Bikinis in Busan

It's been a while since I last blogged but to be honest not much had been going on here in South Korea to write home about. Other than going out to eat with friends and Dennis having a two week exercise there wasn't too much too much excitement. Thankfully, this past weekend we got off base and headed to the beaches in South Korea. It took fours hours to get down there by train to the city of Busan but it was completely worth it. If there is another city that is a must see if you ever visit South Korea besides Seoul it is the beach town called Busan. A beautiful fun city with an abundance of things to do and of course BEACHES! So we hopped on a bullet train in Seoul and took a 3 hour ride to Busan or also known as the "Miami" of South Korea.

On the train down to Busan

There are many sites to see and things to do in Busan like the aquarium, shopping at one of the largest malls in the world, and touring temples but Dennis and I were concerned about one thing....relaxing on the beach with a beverage in hand and not having a care in the world. Unfortunately, the first day we arrived there was a typhoon nearby hitting Japan so it was a little cloudy and the ocean was pretty much un-swimable. There had to be 7-8 foot waves which meant the only people in the water were the surfers. The second day was a little better with the sun breaking through the clouds every now but the water was still not safe to go swimming in. We did decide to lay out a majority of the day and had a wonderful and relaxing time. At one point they actual made several announcements over the speakers, first in Korean and then in English, saying all swimming was banned due to the conditions of the water. It was pretty entertaining to watch some of the Americans, who don't listen very well, try to get in the water after that announcement was made. A Korean police/lifeguard would follow around anyone getting too close to the water until they thought they had gone too far in and would whistle for them to get out. As for the Koreans at the beach, almost all of them come in their full clothing and sit underneath umbrellas so they are not in the sun. This is very different from the American and western culture where everyone is in board shorts or their swim suits baking in the sun. It seems as a culture they are just not big fans getting tan or being in bathing suits at the beach. Another great perk of going to Busan on labor day weekend is that all the Americans seem to flock to this beach town as well. There were several bars and restaurants that cater to western tourists and in some places it almost felt like you were back in America. We had tacos and margaritas at a mexican themed restaurant, ate a yummy burger at local place, and even went out to an irish pub owned by ex-pats. It was a nice change from what we have around the base up in Uijeongbu. The last day that we were in Busan ended up being gorgeous. We got some great beach time in before we made the four hour trek back up to base. It was an awesome weekend and it's kind of neat to say I swam in the Sea of Japan.

View from our Hotel

Mexican restaurant called Fuzzy Navel

I hope everyone had a great labor day weekend and stayed safe. Dennis and I are off to Thailand on Friday and we can't wait to ride an elephant and get some more beach time in! Love and miss you all!