R O A D T R I P ! !
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| On the road to Haeundae! |
TODAY WAS our first trip to teach English at a Korean elementary school-- Gwangnam Elementary in Haeundae, Busan.
Haeundae is a very nice area of Busan, known for its wonderful sandy beach, its colossal bridge, its (superinsaneworldfamous) shopping, and its open-air street markets. And by very nice, I mean extremely clean, wealthy, and prosperous. It is Haeundae that lays claim to the largest shopping mall in the world-- all 15 floors of Shinsegae in Centum City, including an indoor driving range, ice rink, and movie theater. Although I can't attest to the intensity of Shinsegae itself, the community around it was evidence enough for me to agree with Haeundae's hypercapitalistic excellence.
Our trip from the temple to Haeundae was very nostalgic and calming. We'd traveled by road some before today, but not as far, nor during the day. The experience was not unlike a roadtrip in the states: We hopped on the interstate, zipped past an array of other vehicles before an ever-changing backdrop--some rice paddies here, some residential areas there, some factories, high-rises, and other monstrosities breaking the horizon every now an then, increasing in frequency and density as we neared our destination-- and before we knew it, we were in the middle of the city, climbing out of the van that had carried us and into our first immersion learning experience.
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| The gorgeous school grounds in the middle of the city |