Although I've been a bit quiet lately we've been having a full, fun spring so far. We had our third visitor[s] from Oregon a few weeks ago [Mariko and her peeps], celebrated my 35th birthday, then it was Big J's 6th birthday party and for the past few weeks we've been hosting my sister + her family who are visiting from California. The cousins are having fun playing together and the parents have been enjoying several quiet dinners after the children have gone down for the night [thanks to my mother who has been doing her fair share of babysitting]. The weather has been really incredible and since Appah had three days off for the holidays [Labor Day, Buddha's Birthday, Children's Day] we have been enjoying morning runs along the beach. I love spring!
It is hard to believe we've been living in Busan for six months. Our whole family has adjusted quickly to life overseas and we love the conveniences of living in the "city" where everything is within walking distance--markets, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, shops. But one of the things I do miss about living in the States is the easy access to craft and fabric stores [although my pocketbook would disagree]. I was assuming Busan would be similar to Tokyo with its abundance of arts and crafts stores. I was wrong. I'm told it is a different scene up in Seoul, but in Busan the only "real" fabric store is the Busan Jin Market [a 30-45 minute drive across town]. It is a four story building that is overflowing with bolts of fabric [imported and domestic]. You'll find fabric used for traditional Korean dresses [hanboks], ribbons, buttons and all sorts of crafting goodness. Although I still haven't found pattern paper or interfacing at the market it is a real treat to see the variety of fabric they have to offer.
My first trip to the market was back in October of 2008, a week after I arrived in Busan. I was so overwhelmed by all the organized chaos that I left empty-handed. But to my surprise the friend whom I was accompanying was able to navigate the narrow walkways and find her way around. After several more trips I'm slowly remembering the location of my favorite stall for ginghams and the other stall that sells cute simple cotton prints. Oh, and this is one of those places where you need to snatch up any fabric that you like because you never know if you'll find it on the next trip.
It wasn't until my trip to the market with Mariko that I remembered to bring my camera though these photographs don't do the market justice. Needless to say if you are a fabric lover this is a must-see for anyone who visits Busan.
