Crime questions, a loong week, but restful weekend

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My mom left a comment on the last blog asking about the size of Busan in relation to Geochang. Busan is massively bigger than Geochang. The populations are 3.65 million to 50,000, respectively. As for crime, I am not sure of official statistics, but I have not felt unsafe or in danger at any point so far, nor have I been the victim of any crime or theft. Geochang is so small it never crossed my mind, and in Busan I was with a group of people with a few drinks in me so again, never thought much of it or felt in danger at any point. I am sure in a city with 3.65 million people there is a decent amount of crime, I will ask Rob what his take is on it and get back to you all. However, now that I think about it, I rarely feel in danger or unsafe when I have been traveling. The only time I have felt really unsafe was wandering around china town at 3 in the morning looking for an after hours bar or strip joint with my college friend Owen in Vancouver Canada (it happens to be the heroin capital of north america and I ended up taking off my collared polo shirt in favor of my undershirt to try not to stick out so much) back in 2005. Well, maybe a few times in Dublin, the hostel was pretty sketch, and easy to get into, but then I was just afraid my computer or camera would get stolen. Even when my wallet got taken in Madrid I didn't feel scared or anything, more of an 'aww, ya got me' kind of feeling. When I was in the subway in Busan I noticed a guy with a wallet bulging out of his back pocket, he surely wasn't concerned about pickpocketing, and as of yet I have heard no mugging stories.

This week was long and tiring and by the end of it I was frustrated and cross with many of my students. I think a great weekend in Busan had its hangover and I never truly caught up on rest. This was helped by being mildly forced into extra curricular meals in the evening with mommy teacher. Her intentions are ok, she wants us to be like a family, but I have to sit there and wait for her to finish talking (which she really never does) while I stare off letting the incoherent speech was over me, wishing I could be home reading or sleeping. On top of that but on the definite plus side, on my walk home Wednesday night after extra classes I ran into a white guy who pointed me into the pool hall and I met 7 or 8 other foreigners! All guys, two from south Africa, one from Britain, and two from South Dakota, Yankton, close to where my dad is from. We played some poker after pool and it was awesome to finally meet some other people in my situation and in the small town, but again it was a late night, and I didn't get the unwind/alone time or the solid nights rest I really needed. So by Friday I was tired and burnt out. Despite the request of Rob I did not go back to Busan Saturday night (though it was very tempting, carne asada bbq at sunset, sorry I missed that...) but instead did all my laundry, got my apartment picked up, and slept a good fifteen hours (four hour nap in the evening, some good Harry Potter reading into the night, and then slept in until 11 this morning). So now I feel properly rested, my life and my apartment back in order, ready for a week that hopefully doesn't end up in me yelling at kids (unless they deserve it ha).

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