Trip to Busan

Folks,

Greetings from Seoul on a sunny evening. It's 27 degrees, with humidity at 69%. Yesterday, it was lashing rain, with humidity at 100%, so this is a lot better. We are heading into the monsoon season, so I can expect more rain and higher temperatures.

The pic of the week is taken from the Busan tower, and shows the view over the port area of Busan, where we were last week.

Apologies for the delay in this weeks email, but we don't have an internet connection in the house, so we have to rely on picking up a signal from outside, which isn't always available. I know I'm also behind in replying to emails and Facebook messages, so please bear with me!

Busan
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Clara had a few days off, so we headed to Busan on the high-speed KTX train, which travels at 300kph. The journey is 3 hours, and we arrived on Saturday night. We met up with Paul, who I worked with in Costa Rica, and his Costa Rican girlfriend, Esperanza. We stayed in Haeundae, which is where Paul and Esperanza live, and the most popular beach in Korea. It wouldn't be the best beach in the world. It's fine, but it makes me think that beaches are not the strong point of the Korean experience.

It was also much colder there than in Seoul. I had to wear my jacket out every evening, which I don't do here.

We stayed at a love motel. They're popular here because most young people live at home, and it's difficult to have somewhere for your loving. I don't think they're designed for brothers and sisters travelling together, though. The guy on reception seemed most put out even at the request for a room with two beds. That said, the facilities were excellent. It cost just €18 for the room, and we had a PC with internet access, a TV and DVD player with a DVD library downstairs, coffee and water, and a large jacuzzi bath!

First impressions
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My first impression of Korea is how safe it is. Having come from Costa Rica where everyone is so crime conscious, it's amazing to come to a city where people leave down their bags to go off to look at timetables in the train stations. I saw a guy unloading boxes of trainers to a shoe shop, and he just left the boxes piled outside on the footpath while he transferred them into the shop. People leave mobile phones on tables, I took a beer from a fridge at an outdoor food stall, and practically had to wake up the owner who was dozing in front of a TV. Girls travel alone through the streets late at night without a concern.

The other thing you notice is how technologically advanced it is. The city lights up at night in neon and huge TV-screen style advertising hoardings. On the subway almost everyone is glued to some sort of technological device, reading email, playing games, accessing internet or watching video. I'm in my element with my little iPod which I was normally too shy to use in public in case it looked like I was showing off.

Job hunt
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Before I'd even started looking for a job this week I was offered one. It's teaching elementary school kids, and it's located a little out of the city. The pay is on the lower end of what I've been told to expect, but it includes accommodation. The recruiter said that the school is looking for an emergency replacement, and that I could take it for the moment while I got something else. I decided not to take it, because I've only just started the job hunt, and I feel that I should know more what's on offer before making a decision. It would be perfect if I needed to work straight away, but I'd rather put my energy into getting the right job. And I have enough money to tide me over for the moment.

Social life
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The social life here is certainly hectic. The bars open all night, and there have been many weekend nights that we've been home well after sunrise, at about 7 o'clock. I'm realising that at my age it's difficult to sustain that for too many nights on the trot, but I'm enjoying it all the same. After the busy weekends, I like to have a quiet week, and some nights I've even managed to do it.
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That's it for this week. I'm planning a quiet weekend, with a rooftop barbecue at a friends house on Saturday, if the rain holds off.

So until next week,

Annyonghi kaseyo,

Éamon

Yesterday's headline in The Korean Herald: Consumer Prices Jump to 10-Year High