I spoke to a friend in New York today who told me she gets her morning cup of coffee and catches up on my blogs.  13 hours ahead, I get my morning coffee and write the blogs!  It's nice knowing you guys are enjoying reading them as much as i'm enjoying writing them. gomasseumnida! 😀

I left off telling you that my afternoon was very interesting...i'll let you be the judge of that...

As usual, my camera and I are walking (my camera's pretty good with directions!) around town. I had started out on foot for a park that is probably one of the nicest spots in Busan, not counting the magnificent temples that are still in my future...turned out it was much further away than i thought, and way too hot to continue. i made an about face and headed home. on the way, a university student stopped me for an introduction. invited me to visit a group of students she studied with. thought i'd might like to meet Mike, a photographer in her group.  we would have a lot to talk about, she said...ah, so young and naive!  Well my afternoon game plan had just changed, so why not go meet the gang!  

It's things like this that make international travel so interesting...Students from all different parts of the world, gathered in one room, with one common goal -- to further their classroom education and their knowledge of different cultures. imagine their delight when this native New Yorker from Brooklyn walked in the room!  i was a celebrity!  There was Jocelyn from the Congo, Nick from Haiti, Nami and Steve from Korea, Mike from Iran and Matthew on guitar straight from Nairobi!  every one of them spoke fluent english. how refreshing to have a conversation where i didn't have to pull out my cellphone translator app!!!  what a nice group of people!  we exchanged numbers and email addresses.  Donnavalentiphotography.com is going global!  

So here's where my day goes full circle...Mike, the photographer Nami wanted me to meet, just so happened to have all his photography gear with him, and was more than happy to escort me to Igidae Park, which I NEVER would have found on my own.  turns out he shoots for newspapers in Busan and does quite a bit of photography work for the city.  Mike assumes because I look so "lightweight" i can hike up to the top of the mountain like a sprinter...boy can looks be deceiving!  I finally get there, and let me tell you, it was worth the hike!  views of the ocean from atop rugged cliffs.  it reminded me of hawaii.  beautiful.  i will definitely be going back.  Anyway, Mike prides himself on knowing more about Busan than the locals do, and i think he's right...he moved here from Iran 7 years ago, but speaks the language and knows his way around like a seasoned pro.  (i know 7 years is a long enough time, but it would take me 3x that!)

So at the end of the day, i met a group of interesting people who've asked me to come back and visit, met Mike, who is an awesome photographer who i will show on my facebook photography page, and made it to my original destination after all...what a day. 

And that's my story...

Donna.