Time to Reflect

This whole trip has been busy from the start. I didn't have any time to explore Seoul for the first few days, so it has been nice having the weekend "off" in Busan, even though I have something huge hanging over my head. Today I had time to walk around Haeundae Market, basically a small fish & food stall alley by the popular Haeundae Beach. This is the area we are staying in while in Busan.

At least they looked happy...

After walking around for a bit, I headed back to have a meeting with one of the GOAL staff members to discuss my reunion tomorrow. I think my stories and pictures may throw you off a little bit, because even though it may look like all fun and games, this is the farthest thing from a vacation that I have had probably ever in my life. Yes, I'm away from my home and my normal life in a faraway and exciting place, but all of the newness and fun parts of normal traveling are completely overshadowed by constant feelings of unexplained emotions that, to be honest, no one except the other participants of this trip truly understand. I am constantly battling feelings of loneliness with wanting to be alone, anxiety and nervousness with excitement, and gratefulness to have this experience with the heaviness of the reality of my past and present life. It is a lot to take in.

I felt the need to visit somewhere spiritual so headed off to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple after my meeting. This is a popular temple because of its unique location right on the rocky shoreline. I didn't realize how touristy it would be. It was pretty crowded at the time we went, and getting hot too, but it was still beautiful. 

There is a legend that your wishes will be granted if you truly pray for them at this temple. I made two wishes, and one of my trip companions totally guessed one of them on the first try, so I hope it's not like birthday wishes where they don't count if they're told out loud. Anyway, pictures are better than words, so here goes:

The 12 figures of the Chinese Zodiac line the steps leading down to the temple

Good ol' 1982

This is the pagoda for traffic safety

The Status of Mother & Child...there was a statue for wishing for the birth of a son, but I thought I'd skip that one this time around. Where's the statue for the birth of a daughter?? So sexist.

Me & Trina, one of my roommates

Statue of Buddha for Academic Achievement...these Koreans.

The rocky coastline

The temple

#templeselfie

From another vantage point

My coin fell on the ledge between the top and bottom parts of the fountain. Yet another sign that my wishes may not actually be granted.

 Inside the temple

This guy was huge. Love the way the light is shining on him in the picture. I'm a professional iPhone photographer, can't you tell?

The little kids at the temple were so cute. They would put their little hands together and pray or bow down. Probably wishing for an ice cream cone...

If you look closely, you can see little tiny Buddhas...

He posed for me, I swear

On the way out, there were some vendors and snack stalls. I can't get over how bad these things smell. Exacerbated by pregnancy-heightened olfactory senses, it's almost unbearable.

I have yet to see anyone actually buy or even eat these things

I thought this hat was super cute..for a little girl..til I saw it said "Baby Boy" on it. 

Cabs are really inexpensive here in Korea. We took a cab back and it was only about $8 - a 20-30 minute ride. I am surprised by the low cost of most things here. Money spent to-date: $140. I caved and bought a bunch of stuff for the kids again. Back to the hotel for some R&R before a big group outing.