A Good-Bye in Busan

May 30 - June 5, 2011

After having left my bike down the hill Sunday night and walking home with Lauren to hangout and watch a movie, I stayed in bed late because I really didn't want to go to work. Eventually, getting up was a must, and I got ready for work, and headed off, again leaving my bike at the bottom of the hill because some Ajuma (older lady) had set up her food stand in front of it. Work was a breeze since it was the kids last days, and all we did was watch movies and have snack parties. After work I went home and made some food to get me through the next couple of days, then called it a night and went to bed.
Tuesday morning, I felt good enough to get up and go to the gym before work, which I really needed to do so I could stretch out my muscles from Sunday. At work after the gym, I cruised again with more movies and snack parties, and on my breaks I finished up the online essays that had come in late over the weekend. After work it was back to the gym for another workout, then I met Lauren and we went to hangout at my place and watch a movie, while I regaled her with how unorganized my school was for the new semester that started the very next day.
Wednesday morning I skipped my visit to the hospital, and instead opted to enjoy Lauren's company a little longer before I had to get to work and see what senselessness the school would be up to. And disappointed I was not. Mine and John's schedules were not yet ready, along with the students classroom assignments, so when the kids showed up it was utter chaos, not to mention that we had Korean teachers all over us about when we would be coming into give them break. I laughed when I got my schedule and discovered I had zero classes on Wednesday, and then spent the est of the day making point form notes for the weeks of blogs I needed to do. While I was on break from blogging, I ordered bus tickets for a bunch of us to go to Busan on the coming Friday for Alex and Louise's last weekend in Korea extravaganza. It was a bit of a muddle trying to buy tickets online, because there were conflicting messages with my Korean bank card, and in the end I ended up pre-purchasing half the bus and needed a Korea to help me cancel half the tickets and finalize the purchase of those that we needed. After work, it was back to the gym, then home to get some rest from my oh so busy day.
Thursday morning, I got up and packed up some food before heading to the gym to get in a good run and some weights. Two hours later it was off to work, where my schedule was much more robust than that of Wednesday, but still open enough to allow me plenty of time to check out pages of rage comics. After work, I went back to the gym and rode the bike before showering and meeting up with Lauren to hangout while I got my things sorted for going to Busan, and for hockey when I came back.
Friday morning I got up and went with Lauren down to the subway station so that she could head home, or possibly to the police station to deal with her old schools shenanigans, then headed off to the hospital myself to see Wesley. Wes was doing much better than the last time I saw him a couple weeks ago, and had been on a new brain stimulus medication since earlier in the week, and it was paying off. He was more attentive and responsive when I walked in the room, and he was beginning to respond to commands involving moving his fingers and hands. His mom and I talked about how exciting it was, and how much hope it gives to him waking up very soon. After my visit, I went off to work to get the day under way, and over with, so we could get off to Busan at 11. Work was good, and since I have been teaching the same kids and books for almost a year now, it was easy to get right down to work without having to prime the kids for what was going on. My classes finished by 9, as did John's, so we both quickly went home to grab our bags for Busan, before coming back to sign out for the night at 10. We went straight to the subway station and caught the train to Express Bus Terminal to meet Alex adn Louise, and Lindsey for our 11pm bus to Busan. Like typical foreigners, we thought we would grab a few bottles of soju and mix for the ride, but not too much because there is usually a stop along the way where we assumed we could buy some more. On the bus, our seats were not together, but after some no shows and some friendly asking, people moved and we were able to sit together. Once the bus hit the highway, we broke out the soju and got into talking, only to be quickly told to keep it down by a Korean man, because it was a night bus and people were sleeping. Disappointed, we cut our volume and drank quietly until the rest stop. Then disaster struck! The rest stop had no alcoholic beverages! This was a real shocker, given the fact that at every other place in this country, alcohol is readily available and abused. We solemnly got back on the bus and rode the rest of the way to Busan with nothing but each other for companionship.

After arriving at 4am Saturday morning on the bus, we took a taxi to Haeundae Beach to find a place to stay and get a few beers. None of us were tired, so we drank until the sun came up, then went to sleep for a few hours to recharge for the rest of the day. Some of us slept earlier than others, like Alex, Louise, and I, while John went to wander the beach and take pictures, and then when he came back Lindsey went. We slept until 1130 before getting up and getting ready for the beach. By then, Frank called and came to join us from his jim-jil-bang he stayed in the night before. Once together we set out to find Lindsey on the beach then get some breakfast. John had his heart set on Mexican and margaritas, but the restaurant was packed and none of us wanted to wait. Instead, we grabbed a bucket of KFC and and bag of beers, then hit the beach. The beach was a little chilly with some pre-afternoon wind, but once you were seated it was alright.
We enjoyed the beach from 1230-6pm, meeting up with Thomas and Jeanne a couple hours after we had sat down, and strolling around the sand sculptures that had been created for the festival going on. As it began to cool down, we went back to our room to take showers and chill out inside for a bit, then hit the streets to find a place for dinner. We had a hard time finding a BBQ place at first, and all became a little annoyed with Frank's determination to lead the party to suitable place, taking us on quite the back street adventure. In the end a little side street sam-gyup-sal and dwaegi-galbi palce was found, and we feasted like a bunch of hungry beasts. We finished eating around 1030 and headed to the strip to see what the bar scene would be like, and to meet with Brett and MiSeon, who had come in on the late bus after work. Since it was a long weekend, and so many foreigners had made the trip to Busan, the bars were packed, and no worth venturing into. Instead we sat around outside drinking soju and convenient store beers, and sharing laughs until around 3am. THEN it was fireworks time. We grabbed a handful of fireworks from the store, and a few more beers, and hit the beach to set them off and conclude the celebration of Alex and Louise's last weekend in Korea. Since fireworks are always fun, I don't need to tell you we enjoyed it, but when they were all gone at 4am, it was definitely time to pack it in. We all headed back to the pension/motel we had payed for, and everyone went to bed except John and I who hung out in the hall finishing our beers and texting people back in Seoul until almost 5. By the time we crawled into bed, everyone was out cold, and we were not looking forward to the impending morning alarm.
A mere 90 minutes later, my alarm went off and John and I had to get up to leave for Seoul. I guess it's not that we had to, as much as we both wanted to make it back for our hockey games, and not let our teams down. We grabbed our things and jumped in a taxi for the train station, hoping there would be spots on the 7 or 730 KTX back to Seoul. We missed the 7 am train, but were able to get on the 730, and with some water and snack bars, settled in for the 2.5 hour ride. Once we were on the move, I noticed some empty seats, and took full advantage of the situation, laying out over two free seats and pulling my hood over my head thus completing the cocoon effect. I was able to get in a solid 90 minute nap before we got back to Seoul at 1015. We caught the subway back to Bongcheon, where I rushed home and switched bags, then headed out to my hockey game for 12. I was going to be a few minutes late, but when I made it there, the games hadn't started yet on account of none of the refs showing up. It gave all the teams a few extra minutes to warm up, and by 1230 we started playing with a single ref. We played against a depleted but competitive Rig Rock Black Ambers team, but with our goalie on vacation, we still lost the first game 8-6. The second game was a close one as well, but we were able to pull it together for a 3-2 victory. After the games, as tired as I was, I stuck around to watch the rest of the games until John's games at 6. After all the games were over, and things were cleaned up, a group of us went over to Gangnam for a last dinner with Tony Heikkila. We packed into a dak-galbi place, and even Lauren came to eat and witness what was a CBHK gathering. The service was a little frustrating, and after having to ask for multiple things, multiple times, we were all frustrated and ready to get out of there as soon as we finished. Luckily, we made it out of there without going crazy, and were able to make it home on the last subway. It was a little late to call home, so after a refreshing shower, and some tidying up, it was off to bed, and lights out on another week.

The group has slowly been slimming for months now, and with Alex and Louise getting ready to go, the reality of this lifestyle is sorely realized.