tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post9119594576200233108..comments2023-06-25T18:01:34.208+09:00Comments on Busan Mike / 부산 마이크: Fresh AirMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15349691823513127693noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post-27619560405896808442010-03-28T08:50:50.060+09:002010-03-28T08:50:50.060+09:00Thanks Basefare.Thanks Basefare.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15349691823513127693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post-1100616657102971862010-03-28T03:17:55.069+09:002010-03-28T03:17:55.069+09:00Have enjoyed browsing your blog, your pictures, an...Have enjoyed browsing your blog, your pictures, and your take on things. I will return from time to time. Interesting. Good luck to youAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post-76100875030057030862010-03-27T10:35:41.865+09:002010-03-27T10:35:41.865+09:00Hi Devon,
It doesn't feel like the air qualit...Hi Devon,<br /><br />It doesn't feel like the air quality here is significantly worse than you might find in any major Western city which suffers from smog. However, I've always wondered whether it's actually more harmful than it seems because one suspects we have a lot of dangerous pollutants from China blowing over us all year round. The 'Yellow Dust' is a different issue altogether though - it's nasty stuff and on the worst days you do need to wear a mask because a few breaths of that can really start to affect your throat. There is a season though when it tends to be worse - which is about this time in spring. It's unusual during the rest of the year. Generally, as far as the ordinary background pollution is concerned, the closer you live to the sea the better I think.<br /><br />That's the bad news. The good news is that as far as air quality is concerned, Busan is a much better place to live than Seoul - and I suspect - some of the smaller landlocked cities. It seems to be one of the least affected places in Korea for Yellow Dust - it can still be bad but nothing like I've seen elsewhere. Busan is also an excellent place for hiking. Mountains everywhere with lots of trails - Koreans love their hikes. To be fair, this is a very mountainous country so you're rarely that far away from a good walk. I'm not so sure about running. I'd like to go running myself but there aren't many parks, the side-roads have no sidewalks/pavements, and the main roads are more polluted and difficult to navigate for a runner - frequent intersections, crazy drivers, motorcyclists using the sidewalk as roads... I'd never dare run with an MP3 player blocking my hearing!<br /><br />Songjeong seems to be the main surfing beach. I'm no expert on surfing but catching a good wave looks like hard work - although perhaps I've just not been there when the weather's been good for it. There's a bit of an infrastructure there - surf shack (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/busanmike/2656727918/" rel="nofollow">photo</a>), lifeguard, that sort of thing. It's all quite low-key though. I've seen <a href="http://busanmike.blogspot.com/2008/07/ride-wild-surf.html" rel="nofollow">foreigners surfing there in the past</a>.<br /><br />Busan has a number of beaches basically within the city - Songjeong is one of them - but it's towards the eastern edge so just beyond the subway routes. The nearest stop - Haeundae - is very easy to get to from anywhere in the city although travelling from the far west of the city to Haeundae can take an hour.<br /><br />If you click on the location link at the bottom of my post and switch to the 'satellite' view you'll see I've geotagged it with Songjeong Beach - if you take a look approximately west-south-west you'll see the two beaches in the Haeundae area. It should give you an idea of how close Songjeong is to a main subway stop. It's not really walking distance but there are buses and taxis.<br /><br />MikeMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15349691823513127693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post-842238989479899152010-03-27T02:33:40.942+09:002010-03-27T02:33:40.942+09:00Hi Mike--
I am a U.S. citizen thinking of teaching...Hi Mike--<br />I am a U.S. citizen thinking of teaching English in Busan for a year and I am eager to learn of the culture of Busan. The air quality issue concerns me, especially because I love to run and hike. Is it really all that frequent? Also, my fiancé is a surfer and is thinking of joining me. It looks as though the waves are not bad. How far is the beach from Busan City?<br />thanks!<br />cheers<br />Devondevon margueritehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14754598251387197212noreply@blogger.com