I’ve been in Korea for the last week or so. Seems I still can’t get away from the ocean. 😉
I’ve spent a lot of time going to the local markets. They have a LOT of seafood in their markets here!
Yesterday I went to Gijang. They were supposed to be having a festival yesterday. The Gijang Anchovy Festival. It said on the internet that it was cancelled. I went anyway since it also said the Lotus Lantern Festival was cancelled and it was still on. 🙂
I figured it would be an interesting day out anyway. Yes, the festival was actually cancelled. Yes, it was still an interesting trip. 🙂
I took the metro up to Haeundae Station and then the local bus (181) from there to the harbor where the festival was supposed to be. The town was obviously set up as a place for people to come and buy and eat fish, (more kinds than just anchovys), but I saw no signs of any kind of festival. I guess it really was cancelled (due to the ferry accident).
I wandered around for a while and took a bunch of pictures. I’ll have to take a look at them later and will put some in a later post. I’m trying to stick to my goals for the Blogging 201 Challenge, one of which was to get back on track with my “editorial calendar”.
So I am posting today another Song of the Sea. All that wandering around the fish market and the fishing boats made me think of this song by Billy Joel. It’s about the fishermen in the USA (NE Coast), but fishermen around the world are all the same. 🙂
It’s always hard work and the pay is never enough, but of course it’s still totally worth it!
I hope you like the song as much as I do. Enjoy. 🙂
The Downeaster ‘Alexa’
And I’m cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound
We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner’s Bay
Like all the locals here I’ve had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I’ve worked my fingers to the bone
So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can’t fall asleep
I’ve got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there’s fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren’t what they used to be
But I’ve got people back on land who count on me
So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel
Yeah yo [x4]
Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can’t sell no stripers
And there’s no luck in swordfishing here
I was a bayman like my father was before
Can’t make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain’t much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain’t no island left for islanders like me
Yea yea yea oh [x4]
Really? For a moment I was not sure which blog I am on. I know this YT image from mine – love this song!!!
Glad you liked it. I like a lot of his songs, but I only heard this one recently. I thought it was a good one to go with all the fishermen and their catch I’ve been seeing lately. 🙂
It’s an excellent one. It wonders me how he managed to cover the theme so well from a shore perspective. It somehow tells tons to a shore creature like me. We have liking his songs in common then even though we have different attitudes towards anchois 🙂
IMdm, I hope the music gives you a better idea of why people like me go to sea. There are so many reasons. Billy Joel has spent a lot of time around the water in his life. It’s not just for working. 🙂
I think we can agree to disagree on the anchovies. 🙂