So, the weekend before last we went to Busan again. There was a fireworks festival on at Gwangalli Beach that about three million people come to watch every year, so it had to be pretty damn good. We arranged to crash at Eric's and meet up with some Orientation peeps for it on the Saturday. Of course, it absolutely pissed it down with rain as soon as the evening came. I mean REALLY came down, relentless monsoon style. The fireworks themselves were pretty unbelievable though, they even trumped New York's 4th July fireworks. In fact they wiped the floor with those suckers. It probably went on for about 45 minutes and included a lit up bridge, heart shaped firework blasts and flying bird fireworks (...so Asian it hurt). Here are a few of the best pictures from the show....
We went out for a few beers after the crowds had dispersed a little and Eric and I actually found a TV showing the Man Utd game, which was a total winner. The next day we went to check out the Busan Tower and some shops around Korea's second city. I managed to pick myself up some Ltd. Ed. Korean made Nikes. They're just lovely, and sweat shop free (well, foreign at least)...
I was tempted to buy some bright orange or purple ones, but bailed on it. They're incredibly popular here. The brighter the better. It's so odd. You get these £90 trainers that look like they've been coloured in by a toddlers crayon set. But hey, what do I know?
We'd been doing some training that week actually. Ulsan Office of Education put on some big event for 2 days, which coincidentally was only from 1 - 7pm, after all my lessons. So this meant I taught four back to back lessons, then hopped on a bus for 6 hours of lectures and activities. Wasn't happy about that one day. I made a point of taking more than my fair share of biscuits, just to get that satisfaction back, you know.
Anyway, I digress...
We had another week of work. Both of us are settling into it quite nicely now I think. The first month is definitely the hardest. I can understand why people say that. I think the kids test you for that time. They generally behave pretty well now. Generally. Michelle's also got a little rewards scheme in place for her kids. You've just got to hit them where it hurts: Sweets. They'll do anything for a bag of chews or whatever. I'm being a cheapskate still. When the winners of a game ask me, 'Teacher! Teacher! Prize?! Prize?!' I just tell them that they're getting something better than sweets - my love and respect. I'm really not sure how long they're going to buy into it for.
This weekend we stayed in Ulsan anyway. We went a little crazy with our new found riches. A trip to old downtown's Central Market left us a couple hundred thousand lighter. It was a lot of fun just going to round a shop and picking up anything you want, piling it up. I got me a beautiful xmas jumper for under £10 and some premium designer jeans just over £20. We've also noticed that here they do the whole 'personal shopper' thing. When you walk into a store you instantly have a Korean shadow who points out things to you and shows you other things you might want. It's like I've got 'won' tattooed across my forehead.
I also had a huge success after weeks of toil. I finally managed to manually set up our secure home network with our Korean router. Not an easy task, just trust me. They don't like Macs or English instructions here. No sir. I guess that's the only problem with having everything made domestically.
We also went to see the basketball this weekend. It was pretty damn awesome. The level was good, and each team usually has an American playing centre who dominates. We got some sweet seats for about £6 that were right on the court. Michelle and I got our Ulsan Mobis basketball jerseys too! Oh, and we got there very early and ended up getting filmed to kiss during one of the time-out breaks. It was on Korean TV and everything. They have 'Kiss Time' like you've probably seen on American movies at baseball games and stuff. We both went very red when the 7000 people all turned to watch us and started wooping. Here was us thinking Korean's weren't big on PDA?! Anyway, we got us a free trip to Outback Steakhouse for it, which is worth it in my books. It is technically one step away from prostitution though, and that's one slippery slope....
Here's a little video of some basketball action. Yeah, they lost in the end, but good effort.
I think this coming weekend we're going to venture out of Ulsan, but only a little way. We're going to go check out some of the Yeongnam Alps. That's right, there are Alps a bus ride away here. God bless Korea and its love for mountains.
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