Busan Trip

A couple of weeks ago, Blake and I went to the second largest city in South Korea called Busan. We were checking out some potential employment opportunities, but we were also very interested in some of the tourist attractions of the city. The first place we visited was the Busan Fish Market. I have heard stories of this place from the horrific smell of fish guts to old Ejemas (that's old Korean women) running down the street after an escaping octopus. However, nothing prepared me for the real thing. There were streets lined with tanks of live fish, dead fish, dying fish flopping around gasping for air, fish not completely dead, yet cut in half, dried fish, octopus, squid, crabs, seaworms, etc... I was so glad we went when the weather was a little cooler because I can't imagine how horrible it would have smelled in warmer temperatures.

I think one of the most disturbing memories for me was watching a cute little family buying a live octopus. The family made their pick out of a tank and the old woman selling grabbed one of the legs and dropped it into a small bowl on the ground. As the family got out their money to pay and everyone was distracted, I think the octopus thought it had finally got a break and tried to escape. It crawled out of the dry bowl and made its way to another bowl of water nearby. As soon as the transaction was completed, I witnessed an incredibly disturbing scene... the lady grabbed it by a leg out of the water, ripped off the head, reached in and yanked out something round and black (heart?), plunked it in a bag and handed it to the family. Wow is all I can say.

Poor Octopus









Our good friends Andrew and Hannah accompanied us on the trip. These next few pictures are us on the beach looking out over the East Sea (as Koreans call it) or the Sea of Japan (as the rest of the world calls it).


Below: Andrew and Hannah with us.

The next place we were eager to see was the Busan Aquarium. I think I am forever scared of the ocean because there are some really huge, really scary looking things that I hadn't previously known to be afraid of! I am thoroughly convinced that God has a sense of humour because there are some bizarre looking creatures out there!

Oh...Blake wants to apologize for the poor photos as there was low quality lighting and we grabbed many of these pictures from video. :) Definitely not his fault! ;)

I think these guys have a perma- headache!

Some sort of weird jellyfish.

Below: One of Blake's favourites! The Jackass Penguin.

This fish is absolutely massive! I think it could have easily been bigger than me- biggest I've ever seen.

Yuck! Weird looking eel.

Massive Crabs!

Yup... fun day!