On Christmas Eve, Rob (my co-worker) and I headed to the Nagoya airport- he was going to Calgary for the holidays, and I went off to South Korea. Mike met me at the airport in Pusan, and we spent the day hanging around in Pohang. Christmas Day we went shoppng, and then out to dinner, where we had groovy, spicy South Korean food, soju: strong Korean liquor made from rice and other things. Then we went to a house party, then to a bar called Giant Step. I only vaguely remember the bar... Oh well.
The next day, after a very rough morning, we went to change my yen to won, and went to Kumi to visit Neal. Again, we had a great time, and it was fun to travel around, especially since travel in Korea is WAY cheaper than in Japan!!! While in Kumi I bought a great wool coat, since it was SO cold!!! Afterwards we went to another bar where we played pool and talked.
On Wednesday we went to a nice bath-house, which was actually very relaxing. Next we went to an amusement park called Woo Bong Land (sp???), and we went on a strange frying pan-shaped ride where you sit around the outside of a round platform (like the gravitron), and it spins slowly, and the ride operator tries to bump you off. It was fun, but not the kind of ride you'd find in a place that has safety standards!!! The park also had a tower that we went to the top of, and I got some great pictures from it. When we got back to Pohang we went to a pizza shop, where Mike’s friends with the girl who works there. She made us Kimchi soup, which was very good, but quite spicy.
Thursday, Mike had to work for a short time, so I wandered around downtown Pohang, and checked out the market there. It was great- I've never seen so much dried fish in my life!!! It had a great atmosphere, and it was nice to walk around in. Once Mike returned home we went out with his friend Simon to a jazz bar.
Friday we went to Kyong Ju, to another amusement park, where I met Mike's friend Mr. Go, along with several of his students. After the amusement park, we went to a temple (oops... I forget the name. Mike???). It was almost sunset when we arrived, and it was very beautiful. Saturday, Neal came to Pohang, we went out, and the boys came and waited with me at the airport on Sunday morning.