해돋이 First Sunrise of 2012

Sunrise 2012 - at Haeundae beach, Busan

It feels so surreal now that a whole year has passed - and I have to flip open a new calendar, a new photo album, a new blog post - for the Year 2012. The Koreans take their first sunrise of the year (신년 맞이 해돋이) very seriously - they gather at dawn before sunrise at beaches and on mountain tops to view the first sighting of the sun and to make their wishes for a good year ahead.

This year I chose to see the sunrise at Haeundae Beach because last year I saw it at Gwangan Bridge. I didn't have to stay the whole night awake at the beach - I just woke up at 5.30am and took the subway there. The subway was soooooooooo crammed with people I had to shove myself in and take in a deep breath before the door shut right in front of my nose!

This is how many people were in the train this morning

There were some traditional drums, dance, and brass band performance by the beach. I was too tired and cold to walk around, I just wanted to see the sunrise. So I went to stand right in front of the beach, to get a good view with nobody blocking my sight.

An elderly man walked past and scrawled a line of unintelligible characters.

 

For the birds, it's just another brand new day. 

 

A few boys trying to act macho and leaping into the water and running screaming back when a tiny wave comes. I say, if you wanna be so macho just take off your shirt and do a polar bear swim. That being said, I was kinda disappointed I didn't see any polar bear swimming competition take place!

 

And this is me! Happy New Year... this year I learnt to say, with a twist... 새해 돈 많이 주세요!!!