Busan

Recently, I was lucky enough to travel to South Korea's second biggest city, Busan. (Seoul is the biggest city in Korea, but most of the cities seem huge to me!) Busan is on the southern most coast of Korea, and usually it would take five hours to drive there from Seoul, so six hours from my house. However, I found a superior mode of transport: the high speed rail.

The high speed rail, or KTX, was amazing. We traveled at an astounding 160 mph, and the only thing that felt strange was that my ears kept popping. It was also a little difficult to use the bathroom at such high speeds, but you don't need the nasty details, so I'll just move right along.

I traveled with my boss, Jae, and she booked us a nice little hotel room and figured out all of the travel options. It was so easy to travel because she knows Korean. I was amazed that whenever we had a question, she could simply go ask. These are the things I took for granted in the U.S.! I was very thankful to travel with her. We went to a beach in Busan (yes, it's November, but it was still beautiful!) and took a tram up to a lighthouse. Below the lighthouse were a bunch of "Women Divers." These elderly women spend their days going into the sea to get oysters and other yummy sea creatures and then sell them to tourists. We jumped right on that bandwagon, and I must say, for being from a landlocked state, I took those oysters down rather well. They were delicious, and while we ate, we sat right by the ocean water. Wow. I would have never guessed that I would have lived in Korea, let alone sat by the sea eating raw oysters.

We were also lucky to visit the largest department store in the world, Centum City. Yes, you read that right: the largest department store IN THE WORLD. It covers an entire city block. Please refer to the picture. And what did I do there? Shop? Get a massage? Enjoy the frivolities of travel? No. I clogged a toilet. Yep, I am that high class. At least I had the decency to tell one of the bathroom workers. I tapped her shoulder and said, "Um, there is a problem..." and walked away, ashamed and red faced.

This moment was the only bad moment on the trip, and I came back home, refreshed and wanting to travel again. Where to next?