July 8, 2011: Korea Day 2 - Busan

July 8, 2011: After breakfast, I grabbed a cab to the Seoul Train Station, a huge building that sits next to the iconic station I remembered from the 70's, now boarded up and being renovated to be a train museum (so I hear).

Seoul Train Station

Inside the station, I felt like I was inside a large international airport terminal; people were marching everywhere and fortunately I found my train fairly quickly. I located my seat in a completely filled car and we left at 8:30 a.m. sharp. The ride to Busan was the smoothest train ride I have ever had and the trip took only two hours forty minutes traveling at a speed of roughly 300 kph (~ 188 mph).

In Busan, Dr. Jung, a student of mine in 1975, was waiting for me as I stepped out of my train car. He warmly greeted me and we first went out to have lunch at a very nice raw fish restaurant.

Dr. Tae Chul Jung

Dr. Tae Chul Jung at raw fish feast

While driving to the restaurant, Jung reminded me of his memories of me and our classes together. He mentioned the five chopsticks game (same as the five pencils game I played with my students in Hungary) and also the building boats game and how he plays these games to this day.

Lunch seemed to be an unending process of being served dish after dish of delicious morsels of spicy food and of course a great variety of raw fish. After we stuffed ourselves, we took a ride through the rain to the UN cemetery, the only UN-sponsored cemetery in the world commemorating the Korean War.  This cemetery is the place that those killed in combat during the Korean War were buried because the bodies of the fallen could not be transported to their respective countries. Over 36,000 Americans are buried here.

UN Cemetery for soldiers of the Korean War

UN Cemetery for soldiers of the Korean War

UN Cemetery for soldiers of the Korean War

We watched a very interesting movie about the Korean War and how the border between the north and south changed many times during the three years of the war - at one time, the north had seized all the territory of the south except for the region around Busan. Then McArthur recaptured the region plus a significant portion of the north. However in the end, the north and south were divided by the 38th parallel.


After our visit to the cemetery, we went to see Jung's university, a school with a student enrollment of around 15,000. There I was given a tour of his department's facilities including large computer labs that are used to edit video assignments. We also met a number of Jung's students who all seemed to genuinely respect and enjoy seeing him.  Although school is not in session, there were a number of people on the campus, and when we went to park, the only space we could find was one that blocked other cars. Jung therefore parked his car there leaving it in neutral gear so that if someone that he blocked needed to leave, they could roll his car to the side for them to exit. Jung explained that this system is common not only in Korea, but Europe as well.


From the university, we went to the hotel where he had paid for a room for me. The four star hotel was right on the shore of the Pacific Ocean and my room overlooked a beautiful view -- if only I could see it because it rained most of the afternoon and next morning. After checking in, we drove up the coast along Haeundae just north of Busan. We stopped at a tower just overlooking the ocean.

A short drive further we arrived at the Haedong Yongkung Temple, a large complex of buildings, pagodas, and statues overlooking the Pacific coast:

Haedong Yongkung Temple - statues of the 12 animals of the lunar calendar

Haedong Yongkung Temple

Haedong Yongkung Temple - view of Pacific Ocean in back

Haedong Yongkung Temple

Haedong Yongkung Temple

Haedong Yongkung Temple

After that, we went to the Shinsegae department store, the world's largest department store according to the Guiness Book of Records. Dr. Jung pointed out to me that Korean department stores have a much different feel than western department stores. After he pointed this out to me, I could see exactly what he was talking about. The stores in Korea do not have aisles that are higher than a customer. In this way, a customer is able to see clear across the store in any direction to see what's there. The visibility is remarkably greater. In fact, Jung tells me that some major western department stores went out of business because they were designed as westerners are used to (i.e., with high shelves separating the aisles) and when they did research to see why they were unpopular with Koreans, they learned this lesson and eventually opened their stores in the western countries with lower aisles as well.

Shinsegae Department Store - world's largest department store

Shinsegae Department Store - world's largest department store

Then we returned to the city for dinner at a seafood restaurant that was among around 500 raw fish restaurants. Again, I was treated to what seemed to be a neverending supply of delicious dishes of elaborately displayed seafood:

One dish in particular caught my eye -- a bowl of octopus legs that were still moving! At first I was a bit reluctant to try a leg, but Jung convinced me to give it a try and I did. Here's a video of that dish although by the time I took this video, the activity in the bowl had simmered down:

During dinner, I learned that Jung had been selected as the "Teacher of the Year". After my day with him, I knew that this recognition was well deserved -- Jung has a real interest in not only teaching students his discipline, but also in relating with his students so that their education with him is also one of becoming a better person. 

After dinner, we decided to walk off some of the food we had eaten and took a stroll along the beaches of Haeundae. The bridge leading from Busan to Haeundae was visible,. the third largest bridge in Korea -- a double decker, one level for the traffic going in each direction:

We finally reached a bar and had a beer for the road.

One for the road

We returned to my hotel and I fell in bed exhausted from a day full of great things to see and a friend who was great to see after 36 years!