I recently had a four-day weekend thanks to two big holidays in Korea: Children's Day and Buddha's Birthday. On Children's Day (May 5th), families celebrate kids by giving them presents and taking them to fun places like parks and zoos. It's kind of like having a second birthday! The very next day was Buddha's Birthday (May 6th), where many people visit Buddhist temples to pray or simply enjoy the festivities and the beautiful lanterns. Since Korean universities don't have spring break like we do in the U.S., I used this long weekend as my own mini spring break and traveled to Busan!
You might remember me mentioning that Korea has "metropolitan cities"—super big cities that are as important as provinces. Busan is one of them! It's the second-largest city in the country and is surrounded by both the Yellow Sea and the East Sea (which you might also hear called the Sea of Japan). It's famous for its beaches, mountains, temples, and remarkable sights!
Bright and early—like really early—at 5:13 am on Friday, May 2nd, I zoomed off to Busan on a KTX (Korea Train eXpress) bullet train.
