Independence Day/Last Trip To Busan

Yesterday was Gwangbokjeol, technically "Liberation Day" or Independence Day, in Korea, the day when Koreans celebrate the end of the brutal era of Japanese colonialism in 1945. It isn't one of the biggest holidays in Korea, and I didn't notice that there was anything different except that the streets were lined with flags, as they are on any national holiday. But it did mean that I had the day off of work, which gave me the opportunity to make what will probably end up being my last trip to Busan before I leave in five weeks. Although the meteorologists were threatening rain, it turned out to be a beautiful day, if a bit hot to my liking. I traveled alone, as I have one many an occasion to Busan, and basically followed my well-established routine of visiting the Busan MoMA and Haeundae. The MoMA is currently hosting the 33rd annual month-long Busan Art Competition. Artists from around the city (I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether they were professionals, semi-professionals, art students, or simply amateurs) entered their works in several different categories, including sculpture, water-colors, oils, commercial graphic design, and traditional ink calligraphy. The latter was the most interesting for me, even though I couldn't understand any of the languages that the banners were written in. My favorites were written in Jeonyeseo, which I believe is a style of writing Korean characters based on Chinese that is no longer used for official purposes. The characters look almost like animals, which adds to their aesthetic appeal. I liked some of the more risky paintings and sculptures, like the collage pieces, but there were also many still-lives and studies of streets scenes that were simply boring to me. As near as I could tell, most pieces were entered by different artists, but there seemed to be a congruency of style in many of the pieces so I am led to believe that many of the entrants were art students studying under the same teacher. The one piece that stood out to me, strangely enough, was Hyundaein, which loosely translates as "Contemporary Person." It was a simple portrait of a Korean man, done in a very minimalist color scheme with little detail. What made it unique was that instead of painting the face, the artist used a think slice of wood and then painted the facial features on top of it. It gave the subject a truly weathered look. Perhaps I was just in a particularly social realist mood yesterday. Afterwards, I headed down to Haeundae beach for a stroll on the beach, which was packed as usual, and then to the English language section of the bookstore in Sfunz. As the sun was fading, I made my way back to Ulsan. I'm sure I'll see Busan again someday, so it was more of a "See ya later" than a true "Good-bye" to a city I've come to enjoy.