My brother David's arrival

My brother David arrived in Busan on Friday May 14th. I was was soooooo excited! I'd been looking forward to his visit for several weeks and it finally arrived :) It was his first trip out of the US. I wanted him to fall in love with traveling as much as I have so taking this trip was a big deal (at least I think so). Getting him at the airport was quite an adventure. He arrived around 9:30. I got out of work at 9:00. After a bus, a subway, a taxi and 1 1/2 hours later, I picked him up. We arrived back at my house around midnight. He was so tired and I was so excited! I had made up a little bed for him on my floor (he said he sprawls out a lot at night). He brought a whole suitcase full of goodies from the family and my 'other' family (the Witchers. Their son Brandon was my high school sweetheart. He passed away several years ago and I have remained VERY close with them). I feel so fortunate to have such great people in my life.
The day after David arrived, I dragged him out and about in Busan. He really wanted to see Haeundae Beach. On the way there, we stopped at at Shinsegae... the biggest department store in the WORLD (Guiness Book of World Records says so). We walked around the department store a bit and explored the top floor which is actually an outdoor park. I'd never been to that part. It was really beautiful! I really enjoyed it up there. Perfect for my writing group ;) Then we looked at the spa, the ice skating rink, and indoor golf range. Then we had a great lunch. One of those places where you load up a plate with veggies and they fry it up in front of you and add some chicken. It was delicious!
Right across the street from Shinsegae is Naru Park. I hadn't been there either. So we walked around there a bit. He had heard that it was a good skateboarding spot (David is an awesome skateboarder) but we didn't see any good skating spots. The park itself was pretty cool. We found this random statue, literally in the middle of flowers and stuff. A naked woman, giving birth. There are so many examples of Korean art that I will never question... I just don't understand it! lol. Still pretty funny none the less.
After the Centum City, Shinsegae area, we went to Haeundae Beach. I think the beach concept is so funny. Koreans LOVE the beach... but they hate the sun and color. Whiter is beautiful. So at the beach, you'll see a bunch of half naked foreigners, and then a bunch of fully dressed Koreans... and usually the Koreans are staring at the foreigners. David and I took a walk on the beach and along the boardwalk. At the end of the day, I wore the wore the poor guy out. Between his jetlag and
just being a busy day, I'm afraid he hung in as long as he did. What a trooper my brother is :) Thank goodness for the subway to get a little bit of sleep :) And Sunday we did it all again :) I had told him awhile ago about jimjilbang, the korean bath houses, aka spas, and he was very interested in going to one. He LOVED it... definitely my brother. I could spend the rest of my life in a jimjilbang and die happy. They're seriously amazing. America is seriously missing out. Needless David went to the jimjilbang SEVERAL times after that trip. The one we went to was called Hirshumchang... the biggest bath house in Asia! Think of the kind of baths the Romans used to take in the old days. It's like that. An amusement park of bath tubs. It's crazy how a lazy day of several hours of doing nothing but relaxing at jimjilbang will wipe you out. We went home, had dinner, and David passed out after that.
Next, he had the opportunity to join me for some of my classes at school. My kids were so excited to see him. I'd talked him up for awhile but yet, many kids still asked if he was a new teacher. He was a rockstar in the classroom. He remembered a lot of the kids names, he played with them, and completely took over. I was so proud of him. I'd never seen him in that kind of scenerio and he rocked it. For several days after, the kids told me they didn't want me there, they wanted David lol. A lot of my middle school girls had crushes on him. They would all tell me how handsome he was (well duh, would u expect anything less from someone in my family?). This week was only a 4 day week. I spent the days at work, and David would explore/skate different parts of Busan and my city Seochang. I was excited when my co-workers decided to do our monthly employee dinner while he was there. He got to see what it was really like. Just everyone I work with, meeting for dinner and drinks (Koreans and their drinking... lol). David was pretty tired after a day of skating. He stayed for dinner and then headed to bed. Dinner was good though and I was glad he could try Korean BBQ. Koreans are infamous for their many side dishes so he definitely indulged in those as well.
Sometime in the middle of the week, David managed to lose my house keyI think I actually held my cool better that he was there than if I had lost it myself lol. Luckily my brother is like a monkey and managed to climb up to my 2nd story window, and climb through my bathroom window. Being small has it's advantages :) But hey at least he can say he broke into an apartment in Korea. .
Before we knew it Friday came.... Time for Seoul and Samcheok... and well that is another story/blog of it's own :)