September – a whole eight and a half months ago! Oy vey. Blame the late blog post on a totally “blissed out, lazy, end of summer 2013” Dylan.

I’m usually pretty ambivalent about museums on the whole. During my summer 2010 trip to Europe, I spent four hours at the Jüdisches Museum in Berlin. It was a thoroughly curated museum, with an excellent exhibit on Jews in comic books. However, I was so overloaded with information that upon departure from Berlin, everything had left my brain. I was not a sponge that summer for anything except World Cup soccer and beer.

This time around, during my year in Busan, I was excited to take in some Eastern-inspired works of art. Given that the Busan Museum of Art is the penultimate subway stop on my journey to work everyday, I figured this would be a good place to start. In addition, Jess and Maddie had their lovely friends Maritza and Steph visiting, and it seemed like a positively cultured way to introduce the girls to the city.

The Busan Museum of Art had some pretty excellent elements. First of all, it was free entrance (great news for the frugal). The complex itself is large, modern, and well-maintained (as it should be – it was only opened in 1998). The museum has five exhibition halls with hardwood floors throughout, along with archives and interactive learning rooms. The exhibits didn’t feel too overwhelming – the average person (read: me) could enter any given section and feel comfortable identifying general themes and representations.

When the girls and I visited, the main exhibit was titled The Art of Prayers, featuring pieces of art donated by the Korean-Japanese artist Ha Jung-Woong. The exhibit consisted of  three different sections: Prayers, Evidence, and Happiness. Each section hoped to represent regret and despair, record “art as historic evidence”, and show “art which provides happiness”, respectively. The section I remember the best was Prayers, which featured a series of woodcuts titled “The Story of Hanaoka”. These vivid reenactments of the uprisings and massacres at the Hanaoka mine in 1945 were particularly realistic and brutal, as well as an exercise in gratitude on my part.

In addition, there were two exhibits by Kim Bong Tae (titled “Accumulation”) and Shin Sang Ho (tilted “Final Frontier”). The Kim Bong Tae exhibit was almost Warholian, but in a totally nondescript way (read: stacked, differently coloured boxes). The Shin Sang Ho exhibit was slightly more interesting, with bright, ceramic sculptures and airplanes inspired by “the unknown world depicted by Star Trek screenwriter Eugene Roddenberry”.

The exhibit we enjoyed the most was the one designed for children (obviously). We entered a dark room, and were immediately delighted when a series of colourful projections began parading about the walls. An older Korean man approached us afterwards to inform us that his young daughter had drawn the pictures and he had turned them into projections. This room of projections was easily the best part of the museum. We joked about the room just needing some EDM to make it a real party.

My trip to the Busan Museum of Art was perhaps more of an exercise in taking derpy photos with my friends than a truly cultural experience. That said, I feel like I did gain some real exposure to different forms of Korean art during my two hour visit to the museum, which was my original goal anyway. You don’t have to remember it all, you just have to appreciate it all.

Directions
To get to the Busan Museum of Art, take the Green Line on the Busan Subway (Line 1) to the Busan Museum of Art Station (stop 205). Go out exit 5 and walk straight for about two minutes. The museum will be right in front of you.

Oryukdo Island Cruise

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

Multiple trips this year (to Bijindo, to Boracay, to Samgwangsa Temple) have really transformed my simple appreciation for sunsets into a genuine love for sunsets. Beyond the “nice Camera Reel, br0” aspect, sunsets give me exactly what I need, no matter what mood I’m in. If I’m having a bad day, the setting sun is a reminder that tomorrow is new day. If I’m feeling insecure, it reminds me that night will cover things like a blanket and provide some anonymity. If I’m in a good mood, sunsets push me over the precipice into a free fall of total bliss.

This was the case last weekend when the girls and I packed up our things after an afternoon on Haeundae Beach to ride a ferry around the Oryukdo Islands at sunset. While we had a nice day crisping in the sun, we were all individually in weird places due to external circumstances. We really needed to close the weekend out on a high note, y’all.

We reached the Mipo Ferry Terminal at the end of the beach, and purchased a ticket aboard the 6:30PM ferry. We had about 40 minutes to kill, so we ate, drank, derped, and were merry in the ferry terminal, (a true testament to the “Bumnaegol 3”). Afterwards, we boarded the vessel with about a dozen others, ready and raring to see Busan’s coasts, islands, and of course, the sunset.

The Oryukdo Islands are (depending on the time of day) five or six rock islands, proudly protruding from Busan’s choppy waters. They are pretty famous throughout the city because these are typically the first masses that people see when sailing into Busan. They are pretty clearly uninhabited given that they are literally mossy rocks offering little to no shelter, with the exception of “Lighthouse Island”. If you haven’t already guessed, this rock houses a large white lighthouse with a series of winding stairs and observatories (we unfortunately didn’t make a pit stop here). The islands are a pretty random thing to be so widely admired, admittedly, but with the sun peeking out from behind them, I began to see why people enjoy them.

I’ve seen my fair share of sunsets on Busan’s coasts and beaches, but it was such an experience watching it from the water. At one point, the sun was hovering over Busan’s famed Marine City, casting shadows of the iPark, Zenith, and Exordium buildings over the water. We had incredible views of Diamond Bridge, Gwangalli Beach, and Igidae Park – it was basically a (boat) trip down memory lane of all the things I’ve seen and experienced in Busan.

After the boat made it around the Oryukdo Islands, the winds began to pick up. The other passengers opted to descend to the lower decks, but Mary, Steph, and I wrapped ourselves in our beach towels and blankets to continue watching the (now hazy) skies and sights. I huddled for warmth with my arms wrapped around my girls and felt so blessed with life in Busan.

The entire trip back to the ferry terminal was a practice in the very real phenomenon known as “sunset gratitude”. This is where my friends and I repeatedly tell each other how happy we are to have met one another and how lucky we are to be living in such a peninsular paradise. It’s basically like a drunken heart-to-heart, without the alcohol.

The 70 minute Oryukdo Island Cruise is certainly worth the price for the views of Haeundae and Gwangan. I recommend you take an evening ferry on the weekend, since they run more often than during the week. Get out there and practice some “sunset gratitude” of your own!

Directions
To get to the Mipo Ferry Terminal, take the Green Line on the Busan Subway (Line 2) to Haeundae Station (stop 203). Take exit 3 or 5 and walk straight out until you reach the beach. Turn left and walk along the beach ends. Continue down the road and the ferry terminal will be on your right. The Oryukdo Island Cruise costs ₩22,000. More information can be found here.

Teacher’s Day!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

It seems like May has been a never-ending barrage of public holidays in Korea. Two weeks ago, Children’s Day and Buddha’s Birthday were celebrated, while last week was all about showing love for mom and dad on Parent’s Day. Today, however, was the mecca of public holidays, for me anyway, because it was all about the eraser clappin’, red pen circlin’, stink eye givin’ teachers of Korea!

My friends Jess and Maddie had spoken lore of this glorious day. Their stories about Teacher’s Day in May 2013 had me seriously excited when I woke up this morning.

Teacher’s Day in South Korea is celebrated every May 15th. The premise is pretty simple – students celebrate their teachers. This “celebration” can take the form of simple gratitude or sometimes gifts. And who doesn’t love that, amirite?

While I joked with my co-workers about the prospects of $100 Starbucks gift cards and skin products, this day was just a reminder of how fortunate I’ve been this year to meet such bright, young minds. I, admittedly had a bit of a rough day today, (highs and low are inevitable on Thursdays when I teach nine classes in row), but I have so many things to be grateful for and to be inspired by. Here are just a few:

– My homeroom class. The children of Happiness Class are simply in a word, “happy”. I’ve only taught this quintet for two and a half months, but they are consistently the highlight of my day. One of my students, Kevin, came into the teacher’s room early this morning and gave me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. He was trailed by little Aiden (“Aidy”) who gave me a rice cake that I devoured before he even had time to leave the room. These nuggets make it all worth it.

– My first grade boys. Formerly my daily kindy students, I now teach these four first-grade boys only three times a week. All four boys are so kind, intelligent, and well-behaved, which makes teaching them a dream. Earlier this month, one apologized for not being able to invite me to his birthday party because “he didn’t think I would have fun”. Even though we didn’t have class today, one boy named Jessy ran up to me in the hall with a toothy grin as he handed me a gift-wrapped box. This turned out to be a spill-resistant, vacuum coffee mug. Obviously the little guy knows me well, and I was astounded by his generosity on a day when I don’t even teach him!

– The sleepers. There are certain kindy students who I don’t teach as often throughout the week. As a result, I often feel that we don’t have a very close relationship; I’m just a blip on their radar. One example is little Sally from Pride Class, who completely threw me off today after presenting me with a $30 gift card to Starbucks. It’s always the quiet ones that surprise you!

– My former middle school students. Even though they are all gone now, my middle school students have been adamant about keeping in touch with me via e-mail. The best part of my day was receiving an e-mail from one student, Julia. Check below for a screenshot – this e-mail really did make me go “d’awuuuh” on my lunch break.

– My fellow co-teachers. Tireless human beings. Even when the fluorescent lights are too bright, and the air conditioning refuses to work, I can always count on them to listen to fifteen minute snarfles. Here’s to you guys.

As Teacher’s Day 2014 comes to an end, I want to wish my fellow teachers in Korea, from public schools to hagwons, as well as teachers from all over the globe, a happy and healthy evening. I’m placing a virtual apple on each and every one of your desks. Namaste!

Vesta Spa & Jjimjilbang

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

Who doesn’t love taking a relaxing spell in a hot tub in the dead of winter? The question is rhetorical, but just in case: everyone. Everyone loves a hot tub in the winter. The South Korean variation of this of course, as referenced in previous blogs here and here is the jjimjilbang. Strip off your clothes, dip your naked body into the old sodium chloride bath, and relax, (if the stares of the naked Korean men aren’t too distracting).

Mary and I ventured to Vesta Spa & Jjimjilbang in the dead of winter (which, in Busan is not all that bad) to warm our little bumnaegol souls. We had reached a very “I can’t with anything” point in our weekend, and decided it might be time to switch up our Spaland routine.

Vesta’s location on Dalmaji Hill was the first draw for me. If I were to ever live in Busan long-term, I would invest in property on Dalmaji Hill. It offers stunning coastal views along Haeundae Beach, is lined with cherry blossom trees during the spring, offers dozens of hiking trails, and is a quiet escape from the bustling urban sprawl of Busan.

Vesta Spa is a large, unsuspecting white brick building built into the sloping hill. Upon seeing it for the first time, I was reminded of somewhere in Greece, perhaps Mykonos. The service was friendly, and our fellow patrons were mostly families and couples. Mary and I paid our entrance, impressed with what we were seeing so far, and headed to our respective bath rooms.

I can’t say I totally loved everything about Vesta’s bath facilities. They were slightly most rustic than the other three jjimjilbangs I’ve been to in the past. Many of the baths had tawny, often oxidized pipes in plain sight. The bath water (as I had read in other blog posts before going to Vesta) was not quite as fresh as I was expecting. That said, I did enjoy the atmosphere of Vesta. The room was quite dimly lit and so steamy, offering a little more privacy for those patrons who desired it.

While Vesta’s facilities, comparatively, leave a little something to be desired, patrons are able to exit to an outdoor balcony and enjoy views of Haeundae from a hot tub. This is almost certainly Vesta’s most popular feature. Many foreigners know it as “the jjimjilbang where you can look out to the beach in the nude”.

Overall, I still think Spaland is superior, but I did like the “mom and pop” feel of Vesta. It’s really a Busan institution,integral to the fabric of the city, almost.. Plus, you can’t beat the location on Dalmaji Hill. So, what are you waiting for? Go get some naked views of Haeundae Beach already!

Directions
To get to Vesta Spa & Jjimjilbang, take the Green Line on the Busan Subway (Line 1) to Jungdong Station (stop 202). Take exit 5 and walk straight past the large shopping centre (called Rodeo). Continue straight up the hill and follow it while it curves to the left. Vesta will be on your left.  Alternatively, a taxi costs approximately ₩5,000. Entrance to Vesta is ₩10,000.

Photo by City Awesome

Photo by veganaroundtheworld.wordpress.com

Photo by saunasinkorea.blogspot.com

Beomeosa Temple

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

Photos by Stephanie Pellett. Check out her personal blog here, her Flickr account here, and her Instagram here for more beautiful photography.

“There is a well on the top of Mt. Geumjeongsan and the water of that well is gold. The golden fish in the well rode the colourful clouds and came down from the sky. This is why the mountain is named Geumsaem (gold well) and the temple is name ‘fish from heaven’.”

This summary of the origins of Beomeosa Temple’s etymology is from the Donggukyeojiseungram, a Korean geography book. Nestled up in the mountains, Beomeosa, like all good temples is remote, offering a peaceful, cultural day trip for tourists (like me!)

Admittedly, I had been informed that Beomeosa Temple was “pretty, but nothing special” from a few people. Regardless, I was eager to visit and form my own opinions about “the temple where the Nirvana fish play”.

I visited Beomeosa on a day when spring was positively springing with Steph, my co-worker Robert, and his fiancé Anna. As soon as we stepped upon the temple grounds, I could feel how hallowed and sacred they were. We followed a row of wisteria trees up to the main compound, which houses a three-story pagoda, multiples shrines, and approximately a dozen hermitages, presumably for the fighting monks who called Beomeosa home. I’m always amazed at the intricacies and attention to detail when studying the colourful shrines and gates at Korean temples. I found it inspiring. Like, if someone could spend all that time designing something so beautiful, then I can at least floss every day or blog three times a week, right?

Beomeosa, itself, was lost twice; first, in the 16th century at the hands of the pyro-happy Japanese invaders, and second, a mere decade later in an accidental fire. It was rebuilt in the 17th century. These days, however, it is still undergoing a “temple facelift”. There was, in fact, ongoing construction on a couple of the hermitages and halls while we were visiting. Whoever said cosmetic surgery in Korea is just for people was dead wrong.

Oddly enough, my favourite part of my time at Beomeosa was spent in a rather unique rock field, with a quiet stream running through it. Steph, Robert, Anna, and I sat for a while in a circle on the rocks, and even took a few moments to dip our hands and feet into the chilly water. I’m hoping to visit Beomeosa again so I can follow this path of rocks up to the North Gate of the Geumjeongsanseong Fortress, because I’m all about that hiking sweat life on summer days.

In addition, the four of us visited the Seongdo Museum, located on the temple grounds. There were a variety of Buddhist antiquities, including a Lego construction of the “Nirvana Fish”, where Beomeosa derives its name from. Bizarrely, this Lego “masterpiece” seemed to be a bigger deal than the relics that were hundreds of centuries old. Just nod and smile, y’all.

Beomeosa is one of the most important temples in all of Korea, and receives extra credit for its “Temple Stay” program. While I found the Haedong Yonggungsa Water Temple more visually pleasing, the tranquility of Beomeosa Temple was a welcomed sort of beauty. My recommendation? Visit Beomeosa on a sunny day, walk the grounds, have a picnic on the rocks, and continue up Mount Geumjeongsan. Then you’ll really be about that sweat life.

Directions
To get to Beomeosa Temple, take the Orange Line on the Busan Subway (Line 1) to Beomeosa Station (stop 133). Take exit 5 or 7 and turn up the road between the exits. After 5 minutes, you will reach the Samsin bus stop. Bus Take bus #90, and get out at the Beomeosa Temple stop (approximately 15 minutes).  Alternatively, a taxi costs approximately ₩6,000.

Children’s Day!

Happy Children’s Day, everyone! May 5th is a recognized public holiday in Korea, which means I get this sunny Monday in Busan off! Yes, the irony of being an English teacher in South Korea and not having to teach on Children’s Day is not wasted on me.

Children’s Day has officially been celebrated since 1970 in Korea, and encourages children to grow and prosper without discrimination, and to hold only wisdom and bravery in their hearts. Toy stores, public parks, and department stores are apparently swarmed with kids, so you better believe I’ll be avoiding those places today!

In celebration of the up-and-coming generation of Koreans, my school hosted a full day event in dedication of the little nuggets this past Friday. This was great news for me because any day when I can derp around with my kindy kids and not teach from the world’s most boring textbooks is a fantastic one!

Each of my fellow foreigner co-teachers and I were responsible for a different station at the event. Shannon and Brandi ran the “Brown Store”. This is a basically a market where students can use the “Brown Bucks” they’ve received over the course of the month for good behaviour, and buy cute little knick-knacks. Brittany and Thomas were responsible for teaching the little noodles about food creation (read: making tiny little burgers). Robert was responsible for creating a balloon hat for each student, and I was tasked with painting all of their faces because “Dylan Teacher, you are such a good artist!” I’m not exactly sure where my head teacher got such an idea, but the misinformed sentiment was a cute one.

That said, I actually did end up having a blast painting my kiddies’ faces. I’m by no means quitting my job to become a professional face-painter, but I don’t think I was totally awful at it. Every single time I would finish, I would take a “poto” of each child’s face to get a sense of their satisfaction level and every single time their face would remain expressionless. I kept on reminding myself that this is a part of Korean culture (not letting your true feelings known through facial expression) and was eventually vindicated when the kids later thanked me for their awesomely painted face.

One of the best (albeit messiest and saddest) moments of the event came when I was painting one of my more rambunctious students’ face. A friend from his class came up to watch me as I attempted to paint a penguin holding an umbrella. I eventually required the yellow paint for the beak. When I reached over to dip my paintbrush in, I noticed that the yellow had disappeared. As I began to say “now, where did I put the yell-” I looked up to find the friend, the whiteboard, the wall, and the floor covered in yellow paint. The poor little noodle was so distraught, but I couldn’t help but giggle as I scolded him for getting too close to my work station. I guess we shouldn’t add “Compassionate Teacher” to my list of school nicknames…

After lunch, we assisted our homeroom classes with creating candy necklaces. Normally, whenever we “assist” our classes with any sort of project like this, it turns into me frantically assembling 12 candy necklaces myself. Thankfully, my class of six year olds are surprisingly resourceful and did it all by themselves. I like to think I’ve contributed to their resourcefulness but ego gets you nowhere.

Once the candy necklaces were done, I was responsible for hosting an “active” game in our auditorium known lovingly as the “Sky Room”. I basically created a version of “Corn Hole” with beanbags and hula hoops, and divided the classes into four colour-coded teams. The Pink Team (that no one initially wanted to be apart of because apparently “pink sucks”) ended up destroying all the other teams. After the game, we sang some classic songs including “Spring is Here”, “We All Go Travelling By”, and my personal favourite, “I Am A Pizza”.

Basically, Children’s Day was a total breeze of a Friday where my kiddies got to have fun without any of the pressures of English learnin’. While I will miss them tomorrow and Tuesday, (which I also have off for Buddha’s birthday, huzzah!), I’m sure their parents will treat them to all of the ddakji and patbingsu their meagre little frames can handle!

Happy Children’s Day to you and yours!

UN Memorial Cemetery

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

It’s quite easy to forget when you’re living in the industrialized, developed, modern city of Busan that South Korea as it exists today has not always looked this way. South Korea, as a nation is very young and the wounds from the Korean War are still pretty fresh.

Busan’s UN Memorial Cemetery is a solemn reminder of this fact. As the only one of its kind in the world, the UN Memorial Cemetery is a burial ground, paying tribute to the fallen servicewomen and men of the United Nations Command (UNC) during the Korean War.

Mary, Steph and I visited the cemetery on an overcast Saturday afternoon as a pitstop before our coastal walk at Igidae Park. The mood of the cemetery is pretty sombre. There certainly weren’t as many tourists snapping photographs of the grave sites as I’ve seen at other Busan tourist sites. The girls and I spent the majority of our time at the cemetery simply walking the rows of the burial sites, divided by nation, and paying our respects to the fallen service members.

I’m not a very patriotic person when it comes to Canada, but I did feel a sense of pride in seeing how much Canada assisted with the war efforts. 378 Canadians selflessly gave their lives during the Korean War, as members of the UNC. This number seemed quite large to me until we reached the UNMCK Wall of Remembrance. The 140 black marble panelled wall lists over 40,000 names of UNC service members, either killed or missing, during action. While Canada had about 4 panels, the United States casualties occupied the majority of the wall, upwards of 60 panels. Steph probably put it best: “You can read the figures of how many people died during the war, but it’s much more sobering when you see every name laid out on a sprawling marble wall.”

Apart from the main burial sites and Wall of Remembrance, there are memorials devoted to a number of the 16 countries involved in the UN’s war effort, including Britain, France, Australia, and Greece, two halls devoted to memorial services and memorabilia from the Korean War, and an interfaith chapel. There was actually a memorial service being held at the chapel as the girls and I were looping around to leave the park, so I got the impression that services happen daily.

While the UN Memorial Cemetery has a more grave and dignified atmosphere than other sights throughout the city, there is a lot of beauty to be found throughout the park. Upon entering, we were greeted by rows of neatly trimmed juniper trees. A little further, we came across a trio of beautiful cherry blossom trees. A group of ducks waddled past us after reaching the memorabilia display hall. Even though there is an overwhelming sense of sadness permeating throughout the grounds, it isn’t too hard to find beauty alongside history at Busan’s UN Memorial Cemetery.

Directions
To get to the UN Memorial Cemetery, take the Green Line on the Busan Subway (Line 2) to Daeyeon Station (stop 213). Go straight out exit 1, take your first right, and proceed straight for about 10 minutes. The UN Memorial Cemetery will be on your left. Entrance to the park is free.

April Roundup

1. The winners of the Brown & LCI kindergarten Reading Book (RDB) Contest. My fellow foreign co-teachers and I acted as judges for the RDB contest, an event that provides our students an opportunity to practice their public speaking abilities. The students are expected to memorize a short, topical book suited to their English level and present it to their peers. Students were judged on memorization, pace, and clarity. I served as the MC for the awards ceremony, and was so happy with our winners! Perhaps you can’t see, but that’s my favourite little noodle, Nina, hiding behind her certificate.

2. April marked the return of my Instagram hashtag #yogaboyinloafers. The picture above is me in bakasana, or crow pose, at the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. Rest assured, as long as there are items left on my Korean Bucket List, there will be #yogaboyinloafers.

3. April, like it’s predecessor, was a month of handstands. Even though I still have crazy “banana back“, I’m now able to comfortably kick up into a handstand. As my dear friend Jess Sternberg always says: “I will handstand in 2014!”

4. My amazing friend and fellow Busanite, Steph, turned 23 in early April! This is Steph and I shortly after a Monday nightcap at the local watering hole, Thursday Party, in celebration of another year.

5. April was all about aggressive bucket listing. Over the course of the month, I managed to check off ten sights on my Korean Bucket List, including Jagalchi Market, Igidae Park, Busan Tower, and the “Let’s Eat Alley”. Big love to both Mary and Steph who were by my side at all ten sights!

6. A group photo of Brown & LCI’s kindergarten program after our April field trip to the Busan Aquarium. This photo was nearly impossible to coordinate, (I have recently likened it to “herding cats”), but I’m quite pleased with the final product. One interesting note: literally two minutes after we managed to get all 30something students onto the sand for the photo, a motorcyclist crashed his bike on the promenade where two of our classes had been sitting. The power of photography!

7. My first official beach day! After five cold, often drizzly months, Busan is gearing up for summer, and I couldn’t be more excited. This past weekend, the girls and I took to Haeundae Beach to enjoy a mid-afternoon beverage in the sand, and let me tell you: there is seriously nothing better than beach season in Busan. Vive le summer!

8. Another farewell. My good friend, Kendall, (whom I travelled with to Boracay last December), is leaving Busan at the beginning of May. The sad reality of teaching in South Korea for a year is that goodbyes are inevitable. I’ll miss Kendall a lot, but am wishing her all the best in California and Australia! À bientôt!

9. Brown & LCI’s Arbor Day event. The picture above is my homeroom class (Happiness Class) outside in Centum City’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Our entire kindergarten program took to the great outdoors to learn about gardening from experienced botanist, Dylan Teacher (not). The event was basically an excuse to let the kids roam free in the park, and in turn, snap adorable photos of the unsuspecting little munchkins.

10. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Tokyo! Nearly two weeks later, the entire trip feels like a surreal blur. Pictured above are my travel-mates – Kate, Steph, Mary, and Nina – who were a constant source of hilarity and comfort, during the fun and not-so-fun parts of the weekend.

April was jam-packed. I accepted an offer for the Postgraduate Certificate in Public Relations at Humber-Lakeshore in Toronto, and readjusted my future plans. Every single week at school had an event to prepare for; every single weekend had an itinerary to stick to; and even during my downtime, there were still things to execute. Yesterday marked my 9 month anniversary in South Korea, which means I only have 97 days left in Busan! I’m excited for my last 3 months in Busan before heading back to Canada, and have a lot of projects in the mix to keep myself busy with! Bring on May!

Busan Tower and Yongdusan Park

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

My first thought while researching Yongdusan Park was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I’m not exactly positive why, but I assume it has something to do with the etymology of the park’s name. “Yongdusan” translates to “dragon’s head mountain” and somehow this reminded me of Harry retrieving the Golden Egg from the Hungarian Horntail during the Triwizard Tournament. A non-sequitur if I’ve ever heard one, but YOLO.

My visit to Yongdusan Park, which is also home to Busan Tower, happened on a busy Saturday in Nampo (Steph and I had already visited Jagalchi Market and the Let’s Eat Alley earlier that day). Shortly after, we met Mary at Nampo Station, and headed up the escalator into the park.

Yongdusan Park boasts two pavilions, (one of which houses an aquarium), a statue of the famed Joseon Dynasty General Yi Sun-shin, a bronze dragon called Cheongdongyongtap (no doubt an homage to the “dragon’s head mountain”), and multiple stone monuments to literary figures and anti-government protestors. The park itself offered great bursts of colour, from the pavilion to the various gardens, and this was my first indication that spring was indeed on its way.

We stopped briefly when we came across a traditional fish throwing festival taking place in the centre of the park. [Note: Upon further research, I have learned that this occurs every Saturday at 3PM!] We watched as the large congregation of men and women, equipped with nets and baskets, swayed in unison to the sounds of a resounding drum-line. I’m still not totally clear on the significance of the ceremony, but I’m always interested in the unexpected, especially in Korea.

We made friends with a Korean gentleman at an elevated lookout containing a wall of “love locks”, a la Paris. After he snapped a few photos of the girls, he insisted on sending them to Steph via e-mail. Lo and behold, 72h later Steph received the photos. The kindness of strangers, right?

After checking out Yongdusan Park, we were ready for Busan Tower. We paid the admission fee, boarded the elevator, and ascended the 120m tall tower. When the doors opened and our ears finished popping, we were ushered into a quaint, albeit meagre, cafe. The Busan Tower has two floors at its crest – the first playing host to this cafe and sitting area, and the second housing an observation deck. Both floors have wraparound windows, offering somewhat mediocre views of Nampo-dong. I did find the views of Nampo Port and Yongdu Mountain nice, but found myself questioning why the tower wasn’t erected in an area with more to see.

One interesting feature of the tower is that each windowpane enlightens visitors as to what Busan sites they are looking at given their position in the tower (i.e. If you look out this window, you’ll catch sight of the Oryukdo Islands, Democracy Park, etc.). Again, Busan Tower is located in an area of Busan great for commercial shopping but less renowned for dazzling sightseeing. My personal opinion is that the tower would have been better suited to an area like Centum City, but alas, I am no urban planner.

While Busan Tower doesn’t offer the most spectacular views that the city has to offer, it’s worth a trip to visit Yongdusan Park during the warm months. At the very least, you’re five minutes away from Nampo’s premier restaurant, Arun Thai.

Directions
To get to Busan Tower and Yongdusan Park, take the Orange Line on the Busan Subway (Line 1) to Nampo-dong Station (stop 111). Go out exit 7 and turn left onto Gwangbokro Street. Proceed straight for about five minutes and you’ll come across the Yongdusan Park escalator (on the right side of the street). Entrance to the park is free, and admission to Busan Tower is W4,000.