Tokyo Adventure

It's Chuseok in Korea! This means many things. First, the appearance of beautifully colored hanboks everywhere. Secondly, gold-fabric-wrapped, giant boxes of unnecessary things like spam and olive oil. and Finally, a long break from school! Kaitie and I (with the help of many others) planned a three day, packed full of adventure, trip to Tokyo, Japan from Wednesday until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Here goes nothing!

4:00pm left Sangdong station for the airport
5:20 check-in and security

6:30 dinner: Kaitie and I observed the priorities of Asian airports versus western airports. It is surprisingly difficult to find a place to grab some food in Incheon Airport, but if I wanted to buy a few coach purses or Prada sunglasses, I'd be all set. Whereas in let's say, Philly airport, there are bars and restaurants all over the place but if I needed to buy something really nice (not a cheap "I came to Philly and got you this t-shirt" t-shirt) then I would have to walk for a bit. This goes the same for little convenience stores. Just shows where interests differ across the world- anywho, back to us.

8:30 board the flight!

11:30 land in Japan...uh oh...the subway ends at 12:06. We herd into the line at immigration tapping our feet to run to the subway after getting through. As we are waiting we meet Claire and her friend who shows us to the station and tells us how to make it home. We are relieved to hear that we will be able to make it to Ueno station without having to catch a cab, which we heard are incredibly expensive. We hop on the train to our first stop and quickly transfer over to the JR (major line) to get to Ueno. This is the slowest train in the history of trains. We got about 2 stops in 30 minutes. We are both incredibly tired as it is about 12:45am, and we just want to get to our hostel.

Our new best friend for the next 3 days
Side note: in the subway system, the boxes next to the stations with numbers on them represents the fare due to pay to get to that particular station. That doesn't take into account transferring to different lines however...just a tip!

 Then....the subway stops and won't go any further. We get out and assume we will be closer to our hostel than the airport so maybe the damage wont be too detrimental. $150 later, we are dropped off at a mini-stop where the desk-man from our hostel runs down the street to pick us up and lead us to our room. $150! I know. I couldn't believe it. We have been so spoiled in Korea. Next time, I will just pay more for the flight to get there at a reasonable time where I can take the subway all the way to my destination. Take note those of you who will be traveling there!

We fall into bed ready to put this day behind us. I refused to let this hiccup mess up the trip so hakuna matata!

We stayed in Oak Hotel located about a 10 minute walk from Ueno station (http://www.oakhotel.co.jp/english/). The rooms were nice and the staff even more so! They had lockers to put our important things, computers, a common area, and tons of maps! If anyone is headed out to Tokyo (after taking my flight advice) you should check out this place!

Thursday, September 19th

Waking up a bit late we headed out on our first solo subway trek. Despite being a bit nervous after the night before, we were pleasantly surprised by how easy and fast it was. Must have just chosen the wrong train. We made a rule this first day, that if either of us saw something or some place we wanted to go check out, all we had to say was "adventure!" and the other would have to follow no questions asked. It worked out pretty well! We found some pretty interesting streets and stores using this strategy. I would recommend it to others!

Our first stop of a busy day was Shibuya, located on the other side of Tokyo from us. Here we began by grabbing a bite to eat at a French restaurant. Yes, the first food we had here was French. Don't judge.

chicken, nuts, apples, cheese (ahhh!), tomatoes

Delicious chocolate mousse dessert

I was told by Alex Teacher that Japan has excellent pastries and desserts. From this first taste, I knew she wasn't joking. It melted in your mouth and then I melted onto the floor in a puddle of chocolate heaven. After leaving the restaurant we wander around the mall area nearby and then begin the adventure to find the Tokyo Hands building which is basically a place to find absolutely anything you may ever need in your entire life...ever. As we walk through the street, we must look lost. A very nice Japanese man asks us if we need help and he steers us in the direction of Tokyo Hands (straight...slope slope slope...right...Tokyo Hands). After finding the slope slope slope and making a few more turns we find it and got lost for a few hours inside while being buried by stationary and stickers.

Found it!

So many stickers!

After a few hours we realize that it is not humanly possible to see the building in one day, let alone an afternoon. We tear ourselves away while we still can and ask where we can find the famous Harajuku Street. Along our walk we are approached by several Japanese people asking if we need any help. Either everyone is just very friendly, or we look like we are from Mars coming to Earth for the first time. Kaitie made the find-of-the-century and spotted the Disney store down a small alley way to the next main road. Of course the detour was made.

kids at heart

After indulging in some good old fashion fun we continue the walk to Harajuku. The architecture of Harajuku is really incredible. Expensive shops line the street as well as endless crowds of people.

We walk by an alley way and see a line of people waiting to go into a restaurant called "Eggs and Things". Apparently it is a famous pancake restaurant. People will wait sometimes for 3 hours before getting a table. We didn't really have the time for that though I'm sure the pancakes are worth it. Instead, we got a caricature!

No time to rest, we walked around Harajuku a bit more and then hopped on the train again for Shinjuku. This is where we found the place I was super excited about while researching this trip! The Alice in Wonderland Restaurant! For those of you who want to visit, find the basement of the Odakyu HALC building. It is a bit of a maze, and honestly the people who work in the HALC building don't even know where it is. We had to ask multiple sources, however we would not be discouraged. We finally found it where an automatic door painted like a book slid open to welcome us to the front desk of this fantasy land.

 There, the mad hatter introduced us to our waitress (Alice, of course) who sat us in the Queen of Hearts area. This restaurant is completely, head-to-toe themed from the story. Nothing looks like a plain, old, boring restaurant (and all other restaurants from here on out will be just that; plain and boring). Alice came by and rattled off information about the menu in rapid-fire Japanese as we smiled an nodded throughout. The menu looks like a story book and each dish is named after a character or part of the story. I ordered the caterpillar sushi (not sure that was what it was called, something more creative I'm sure) and Kaitie ordered the Cheshire Cat tail pizza. We ended with the butterfly toast dessert plate. With glasses of sangria in hand we were amazed by the incredibly creative dishes that were served to us.

the lovely Alice

Everyone was so sweet there. The experience definitely didn't disappoint and I would absolutely go back to try more dishes next time (hint hint, anyone want to go?).

After dinner we walked to the government building to get a free night-view of the city around us. Coincidentally we met up with our friends Sara and Ben who had arrived earlier that day! Small city...except not at all...

We decided to call it an early night that night. Threw on our complimentary traditional robes and curled up to prepare for the next busy day!

Friday, September 20th

Today's plan included Asakusa area, the Sky Tree, and Ryogoku for Sumo wrestling! We started out early to Asakusa to check out the market area as well as the Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon Temple). On our way there we stop in a beautiful pottery store lined wall to wall with gorgeous tea-cups, tea-pots, chopsticks, spoons, and any other porcelain items you can think of!

teacup building

Then we enter the touristy shopping heaven. This small street is lined with shops selling any trinket and treat you could ever want to bring home to loved ones or coworkers (cough...what?). On a bit of a sensory overload, we slowly make our way down, making purchases here and there to send home or bring to school this week.

When you get to the end of this street the area opens up to the Asakusa Kannon Temple. The history of this temple is as follows. In 628, two brothers went fishing and caught a statue of Kannon (the goddess of mercy) in their net. The chief of these brothers' village recognized the importance of this and created this temple to honor the statue. It then became the oldest temple in Tokyo, at which Buddhists could worship Kannon. The temple itself is beautiful. Out of everywhere I've traveled (and seen temples) each place has offered a different style and focus. Korean temples have the gorgeous, bright, colorful painted ceilings as well as blue roofs. Thailand covers every surface with gold, or shining jewels. Japan however has a simpler beauty, using a rich red color with the black roofs. The use of the gold metal work on the black doors is so elegant.

The smoke from this basin cleanses you and heals you of any ailments you may have.

Lit a candle for Granddad

A door along the road- beautiful!

After walking around the temple, it was time to finally find something I've been looking forward to since planning this trip...that's right. SUSHI! Japan knows how to do sushi. I've heard there is nothing like the real deal. Walking around we find a rotating sushi bar and venture inside for a taste. Kaitie isn't a sushi lover (more for me hah), but she did try some on this trip which I am SO proud of her for doing! We didn't convert her (there's still time), but trying it is a huge step. The waiter handed me an English menu and I dug in. May the food photos commence, please control your drooling, I don't want to be the cause of malfunctioning computers (or grossed out family members).

Non-fatty Tuna

Squid

Shrimp making its way around the conveyer belt

Okay, wipe your mouth.

After being sufficiently stuffed and happy we began walking towards the Sky Tree. On our way we passed the Asahi Beer company with its hard-to-miss building sculpture. It is supposed to represent the foam on top of a freshly poured beer, but I'm not sure that's what it looks like exactly.

We decided to walk close enough to the tower to get a good picture with it in the background instead of paying the $30 it would take to go up to the top. We might be cheapos, but we are okay with it.

According to the website, from which I am quoting, The "TOKYO SKYTREE is designed in an original color, "SKYTREE White", representing harmony with the surrounding scenery, its name and the design concept: "The creation of city scenery transcending time: A fusion of traditional Japanese beauty and neo-futuristic design". Not sure how much harmony with the surrounding scenery is happening, but nonetheless it is a rather impressive structure. At 634 meters high (yes also from the website), the Sky Tree was the tallest tower in the world...in 2011...Well done Tokyo!

From there we took a lovely stroll down the Sumida River to Ryogoku where we would meet with a group of friends to the Sumo Tournament! As we walked we saw signs for sushi boat cruises down the river at night where you could sit...on a boat...and eat sushi...Next time that's happening- who's with me?

Onto Sumo! We arrive at the Kokugikan, the sumo stadium and make our way in to find our seats.

In the middle of the stadium is a square platform made of clay with a rope circle in the middle. Around the platform are rows of mats for spectators to watch the match up close and personal. I would be a bit wary of these seats as I saw several wrestlers go flying off the platform (flying is a loose term) and rolling (not a loose term) into the crowd. Pretty sure having one of those guys land on you is not a comfortable, nor pleasant-smelling experience. Depends how involved you want to get though, so I'm not discouraging you! Seated way above the danger of being turned into mush, we watched the matches take place between the giant men. According to some trading cards that one of the guys in our group purchased, some of these wrestlers are over 6 foot 5 and weight over 160 kilos! Big guys to say the least. As Sumo is Japan's traditional and national sport, the wrestlers still follow traditional practices and motions during the match. They start by doing several rounds of squats and leg raises then going back to their corners for more chalk to throw (its actually sand to purify the ring, but we liked to pick the winner based on their impressive chalk-throw...that or their circumference). Once both wrestlers are in their stance and place both hands on the mat the match is on and they proceed to push each other with terrifying power until the other either steps out of the ring or touches the ground with anything but the soles of his feet. Those 5 to 10 seconds of the match are exhilarating! It just takes quite a long time for them to actually fight.

Those robes cost over $4,000...

Almost as intimidating as the real thing...

The sumo wrestling was surprisingly one of my favorite parts of the trip! When else am I ever going to see something so traditional and well known? While I won't become a regular sumo watcher, it was great to experience it in person this once! After the tournament finished we headed off to Roppongi Hills, a more western area of Tokyo, to grab dinner with the group.

The restaurant we found had a wide selection of food options, so we hoped everyone could get a little something they wanted. I opted for some lettuce, avocado, and shrimp wraps, while some other members of our group went a more adventurous route with raw horse meat, chicken gizzards, and other various animal body parts. Thanks but no thanks.

The bar that evening was a small British pub and it had Pimms! I thought of you mum and had a couple to celebrate. Hope you felt me thinking of you via Pimms!
Taking the last subway home, Kaitie and I dropped into bed for the last time that trip!

Saturday, September 21st

The plan for this final day was to explore a market in Ueno called Ameyoko that has shops with food, clothes, trinkets, and anything else you could want.

Wedding Komono

One of the entrances to the market

Some more souvenir shopping and pastry tasting! How could we resist these?

Oh right....we didn't...

An apple cheesecake tart from the gods

cute little panda cookie with chocolate filling

horrible...absolutely disgusting...(shovels more into mouth)

From there we met Sara and Ben in Akihabara which is Tokyo's Electronic Market area. Anything and everything electronic can be found here from the little plastic bit on a spark plug end, to LED lights, to spy cameras. What I found more fascinating was the sheer amount of game rooms. And by rooms I mean buildings designed purely to hold games....claw games, multiplayer games, strategy games, mario cart, and any other video game you could want. As we walked through one, I saw some people who looked like they frequented the area a bit too often to lead normal lives. I'm sure they are lovely people though!

Before Sara kicked butt in Mario Kart

We walked through one game building, stopping to do a silly photobooth session. This photobooth in particular makes your skin smoother, eyes bigger, and you can add lipstick as well as thousands of other cute stickers onto your photos at the end.

 Adorable. We each got to keep two (Ben said he was perfectly fine with not owning any of the photos, despite being very photogenic!). We walked around the area taking in the colorful signs and maid cafes. In a maid cafe, apparently you can have these waitresses treat you like they are your personal maids at home, not like you are a patron in the cafe. You can ask them to spoon-feed you your pastry or even massages as you enjoy your time there. Unfortunately the one we went into cost $10 just to sit there without ordering food yet. Again, the money-savers in us couldn't justify this experience despite the unique opportunity. Perhaps next time.

Because two Sega buildings almost next door to each other is necessary...

 Of course the next thing to do is to grab some food...what else would we get than more sushi? (Sorry Kaitie). We went back to Ameyoko to find another rotating sushi bar, where Sara would try her first full pieces of sushi (she had a taste the previous night). More sushi pictures, you're welcome!

Mine too! What a coincidence!

At this restaurant, if you didn't see what you wanted on the conveyer belt already you could ask the chefs to make you whichever piece you desired! Here I tried a new one- flounder fin, which was creamy almost, and really delicious! Overall, the best sushi I had here was the tuna. Not only is the bright red color beautiful, it is such a thick piece of fish that just melts in your mouth! Okay, getting a bit carried away. I ate way to much here, and wanted to try more, but knew that walking would be difficult if I did. We had the rest of the evening to get through and taking a sushi-induced nap would not be permitted.

Heading to Tokyo station next, Kaitie indulged me by trying to find Jiro's restaurant from the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi". Based on my research I knew the general area and with a bit of 007 work with my phone map and the street map we managed to find it!

Please let me in...

Unfortunately it wasn't open. Though I saw someone in the kitchen preparing for the night perhaps? Either way, it was so cool to just go see it! Even the little hallway around the corner where one of the sons prepared the seaweed for the rolls. So cool! I'm such a dork. Thanks Kaitie for putting up with that side journey!

ceiling in Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station is one of the prettiest subway stations I've seen. The outside is all brick and white trim. Reminded me a bit of Hood (but different...) The surrounding buildings are fancy as well! We wandered around the station for a bit and then went on a mission to find a shabu shabu restaurant. Korea has shabu shabu, which is a boiling broth in which you cook meat, veggies, and eventually rice and noodles in a three course adventure to being overly stuffed. It is originally a Japanese dish, therefore we wanted to try to have it for our last meal here. Without wifi (what did people do before smart phones?) we decided to go into a hotel nearby and ask a concierge to help us find a restaurant. From Tokyo station we walked next door to the Tokyo Station Hotel. If you want to come here and splurge on a place, this is where to go. Just the entrance was breathtaking. We were shown to a very sweet woman who sat us down and proceeded to call around to shabu shabu places nearby. There was a slight misunderstanding where instead of a 1,000 Yen budget ($10ish), she thought we had a 10,000 Yen budget ($100). Therefore the place she found would be a bout $80 bucks each person. We kindly declined as she tried a different place.

 It was then she asked us what our room number was. OOps...As soon as she heard we were not in fact guests of the hotel, she handed us a pamphlet for the building next door and walked us nicely out of the door! No harm done, as we weren't exactly the clientele she is used to. On our own we walked the opposite direction than the swanky hotel district and found a small hole-in-the-wall place to have some Japanese fried rice and famous ramen noodles.  Not the healthiest but ramen originates in Japan, so we had to try some!

Salty pork ramen

A ramen vending machine....?

After stuffing ourselves once again we wandered through the station and then back to Ueno to get ready to head home! Getting back to Oak Hostel around 8 we lied down to rest a bit until 10:30 when we would make our way back to the station and to the airport for our 6:30 am departure! Sleeping on a bench in the airport wasn't too bad as the Haneda Aiport is really quite nice! Groggy and sleepy we check into our flight and wait to board as the airport wakes up for the day. Landing in Incheon around 8:30 and then finally getting back to Bucheon at 10:45 it was a long journey back. Again, next time I might just spend more on a ticket so that we can have a bit more of a reasonable journey to and from the airport. It makes for a much more pleasant trip when the transportation to and from flights isn't rushed or at odd hours of the night. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Overall, such a wonderful trip! I'm so glad Kaitie and I decided to take on Tokyo as our next adventure together. After short trips like this, you always wish you could have a few more days, and I definitely do. I want to return to see things I didn't get to see in Tokyo as well as go out of the city, down to Osaka perhaps! So many more things to do and see. We packed this trip full of adventures.

Back to work this week! Looking forward to telling my students about our trip as well as hearing about their Chuseok break! Until next time
xoxo

Korean of the post:
모험의 시간!
(mo-heom-wi shigan)
"Adventure time!"

Korea Drowning Man

Woah, Laura, aren't you supposed to be spending the weekend at the beach making new friends and face painting? What happened?

Why yes, I was! Kaitie and I left Bucheon around 9 to take the subway to Sadang station where a WINK (When IN Korea) bus would be waiting to take us down to the Korea Burn event in Chungcheongnam-do. For those of you who do not know Korea burn, or the Burning Man event in Nevada, it is basically an festival that promotes equality, inclusiveness, and a sense of community. This event in Nevada involves over 60,000 people and insane structures built in middle of the desert. Korea has a much smaller event though promoting the same principles of its American counterpart.

All was going according to plan as we boarded the bus and began the trek down, making a few stops on the way to pick up more "burners". As we neared the beach, a slight drizzle began outside. While we prepared ourselves mentally (and what we thought was physically) for a bit of a thunderstorm that evening, there was nothing we could have done to save ourselves from what was to be the first Olympic-Tent-Swimming event. Pulling in to the Korea Burn campsite around 2:45, we grabbed our tent and walked into the camping ground to set up our home for the evening. As we passed through the gate we got to hit "the gong" to celebrate our first time at Korea Burn. I'm really not sure whether this was a legitimate practice, or some guy found an old gong in a store somewhere and decided to start the tradition, but either way it felt fitting.


Tents were sprinkled around the camping ground, some elaborate set ups with tarp awnings and tables, while others were the traditional blanket-over-a-rope kind of deal. Once we found a suitable spot we began the process of setting up the tent (is this step 3...or step 5?...). It didn't take us too long, albeit it caused some momentary confusion before we realized the poles came apart. After making a little nest we decided to explore the area to see what we could expect for the following day. I forgot to bring my headlamp (no I don't have a headlamp) so I began the evening by stepping into a small lake in the middle of the pathway. With a muddy Toms and jeans we were welcomed by a small man with a huge afro who was very...huggy...He seemed incredibly pleased that we had made it. Not sure if we had met before, but it made us feel special, until we saw him walk up to the group behind us and complete the same ritual. Maybe he just likes hugs.

Set up already was a DJ booth pumping out techno dance music, and some preparation for other booths that would provide breakfast and other artistic displays. At the time it was around 4am, aka time to rest up before the next day. Clambering into our tent, I soon realized this was not the plan for the rest of the burners. The party was in full swing, as heat lightning soon changed to real lightning which soon changed to a torrential downpour. Being in the tent felt like I was stuck inside an old TV as someone flipped through the channels. Between a rousing rendition of "A Pirate's Life for Me" and some mystery show about a lost friend, was the static of the rain hitting our poor little tent. It was around this time that Kaitie noticed a small pool of water forming inside. We used our 2,000 won ponchos purchased earlier that evening as well as the cases for the tent and sleeping bag to "waterproof" our feet as we curled up once more in an attempt to sleep. Not soon after did the pool spread to completely underneath Kaitie. I figured I was slightly uphill as I didn't feel much water around me but then the shouts began outside.

As I unzipped our tent I realized that we were an island...in the middle of a giant swamped area. Looking at each other we decided, without speaking, that action was required. Through a groggy haze we packed up haphazardly and carried our sopping went tent through the water to an area less effected by flooding. Setting up once more, without a layer of nice warm blankets below us was a bit less comfortable but at least we weren't tent-swimming. We drifted in and out of sleep. Kaitie had her umbrella opened over us as our itty-bitty tent just couldn't handle the rain, and water was leaking through ever possible hole. Wearing every long, warm layer I packed for the weekend I curled up on top of my suitcase to protect it as much as possible and tried to get some sleep. A bit too soon after, I was woken by voices nearby trying to help others stranded in the swamp to move to "center camp" that was located on higher ground. I felt like we were in some kind of war movie. I woke Kaitie and we discussed the next steps of this adventure. Everything in our tent was soaking wet. With no change of clothes I opted to keep the wet ones on as layers of some sort. We went looking into the pensions nearby to see if they had any availability. One had a double room for 130,000 won, not exactly pension price. As we asked around we found that local families had offered to house stranded burners until the rain stopped. Ultimately, Kaitie and I decided to cut our losses. Even if it did stop raining (which I just recently found out it did), we would have been soaked to the bone with no spare clothes and no sleep. While I do regret not staying, I was worried that I would get sick wearing cold wet things all day and right before my Japan trip next week!

Overall, the idea of Korea Burn is an incredible one. I think the promotion of connections with others and giving for the sake of giving should be traits of every society. I was really looking forward to meeting a whole new group of people on this trip, and I know at this moment they are all having fun and most likely swimming laps where all the tents used to be. For those of you who will be in Korea next year for Korea Burn (I will not be), please go and experience it for yourselves, and I will cross my fingers for you for better weather!

As for next week, we teach Monday and Tuesday. Monday the students come in wearing their traditional Korean hanboks which is always an adorable sight to see. Have a few dinners and birthday celebrations then its off to Japan on Wednesday! Can't wait to check out Tokyo and eat a whole lotta sushi! Until then xoxo

Korean of the post:
너의 신발은 멀리 떠 있에요...
(neowi shinbaleun meoli deo isayo)
You shoe is floating away...

Please Don't Point That Firework at Me

Another week gone by. Recently, while I should have been studying or writing a paper, I looked through some of my very first posts. I feel like I've done so much in such a short time! A year really is not a long stretch at all. It flew by, and now I get to start all again. So, in the spirit of doing things over again I will lead you through the past few days' adventures.

Thursday, Kindergarten had a field trip to the fire station...again...Actually, I probably don't even need to write this part of the blog. It was exactly the same as last year. Here you can reread the beginning of last year's blog. I'm going to make dinner quickly. Fire Station Last Year


Finished? Yea so that happened. Again. But swap out my Texas kids for my three little Idaho gals. The video was the same as last year, yet even less interactive. Last year at least they had the students yelling "fire!" a lot to practice, but no screaming was involved this time. The kids had to sit quietly and watch as a lady lectured through the endless powerpoint slides with a few cartoons regarding fire safety thrown in. Needless to say, the kids were underwhelmed. When we were finally released to go outside they bounded down the stairs to freedom.

and that's only half the crowd

Outside the students sat again to be talked at (yes talked at) about the fire engine and extinguisher. Fast forward, super exciting part of the trip where they spray the fire hose and get our bus all wet! And then back to taking endless pictures of the students doing cute fire station things. Can't you tell I'm super into this field trip? No, I'm just kidding. I do love getting the students out and experiencing other things in the world around them, however usually our field trips turn into photo shoots where the students and teachers speak only Korean. While this is fine because it makes me practice (aha), the students really should be using their English skills outside of class. I know not many places around have English field trip programs, but the other Korean teachers especially should promote English speaking on the trip as much as possible!

 

 

Coming to save you!

Ah well, my first repeat field trip is complete, here's to another year full of them!

Onto the next repeated adventure for me. A big group of us headed off to Muuido beach this weekend for a night of fun and hanging out in the sand. For those of you who forgot my first blog about it (Muuido Trip Last Year) Muuido is in Incheon, technically not too far away from us here in Bucheon but it is a bit of a crazy mess to get there. Firstly, Kaitie and I met Kelsey at the bus stop in Bucheon to catch the 302 bus (not that you needed to know that, but just in case some one is googling how to get to Muuido and I have this information for them...) to the Incheon International Airport. From there we met Andy, Tarah, Angela, Ryan, Jeong Min, Jinhee and a group of Ryan's friends. We piled into the bus (222 for those of you still trying to get to Muuido) to the dock where we would then take a ferry to the island. The ferry literally crosses a span of "ocean" that I could walk across. Granted I might get stuck in the mud, but it the time it takes to get over on the ferry I could probably do a solid few laps of that space. Oh well, we gave the ferry driver some work to do. On the other side of the ferry we jump in another bus (sorry...no number for this one...follow the old people in bright hiking gear) to the beach. Finally, we had made it!

Ryan and I planned on getting our butts up to hike on this trip. We threw our stuff into the room and made our way back to the entrance of the mountain before we changed our minds. The hike wasn't too difficult, but we sped up there like there was a candy store at the top or something. I don't know why we went up so quickly, but I think we all subconsciously wanted to finish the more difficult parts of the climb and just get to the best part of a hike, the view. Once we reached the top we were not disappointed (unless the candy store was what we wanted...).

Our friends were on the beach down there

We made it!

Ryan and I

Jeong Min ^^

 If any of you end up at Muuido, you owe it to yourself to make up to the top of this place! It is such a beautiful view of the entire side of the island. Some tips:
1. Don't wear flip flops.
2. You can hike in a bathing suit top (Andy tested it out for you with minimal pointing and laughing from Koreans)
3. J-Lo is excellent hiking music

Once we got back down and showered we joined the rest of the clan on the beach until the evening where we grabbed a samgyupsal dinner (aka Bacon...aka I ate sides and kimchi jjigae). We had rounds of toasts to anything and everything we could think of and enjoyed each other's company. After dinner it was time to hit the beach. By this time the night had gotten a bit chilly. Those of you who know me are aware that my tolerance for cold is well...about zero. Changing into every long layer I brought with me we walked down to the water. As usual, fireworks were set off, spirits were opened and passed around, and overall the mood turns light.

Angela (another cold person) and I made friends with a group who had put together a bonfire. What better way to make friends than share a good fire on the beach? We talked  realized we knew some of the same people! This country seems so small sometimes. While a few of us called it a night, others stayed out and partied the night away until the wee hours of the morning. The next day I got up to try and do a beach run, which is something I don't get to do very often. The beach there is not very long, but it's still nice to run next to the water in the fresh air where you don't need to dodge little old ladies taking up the entire path in the park *cough* sorry...don't know where that came from.

Slowly others from the group started creeping out from the pensions around me as I had my apple and peanut butter watching the Korean families all enjoying their extensive breakfasts under elaborate tents. A small group decided to head off earlier to get back and be productive, while others chose to stay and enjoy the nice beach weather a little longer before going back to real life. I took off with the first group back to Bucheon. After 3 buses and a ferry I walked back into my apartment safe and sound.

Snuck in a pup despite "No Pet signs"

Until next time Muuido

Back to work tomorrow. Katrina, Kaitie and I talked a bit about what is happening and changing at Little America. In May, Little America grew to hold its highest number of students in a very long time. The other teachers and I definitely noticed the larger class sizes and more level tests to give to new prospective students. Slowly this summer, however, the numbers have been dwindling down. Several students have quit for different hagwons or other academies. The number of new students is barely touching the number leaving. My group of 43 elementary students has shrunk to a teeny tiny 35. Okay, so looking at it there, it doesn't look too bad. Laura Teacher, you're overreacting. But think about how this is happening to the other teachers as well! We are a concerned about attendance as well as the inevitable graduation in March where 3 our of 5 of our kindergarten classes are graduating to 1st grade! That leaves us with two kindergarten classes of only 10 students (I think). Last year, Little America had trouble filling the one new class, let alone three. Will Solomon Teacher hire two new teachers to fill in Katrina and Kaities' places if/when they leave? Not that anything I do will change this, although I have contemplated buying stilts and an animal costume to lure people to the school. I can't help but take some of the students leaving as personal. Wouldn't any teacher? Cross your fingers for Little America for me! We need some help I think. No time to worry now though. Next weekend, Kaitie and I are off to Korea Burn (Burning Man) to run around and camp on the beach, then its time for Japan!! Can't wait! Until next time.

xoxox

Korean of the Post:  

나는 소방관이에요.

(naneun sobanggwan iayo)

I am a firefighter.

Fruit tarts, Tears, and Pillow Fights

Been another two weeks again since the last post, but a busy two weeks! Last Thursday we had another cooking class with the little ones. I'm not sure if you all are getting tired of seeing pictures of cute kids with aprons. Just let me know when you can't handle it anymore. Personally, I can't get enough of the bandanas that come along with them. Just in case the cooking projects explode and their hair needs protection.

 

 

Big bite

 

That night it was the dreaded evening to say goodbye to Amanda Teacher at the usual big staff dinner. One reason why this post is so late is that I really couldn't handle writing it. I'm going to miss her terribly. We all sat in a back room at a Daechang Gui (대창구이) restaurant (intestines!). They were actually pretty good. A bit chewy as one might expect from intestines, but not bad. I enjoyed the sides and other vegetables grilled along with the intestines. As the night continued and the soju flowed our group got louder and louder. From the table next to us, also a bit rowdy, an older woman (who had her grumpy pants on according to Amanda) told us to be quiet, then proceeded to yell...I mean talk...with her friends. Oh well, we were having fun. 

 

 Then these showed up

 

 

 

 Solomon Teacher actually came to the Norebang with us!

Happy Birthday Christina!

 

 After a teary night of cheers-ing to random things, reading soppy goodbye letters, and speeches (by Solomon Teacher) we all went off to sing our hearts out at the norebang. I always feel badly for the Korean teachers when we go out all together. It seems like we all request our songs and despite their claims that they requested some too, none of them ever really sing! Shine teacher joins in with us, but for the most part the other teachers are on tambourine duty behind us on the couch. We got Jennifer to sing the last song. Her voice is amazing! In the middle of our singing crusade a cake was brought in to celebrate Christina (the newest teacher at Little America)'s birthday! After our time in the singing room was over, we headed to Woodstock to listen to some good music while spending as much time with Amanda as possible. Though we were all exhausted I think we wanted to make the night last longer.

Shine teacher and I at Woodstock playing with their hat collection there

The next morning Amanda would meet Solomon Teacher at 8 to get to the Airport! Before he arrived we worked together on clearing out her place and getting everything all organized for her trip home. After a teary goodbye I watched Amanda's taxi drive down the road and around the corner. I knew it wouldn't hit me for a few more days that she wouldn't be at work the next week. No time to sit on the curb and cry though. It was time to move from my old apartment to her beautiful, much nicer, much bigger place....and cry. It took about 4 trips up the elevator holding as much as I could carry, but I got everything out! Then I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed my old place clean for Christina who would move in later that day.

The picture above is my new view! This actually looks straight out towards Little America. Its to the left of that tall building in the back with the big orange stripe up the middle of it. Anyways, this new apartment is going to make it so much easier to have visitors (hintity-hint-hint).

The next week at school was a bit of a whirlwind. The new teacher getting her bearings, test scores and project reports due, planning for Pajama party day that would happen that Friday. This week, Thursday to be exact, marked my one-year anniversary of being in Korea! From that day forward, all of the celebrations and parties at Little America would be my second time around! Can't wait for some, especially Halloween...costume ideas are forming.

Pajama day was a blast! All the students showed up in their best pjs and were excited to participate in the day of fun that we had planned for them. In the morning they rotated around to different stations in the school. I was in charge of the night-time-routines room. Here we talked about what they did before they went to bed. We taught key expressions and vocabulary like "Mom, please tuck me in!" and "sing a lullaby". When all of our expressions involved Mom doing things I asked my co-teacher whether we should make it a bit more gender neutral. She said that it's pretty much only the moms who take care of these kinds of things. While a lot of students talk about their parents, I do notice that it's mainly about their moms. They say their dad goes to work and then comes home an sleeps. It's sad that they have to work so much and miss their child growing up! Korea has to work on that...Anyways-- Katrina was in charge of the story room, and Christina was teaching the lullaby "Hush Little Baby". Kaitie would come in later to lead the games for the entire group.

Power to the Pajamas

Pretending to be the kid with Shine Teacher as my mom. Aka I was tired and wanted to lay down

"Kimbab rolls"

 Time for pillow fights!...The tamest pillow fights I've ever seen. Students at home would be on the ground wrestling. These kids lightly tapped and pushed so that they didn't hurt their friends. While it was cute, it took a while to get a winner. Only a few students worked out the strategy where they just hold their pillow out so the other person pushes and loses his or her balance. A cute and controlled game though! (Control is key Kaitie haha well done).

 Then it was sleep walking relay time. Students wore sleeping masks and walked from one end of the room to the other to get their stuffed animal and bring it back to bed.

 

 

After the games, I was already in my pajamas, so I felt like I needed a nap. No time for that though because it was Birthday Party and Song Contest time! Jean, one of my girls, was celebrating her birthday this month with two other girls.

 

 Lion Sleeps tonight

Some excellent jumpers in this class

Why so serious?

 

Idaho Class with their silly smiles- show some teeth ladybugs!

After lunch it was craft time- we would be making dream catchers. It was fun to teach the students about them. Before today, none of them had heard of them! I remembered what Mum told us about the dream catchers and if you stuck your fingers through the holes the bad dreams would be released again, allowing them to haunt you for another night. I left out the rather scarey end to that. I also left out my memory of one of my sisters poking her finger through my dream catcher to make me mad...hmm who was that?

 The concepts behind our crafts are always fine. It's when we start doing them that we realize we are a little over our heads. It ends up with letting the kids "finish", sending them off to watch the movie at the end of the day, and then redoing them all before sending them home. This means a lot of work for us, but happy parents. My girls did pretty well and they were happy with their beautiful pink dream catchers to hang beside their beds that evening.

While these  days are a ton of fun and we don't have to teach, it requires an endless supply of energy on the teachers' parts. No time to rest however, Elementary students were showing up ready for the evening of lessons. After work Kaitie, Katrina, Christina, and I met up with 6 other girls around the Bucheon area to have dinner and catch up after all of our vacations! It was such a fun group of girls. We had 찜닭 jjimdak which is a giant bowl of chicken vegetables and noodles in a...sauce of some sort. It tastes delicious but it veryyy filling! Overall a great girls' night.

The next day I had Alex Teacher over to help me plan Kaitie and I's Japan trip in a few weeks! Having never been there it was really difficult for me to think about where to go, where to stay, and what to see. Alex had been a few times and has friends there as well! She helped me go through the subway map and talk about where we should go on which days. We came up with a tentative schedule. This has made me that much more excited for this adventure! Another county to cross off the list. I plan on eating my body weight in sushi...

Before that trip I have some busy weekends! This next weekend we are going to Muuido (my first trip ever in Korea, told you I would be repeating stuff). While Muuido is not exactly the nicest beach in the world, it doesn't really matter. It's so much more about the group you go with. We have some great friends who are meeting us there. We will be cooking out, walking along the beach, and just enjoying each others' company. The weekend after that Kaitie and I are going to Korea Burning Man. If anyone knows about the Burning Man festival in Nevada this is....absolutely nothing like that. The one in the states is mainly thousands of people experimenting with drugs and running around spreading love. Korea, completely against drugs, will have a different kind of festival. While it is still about sharing your talents and accepting everyone for who they are, it is on a much smaller scale than its US counterpart. I'm looking forward to camping out on a beach and meeting new people! THEN its Japan time!!!! Can't wait. Throughout all of this, my graduate school courses began this past week. I will have several assignments due each week, therefore I will need to do some serious time management to get everything done before heading off on these weekend excursions. Thus far I think I will enjoy these courses! The other students participating all seem excited and interesting. Looking forward to getting to know them better as we learn about the Nature of Science and STEM Education! Wish me luck!

Korean of the post:
매우 바쁜하지만 괜찮아요
(mae-u babeunjiman gwenchanayo)
I'm very busy but it's okay. 

Until next time xoxo