paper in pusan

I have been meaning to comment on my trip to Busan a week or two ago. On the spur of the moment, I woke up and decided I wanted to go for the day. Since I wanted to catch the 9 a.m. ferry, I didn't want to call anyone that early to see if they wanted to go. Alone, I was on the early ferry, but I was determined to go that day.

My target was the Busanjin Mart. A friend of mine had told me about it. (She actually is from Sugar Land! Small world.) Anyway, she told me it was the fabric market. Anyone that knows me well knows that I just love fabric. I don't sew, but I love the colors and textures and putting them together in my home. Well, this place was just wonderful. It was several floors. The basement had a variety of things - dishes, housewares and buttons. The main floor was fabric. Alot of it was the silk fabric they use for Hanbok outfits. Each booth had displays of their work. It really was beautiful. As I walked through the endless aisles of silk, I realized that most of the women around my age were were very friendly - smiling and saying hello - like they appreciated that I enjoyed looking at their wares. The top floors were mainly ready made clothing. It was a bit warm that day, so I didn't linger too long there.

However, one of the main reasons I wanted to talk about my day trip was to talk about the subways in Busan. After a rocky start the first time, I have been able to get to about anywhere I want so far in Busan. In the past, I have observed the usual things - people asleep (that somehow know when to wake up for their stop), helpful people that come up to you to ask if you need help, etc.

This time was different, with a few new sights to see. When I went down into the subway to catch it, the train had just left. So I sat down on one of the few benches to wait. A man was standing nearby with one of those picture badge ID's around his neck. In a minute, a man walked down the steps using a cane. He sat down on the bench next to me. The man with the badge walked up to the elderly man and began talking to him. After conversing, the man with the badge took something out of a black case he had. The next thing I knew, he was sticking needles into the man's neck right below his earlobes. He was doing acupuncture in the subway! After he was finished, he had the man walk around without his cane. Right about then, a little lady with a cane came and sat down next to me. He proceeded with the same routine, except she also got some in the palms of her hands. I was mesmerized but for some dumb reason, I got onto the train that had just arrived. I regret not waiting for the next train to see what happened. And who knows what he could have done for me? I could have been ten years younger and ten pounds lighter. Maybe I will come across him again and this time I will stay.

The other two things I want to comment on are interesting, but not nearly as exciting. I saw a machine (like a coke or candy machine) that dispensed paperback books. What a good idea for a subway. Since I don't come from the land of subways, this may be commonplace for some. Most of the titles looked Korean but one of them had Oprah on the front. For only 2,000 won ($2 US dollars). By the way, she is on TV here - more on all that later.

The last thing I want to comment on really isn't new to me. I had seen it before in Busan and that is the shopping underground. I am not talking about a stall or two that sells magazines and cold drinks. I am talking about antiques, clothes galore, shoes, jewelry, pottery, sporting goods....I could go on. I got to the ferry a little bit early. So I went back down to the subway to look around. I came across a wonderful little shop that sold paper goods. Not stationery, but boxes, lanterns and the such. There is beautiful paper here - hanji . There were actually two women in the shop taking a lesson on cutting the beautiful paper and making cutouts for some project. I was jealous, it looked so fun.

Maybe I will exchange my fabric passion for a paper one.