Holidays/(Vacation) and the Last Month+ is a Blur

The biggest issue I have with writing this blog is sitting down to write it. The second is reeling it in once I've finally started writing to keep it at a non-book-like length each time (this is in direct relation to the first problem). The last issue is that I often forget some of the things I wanted to share because I have waited to long to share them. Such is the case for this posting. 

I usually go back through my calendar and look at the different weekend's events that I have marked down and that jogs my memory so that I can tell you about what has happened (this also sometimes works for during the week, but as the weeks seem to see less action, there is less to tell because of this fact and because I often don't mark the events down on my calendar during the weekdays for some reason that is completely unknown to me), but this time I went to do this and I am drawing a blank...so, there will be days and even weeks that are unaccounted for, but I assure you, I was still in Korea. I was not in jail. And I was more happy than not. These things I am sure of! The other thing I am sure of is that I am sick, yet again (I have been sick more times since arriving in Korea than I have been in my entire adult life, I think. Damn you, you little disease carrying monkeys! Damn you all to hell!) as I am writing this, so forgive me for any randomness or nonsensical business that may spill out from my Niquil medicated fingertips. 

From mid November where I left off, I will skip to Thanksgiving. It was an uneventful week and an even more unremarkable Thanksgiving day. I spent the day working and then ate dinner at home with Steve. We had ramen noodles. Halfway through the bowl I looked at him and said "happy Thanksgiving" to which he sort of snorted and said, "yeah, (ha) happy Thanksgiving huh?" It was the least traditional Thanksgiving of mine to date (and I thought last year's was going to be tough to beat what with spending it in Florida eating Mediterranean food with an Israeli, a Finish girl, an Aussie, and a Belgian!) but at least it was with another American! But I will say that I find something almost every day to be thankful for, so my thanksgiving is year round, and that was something on Thanksgiving day that I took the time to note and be extra thankful for. That and friends. Family. Food from home (even if I couldn't have any this year). And many of the other things that being in Korea has made me appreciate even more. 

Black Friday was spent working then after work I headed to Seoul to see some friends. Unfortunately I got sick Saturday evening, so it kind of limited the amount of fun had by all involved. But overall it was a nice visit and it was really nice to be back in the good company of some very dear friends. However, it should not go unmentioned that while in Seoul for this visit, I tried nakchi (still-moving octopus!) for the first time. It was...ok. Not my favorite. Better than the gaybul (the cockfish for stamina) that I ate the last time I was in Seoul seeing these friends. 

The last week of November flew by (as is usually the case) and ran right into the front end of my week's vacation to the Philippines! We left Friday evening for Busan and arrived late Friday night in Manila Philippines. We stayed in Manila Saturday and Sunday then began making our way south Sunday evening. I was surprised at how much English everyone there spoke (even the very poor/seemingly uneducated people) and forgot how nice it was to be able to easily converse with someone again. A nice change from Korea. What was not so nice was the extremely high level of poverty (especially compared to Korea and it's VERY low poverty level) and thereby the high level of greed present. People expected us to pay them for giving us simple directions or they would try to "help" us put our bags in the taxi trunk just to try to get money. It was ridiculous! Also, there was a complete lack of what the hell was going on from one person to the next! For instance, we ask the person at our hotel about ferries from one place to another and they assured us it was possible. Then we asked someone else and they said it was not available to the destination we wanted to go. Then we asked someone else and they said "there are no ferries running from here at all, ever." Then when we finally got to where we wanted to go, they told us we could have just taken a ferry from where we had been to get there! It was so confusing and so frustrating. It wouldn't have been a problem except that I only  had a week there, so I didn't have time to be jerked around like that! But, in the end, I got to do what I wanted to on my vacation which was go diving. It was really nice to be back under the water again and to see all the fishies and sea life. I also got to just chill out and not have to be around children, coworkers, or Koreans/be in Korea for a few days and all of those things were damn fine by me! 

I came back from the Philippines with a new attitude, outlook, and "plan". Not all of these were positive though. The attitude and outlook definitely weren't, unfortunately, but I think the plan is. And I am working at adjusting the attitude and the outlook is making a shift in the right direction too. 

The plan is to budget, budget, budget from here on out! I have been far to slack with my accountability with my spending and it is showing in my savings, and this just will not do! So, I am putting myself on a very strict allowance each week to try to get my savings heading in the right direction. I am also making some other positive changes when it comes to my running and my eating habits. There's no time like the present to start on those "new year's resolutions"! With this said, it is safe to assume that future posts will be less than exciting as a low budget offers up less action packed weekends and fun filled events (usually) but that doesn't mean I won't still find some kind of fun (or trouble) to write home about, don't you worry. 

I can say with certainty that I am very much nearing my limit of patience with a stationary lifestyle as it has now been nearly 9 months to the day of my arrival in Korea, and I haven't made it beyond 3 months in one place in the year proceeding this. But I also know that picking up and moving on is not the best thing for me (or my finances) at this time. So I will hang tight, refocus, find new joy or even just the original joy of being here, and finish up my time here on a positive note!

Birthdays, Road trips, Working Weekends, and Acupuncture: The Beginnings of Fall

It's fall in Korea, though the temperatures have hardly supported such a statement. We have been fortunate enough to have some really nice weather with minimal rain and only a few chilly days with extra winds. Sadly, this means that the leaves are hardly turning here on my little island--one of my favorite parts of fall that it appears I will be missing out on this year. Luckily for me, I got my fill of turning leaves in the past four weeks of weekends.

After a relaxing weekend at home, where we left off with the last post, I decided to follow it up with a birthday bash extravaganza for one of my friends here. She obviously knew it was her birthday but she was under the guise that the party was only a pajama themed party with a little bit of "oh yeah, it's your birthday" sprinkled on top. Well, much to her surprise, my friends and I decked out the place with red and white everything (she's from Canada), pictures of famous Canadians, things Canada, and of course, some of her favorite people and things.

Then there was cake, very special ice cream, snacks, drinks, and games. She had been feeling a little home sick so we made sure to make her feel as at home for her big two-seven as possible. We had an epic time and there was loads of laughs and fun had by all in attendance! There were also many wardrobe changes on all parties parts. Who knew we all wore so many things to bed!

October was the month for birthdays of those closest to me (here in Korea) so the following weekend was another celebration weekend, but in a totally different, much more low key way. Steve, one of my coworkers, and I rented a car for his birthday and took a no-actual-destination road trip west and north to see what we could see. We ended up driving straight through Busan, at night, in the pouring rain. And I can tell you, this is not an event I would choose to relive anytime soon. SO stressful! The drivers are nuts, the lines are barely visible most of the time, and the lanes disappear and reappear with a whim, not to mention that there are no actual labels on the roads and street signs are pointless because they are not on maps. But, we made it out of there and to the first stop, a small city named Geyonju. It rained the entire day Saturday, so we walked around in the rain and looked in stores and shops, then headed farther north to see what we could find. The farther north we went, the more the leaves were changing. It really was so beautiful. We ended up in a city called Andong for the remainder of our time. It is famous for its masks. We saw a few temples, the beginnings of a mask festival or show of sorts, looked in more shops and stores, bought some apples from a road side stand from the nicest lady (who spoke no English but we still managed to hang out for about 15 minutes there with her),

and got back in the car to try to make it home at a semi-sensible hour on Sunday to return the car before the place closed. It was a nice relaxing weekend full of fall weather and fall colors. Couldn't have asked for anything more.

This brings us to the dreaded last weekend of the month, and with it comes weekend program. And given the month it is no surprise that weekend program was Halloween themed. Usually I wouldn't mind this but due to circumstances and fate I suppose, this turns out to be the biggest weekend program enrollment of the year and we are short staffed (oh, and I have two parties I would like to be attending but alas, I cannot because I will now be working BOTH days of weekend program--awesome). It took so much prep work to get ready, not to mention staying until 8pm (we get off at 530-6pm usually) to clean and set up for Sunday's program, and the days themselves were hectic, busy, a bit stressful at times, and kind of trying.

But again, overall, it was a successful weekend as the children really seemed to enjoy themselves and when you really think about it, there's not much left to complain about once the initial sting of it all fades away. I wouldn't sign up to have next year's program be like this one, but it's over and we all survived, so that's a win in my book.

Even though there was no dressing up, no (adult) Halloween parties, no candy, and no drinking Halloween weekend, I was exhausted. Because I had already work for my five day work week, then both days of weekend program, then another five days of work, it kind of goes without saying that I was dragging my feet Sunday evening hoping it would make a difference on how soon Monday morning and day 8 of my 12 day work week would come. Sadly, it did not. But, luckily for me, the week flew by very fast. We had all middle school students all month in October, so Monday brought with it the freshness of about 80 fourth graders! It was actually a really fun week and it went by very quickly, giving way to yet another weekend of fun in Korea.

After such a long stretch of working days, all I wanted to do was lay around on Saturday, but I am truly glad that I had prior plans already set that forced me out of bed and off to see some new things in Korea. The road trip to the temple that was planned weeks before that had been rescheduled was back on the itinerary, one short sadly, and destination changed, but I was still looking forward to it. As it was supposed to rain all weekend (which it thankfully didn't) the once three hour in one direction trek turned into a trip to Busan, which I was not as excited about because I have been to Busan many times already and was really looking forward to seeing something new in/of Korea. Good thing I spoke too soon, grasshopper! Our friend Louis surprised us with a stop at the horse racing park just outside Busan before we headed into Busan for lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant, then to a really interesting Buddhist temple that was built on the side of the rocky face of a mountain overlooking the sea.

The horse park was not just a race park but also a bit of a themed park (as is most of Korea it seems). Only pictures can describe the humorousness that laid in store for us in such places as horstory land and Pony Island. It was a real hoot!

After spending a few hours walking around, enjoying the sun and the company, and taking tons of photos, it was back into the car and off to find the traditional Korea restaurant that was recommended by a friend of my friend. It took us a bit of effort to find it, but it was more than worth the expedition to get there! It was like a tiny village nestled right in a little nook of Busan. It really was like being taken back to a simpler time in Korea without all the cellphones, sky scrapping buildings and apartments, noise and chaos, and business of bali bali bali. I loved getting lost in the moment, in this place, only to look beyond whatever I was caught up in to see the buildings of Busan standing in the background. Makes me smile still just to think of it.

The lunch was as good as the little village like area that it was housed in. We enjoyed our food and some nice conversation, as well as the company of a small, curious little boy who would come near, but not too close, just to take a peek at the foreigners. After we finished our food we took a wander around the grounds looking at all the interesting nicknacks and old bits of childhoods and lives past. Then it was time to find the temple.

Sadly, the whole point of our road trip was left to last with fading sunlight scooting us along, but we still enjoyed all the temple that was available to us. We took many photos and took in the overall peace and beauty of the area. As the sun touched down on the horizon line, we began to make our way back to the car for our trek home, which was a bit long, but enjoyable. Upon arriving home, it finally felt like the first moment of my first day off in an overdue amount of time. Ahhhhh. Sigh of relief and collapse.

HackySack type game at Jumble Sale

Sunday was spent as a big pile of mush not doing anything that required anything, and it was lovely. Then it was back to work on Monday for a back to back elementary three day/two day program followed by a mandatory day of work on Saturday (this past Saturday the 12th) to help with the Charity Jumble Sale being put on by our school. In case you are wondering, a jumble sale is an awful lot like a garage sale, only with games, music, face painting, and a giant mechanical mouse in red overalls. Though I was not thrilled to be working yet another Saturday, it ended up being a lot of fun and it went by really quickly. Saturday night came and went with an early bed time due to exhaustion from the previous week, I would assume, and I fully enjoyed sleeping in my fourteen hours until noon on Sunday. Ahh, the life! Sunday was spent relaxing and just enjoying not being at work. The weather was amazing for a mid November day, so I spent a good deal of time outside on a run and on the roof enjoying the sun and crisp fall temps. 

So that's the weekends from the last post till now. There have been a few things develop throughout the weeks that I will catch you up on here. Like I said, October was all middle schoolers all month, which I was dreading coming into it, but on the other side (and even during it!) I can say that it wasn't as bad as I expected. And to be honest, I actually enjoyed most of them! There was one group of boys (only about 6 or 7 of them from one school) that ended up being really bad. Like, really. Bad. One of them was caught smoking in the bathroom so one of the men at the school hit him with an incredibly nondense stick (I hit myself in the leg with it later and continued doing so three or four more times because I was so surprised by the lack of anything that was felt) after which the boy and some of his friends decided to call the police, then three of them tried to run away. The cops came, talked to the man at our school, and the boys (who had been successfully collected from their attempt at escape) and nothing really resulted from it. Thankfully, this was the last of their three days with us and this all happened at around lunch time, so they weren't our problem for much longer. Other than that, the middle schoolers were actually kinda fun (just don't tell anyone I said that). But, knowing that we were only going to have two middle schools coming for a total of four days in November didn't upset me too much either. There's a nice balance, ya know.

Beyond the drama of the month of middle schoolers, I started receiving acupuncture on my left shoulder as it had been giving me issues since the scooter incident back in July! My boss took me to one of the local oriental clinics in Okpo, explained the problem then said "tah tah! good luck!" and I was left on my own with my seven words of Korean and their 13 words of English! Turns out that the doctor and his wife own the clinic, and all the ladies that work there are amazingly kind and sweet, and they are all very lovely people who truly enjoy having me come in to see them, despite the language barrier that exists. Kindness really does transcend language. The owners have three lovely children (two of whom I have had the privilege to personally meet) and I quite enjoying helping them practice their English while I am in for my treatments. It has taken a few weeks of regular visits, but I can definitely see improvement in the pain levels and the ROM in the shoulder. Hoping to be pain free again soon! But, I will find other reasons and ailments to go in for as I have really grown to love my visits there.

Other than that, there has been talk of contract extension, going home in August, not going home until 2013 (as was the original "plan" when I left in March), shaving my head, getting a faux hawk, dive instructors courses in Malaysia, and a month or more of Tai Chi study in China, none of which is solid, for sure, or guaranteed. There has also been about 13 new things added to my "things to do and places to go" list as well as a few combinations of places and things leaving the list at a staggering 286, therefore I have decided that I officially can never die or I won't be able to fit it all in! Things are hitting a point where they are both sad (because I have now been gone from those I love longer than any other stretch of absence before) and exciting, (because I am nearing the end of my obligations here and am looking very much forward to what might lie ahead for me) but I am trying to just live in each moment of each day and not put too much thought into what lies before me or behind me. I have made it thus far through my adventure in Korea and I know that I have many more to go before I am through. Here is yet another month of weekends and happenings on the wanderings that are my life.

My Life Measured in Weekends

Though it might have been plain to see before, I suppose I have only just now come to the realization that most of my posts revolve around the events of the weekends of my months as a point of reference and source of topic material. It would seem that I have little else going on aside from what happens on Saturdays and Sundays, save the additional fun I can cram into a Friday or Monday attached for a long weekend trip or the one third of my vacation time I have taken thus far. This realization made me stop and laugh a bit and then start churning on the idea of weekends in general. This is what I came up with.


There have been three times in my past that I have measured my life in weekends: when I was in school (as I am keen to think we all did), when I was a working stiff with the weekends off (which let's face it, with most of my jobs in the past, was NOT the case), and now.


When I was both a child in school and in advancing years thereafter, the weekend meant no classes (usually) and hopefully minimal amounts of homework. While I often was in school during my working-stiff days, it seemed I rarely had a weekend off anyway, but when I did, it was cherished and sacred. Then in a magical period between the phases of my life in school, my life of having a job, and my current life in Korea, I was blessed with the happy fortune of being my own boss and having my own schedule. This, however, did not mean that my weekends were free. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The weekend meant little more to me than the most probable day for appointments. The specialness of a day off and something big planned did not reside in a Saturday or a Sunday for me. I actually felt that everyday held the possible specialness of what many find (myself once included) only on the weekend. Then, once my travels began, every day really WAS a weekend for me. I lived my life on, essentially, a 12-month string of Saturdays and Sundays punctuated with a Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday here and there (because let's face it, when every day's a weekend, there is no such thing as a case of the Monday's or a hump to get over on Wednesday). What a truly blessed time in my life that every day could bring as much joy as the weekend.

It seems now, at this current stage of measurement in my life, that I am getting more out of my weekends than at any other time, as I am once again back to reserving the weekends as days set aside from an obligation to be somewhere doing something that is not entirely of my freedom of choice and desire for that very moment (aka going to work. This is in no way meant to be taken as me not enjoying what I am doing here, not really loving my "job" (if you can even call it a job or work), or having any other ill will toward what consumes the majority of my weekdays here on the other side of the world). Perhaps this new sense of taking full advantage of my weekends stems from the wisdom gain by passing years; perhaps it's simply because I have more at my ready access here in Korea to fill my weekends. Perhaps it is a combination of the two.

I find myself now, just one week shy of the seven month mark in my contract, with an eager anticipation of the weekend. But not because it means no classes (as it did in my school days) and not because it means not getting up in the mornings to go to a job (as it has for most of my working life), and not because these days are better or more special than the weekdays, which I cherish dearly the moments of (most specifically those moments directly following the completion of my workday).  I can only surmise that this eagerness is due to all the pieces coming together to make it all fit. There was a time not too long ago when a trip to Seoul would/should/needed to be done on a long weekend because otherwise it was just too taxing and I would not feel ready for my week to come. Now. Now I enjoy the once seemingly wasted time of buses, planes, trains, and transit in general. Interesting how a little perspective can change everything eh? So, per usual, here is my life, Korea style, in weekends:

Dr. Seuss writer/gardener (in Korea)

Upon returning home from Japan, a little poorer but a little wiser and with another stamp in my passport, (and on a Wednesday) it was just a hop skip and a jump to the weekend again! My friend from Busan and her friend whom I had met once made their way to Geoje for some island fun, foreigner style here in Okpo. We first took a lovely little boat ride out to the botanical garden paradise of Oedo (pronounced Way-dough) where Korean couples go to take tons of photos and be cheesy. It was the three musketeers plus two and that meant lots of cameras and lots of sideways looks from the Koreans! Our goal was to take as many odd and nonserious photos as possible to poke fun at the incredibly serious photos (in front of nonserious things like short, fat, naked statues captured mid run) the Koreans were taking. The theme of our photos shoots was yoga. 

So...you come here often?

Just two boats passing in the...day

The yogi master and his flexible harem 

Dominos gone horribly array...

After hauling ass through the last portion of the gardens, being phoned by a Korean guy working the ferry back to the main island to tell us (in Korean) to get our asses (I'm paraphrasing/assuming here) back on the damn ferry because it was the last one and time to GO dammit, being "chased by" and having to fend off a dog, facing the death stare of a ferry full of fussy Koreans for being three minutes late (oh come on, that's REALLY good for me!) and then combatting sea sickness (on my friend's part), we found ourselves back on the main island and ready for dinner and a night out in Okpo. The night resulted in my going home "early" (if you can call 3:30am early, comparatively) and then not seeing two of the members of the five-some until well after 12:30pm on Sunday and the other two until nearly 5:30pm. Well done. Well done indeed crew! Sunday for me (since I had such an early night!) was consumed by a deep clean of my apartment (must have been the six month/halfway mark itch that got me) and some rearranging of items for a new fung shui.

The following weekend was Thanksgiving themed weekend program (yes, I know, it's in the wrong month...). I worked one of the days and got the joy of telling the children about Thanksgiving at home, making pumpkin pies with them, and making thanksgiving themed/colored decorations/bookmarks. I had 21 children ranging from (Korean) four years of age to a twelve year old with a mental disability. I had three parents (who spoke little to no English) who were completely content to stay and further congest the classrooms, and one little boy who had a high functioning English level in addition to a decently unmedicated case of ADD. Having said all this, the pies turned out perfectly, the decorations were quite lovely, they got the comparison (for the most part) between our Thanksgiving and their Cheosuk (Chew-sock), and they all seemed to have enjoyed themselves. So all and all, I would have to say though exhausting and frustrating at the time, it was a success.

The next weekend was a long weekend (with Monday off) but started off first thing Saturday morning with an obligation on my part. For the month of September, I had been going to City Hall (who partially funds our school) and teaching a group of the employees there English (no pressure man...) on Wednesday and Thursday nights (this is also the reason that not much occurred in my life during the week as I had two nights a week that I was working until almost 9pm!). I was told by my boss two weeks  prior to this long weekend that there was a ceremony being held by City Hall and they wanted me to participate. The remainder of the details was sketchy at best and I was not keen to sign on but was rather quickly informed (by my boss) that I probably didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. I reluctantly sighed and accepted my fate, as it was only supposed to be from 11-11:30am on Saturday morning and then I was free to have the rest of my long weekend to myself! As the ceremony day approached I learned what I would be doing (reading a translated script of what was being said in Korean) for what (a citizens day awards ceremony) and why (to honor two foreigners who had greatly contributed to Geoje City in some way and were being given the title of Honorary Citizen). I also learned that this ceremony was a really special event and a pretty big deal. It required me to be dressed up (all the men in the audience were in suits and ties if that gives you any indication) and to be speaking in front of a rather large group of people pronouncing words in a language that apparently I speak so incorrectly that it really is funny. Also, as the days till event clock ticked down the obligated time frame for said event went in the opposite direction. What started as arriving at 11am changed to 10:30, then 10:10, 10 o'clock, then finally a pickup time of 9:30am on the Saturday of my long weekend. Sure. Why not! But, once it was all said and done (and recorded on my camera for my own personal keepsake) I am so grateful to have had the opportunity and experience. I got to meet the mayor and was personally thanked by him, the awardees, and countless other people for my participation that day. It was truly a humbling and interesting experience.  **(unfortunately the video of said ceremony will not load on here despite my multiple attempts, so if you would like to see it, you can find it on my FB page or I can email it to you)**
After a nice little nap and some food post ceremony, it was time for weekend events to begin unfolding. A bonfire was on the menu for Saturday night's festivities. After scouring for wood and dashing to town for some smore making materials, the night began! As there are no graham crackers in Korea, we made do with what we had and I feel made a really excellent Korean version of the smore. We also had some great company and I successfully threw down two bottles of wine by my lonesome, so all and all, another successful weekend event!

I woke up Sunday with what I can tell you was my first ever legitimate hangover. I never used to get hangovers when I was younger, then in the past two years or so had some mornings post drinking that I felt a bit rough but nothing debilitating by any means. But this morning...oh, this morning...This was the kind of hangover they portray in Hollywood. This was the "I need my sunglasses--even indoors, can't eat, can't stand, don't make me move too fast, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna puke but I know I'm definitely not drunk still, I don't think aspirin's gonna do it" kind of hangover. I. Was. Rough this morning. So rough that I stayed in bed until well into the afternoon. Missed the intended bus to Sunday's destination event and had to catch the second, much later, bus. Sunday's agenda consisted of heading about 2 hours inland to a town on a large river that was hosting a big lantern festival. As fate would have it, we also missed the second bus and had to continue to wait (still feeling pretty rough mind you) for what would turn out to be a three hour bus ride.

Upon arrival I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The lanterns did not disappoint. In fact, they were beyond my expectations! The river was filled with giant lanterns bigger than a person, lit up like neon signs, in themed sections, with more lanterns adorning the shores on both sides. It was pretty tacky yet incredible at the same time!

What had started as an intention to camp turned quickly into the realization that we would in fact be the only idiots there in a tent, so the intention was abandoned and proper shelter was sought after. This brought about a certain type of situation that can only be stirred up when x and y are combined with some other variable to equal drama. It would not mean much to anyone outside the four of us involved (and I highly doubt that little old ajuma will ever read this blog entry) so suffice it to say that despite giant gaps in language and age differences, Korean ajuma 2, xy+(te)z 1 and we will not be forgetting that night anytime soon.

And finally, my last weekend before this post. What was to be a chill road trip to a temple somewhere a few hours inland dramatically changed at the last minute (due to poor schedule keeping skills on my part, i.e. forgetting to put an event on my calendar that I really wanted to attend and thereby double booking myself for that weekend!) to a four hour bus ride to Seoul to go to a dance/electronica music festival. Only once plans had changed, fate had a different idea. Buses to Seoul were sold out Friday, important/necessary items were carelessly left at home on the dash our the door Saturday morning, so I took the sign and threw in the towel for the concert weekend and ended up taking a very calm and relaxing weekend at home, mostly in bed, to just be still and rest. It was much needed and enjoyed. I caught up on phone calls back home and my sleep and refrained from the consumption of substances that landed me in the rough rough state of the previous weekend and felt well rested and ready to begin a full week of teaching middle school students at work on Monday. So while this weekend was the least exciting of the four weekends, it might also have been the most needed after the other three.

And now, on Wednesday evening, halfway between my weekend lives, I can say that the in-betweens, though less exciting for you to read about, are just as enjoyable for me to live in. I am in a place that I am not dragging from my last nor rushing toward my next weekend, and that is a beautiful thing.

Sunset from my "dinning room" window. One of the nonregaled  happiness' of my nonweekend life.

Ya Know, Just Your Traditional Thanksgiving Travels

For those of you that know me well, you know that the word "traditional" hardly sums me up. So, here is my tail of MY traditional Thanksgiving travels for this year.

With this said, some of you may be questioning both my sanity and my ability to read a calendar. I assure you now, both are securely intact. Let me explain. Korean Thanksgiving is called Chuseok (pronounced chew-sock) and is celebrated during early to mid September. Due to summer camp scheduling and whatnot, we had to work on a national holiday in August (which we are to have off, according to our contracts) therefore they tagged on that day to our Chuseok holiday, which was fine by me because a five day weekend means a greater amount of possibilities for travel! So I took full advantage...sort of. As you know, I am a bit of a last minute-er these days, Chuseok holiday plans not withstanding. There was some debate as to what to do exactly, but when I found cheap tickets to Japan and I had travel buddies down to take the jump with me, I was all in like lick-idy-slit and the tickets were booked (on Wednesday) to leave Sunday for Tokyo for three and a half days.

Therese and Steve (the new teachers, who will no longer be referred to as such because I have used their names enough that you should have caught on by now, and if not...you will soon enough.) signed up for the aimless wander to Japan with me and it was set! And by that I mean that I booked the tickets. Other than that, I honestly had NO idea what it was that I wanted to see or do in Tokyo. I simply knew that I wanted to get another stamp in my passport and that I wanted that stamp to come from Japan right now. I did make a small (very small) effort to look up some things to do in Tokyo, but then quickly realized that I couldn't be bothered and that Therese would be more likely to sort things out, so I just left it to her (because as I would come to even more clearly realize, Steve is even less of a planner than I am, if that's possible!) and she did not disappoint.

pre-trip. You know it's a good night when someone's on the floor

The three of us had a bang up night pre trip (even though we were supposed to be heading to Busan Saturday some time to be there and ready to go to catch our flight around 11am on Sunday) partying it up and having some good laughs and got WAY too little sleep before jumping boarders to a new country. But, we all made it to the bus, to the airport, and on the plane with time to spare. We landed in Tokyo ready to take it all in! But first, to ditch the bags. But where? That would be one of the important and reoccurring questions of the trip it would turn out.

Hey, hey, hey. Look who's in Japan bitches! (that's me on the floor)

After wandering for about 45 minutes with no luck in finding a hotel, hostel, or person who could direct us to said locations, we finally gave in and busted out the go ol smart phone with some wifi connection action. The amazingly accurate (albeit overwhelming and incredibly difficult to follow) directions given to the hostel of our choosing finally resulted in us caving and haling a taxi for the remainder of what turned out to be a pretty long and winding trek. When we got dropped off we weren't sure (nor was our driver) as to where our hostel was exactly, so we just began to wander.

Before I go on with this, I have to break and comment on the fact that I was completely and embarrassingly unaware of the fact that the Japanese drive on the other side of the road from us in the States! I was not expecting this (as they drive on our same side here in Korea) and it really caught me off guard!

That ain't a bad view

Anyway, once being dropped of, we tried walking to our hostel but soon realized we were coming in full circle and had not yet seen hide nor hair of this mystical hostel we were in search of (it all of a sudden became the holy grail of ascertainable objects for some reason the longer we walked in the heat). Then, after REconsulting the map outside the subway, we realized that the very tall, not so clearly mark building that was, in fact, right in front of us when the taxi dropped us off, housed our hostel on the top two floors. A good does of humor to test out the beginning of the trip...check. Once we went up and got a room, we thought we would just dump our bags off, only to find that we had huge, nearly floor to ceiling windows, westward facing, and the sun was in an explosively colorful sunset for the evening, so we had to take a few moments to enjoy the view and snap a few dozen photos. Then it was time to find some dinner.

We had walked past a place while in search of our hostel and had it in mind to go back to for dinner. When we got back there nearly an hour and a half later, there was a decent line forming out front. That hast to be a good sign, right? So we queued up behind the others and waited, discussing our adventure thus far and how exactly we thought we might go about ordering our dinner from the ALL Japanese menu that was before us outside the door or the place only to be beyond pleasantly surprised as the waiter handed us a menu in English just before he was ready to seat us! What luck! So we selected out items, took off our shoes, sat down and prepared to enjoy. We would later see towards the end of the trip that it was our luck that one member of the threesome would have to select a meal choice that he or she was not entirely thrilled with, unfortunately. This meal was my go at it. My dish wasn't bad, by any means, but theirs were better, I thought.

Excuse me, could you stand in for scale? I want to show them the sake bottle sizes

So, after finishing dinner and going for a bit of a wander around the neighborhood and into the local supermarket to check out what was different from what we could get at home, and to pick up some desserts and sake, we headed back to the room for some chill time and an early bed time for me. We had an early start planned for the next morning so that we could go see the local, world famous, fish markets in full effect and action.

Don't get lost in the mix of the fish market

I had the responsibility of the alarm, and thereby waking up to it (which is one of my least favorite things, but I did it man!) and so I woke up around 6:30am Monday morning and began rousing the troops for our early venture into the streets of Tokyo. It seemed to take ages for us to get ready and head out, but we finally made it to the markets around 8:30am and it was certainly a sight to see! The market place itself is a huge a sprawling mass of vendor after vendor selling every kind of locally available, super fresh fish imaginable. There are fish so fresh they are still moving when the guy cuts them up for sale! But, watch your step as you go because they a) drive on the opposite side of the road from us in the US and b) there is fishy water and fishy whatnots everywhere! After wandering the market for longer than a non-vendor should be allowed to and still come out with all limbs fully attached and barely scathed, we headed to find some food. And what better of a choice for brunch at the fish market district than sushi, right!? So we waited in line at one of the many sushi restaurants to be seated at the more than cozy "bar" to watch our chief prepare our made to order sushi right before us (it doesn't get much fresher than this folks!). We had a sushi plate and green tea and loads of pictures, then we were on our way to the next adventure. Off on the subway to find us some markets!

My attempt at artistic creativity

I believe that is legit, fresh sushi. Maybe...

We managed to find a very hippie shop where we scored a few choice items that were less Japan and more Indian/Thai/or hippie but sweet buys none the less. Then we found a nice little traditional Japanese restaurant and it was Steve's turn to have a not so great meal. And by not so great I mean that it actually stopped him in his tracks not even half way through stating "Um, yeah. I just can't do it." Poor guy. A for effort! In all honesty, it was pretty bad. After our interesting lunch, we made our way to one of the busiest pedestrian intersection crossing in all of Tokyo. It is famous. The area of town is quite busy, all the time, and after the lights change for the cars, all lights turn red and pedestrians then flood the intersection from all directions, scurrying like ants back to the hill. The sight can be truly marveled at and enjoyed from the second story of the Starbucks at one of the corners of this intersection. Then, as navigation is not amongst our strong suits combined between the three of us, we ended up in the wrong area of town and finally had to call it a loss as I was exhausted, so we headed back to the hostel room for a bit of a nap and more fun to come that evening.

Mid day photo from our room. Nice.

After waking to yet another glorious sunset in Tokyo and dragging our feet a bit (me, surely not) in getting up and going, we ventured out for some food and some fun. The plan: Japanese food for dinner and then find us some kind of fun. It turns out we found the fun first and meandered a bit for the food. We stumbled, more or less, over a giant mall that also had an intertwined theme/amusement park with it. We went on a few (very expensive) rides, walked around a few of the (very expensive) shops, then went in search of food. After a not so good run of food luck, we were tempted to give in and eat Western food, but we just couldn't justify it. So thankfully we found a sweet little spot that had some really tasty Japanese food...well, except for Tez's meal. She was less than impressed. It was her turn, after all. It's only fair! Then after dinner, we grabbed a few beers and headed back to the room for a shower, bath, and I passed out for the night far too early to be in Tokyo, but, I was soooo tired!

Palace, done. 

We all slept in the next morning, far later than we should have, but finally got up and moving and headed out on the subway to see some parks, gardens, and a palace. As none of us were overly impressed, and it was VERY hot and humid, we called it and decided to find a nice (air conditioned) indoor activity for a while. It took ages to make it to the next area (as it usually seems to when you are a) hot and b) taking the metro in a BIG city) and it didn't help that we got off to a late start, but we wanted to try to ride the roller coaster at the mall from the night before because it wasn't running then. Turns out, it wasn't running at all, due to need repairs. Would have been handy if we had actually noticed this the previous night. Oh well. So, slightly dejected, we opted for our next choice, which was an indoor activity: sumo tournament! What luck to be in Japan while one of the biggest sumo tournaments was in full force! And at this point of the day, we had missed all the light weights (so pun intended) and we were left to watch the big boys (yeah, I went there again) go at it! It was AWESOME! I quickly figured out the "rules" or kinda how it was goin down and was greatly amused and yet still confused for the remained of the matches. It was really sweet though!

Really? Live, real tournament style sumo in Japan? Winning!

After sumo we really wanted to hit up some traditional Japanese markets in hopes of finding some kind of trinkity Japanese whatnot to take home with us. But unluckily for us, we first found the Electronic City markets which was just stall after stall and store after store of electronical do-dads, of which I had no need. BUT, I did find a stand selling watches similar to the ones I was looking for, so I snagged a few and was quickly over the whole area and ready to move on. We wandered a few blocks and found a quickly closing, hugely sprawling market, but it still wasn't the traditional one we had our sights set on. As we wandered through this market, watching vendors pull in their goods and close up shop I began to realize that my hopes of getting a massage in Japan were fading fast. But, what cures the blues of a lack of massage seems to be food, so we sat down for some delicious sushi for dinner to eat away my cares. After dinner we had the brilliant idea to ride the subway,  get on, get off, change lines, get on, change lines, then see if we could make it back to our hostel. This changed to drinking while riding the subway and doing the above until we got lost and see if we could find our way back. Then when we resurfaced for more booze and came back down to find a platform with at least 10 to 12 foreigners, plus the three of us! We thought, wow, this must be where the foreigners go, we should follow them! So, we got on the train with them and our new plan was to ride it with them until the majority of them got off. This actually took quite a while, and as we were drinking during all this, we somehow forgot the plan to get off where they were going and decided instead to get off at the stop where the big pedestrian crossing is. Nothing sounded better at the moment than sitting in the middle of Tokyo watching people and drinking, so that's exactly what we did, for about two hours! Until well after the subway closed down.

Then, contrary to EVERYTHING that is the professional massage therapist in and about me, we somehow ended up at a bit of a dive of a massage parlor, on the second floor of some building somewhere in Tokyo. This was the fifth place that we had attempted to get a massage at and it seemed to be a success...but all things do when you are three sheets and in Tokyo. So, apparently we paid in advance (though I don't recall this) and then I only know from the second hand stories what happened in the other rooms, but I can say for certain that my massage was AMAZING. It was exactly what I needed! It was everything post massage that I didn't exactly need...Not to lay too much of other people's business out on the internet, let's sum it up with the statement that there are few places in Tokyo that have yet to see the contents of one of our party's stomach contents (whatever those contents might have been) all the way up until we finally made it back to the hostel as the metro system was coming back up and running. It was somewhere on the (very expensive) taxi ride back that Tez and I realized what else had been lost besides some tight muscles...10,000 yen. In case you're not keen to do the conversions I'll let you know, it's about 130USD, gone. On top of the payment for the massage. Ouch. But, lesson learned. Don't be as trusting elsewhere in the world as you are in Korea; not everywhere is as safe, kind, or non-shitty. Could have been worse. The ipod, camera, and other important items were still safely tucked inside my bag. So, upon returning to our room and tucking Tez into her bunk, I fumed for a while about the lost money then finally fell asleep.

As the responsible one in the party, I set my alarm and wake the rest of the party at a semi-sensible hour in order to get us a bit of sleep, some breakfast (of sorts) and then we are on our way to the airport, as it is about a 2 hour venture to get there via the subway...or a 300USD cab ride. So, two hour, 15USD metro ride it is! But, as we were not entirely sure where we were going, what pass we were to get, or which line would be the quickest way to get there, we were beyond thankful for the kindness and help of a guy and his friend at the metro station. Then, once on the train, the kindness of a woman to make sure we got off on the correct stop, then, the help of yet another guy on the last stretch of journey as we are sweating the fact that we just might not make it in time.

We thanked our final metro helper and then dashed off on the last train to catch the last (very expensive) Japanese taxi to the airport for the mad dash to the ticket counter to get our tickets and run through the first leg of security, then customs, then a DASH down 14 gates to our gate, with a whopping 3 minutes to our boarding time. I elected to go first through customs to make the run for the gate (as I am the only one of the three of us that has all my documents because I have been in Korea the longest) and hopefully catch the plan and beg the attendants to wait for my two friends to make their way through customs (as we had some issues on the way out of Korea, so this was not boding well for the venture through Japanese customs) and get on the plane back home.

Halfway through the run to the gate I had to stop and walk for a bit because I realized that I was, in fact, still heavily under the influence of alcohol and was probably going to toss my cookies (not unlike another member of my party) in the airport. I took a bit of a breather then began to run again until I could see that our gate (the last gate in the terminal, mind you) was still buzzing with people milling about waiting to board. They weren't even queueing up yet. That realization in and of itself was enough to make me puke. But, I refrained and instead turned around to collect my friends and some water for us and our TEN minute wait to begin to board. Really? Really? I mean, really? I just sweated it out on the last few stops of the train, on the ten minute taxi ride, the ticket counter wait, the run through security, the wait in line at customs, then the disgustingly nauseating run to the last gate of the terminal only to wait for at least ten minutes. Well, at least I got to adequately hydrate and take a bit of a fan break to cool off before we boarded the plane. And to bring everything full circle, in line to board, we saw five people that were on our outbound flight from Korea to Japan. Nice.

And all I could think was, ok, let's go home. I need some Korean food, some kimchi, and some sleep. I am ready to be home.

A short two hour (give or take) plane ride, an hour bus ride, a stolen taxi into town, and we were seated at a table at our favorite Korean restaurant ready for food, then off to an early bed time to be semi-well rested for our day back to work. A two-day work week no less. Oh yeah! So, here's to Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok), Japan, Tokyo, good friends and company, great views, city life, big spending, seeing sights, sumo tournaments, drunken Japanese massages, getting robbed, being lost, being the babysitter, sleeping on the streets, havin some sake, taxis that aren't really worth it but are, helpful locals that can really make your day, memorable photos that you have already forgotten or possibly never remembered, catching the plane, and getting exactly what you wanted. Here's to Japan and my long weekend with some great people! Kampai (Cheers!)!!