Busan

I'm back in Seoul again! I came up from Busan yesterday and then spent the rest of the day with my cousin, Soojin. It had been seven years since I last saw her when she visited Corvallis and we had a good time catching up, talking about college, and checking out a famous outside shopping area that attracts lots of tourists. The stores sell a number of things from clothes, jewelry, pottery, to random accessories. My cousin and I both love shopping and had fun roaming around to each store, even though it was super hot and crowded.

After a long day of shopping, she took me to a cute coffee and dessert shop..this was our dessert after our huge dinner. 

Back when I was in Busan, I spent a day with Gabe! My mom and I met him, his mom, and his sister for lunch and then went shopping at one of the biggest malls in Korea (I know, lots of shopping). We also went by the beach and walked along the shore. After all this speaking Korean and meeting a ton of family, I was more than excited to hang out with a friend! 

With mom at the beach. Below is the view of the city from the beach. It looks super cloudy but the weather was perfect for walking on the beach, even at night!

After lunch and the beach, we went to a chimgeelbang, a Korean sauna. There were at least six different rooms as hot as 160 degrees, and you go in, lay down, try to endure as long as you can, and sweat buckets. The picture above is me and Gabe in the salt room which was about 110 degrees--one of the less hotter rooms, but still scorching for me! Right after sitting in one of the rooms, you step into the ice room, which feels amazing after roasting in the sauna. We repeated the process about five times and I got better at enduring the heat. It sounds weird, but it was so fun and one of the things my mom insisted I  experience in Korea.

With my mom in the ice room. Please appreciate the lamb ears we made, also a Korean tradition in the saunas! For people in Oneighty, don't they remind you of Min? He was that little boy who was amazing at guitar and wore the ears around while we were at the sand dunes. I saw an older kid at the sauna wearing the same ears who looked just like him!

While I was staying at my grandma's in Busan, my mom also took me to a fish market where people sell fish, crabs, and other random creatures (some still swimming around in tanks) that didn't look too appetizing at all. I watched one lady catch a eel, snake looking thing and cut it up while it kept squirming around..it kept moving around in the bowl after it was all cut up too. It stunk like fish hardcore.

It was definitely a different, smelly experience but its cool to see parts of Korea that are the opposite of the city.

Me with the umbrella my grandma told me to use to keep from getting tanner. More later! I'm going to see Jessica soon and I'm excited to see her after two years!