BUSAN WILD ADVENTURE TAKE 2!!!!!!!!

It was the Korean Thanksgiving (Choo-suk) last week so I only had to teach for 2 days, Mon and Wed. It's a really big holiday here!

My friends from Chinon
named Ron and John
Invited me
to go to Pusan

I got a little taste of the "beach city" last weekend and I liked what I tasted so...

I accepted the invitation to go back to this beautiful city on the coast. Scott and Arthur, friends of mine, also came for the fun. Here are some of the highlights...

Oct. 6th...

THE UN MEMORIAL CEMETERY

This was Arthur's idea, his father fought in the Korean war. When we got there the guard would not let us in and said that it was closed. After loitering around for about 5 minutes, the guard waved us through! It was an awesome experience seeing the graves of 600 Canadians that lost their lives fighting for freedom in the Korean War. The five of us left the memorial with frogs in our throats, our eyes a little cloudy, and a feeling that we should not take life for granted!

DRINKING ALL NIGHT AT THE BEACH

Since it was Choo suk, the Korean's were shooting off fireworks from the beach all night long. It was a sweet night of chillin and drinkin! The temp must of stayed at 20 C all night. Yeah!

Oct. 7..

STAR WARS ART AND SCIENCE EXHIBIT

In the morning we woke up and completely, absolutely nerded all over the place!!!
We went to check out this exhibit that had original stuff from all 6 Star Wars movies...
It was on loan from George Lucus and contained tons of original artifacts used in the movie... HOLY NERD!!!!
It was nerdingly mind blowing for such a nerdy Star Wars nerd to see such a display of Star Wars nerdery!

It had all original costumes, weaponds, prototype drawings, story boards, rare sketches, models, and tons of other items generally worshiped by Star Wars nerds. Some of my favorites included... Some of the life size vehicles they used to film the newer movies (episodes 1-3), the original Chewy costume, very early prototype sketches of Star Wars: A New Hope, and the original models of the Imperial Star Destroyer (with faded paint and a few coffee stains!!!). I think I almost nerded my pants when I saw this stuff!!!

HANGING OUT AT THE BEACH ALL DAY

It was hot (26 C) and sunny so we went right from the Star Wars Exhibit straight to the beach! We swam in the blue-green ocean for hours. No Koreans were in the water only foreigners. The Korean's said the water was too cold... not true. In fact, the water was warmer then the Canadian lakes on the hottest day of the year! We invented a game called "Windball Extreme" and it drew a crowd of curious Koreans. I imagine they were wondering why they haven't come across such a fun game before (see http://www.ronniea.blogspot.com/ for more details of the game and the trip!!!).

HAVING A SPA AT THE HOTEL

We were going to go to a Korean spa. My friend Scott attended one last week and gave us the skinny on the Korean spa. He said that it is a whole bunch of naked Korean dudes walking around. There's a steam room, shower room, shaving room, and jaccuzzi room. He said the Korean dudes are always checking to see if the rumors are true. We split a deluxe room at the Jamjalee. It was slightly more pimp than the room I had last week! It had a Projection TV, two queen size beds, a couch, and a full Spa/bathroom with 3 separate areas; a steam room, shower room, mirror shaving room, and a jaccuzzi (It only cost $18.00 per night/per person!!!). Why would we pay for a spa when we have one in our room!?!

So we did the most logical (and gay) thing that we could think of ...
we all got naked and used the steam, shower, and jaccuzzi!
Looking back it sounds incredibly gay but at the time it seemed like a good idea!
Well, nobody dropped the soap, everybody kept their hands to themselves (yes, even Ron), and the relaxation factor went through the roof (so did the gay factor).

DRINKING AT THE BEACH ALL NIGHT
(see above)

Oct. 8...

BEOMEOSA TEMPLE

We visited this really old Buddhist temple (678 AD) that was built on the top of a mountain. The name "Beomeosa" means " Temple of the Fish from Nirvana" ... deep Eh!!! We totally peaced out as we meditated and prayed at the many shrines, surrounded by ancient architecture, paintings, and stone artifacts!

After we thoughtfully discussed and reflected on these experiences, a mantra came to mind...

"Increase the peace in your niece's crease"