Chuseok Reminiscing

So Chuseok has come and gone and I am sitting down to another few months of nonstop work/graduate school stuff. Chuseok was great though. I made it down to Daegu to see off a good friend who is leaving at the end of the month and then took a detour to Busan to see the sights. I even managed to stay inside my incredibly tight budget (which, for any one who knows me, should come as something of a shock).

Busan was great, albeit incredibly hot and humid. My first day I took a walking tour of the harbor, then went down to the fish market and peered at all the (still living) gooey and slimy dinner specials, watched a vendor start a tuber squirting fight with her neighbor, and then turned down 14 ajumas who wanted me to stay and eat with them. Afterward, I headed up the hill towards Busan Tower. The view from the top was pretty cool, and as I got there just as the sun was going down I got some pretty awesome pictures of the skyline.

The next day I was scheduled to leave at around 5pm, so I woke up early (10am) and headed out to find one of the cool temples I had heard about. I decided to avoid the popular Beomeosa in favor of a smaller temple called Haedong Yonggungsa. It was a pain in the butt to get to--I had to rely on my own dubious Korean listening skills during a 40 minute bus ride and then hike up a small mountain (it felt like a mountain anyway) to get to the cliff where the temple is located. I was rewarded by the breathtaking view and another kind little ajuma who gave me free oranges to eat. Don't let the scenic view and the refreshing sea breeze fool you though. To leave the temple, you have to walk back up all 108 stairs that represent the Buddhist concept of the 108 worldly desires that we all suffer from. Believe me, they didn't forget any.

I know its taken me a while to get this post up, and I hope that you'll forgive me. I sit the GRE in 2 weeks and 5 days, so I'm trying to find all methods of procrastination open to me as I get closer to the inevitable doom. Also, my statement of purpose may or may not be trying to consume my soul. I'll get back to you on that if and when ever I have enough written to actually start requesting recommendation letters. On the other hand, the weather is finally agreeing with me, and I've enjoyed the view from my window of the rapidly turning leaves and the crisp air coming down from the mountain side. It is truly the stuff poetry is made of.