Busan Firework Festival

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On Friday and Saturday of this weekend, Busan held its Fireworks Festival. It was ASTOUNDING. I was unable to go on Friday night because the fireworks/laser show started at 8, and I don't get done until 9:30. I can see Gwangali Bridge from my work, so we were sure we'd all get to see the fireworks, but unfortunately a big skyscraper JUST blocked our view. I saw a few colors spewing forth, but it was more of a teaser than anything.

Saturday, however, I was there! A few friends and I went down to Gwangali at 2pm to stake out our spot. Yes, we got there 6 hours early because 1.5 MILLION people were there. It was insane. It was hard to walk at 6, with two more hours to go! I've never seen so many people in one spot at one time. This picture was taken around 5:45. It got 3 times as crowded! Convenience stores were sold out every few hours and the bathroom lines were outrageous. I started getting in line when I didn't even need to go, with the expectation that I would when I got to the front! We bought some beach mats and took over a large chunk of beach right in front of a western bar called Thursday Party. More and more friends found us throughout the day, so that was good.

The fireworks started at 8:00 and lasted for 45 minutes. I read that they used 88, 000 different fireworks!! The fireworks were choreographed to different songs, which included some Korean songs, what sounded like tribal dance music, Nessun Dorma from the opera Turnadot (sooo pretty!), and Queen. Here's a video of them during Nessun Dorma.



Remember, you can go to youtube's website and click "better quality" if it's not good enough!

It was the best display I have ever seen, hands down. I had one of those moments when you're sitting there, talking and laughing, and then it suddenly gets quiet. You're still smiling, and inside, you're so happy you could burst. In that space of time comes the realization that THIS is what life is about. It's about finding these little snippets of time to glory in, to revel in the wonder of new cultures and experiences, to realize that you're seeing things most people will never see in their life, and knowing that you are the luckiest person on earth. And yes, I am a very lucky girl.

I took about 200 pictures, so look at the best of them at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/k.a.sheridan01/BusanFireworks#

Comments

karlee said…
hey!! i made a blog im gonna try to read yalls updates more. write stuff more!!
December 4, 2008 at 4:18 PM
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