much like the months that preceded it, november came and went faster than an ajumma trying to get a seat on the metro. besides teaching, marginally improving my korean, and settling into my winter habits of wearing a blanket as a second skin and semi-hibernating, here are some things that happened.

i went back to bosu-dong bookstore alley. it is probably one of my favorite parts of the city. it is wonderful to be surrounded by books, and to spend time in an area that has so much history and feels warm. the shopkeepers are amazing. one of them took the time to lead us up some stairs to a second floor that was all book storage. i would have loved to have taken a picture, but there was obviously limited elbow room. it was fantastic: imagine ceiling-high stacks of books, side by side and taking up virtually all the space on the floor.

one curious thing i’ve noticed is that le petit...

despite being fully aware that i don’t fare well when going up steep, vertical slopes, and even after my semi-disastrous experience on a korean mountain, i agreed to climb jansgan mountain some weeks ago. my motivation was very much fuelled by the fact that climbing this mountain was on my list of things to do, but also, in all honesty, it was mostly driven by the thought of the amazing pictures i knew i would get up there. call it the instagram syndrome, which i am sure has contributed to the high number of selfie-related deaths this past year. not that i took a selfie on the mountain, of course.

the hike started off well enough, as we were met by pokposa temple at the foot of the mountain. i never cease to be in awe of temples - they are so beautiful and peaceful, and the fact that most of them are in mountains, surrounded by nature, makes them seem ever more mythical and...

one of the things i really wanted to do during my time in korea was to visit as many nearby cities as i could, given that the country is so small and transportation is cheap.

the first opportunity presented itself in the form of the ulsan onggi festival. ‘onggi’ is korean for pottery, and ulsan is so close to busan that it takes but a short forty-five minute ‘slow’ train ride to get there.

the artists at the pottery festival have studios there and create their works year-round. it was amazing to see them at work, from shaping the clay to heating it up with small flames.

it was such a beautiful, hot autumn day. i loved being outside in these huge fields, taking in the art and greenery all around.

a few weeks ago i had the chance to see one of the biggest events of the year: the busan international fireworks festival.

i don’t know if it’s because it was the festival’s tenth year, but it was absolutely spectacular. the idea of fireworks admittedly did not sound particularly exciting to me before the event, but the one-hour show blew away my expectations.

the streets were positively congested with what seemed like the entire population of busan (and probably more than a few visitors), and we were lucky to find a rooftop to watch the show from.

it wound up being amazing, so cool-looking and beautiful. one of the best parts was hearing the collective ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ every time a particularly impressive firework lit up the sky. it’s funny how some things can transcend all the barriers between people and provoke such genuine human reaction.

since beach season is officially over, this weekend presented itself with the opportunity to explore more around the city.

this included a visit to one of the top destinations on my busan list: bosu-dong used book alley. while i bit my tongue and purchased an ipad last month, having felt the deprivation of no longer having access to any title i wanted (working at a bookstore spoiled me), i still constantly crave the presence of spines and pages and orderly rows of my favorite things.

it seemed perfect that there was a culture festival taking place there this weekend, although it had little impact on the experience.

it’s amazing that, technologically-dominated as south korea is, it makes room for a place like this. i am constantly astounded by the contradictions in this country - people are incredibly rude on the metro yet you’ll never see anyone breaking a law, spitting on the...

october has been a very temple-filled month thus far. after my temple stay experience, and with four consecutive days off in a row (something that will not recur until at least february), i decided to explore more places in the city.

haedong younggungsa temple was so different from beomeosa. where the latter exuded tranquility and was full of amiable monks wandering the grounds, haedong younggungsa was exclusively populated by tourists, and for good reason.

nestled beside the ocean, it is a gorgeous temple. there isn’t much more to say about it, but there is one cliche about images and words i will refrain from inserting here.

korea is home to many temples. one of the best things about them - besides the beauty, tranquility, and history they offer - is that many will let you stay the night for a brief experience of the monk life.

i had the opportunity to participate in a temple stay at Beomeosa, a well-known temple in busan.

it is very old and equally beautiful. think vividly-colored buildings nestled in the nature of an enormous mountain, all peace and relative quiet.

upon arriving, we were handed the temple stay clothes - a purple top and roomy cream pants - and taken on a tour of the temple grounds.

it happened to be the birthday of the temple, which meant the grounds were full of visitors present for the festivities. there were souvenirs being sold and musical acts being performed on a stage. i’m not sure how two sets of k-pop groups were deemed temple-appropriate, but nobody batted an...

some weeks ago, i finally got the chance to hit up a cat cafe. it was one of the things i was most looking forward to doing in korea, and it more or less lived up to what i’d imagined (read: there was no choreographed kitty dance).

it was so nice to be around animals again!

granted, the friendliest cats there were a quasi-repulsive nearly-hairless white cat (not pictured for obvious reasons) that i felt sorry for, and a long-haired white cat that left a trail of fur behind every step (maybe it was related to the hairless cat?).

coolest cat in the joint that evidently hates the foreign paparazzi.

the best part of the day actually came later, when i got to attend my first BIFF movie.

El Patron was excellent, but mostly brutal and horribly dark. in retrospect, i might’ve done well to schedule the cat cafe visit post-film.

the last month went by too fast, so here is a visual recap:

i went sailing all around busan on the sunday of the chuseok holiday. it was so beautiful, albeit a bit scary at first (this is after having been told several times that there was no possible way for the boat to capsize. but isn’t that what they said about the titanic, too?)

i finally got the chance to go to haeundae beach. it is so beautiful, all sand and blue ocean extending as far as the eye can see. so peaceful, especially now that the summer crowds have left but it is still hot enough to hit up the beach for now.

i went on an island hopping trip the week after chuseok. it was fun, wonderful, and completely relaxing.

a couple of weeks ago, i got the chance to visit the underground shopping mecca in seomyeon. it was shopping heaven, angels and light-peppered sky included.

so that...