Ilsan Beach

This weekend most of us (and by "us" I mean our orientation group) went over to Ilsan Beach to visit three of our compadres who live there. Yes, I am very jealous. Ilsan and Guyeong are about the same distance away from the downtown area (called Samsandong) so it took me about... oh, right, about an hour and a half, because I hit some traffic on the way to Samsan to meet up with the rest (grrrr, crazy drivers). Normally, however, it ought to take about an hour -- it ended up taking me that long on the way back home, although that might be because I took a bus that goes "straight" to Guyeong as opposed to one to Samsandong and one back home. Anyway, it's very complicated, but the short of it is: I can take a bus straight to Ilsan. Which is great, because I have a feeling Ilsan is going to be a hit this summer.

Which brings me to a concern of mine: apparently you can only swim in the water in August in Ilsan...? Waeeeee! I mean why have a beach if you can't play in the waves? Once again, Korea proves to be beyond comprehension! I brought two bathing suits to Korea, knowing that summer down south is super humid and I might die okay. I am not a hot-and-humid kind of person. I came here knowing exactly (well, kind of) what to expect: I knew Ulsan had a beach, and wanted to take advantage of it. But now it looks like I'm screwed. (waeeee)

Anyhow. So we hit Ilsan this Saturday. It was actually colder than I expected and almost immediately got my feet wet when I stepped too close to the waves. Yeah, not very bright. In my defense, I was fishing out my camera so I didn't see the wave come that close -- the previous ones had been a bit farther so I thought I was safe enough. Sigh. So yes, my feet got wet, and then we decided to hit a Korean BBQ place where we stuffed our faces with some yummy yummies.

That's me kneeling on the right, about to get very wet. (source: Dani)

The Korean bbq place with a splendid view of the beach. (source: Dani)

Korean BBQ: Normally the table will have a grill at the centre where you cook your meal. Someone will be designated to cook for everyone (usually the maknae, or youngest, of the group). You don't get plates (no room for them anyway with all the side dishes) so you're basically eating off of the grill, and normally you wrap your meat with some lettuce. Your side dishes will include said lettuce, kimchi, sauces, salad, probably garlic, and perhaps other varieties of whatever tastes good with your meal.

A view of the grill. Mmm, sausages.

After BBQ we headed down to the beach again. Several of us decided to go for a walk but some of us decided to stay there and play soccer, then volleyball. A grand time was had by all who remained (no idea about the others, although I hear the rockside trek to the Ulgi lighthouse was fantastic). It was unexpectedly cold that day, but moving is the trick to keeping warm!

We sucked, by the way. At everything.

 Well. That's pretty much it. I returned home to get out of my wet shoes and socks, then headed back out to Samsandong for... well, it was turning into a crappy night in Old Downtown but then the tide changed and we ended up having fun regardless. Yay!