From Busan to Seoul…and back again

I’ve been living in Busan, South Korea for the majority of the past 2 1/2 years.  Busan is the second largest city in the country with a population of about 3.6 million.  One of the incredible sites of this metropolitan city is the beach.  Infamous for Haeundae, this popular hot spot swarms with tourists in the hot summer months of July and August.  Covered with parasols, high heels, and celebrities (none of whom I’ve ever seen), this coastal city is the IT place in the summer months.  It’s also home to some great seafood, crazy drivers, and an apparently tougher dialect of Korean.

Having grown up in Southern California, the beaches here don’t exhibit the same appeal as they do to my Midwest or Canadian waygook (foreign) counterparts.  In fact, the sea is nice, but being here it lacks the sound of crashing waves on the sand (because there aren’t really any waves here) and the glittering red hues at sunset.

But, Busan does have some other incredible things.  Known for amazing B-Boy’s and street dancers, there’s a whole underground world which remains foreign to even the native Koreans.  In an effort to connect to my body in other ways, I’ve been taking dance classes on the weekends.  Nope, no jazz or ballet for this girl (not until I head back to Europe at least), I’ll be honing skills under the hip hop and popping styles.  Hopefully, this Latina will start to connect to her long lost Mexican roots and learn some salsa too.

The winter season in Busan is brutal for me.  I hate the cold and my body nearly always goes out of balance.  It drops to maybe –6C, the sort of weather that will will freeze spit on the sidewalk.  For the record, there are a lot of spitters in this country.

Busan has changed a lot since I’ve arrived.  The once only 3 subway lined city has gradually started to expand the public transportation system.  The availability of international products has also become easier to access.  You can actually find dates, dried apricots, and an array of organic options at the grocery store and I also once saw limes.  Slowly, slowly, Busan is becoming an international city.

I’d like to compare Busan to San Diego because as great as it is, it will never compare to the glitter of New York, like Seoul does.

So, I ventured up to Seoul recently on the KTX.  The KTX is the bullet train which travels at speeds around 300-320km/h or 180-220mp/h.  Thus, the high speed rail makes a 50 min airplane ride in a little under 3 hours, for a lot less money and effort.

I’ve become aware of the number of plastic surgery cases in Korea.  Actually, I can’t honestly distinguish it with a lot of girls, but there have been many who’ve told me they’ve had their eyes or nose done.  It is VERY cheap to get surgery and when the job, family pressure, or future husband depend on it, many choose to go under the knife.

Upon my arrival to Seoul, I quickly noticed the number of remarkably beautiful women who possessed really large eyes and soft facial features.  I also noticed an alarmingly high number of advertisements gloating before and after shots.  It dawned on me quite shortly thereafter that there’s no way possible that Koreans in Seoul are that naturally different from those in Busan.  Sadly, most women that I thought had natural beauty have probably been altered in a lot of ways.

Onto more city matters, a city of 10 million, Seoul is truly a city that never sleeps, until perhaps the wee hours of the morning.  However, it is a rarity to find establishments that are open in the morning hours.  Life really doesn’t emerge until 10 am, a harsh reality to confront for a yogi.

I’m the loser who failed to take any pictures on this recent visit to Seoul.  So, this photo is courtesy of my dear friend Stephanie, taken in 2009.

Lined with hoards of western restaurants, retail stores, and a million coffee shops, Seoul makes Busan seem stuck in the 80′s.  I walked around one block and counted 3 Starbucks – is that really necessary?  I never manage to grasp how all of these coffee shops stay in business, but being a country that comes to life at night, the market for caffeine is remarkably high in this country.  For example, on the ground floor of my apartment building there are 3 commercial coffee shops.  If you walk around the corner there are 5 more within a 3 minute walk that are privately owned.  Let’s not discuss how many there are on the other side of the street either.

I won’t bother discussing the obvious, but take a look at this subway map and tell me you aren’t overwhelmed.  Maybe for some this isn’t a big deal, I suppose Japan’s is quite complicated as well. Apparently, Seoul’s subway is the 3rd largest in the world. Coming from San Diego, where public transportation is practically obsolete, this is an image that will definitely make you dumbfounded (not to mention, probably travel in the wrong direction, at least once).

Anyway, at 10:30 at night, I packed into a subway car.  It was so jammed that I couldn’t move if I wanted, in fact, I couldn’t fall either.  We were literally smashed in like a can of sardines and this wasn’t even rush hour.

Seoul is really ahead of Busan in a million ways.  Even as there are a lot of commercial establishments, you can still find a lot of historical and cultural sites and activities in this enormous city as well.

So, if you were to come to Korea, what would I recommend?  Well, I’d go to Seoul of course…but, if you’ve got the time for both, Busan isn’t so bad.  The climate in Busan is more moderate than in Seoul.  For example, although it drops below freezing here, snow fall is highly unusual.  Apparently, the pollution isn’t as bad here either.  However, there aren’t many western options in regards to food in Busan, so if you’re wanting to dive into Korean food, Busan might be the way to go.

I must admit, I was actually really disappointed when I came back to Busan.  I really wanted to stay in Seoul and hit the night life and a million more restaurants, but seeing as I blew nearly $350 in 1 1/2 days, I figured I should head back south and earn some money.  Perhaps its a blessing that I don’t live in Seoul, I imagine I’d get sucked into the fast pace of life pretty quickly.  Yet, if Busan is this far behind Seoul and its the next largest city, I can only imagine how far behind some of the towns in the countryside must be.