Typhoooooooon!

I just survived my first typhoon!  Well, actually it didn't really hit Busan, and I think there was one in New Zealand when I was there, but, it was still kind of exciting.  My windows shook halfway through the night.  There were a few times I wondered if they would stand up to the wind.  I was probably the only one who was excited about the storm, heehee! 

The weather has been pretty mild so far.  This makes me feel frustrated at my self for not going hiking.  However, I have been doing some pretty fun things instead.  Last weekend a group of friends and I participated in the annual Busan Scavenger Hunt in which foreigners and a few Koreans dress up in costumes and run around Busan making asses of themselves.  It was pretty fun, but I think my team got less interested in the challenges, and more interested in taking it easy. 

I went to Seoul a few weeks ago.  I met my friend Chris there with a friend of his.  I really like the city's cultural diversity as compared to Busan.  The city is huge. I wouldn't want to live there, but I'd love to visit again.  We went to a lot of markets, and drank many beverages of the adult variety.  We stayed at a jjimjilbang, a Korean spa.  For about five to twelve bucks a night you can sleep in a small cozy cubby hole.  I hadn't slept that well in a long time!  It's super dark and quiet, unlike my apartment across the street from a train station.  Plus you get to wake up and soak in a hot tub.  Sometimes they are natural mineral hot springs.  Ooolala!  There are lots of other amenities available that I hope to explore next time I go to a jjimjilbang.  On Sunday I met up with my fiber arts professor from college.  I had a really good time.  She told me about a bojagi symposium that happens every year in Korea.  I hope I get to make it while I'm here!  Bojagi are traditional Korean wrapping cloths.  For more info, see this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bojagi

Today I went to Costco which is almost exactly like Costco in the States.  The differences?  For one, if you don't go to Costco on the weekend, there are more samples in Korea.  Delicious samples.  Seriously, every isle.  Cheese, cereal, vitamins, lotion... everything.  Awesome.  The products are also a bit different.  You won't find a liter of worcestershire sauce here either.  Nor will you find three gallons of green cake icing.  And we haven't been able to find blue cheese yet.  Another difference?  If you purchase a membership in Korea in costs 35,000 won, or less than $35.  Poop nuggets: I bought mine before I left the U.S. were it's $20 more.

I'm also pretty sure the Costco here gets a lot busier than the one I'm used to going to in Portland.  If you think about it, in Korea there are far more people using the single Busan Costco, than people using the one in Portland.  Busan is a much bigger city.  Also, there are five Costcos in the greater Portland area.  People act differently here in crowded areas.  It seems like chaos to most Westerners.  Last time I went I was super worried that I was going to run over a free-ranging toddler with by cart.  People also get a little aggressive about the samples.  Someone almost snatched a sample right out of my hand.  People were literally lined up 15 deep to get steak samples.  (And I mean 'literally' in the literal sense.  Which is how you use the word 'literally.'  Grumble grumble.)

But there are some things that are still the same; it's giant, the products come giant huge quantities, and the hot dog is still a bad idea.