We Exchange Words

• Winter and I met up with Ashley for dinner tonight - we tried to go to the restaurant owned by the Garden Lady's sister. We had loose plans to eat dinner with them tonight, but we didn't see the Garden Lady after school (though Winter and I did get walnut ice cream instead - mmmmmm), her sister wasn't at the restaurant when we went and it turned out the restaurant was just a place for drinking! Oy. So we went downtown for chicken and ice cream and a little shopping instead. It was yummy and fun to just hang out (and pretend Winter is out of "jail"). Plus the whole evening was basically a Korean lesson, Ashley and I exchanging phrases we've learned and Winter making sure we say them correctly, and teaching us a few new ones.

Vacation (In My Mind)

• A few weeks ago, I realized that if I were to work every day in May, I would work 66 hours, rather than just the required 60. I asked my mentor teacher about it and she said that TaLK scholars usually just volunteer their time. My school doesn't bend in my favor on policies at all, so I really wasn't keen (thanks to my Australian/British/South African friends for getting me hooked on that word) to work overtime for them for free. Which means I got two extra free vacation days this month! Woohoo! I used one last Friday to go to Japan, and one today for no reason at all except that I hate teaching on Wednesdays :D
• After staying up way too late last night, I woke up early-ish to chat with Dad and Barbara. It wasn't enough time, which is basically how I feel after I speak with anyone from home. Then, I went downtown to meet Ingrid and Nida. I took them to Cafe Sueno, which might be my new favorite coffee spot. It's a huge cafe but feels so cozy and cute at the same time:

We talked and messed up our own drinks (accidentally trading and adding too much sugar, etc.) for a little while. I told them about Japan and they asked me some questions and told me about their adventures since the last time we'd seen each other. Then Abby joined us, and we hung out for a bit longer before they had to go to work. Silly work :/ After that, Abby and I headed to ArtBox, where we bought some things that we actually "needed" (gifts and an umbrella) - shocker, since that store is filled to the brim with things one doesn't really need but that are too cute NOT to buy. Then we walked to Song-do - though it is a rather forgotten area of town a little south of Bukbu beach, it has a fabulous park. It was really relaxing to wander through with no purpose but to see it.

For lunch, we walked into a little restaurant across from the park. One owner spoke a little English, we speak a little Korean, and we ended up with a really yummy (though kind of spicy) lunch. Mmmm. We walked back downtown (after doubling back to get Abby's umbrella...she really needs it to be attached to her person) and said goodbye at the bus stop.

• I took a short nap before then meeting Jeanette at HomePlus (busy busy day!) - it was high time for a date because we haven't seen each other in like 3 weeks! We had dinner (well, she did), went to ArtBox (yes, I went twice today), went to HomePlus (yes, I have been there 3 times this week), and just had fun talking and hanging out :)

[Good day]

People In My Neighborhood (May 29)

• After school today, Winter and I went back to the Garden Lady from whom I bought my little plant. She was excited to see us, it was so cute! And her sister was there too – we went back and forth in English and Korean (like 30/70) about nothing in particular. It was so much fun :) Another man also came up to us and was speaking in very good English. He said he only finished elementary school and taught himself English! And now he was also working on Spanish and Chinese. Wow. It was a really great hour spent just making great connections, enjoying basic human interaction :) 
• Winter and I then went down to the bus terminal – after getting tea/coffee, I sent her on her way to Daegu and I walked across the crosswalk back to the bus…where I met Ashley! We hugged in the middle of the road and, when I found I out she was going grocery shopping at HomePlus, I joined her. We spent the next two-ish hours slowing crossing everything off her list (and a few things off mine) and just hanging out. It was a great surprise. 
• When I got home, I made dinner and guacamole! Nom nom nom. I didn’t have chips (got those later) but it was even great on crackers. Woohoo!

Cherry tomatoes, olives, green onion, carrot, cucumber,
salt, pepper and avocadoes (2), of course

• Then I finished the evening with a fabulous Skype date with my sissy! I haven’t talked to her since I’ve been here so it was that much more awesome. She basically didn’t know anything about Korea or TaLK (totally not her fault) so she was asking fabulous questions – definitely prepared me for those questions that I’ll be bombarded with when I get home! We talked for almost 2 hours and really just got to catch up. It was really wonderful :)

Whole Day Off (May 28)

• Slept in nice and late today...ahhh, days off :)
• After a while, I decided to give myself a nice foot bath. We walked a LOT this weekend and my feet got extra dirty being in the city. It felt really good (and my soap smelled nice)...and then I stepped onto my floor and realized how dirty it was. Boo :/
• If you think you are good at Sudoku, I challenge you to try a Squiggly/Jigsaw, Color puzzle. It seriously throws your brain for a loop.
• I met up with Abby and Ashley for wandering downtown. First, I stopped in the bookstore and bought The Gardener, Snowy Day and Goodnight Moon for myself in Korean. I know I can't really read them, but I think it's fun to have both the Korean and English versions :)

Then I met them at LPM, where we realized that the large Korean woman who sells the sparkly hair pieces looks exactly like the matchmaker from Mulan. AHH! And I bought a cute umbrella:

After that, we walked around the stream and made our way to Cafe Sueno, where I inquired after a sandwich once but have never actually had coffee from. (On the way, we ran into Ah Yeong, one of my 6th grade students! I heard "Teacher!" and then she tapped me on the shoulder. It was so funny seeing one of my students outside of class! And it was kind of difficult to remember that she doesn't speak English very well, when I usually spend all of my time outside of school with native speakers or Winter. Nonetheless, it was fun to see her and talk with her, and she held my hand as we talked, which was so cute. Even if she has skipped my class for the last week.) The cafe was really good and also really big! There were so many cozy places to sit. Loved it! I told them about Japan and we talked about all kinds of things; it was nice to see them after not getting to see them this weekend.

• I made my way back home, with a pitstop at HomePlus. I got lots of fun things for my apartment:

Yep, house slippers. With my windows open for
ventilation and as a dryer, my apartment gets
dusty/dirty very easily. Now my feet won't get
black just by walking from my bathroom to my bed!

I keep running out of mugs. And, obviously, the best
solution for that is not to wash them but to buy
adorable new ones :D

Also, I definitely needed this small plate after I broke my 
only one. Plus, it matches some cups I already have ^^b

Also to help with the dust problem, which is the worst
in my laundry room (where the biggest window is).
It's got the HomePlus ladybug on it!

• Tonight I got to Skype with Liz and Robert and Rachel! It's crazy how much older they seem already (well, Robert and Rachel ;)). Robert talks so much, and so well, and Rachel sounds very grown-up when she speaks. She told me that they decided to call me because they figured I was missing camp this weekend :) They told me about the parade and school (Liz: "Robert, who is your best friend?" Robert: "Mason! Mason tries to step on me.") and showed me their new toys, and I told them a little about Japan and showed Rachel my new coffee mugs. In between, I got to talk to Liz a little about Japan and school (she said it sounds like working in public school...oh joy). And Liz and I tried to explain to Rachel about saving money for things you really want/need, rather than things that catch your eye at the store (life's tough when you're saving up to buy a broom). It was great :)

•  Today, I got a chance to understand what Christmas is like for non-Christians. We had the day off work/school to celebrate Buddha's birthday. I enjoyed the celebration I went to for it last weekend, but was mostly excited for the time away from work. I ran errands, met up with friends and worked to prepare for classes this week, but I didn't go to a temple or do anything to honor Buddha today. It was really funny to be on the "other side".

Garden Party (May 27)

• No sleeping in today – our flight left at 4 p.m. and we wanted to do as much stuff as possible before leaving. Luckily, the girls we were sharing a room with had a similar schedule, so we didn’t have to worry about being quiet. After seeing the British girl from Friday one last time and checking out, we headed to…the Nagoya Zoo! We decided on this option because it was cheaper and also houses a Japanese botanical garden. 
• It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo, though it definitely got QUITE warm, even at 10 in the morning. We saw lots of fun animals and bunch of adorable children too. 

This guy's living quarters seemed a bit small for his size :(

Every zoo has dinosaurs...right?

Cleaning time

Flipper = foot

SOOOOOO CUTE!

And the gardens were really nice. I loved the rose garden – it smelled amazing, looked so colorful and was devoid of said adorable/screaming children. [pictures]

We wandered far into the park (it’s really huge!) and around as much of the gardens as we could. It was quite a hike and we were totally drenched in sweat. So we decided to treat ourselves to ice cream/cold tea and a train ride back to the front of the park. Best decision ever. I had rose ice cream! Which literally tasted like roses. The first bite was weird but, after that, it was strangely good. And riding the train was slightly scary, due to the rickety-ness and obvious old age of it, but it was really nice not to have to walk back to the front of the park :)

• Subways, trains and lots of walking later, we were checked in for our flight and just waiting to board. The first thing we explored was a quilt exhibit we saw advertised when we arrived. It was tucked into the back of the airport but it was amazing! I only wish they had been at human level so I could have touched them (my favorite way of “observing” fabric) – but that probably isn’t allowed anyways, so that they will last. Sad day. [pictures] There was also a little “town” at the airport, with shops and cafes! The structures were built to look like a village – there was even a fake cat “walking” on top of the bookshelves. I bought The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Japanese at a book store :) After that, we made our way through security and immigration and then, since those took about 15 minutes total, we relaxed at the gate for about an hour before boarding. And I drank calpico from a bottle :) 
• Airplanes, subways and more walking later, I bought a bus ticket home. I ate dinner at a Korean restaurant with a really nice owner, who let me stay past closing time to finish and wouldn’t hear my apologies. And then it was time to board. Unfortunately, I discovered the shittiest seat on an express bus - the 2nd from right (if you are facing the front) in the very last row: the seat is narrower, you have no floor space for a bag, you are in front of the aisle so you have to wear the seatbelt because you'll be the one thrown forward if the bus stops suddenly, the floor is hot because it's on top of the engine, my legs are so long that inclining the leg-rest did nothing and they hung off the step, and it still cost the same as all the other seats. (It was almost worse than being in the seat that is on top of the heater.) This was all compounded and made me grumpier because it took like 2.5 hours to get out of the airport, to the bus station and then find a place to eat. And I didn’t arrive back to my apt until 2:30 a.m. 

BUT it was a pretty great weekend ;)

Castle On A Cloud (May 26)

•  We had big plans to get up early to go to the zoo...and decided that was too much work - so we slept until 11 instead :) It was well-worth it and we had a pretty awesome day, despite sleeping in. 
• First, we found a cheap place to eat (YAY) at the recommendation of our hostel owner. It's called Matsuya and is a very cool, good fast food chain restaurant: 

First, you enter, decide what you want, put in the
correct amount of money and push the button under
the food that you want...

Then you find a place to sit...

And about 5 minutes later, they bring you your order!

• On our way to the train station, we got random energy drinks by standing in line and then catching them out of a machine that throws them up. 
• After that, we stopped by the tourist info center in the train station - and got information and answers to some of our questions in English! Woohoo! 
• Sidenote regarding Japanese fashion: in Korea, everyone generally seems to rock the same look, however fashion-forward it is; in Japan, everyone kind of has their own style - from simple and/or conservative to rocker chic to Korean-ish to crazy. 
• Sidenote regarding Japanese men: I think Korean men are more attractive than Japanese men, though I'm not sure why. Rachel disagrees. However, after seeing how non-clingy Japanese men are towards their girlfriends, I’m kind of starting to side with Rachel. 
• We made it to the right subway stop and met with Talu and Yukina. Yukina is the girlfriend of my new friend Daisuke, who was introduced to me via Facebook by Anthony, whom I met in Pohang about 2 weeks ago. Whew! But yay connections! Anyway, she met us to show us around Nagoya Castle. When we entered, there was an English tour about to start (which Yukina planned for us to go on). Our tour guide was so sweet! She was really kind and very knowledgeable. And she was excited when we said we had all afternoon to stay at the castle because she got to show us everything. The castle is actually a recreation, as the original burned down after an air raid in 1945. The outside is an exact replica while the inside is a museum. I was most impressed by the foundation, which survived the fire.

One of the four watchtowers

They are rebuilding the living quarters of the palace in
the exact fashion the original was built in, including
using authentic materials and processes.

The main castle

The foundation :)

Nagoya from the top of the castle

COLORGUARD!!! Before I posted this picture, I jokingly
thought that this might be Aimachi (or a feeder guard for
them), since I was in Japan. I then Googled it and found
out that they are ACTUALLY based in Nagoya so it really
COULD have been them. OMGeeee!

Loooong way down

The castle

Yukina, Talu, Rachel, me and our fantastic tour guide :)

• Next, we passed by a Buddhist temple to get to Osu shopping area. This was a covered marketplace, much like others I’ve seen in many towns in Korea. But this one spanned a grid of several blocks and there were sooo many things to see and places to shop. Lots of shops that the locals would need on a daily basis but also a lot of international shops offering products from all over the world. I found some fabric that I'm hoping to make into a quilt. There was even a pawn-type shop that had BASKETS of those old American buttons with ALL kinds of sayings on them that all of us have and can’t seem to get rid of. Rachel and I were wondering where we could sign up to sell to this place! There was also a booth selling Turkish ice cream, which is ice cream mixed with a gummy substance, so it’s very gravity-resistant. Talu said it wasn’t as good as really Turkish ice cream, but the man serving it was hilarious and used the fact that the ice cream defied gravity to tease his customers. Yukina’s reactions were fantastic. 
• Afterwards, we said goodbye to Talu and met up with Daisuke. He and Yukina went in to kiss/hug but only jokingly, and then pulled away saying that's not what you do in Japanese culture. It made me like them both a lot haha. They took us to the other side of the train station and across a "scramble" (an intersection where pedestrians can cross any way they choose when the green man lights up). I talked with Yukina most of the way and she was asking me how she could improve her English. First, I made sure to tell her that her English is already very good - I don't think I heard her make any mistakes today. Then I told her to speak it as often as she can and tell people she's open to being corrected, which are both things I learned from Winter. It's such a paradox, interacting with people who speak 2 or more languages (primarily non-native English speakers) - I am completely amazed at their abilities but most of them are very cautious/nervous about speaking English. Anyway, we walked to a really yummy chain restaurant that basically serves food that is good with beer - so anything fried :) We got like 8 or 9 dishes for 4000¥ (about 60000₩ or $55), which isn't too bad here. They brought the dishes one by one, so dinner lasted about 2 hours and we had lots of time to get to know each other. Daisuke and Yukina spoke Japanese to each other and English to us and consulted his electronic translator every once in a while to make sure they were saying things right (which was so cute). 
• After dinner, we had to say goodbye to them :( It was really sad because I honestly don't know when - or even if - I'll see them again! They were so helpful to us (they even spent about 10 min at the station giving us step-by-step directions for getting everywhere we are going tomorrow) and really gracious to spend time with us today - I feel like I could be good friends with them! :( I really hope I'm able to see them again someday. 

• Rachel and I then decided to head down to Nagoya port. We had wanted to see it during the day but didn't have much time left. Plus, we wanted to get as much use out of our all-day subway passes as possible. I wish we could have gone during the day! There is an aquarium, beautiful views, and a museum aboard a ship that went to Antarctica. It was still really peaceful and beautiful but would have been even better during the day. 
• After that, we got to ride a near-empty subway train back to Home Sweet Hostel :)

I've had a wonderful day and Japan has been great - but my heart is in Dowagiac, MI right now. Every once in a while, my brain would flick to BKC memories (usually insignificant ones, like being in the cabin, sitting on the couches in the dining hall or hugs) and I'd feel a little sad feeling. I miss that family and the fact that I'll get to go next year is the opposite of comforting...it just means it will be a whole year until I get to go to BKC again. Not to mention that this weekend would have been such a convenient opportunity to tell a lot of people at once about Korea. I wish I could be in 2 places at once :/

A New Level (May 25)

• I got up sooo early to get to Incheon – I left my apt at 4:30, which turned out to be a very good thing. I was out early enough that I almost couldn't get a taxi! None were driving around, so I went into the Family Mart to ask the worker to call me a taxi. She had to call twice before getting someone that would come get me – after the first time, she said no one would come! But then her friend called and was able to get one. They were both really nice; the woman made me sit down while I waited and the man (her friend) asked me a few questions in English. 
• The taxi came shortly (I said many thank-yous to the man and woman) and drove me really fast to the bus terminal. After I bought my ticket, I still had 20 minutes to wait. Woo! 

Getting on the bus - level complete. 

• Easily got to the airport (the direct bus is more expensive but very convenient) and realized that, although the Incheon airport is farther from Pohang than Busan or Daegu, I'm glad for the chance to understand departures from there so I don't have to be confused and more overwhelmed than I need to be on my leaving day. Called Rachel to make sure she was well on her way and then used the free wifi and people-watched/-listened while I waited for her to get there. 

Successfully find Rachel at airport - level complete 

Get tickets (and present/not forget important documents) - level complete 

Go through security and customs - level complete 

• Before going down to the gate, I got some food that was too expensive, took too long to be ready and was too spicy :/ Boo. I ate a little and then we exchanged money and made our way to the gate. But then the flight check-in lady told us I couldn't bring my frappuccino on the plane! :( :( :( So Rachel and I formed Team Finish-The-Frap and THEN boarded the plane. 

Only my purse and my backpack! Yes, it
was only a weekend, but we WERE going
to another country.

Go, go, go!

Felt very safe flying with Big Bang ;)

Boarding the plane/take-off - level complete 

• We met the guy sitting next to us and turns out he is an EPIK teacher Andong who has been to Japan/Nagoya several times. He gave us tips on what to see and eat and, since he was going to the same area we were, we left the plane together, he bought us some Japanese chocolate (better than Korean, not as good as American), and helped us buy our train tickets/find our seats (the train ride was really smooth and relaxing). It was really awesome of him. We would have eventually figured all that out, but he saved us a lot of time and energy. 

Get into the city of Nagoya - level complete 

Find hostel - level complete 

(It's so cute! Kind of small but has everything we need) 

• For dinner, we found a cute/unique restaurant with a really nice owner. She didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Japanese, but we eventually used pointing to order - and it turned out to cost 3500¥ (about 50,000₩ or $45)! It was yummy but yikes! (This was our first experience with things costing more in Japan than in Korea.) 

Find dinner - level complete

...but we not successfully 

• After dinner, we decided to explore as much of Nagoya as we could before the subway stopped running at midnight. We made our way downtown in search of the TV Tower and a 3-story fountain called Oasis 21 that the EPIK teacher told us about. Luckily, it is apparently a big attraction and was well-labeled (in English) throughout the subway. We exited the subway into a kind of mall, which opened right up to the night sky. There was a roof over it but not completely. It was really cool. The floor below the open part was even a special kind of tile that seemed to be made to absorb rainwater. But we didn’t see any kind of fountain. We walked up to the ground level (the mall was about 3 stories underground) and enjoyed our donuts (when we found a store near our hostel called “Mr. Donut” we couldn’t not make a purchase). And then we saw it! Through the glass roof we saw a rippling reflection...the fountain was on TOP of the roof! (3 stories in the air!) We took the elevator up – to the “Spaceship Aqua” floor – and walked around it. Not all of the jets were on, and the fact that the whole roof bounced a little with heavy footfalls was slightly unnerving, but we got a great view of the city.

Subway - eventually level complete (though stressful) 

Oasis 21 - level complete 

• We could clearly see the TV Tower from the roof too and headed there next. After much wandering towards and around, we were told we needed a reservation/ticket to go up. Since we hadn’t read that on any website/brochure, we could only assume that there was some kind of invite-only party happening. Darn! 

TV tower - level failed 

• Following that we sat on sidewalk for a while, realized that the Japanese drive on the left side of the road and right side of the car, wondered how we didn’t ever realize that before, and decided that the remainder of our night would be best spent hanging out at the hostel. Lamenting the fact that we didn’t think to bring playing cards with us, we went searching for a deck. After stopping in several convenience stores, we finally found some! They were 600¥ (about 9,000₩ or $7.60) and totally un-Japanese-looking but we were desperate. 
• Back at the hostel we met a cool British couple, here visiting his brother and taking the vacation time to bike throughout Japan. I think they were even planning to go from Nagoya to Tokyo, which is about 220 miles! The cool thing was that they were equally amazed by the fact that we were living and teaching in Korea. It felt awesome being the cool backpackers (after all, that’s all we packed for the whole weekend...in a foreign country!) 'from' Korea ;) A little while later, we played a game of Nertz (after which we realized/remembered that you should NOT play that game with 2 decks of cards that have the same design...) and went to bed :D