Friday night out

Haven't posted the past couple of days due to a flurry of activity.

Friday night I went out with my recruiter and a few other foreign teachers to "Soul Trane." A foreigner bar up near Pusan National University. Before Soul Trane we stopped into a small Korean bar for food and drinks. I drank a heap of dongdongju, a milky white rice liquor and some soju, a clear liquor made from rice or sweet potato. On Saturday I felt like a train had run over my head!

The people I met were great and I had a lot of fun even though I was pretty wiped from jetlag and getting used to the place. Ian, one of the guys who was out with us, is taking us hiking somewhere today.

Yesterday I got my new apartment. It's about the size of a western bedroom but it's big enough for what I'll need. Pics to follow. The apartment is in Jungang-dong on a little back alley off the main street, the alley is an interesting jumble of shops and more alleys.

Apologies to anyone waiting for pictures of the new apartment, I haven't actually gone back since Saturday. The complete lack of furnishings or cooking equipment was a bit of a deterrent. I've been sleeping on a yo (thin sleeping pad) in Chris and Tanya's apartment in Gaegum. I should have my bed by Tuesday and hopefully I can get the director to have all the other stuff by then as well.

Ian took us to Beomeosa to walk around the Buddhist temple (see photos on flickr) and then we went out for galbi . After the ladies went home Ian and I took a stroll around Nampo-dong and the Jagalchi fish market in the old downtown area of Busan. All kinds of Korean street food was available but we were too stuffed to eat anything else. The fish market was really cool, if you can find it in the ocean somewhere you can probably buy it in Jagalchi Market. I can't wait to go back and get a load of shellfish once I move into my new place. I looked at a new DSLR in a camera shop in Nampo-dong, but I'll have to wait for a week or two before I commit to the purchase. The camera is the Samsung GX10 aka Pentax K10D and it looks like a great camera, plus it'll take my old Pentax lenses.