4th of July weekend in Pusan

So about 2 weeks ago, I was on the internet and came across this American owned restaurant in Pusan, South Korea (which is the very far south of the country where many beaches are) and they have different events throughout the week (for instance, taco Tuesday's, margarita Wednesdays, etc.) Of course it being an American owned restaurant, they were having a 4th of July party on their rooftop, cooking steaks, cheeseburgers sandwiches and all kinds of western goodies. I told Daniel that we NEEDED to go here for the weekend because it not only looked like a good time, but also because it was near the beaches and away from the ordinary. Also, the 4th of July is a great time of year and I wanted the experience to be something similar to what I am used to. As the two or so weeks went by, we were able to recruit a nice little crew to go with us and there turned out to be 7 of us. Six from our school and our good buddy Michael from another school.

After work on Friday, July 3rd, the six of us went straight to the train station to catch our train to Pusan (Michael got off work later than us and had to catch a different train). The train ride was 5 hours but surprisingly not that bad. That is one thing I have noticed about transportation in Korea; it is all really good. Back home, I would not think twice to taking a train and definitely do not prefer to bus and we don't have a subway near us. But here in Korea, all three of those options are awesome. We use the subway a lot, we bus all the time to Seoul and I plan on taking the train anywhere I go. It is very cozy and cheap. The five hours to Pusan seemed much shorter. Tate, Jillian, Daniel and I all sat together and turned the seats around to play cards and just chat. Once we finally reached Pusan, Michael was waiting for us in a bar because he caught the fast train and like most things we do in Korea, we did not know much about what we were doing.

We got in a skeptical taxi and then called the guy who owned the hostel we were staying at to give directions to the driver. This driver, no joke I thought was going to kill us. He was an awful driver and you could tell he was just trying to get people from place to place as fast as he could to get his next customers. We arrived to the hostel and let me tell you, this was no hostel. This was someone's apartment complex that he turned into a hostel. No complaints one bit because this place was not only nice, it was huge. It had a living room with seats, TV and internet, two bathrooms with showers and then the seven of us shared a mixed dorm room that had 4 bunk beds (I got top buuuunk!!! That's for you Tyler). Though it was already nearing 1 AM, we were too eager to see the beaches and the bars that we were going to become oh so familiar with on the 4th of July that we had to take the walk from the hostel to the beachfront where the bars were. The seven of us arrived to our first bar/restaurant (not knowing what we were getting ourselves into) and we ordered a couple pizzas and some beer and then once we coated our bellies a little, we moved to the cocktails. After a few bourbon and cokes, pizza, chatting and some laughs, we wanted to walk around and see what else there was to do. The beach was honestly right across the street so we all walked down there and hung out on the beach, shot some street sold fireworks at one another (thank god no one got hit, they were roman candles). Thinking the bars were all closed and it was time to go home, we all remembered we were in Korea where the bars do not close until 7 AM....you can see where this is going. To make a long story short, we went to another bar, met some other people and watched the sun come up to go home at 6:30. The first night did not go quite as planned but all in all, it was a great start to an even better Saturday and Sunday.

We only slept a few hours because the mixed dorm room with seven people gets hot and a little noisy. So once it was time to get up, we all walked back to the beachfront area and found a nice breakfast place and Daniel, Michael and I all went into the ocean which was crazy warm. We hung out on the beach all day until our 4th of July party began. We headed back to the hostel to begin getting ready for the night (the party started at 4:30). As usual, we didn’t know where this place was located, just going to try and get close and surely we will find it. After about an hour of walking around, we found the restaurant and its name is Sunset Lounge and it started off just with the boys and the girls were going to meet us later. They had many deals on beer, margaritas and food. We were on the rooftop and there was a decent amount of people to start off but it was really quiet. It seemed really casual but after everyone had a few drinks, it started getting really comfortable and rowdy in a good way. As scary as it seemed at first, it turned out to be an awesome time. The bartenders came to like us guys a lot and one of them kept coming to talk with us and hang out. He was Canadian (ironic huh?) and an awesome dude. We ended up getting to know a group of others that were in the U.S. Navy and came to Pusan for the weekend as we did. Once Sunset Lounge began to slow down, we were walking out the door to all go down to the beachfront bars and the bartender stopped me and said "Grab your boys" and poured five shots of Jagermeister for the four of us and himself. Great times!

As you can see, we left the bar on a high note and could tell that this night which had been going on for so long, had also only begun like Friday night. The amazing thing about Pusan is that they close off the roads where the beachfront area is and set it up for the people to have outdoor parties. There were tables lined up outside with chairs, outside vendors and loud music all along the strip. One thing they know how to do well here in Korea is to let people have a good time. Another good thing is the seven of us did not rely on each other and didn’t feel we had to stay with each other because we all knew where we were staying. We walked up and down the strip, ran into some of our friends from Sunset Lounge and again, partied until the sun came up. Daniel, Ta-Leah and I met this Korean couple who took us under their wing and bought our drinks for the rest of the night, took us out for soup after the bars (who in the WORLD eats soup after drinking!?). I was hoping for the usual Jack in the Box run after the bars as we do in the states but I obviously that is not the case here in Korea. All of us arriving back to the hostel at different times anywhere from 6-8 AM, knew it was going to be tough to make the 11 AM check-out.

We missed it by about 2 hours. Luckily, the owner of the hostel was awesome and didn’t mind, we packed our bags and headed out for some lunch and then to the beach to fall back asleep. Some of the group was feeling awful (rightfully so) but I actually felt fine. Us guys all fell asleep on the beach for a few hours and then it was time to head to the train station to leave this gorgeous town and experience. If I learned anything from this trip, weekends always seem too short because of sleeping. We rarely slept and the weekend seemed so much longer! The train ride was again good but waking up Monday morning for work was not the easiest. As you can see, I survived and would do it all over again with no regrets. I did not get many "good" pictures but will be going back there in August or September and will have more. I have a few and I hope you enjoy them.

Also, a funny story that is a little gross but something I do not want to forget. When Michael, Daniel and I were in the ocean, I turned around and looked at Michael who was looking at something in the water. He bent down to pick it up and out he pulled a condom. Not sure if it was used or not, but it was the funniest thing to see him pull it out and realize what it was and then freak out. If you have ever seen the movie "The Hangover" you know the scene I am talking about and it reminded me of that. If you have not seen that movie, I definitely recommend it!