This is Haeundae Beach. It’s Busan’s most popular beach. In the summer, the entire beach is lined with umbrellas that you can rent.
Dave and I had lunch nearby and took a walk along the beach afterwards. It was packed!
Unfortunately, friends come and go in Korea. It’s that time again. We had a going away party on Friday night. We went to dinner, took pictures in photo booths and then ended the night at a traditional tea house.
Korea is going to be a lot less awesome without Shanna, Xong and Yangyee.
I was about to set out for a walk today when I spotted something outside Dave’s window. It looked like a park with traditional Korean buildings (you can see it in the bottom center of the photo on the left).
I took a very long walk and towards the end, I ended up there. It was pretty, but also seemed to be a hangout for older men. There was even a shirtless older man laying down behind the building in the bottom right photo.
I spent the better part of my day wandering around Dave’s neighborhood. He lives in the “old downtown” area of Ulsan so there are lots of shops, restaurants, bars and markets. I mentally bookmarked a lot of places for later explorations.
One of my favorite finds was this shop called Funny Love. They specialize in matching outfits for couples and families. Young couples all across Korea wear matching clothes and I always enjoy spotting “same sames.” I’m sure there are others, but this is the first store I’ve seen that only sells matching clothes.
I am on vacation this week so I’m staying in Ulsan for a few days. I spent all day Tuesday being very domesticated. I cooked. I cleaned. I did laundry.
While I’ve been here, I’ve been making breakfasts for Dave to warm up in the mornings and I’ve packed him lunch and cooked dinner. It makes me feel better because I’ve been worried that he hasn’t been eating enough, especially now that he’s been running every day.
I finally got a chance to make him his birthday cake, too. It’s a chocolate cake (thanks to my awesome birthday care package from my family) with a layer of icing and Tim Tams on top and in the center. It was a big hit!
Our long weekend in Gyeongju is now over. After checking out of the hotel, we stopped by Gyeongju Tower to get a closer look. The center of the tower is cut out in the shape of a giant pagoda. It is really cute. Admission into the park was a bit pricey and it was really hot out so we just took photos from the gate. We plan to go into the park in September when my friend, Joni, comes to visit.
It’s Dave’s birthday. We celebrated at midnight with two slices of marble cheesecake. The shop downstairs was all out of number 2 candles so we had to improvise.
Dave and I are in Gyeongju to celebrate his birthday weekend. The view at the hotel is really nice. We have a great view of the lake and we can also see the amusement and water parks next door.
Dave has been keeping up with his running while we are here. Today he went for a run around the lake (just over 10k). If you look closely (or click the photo), you can see him running on the bridge in this photo.
Friday marked the end of my first week of summer camp. Finishing the first week was a great feeling because camp is my least favorite time of the semester. It’s fun for the kids, but it takes a lot of work and usually stresses me out.
I did an Olympics theme and on Friday I gave all of the students medals. They all had a really good week so I think that means it was a success.
Today was camp day four. The past two days of camp have been really tiring. I have 3rd grade for 40 minutes, 1st & 2nd graders for 40 minutes and then I teach 4th grade for 80 minutes.
My 4th graders are exhausting. They are just so blah about camp and it’s hard to get them to be enthusiastic about anything. Even at break time, they’d rather watch Tom & Jerry than go run around the halls.
Life Outside of Texas 