Busan is the 2nd largest city in Korea, so I knew I wanted to visit at some point. I went with a friend on the same weekend as a major k-pop festival that was happening called the Busan One Asia Festival. We only had a 3 day weekend, but we took a 4 hour train ride while studying for midterms to make the trip work. It was my first time staying in a hostel, an idea I was skeptical about at first. But, once we arrived, everything was clean and safe, and I learned that hostels are common outside of the US.
One thing we noticed while taking public transportation in Busan was how less common foreigners were. As a black person, I felt way more blatant stares than I had received in Seoul, which is something I hadn’t really considered before. It made me a bit uncomfortable at first, but I tried my best to focus on having fun and exploring Busan.
We had a three day weekend, so the first day we went to Busan Citizens Park even though it was raining pretty hard. We walked around and took a bunch of photos, and then navigated our way back to the hostel to retire early for the festival the next day. Our Saturday we spent at the Busan One Asia Festival where we saw many k-pop groups perform. We had to stand for some pretty long hours and there were many foreigners present, which is to be expected at any k-pop event. Our final day, Sunday, we made a quick morning trip to the Gamcheon Culture Village, filled with a hill of colorful homes and clothes lines. We bought souvenirs, took more photos, and sat down for breakfast and headed back to the hostel to pack up. Overall, the weekend allowed me to get a glimpse of a major city outside of Seoul and see some beautiful sights. The rain on Friday was a bit upsetting, but I’m glad we braved it out and didn’t waste the opportunity to see some iconic tourist spots in Busan. 
It rained when I went to Busan, too! Almost every day of my vacation, which I planned to Busan specifically so I could spend time on the beach. Such a bummer!