Swine Flu Day(s).

So I like being a teacher because it's like being a student. When class gets cancelled, I get really excited!

Last week, I had my only two kids out in my Monday 4-5:30 class so I had a free period. I got a ton done in my class room and with my schedules.

Today, my boss caught wind of a local school, ILS, that shut down for two days because of a student with swine flu.

He was terrified... So, he cancelled all of our elementary classes for the afternoon and all classes for Thursday and Friday.

Naturally, we all started looking for flights, to see where we could go for the weekend. However, we soon found out that we are still required to come in and work. Though the sound of this initially made me want to throw a 5-year-old-sized tantrum, I got over it quickly and have gotten very excited about the organization and the work I'm going to be able to get ahead on!

I started teaching my first day at school, so I never really made my classroom, mine. I'm excited to take two days to rearrange, recreate, and reorganize. These two days are going to be amazing.

We don't have to come in tomorrow until ten... so we even get to sleep in!

It's like a snow day, except it's BEAUTIFUL out!!!

Our Halloween party at school is postponed until next Friday, so you'll have to wait for the precious little Snow White costumes.

I'll try to do something fun this weekend so I have something to write about.

TTFN!

I love Fall.

It sounds like the Midwest is kind of missing out on its Fall. I've heard stories of cold spells, rain, and to be honest, it sounds miserable.

Fall is my favorite time of year. In Korea, so far, Fall has been absolutely perfect. It's been about 60-70 degrees, the leaves are slowly turning rich shades of red and yellow. From my school window, I can see all of the mountains that surround Dongbaek. They are tree-covered and are simply breathtaking right now. Some are evergreens, while others are starting their winterizing process. They are like splashes of rainbows against a bright blue sky. It doesn't get any better than that.

I also love Fall because I feel like it is just an extension of summer. A slow progression into the paralysis of winter. I hate it when things come to an end (well, most things), summer most especially. Everyone is so happy during the summer, so productive, so... OUTSIDE! When Fall is perfect like it has been here, that mood continues on and can carry you a long way into the drudge of winter.

Fall also means a plethora of my favorite HOLIDAYS! The Halloween party is coming up at school on Friday. My girls have been counting down on our calendar since the beginning of October. Even toward the end of September they would say: "Teacher, today... September. Then... October... HALLOWEEN!" I'd say: "Yes. Halloween is in October, but it's not October for like 20 more days... and Halloween is at the end!"

Needless to say, Halloween has been long awaited at Kid's College. I'm kind of skimping this year because I'm being tight with money again (and it's soooo fun). I think I'm going to wear all black and hand make some cat ears and a tale and call myself a cat. It sounds like both of my girls are going to be Snow White? I can't quite figure that out. I ask them everyday and they just repeat what that other says. Something about "bootiful dress" and "bootiful shoes." We shall see.

The only bummer about Fall in Korea is that I will miss out on the Thanksgiving and Christmas anticipation. Thanksgiving (obviously) doesn't exist here, and Christmas, though celebrated, is "just another birthday." I've heard I may be lucky to find a few buildings with Christmas lights up.

As sad as I am about missing Christmas and Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday - the only day when it's totally appropriate to be a gluttonous pig), this weather is really making up for it.

I spent the weekend try to make my $20 last until Tuesday. Just for fun, not really because I needed to. So far it's been going very smoothly. I went for a long walk both yesterday and today. Running still beats up on my hip - I should probably get it checked out. eh. It was perfect t-shirt and pants weather. I stopped for some kimbap yesterday, then sat at the park nearby to eat it and people watch. There were so many families out playing with their itty bitty dogs (apartment living isn't really conducive to big dogs). Precious little Korean children were everywhere. The air even smells like Fall. I wish it could stay like this the whole time I'm here!

Here's a shot of the beauty that is all around me right now:

Isn't that just amazing?!?!?!

I hope you're doing what you can with your Fall. The snow and real cold will be here before you know it... soak it up while you can!

Happy end of October!

Thanks!

I've got a problem.

My co-workers are beginning to hate me because of the overwhelming amount of packages I have received since my arrival. My most recent package was from Mrs. Woodfill and her entire second grade class (complete with a letter from each - awesome)! Upon receiving this package, Dustin said, "I've been here a full year and you've gotten more packages in the last month than I have since I've been here."

Really, he's jealous of the Fiber One bars I have stocked up to get me through the winter (and maybe my outstanding supply of nail polish)! I've gotten two packages from my Grandma/Aunt, one from friends Emily and Erin, one from Steph, one from the second graders and their fabulous teacher, a wedding invitation from my friends Drew and Carrie (who could have easily just sent it to my house in the Fort) and have already caught wind of a few more on their way!

I am sooooooo blessed. One, it's fabulous to know that so many people are reading my blog... it keeps me motivated to keep up with it. Two, I'm pretty independent, but it's a great feeling knowing there are so many people rooting for me!

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads. Just knowing you give a crap about my little life on the other side of the world makes the days when I miss America so much easier! Your comments, e-mails, and general support are so comforting.

Please, keep them coming!

Hope all is well on the flipside (literally). I miss you all!

Molly

Kicking the Coke Habit - Day two

Day two is much better. I woke up this morning BEFORE my alarm went off! I wasn't foggy like I normally am pre-caffeine and I have yet to reach headache-ville.

I'm hoping yesterday was as bad as it gets...

Here's to a new life, free of addiction! haha.

Kicking the Coke Habit - Day one

I decided this morning that a Coke Zero (which replaced my former addiction to Diet Pepsi) every morning was not only unhealthy, but also getting rather expensive. I don't like to be attached to anything... so, today, I decided to quit.

I've had a Diet Pepsi every morning for about 2 years now. It's kind of disgusting when I think about it. On my walk to school today, all three of my regular convenience stores were closed, or out of Coke Zero. I saw it as a sign that today was the day.

It's 2:30 pm and my headache is bigger than my forehead (which is really a fivehead). I'm hoping the headache is only one day long. It's test week again, so I haven't had to do a lot of teaching, which is good.

I popped a couple of Alieve and am hoping for the best. Wish me luck...

A Step Inside North Korea

Like I told you before, I just finished reading the memoir, "The Aquariums of Pyongyang." Pyongyang is the capital of present day North Korea. The book details the life of a boy who, at the age of nine, is sentenced to ten years in a North Korean labor camp with the rest of his family for a "crime" his grandfather committed. Granted, all his grandfather really did was give his entire life and all of his money to the Party. The book, without sparing one single tragedy, accounts for the author's disgusting excuse for an adolescence. He and his family were prisoners at Yodok, which is a camp for "redeemables." Redeemables are those who didn't actually commit a crime against the Party, but have the blood of a criminal and are punished as well. The punishment is to purge them of wrong blood that caused their relative to commit a crime.

The camps in North Korea are very similar to the stories we've heard from those of the Hitler regime. Prisoners work long, laborious hours with little food and even less clothing. The treatment of the prisoners by the guards is simply de-humanizing. I remember a story from when the author was around 12. A boy around his age was beaten by a guard and then fell into a septic tank. It took him a couple hours to regain strength enough to get out, and 3 days later, he died from infection. Also, the only food that prisoners were rationed was corn, so in order to ward off disease from lack of protein and too much corn, they would eat insects and rats.

The author is released from camp at the age of 19. His family is assigned farm work in a small, rural town that is barely surviving. He eventually finds out the whereabouts of his mother, who wasn't part of the bloodline so was not sent to Yodok and was forced to divorce her husband. She still lives in Pyongyang. He goes to visit her a few times, but with great difficulty as you have to attain permission to travel about the country. A few years later, he catches word that the police are secretly investigating him for listening to South Korean radio. He knows if they catch him he'll die, or worse, go back to camp. So he and a friend decide to escape. The travel up to the Chinese border, cross the river in the middle of the night, and carefully make their way to a Chinese port. They stay in this port time for half a year before an opportunity to take a ship over to South Korea arrives.

The author now lives in Seoul and has no idea what happened to the rest of his family. It is assumed they were punished for his escape. He began writing this book as soon as he arrived in South Korea. He hopes that his story will bring about awareness and save more people from future hardship.

When I read books such as this, it makes me think that this place, this wretched place, that the author is in is somewhere long ago and far away. Well, a few months ago it would've been far away. Now, though, it is neither long ago nor far away. The author was released from the camp in 1987. He made it to South Korea in 1992. I WAS ALIVE while this was going on. It's still going on ... an HOUR's bus ride from where I am right now. I want to throw up.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of traveling to the North / South Korean border, and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that surrounds it. It was a phenomenal trip, one that won't easily be forgotten.

A brief history: After the end of World War II, Korea was occupied by the Japanese. Since we dropped a nuc on Hiroshima and killed millions of innocents, they lost. So, we took Korea. The Communist Soviets were in charge of everything north of the 38th parallel, America was in charge of everything below the 38th parallel. The whole point was to hold elections and get Korea back on its feat as a unified nation. Naturally, the Communist influence in the north versus the Democratic influence in the south made this unification impossible. The Soviets postponed election after election until the South had no choice but to just hold an election of their own. Pretty soon after, the North appointed Kim Il Sung as its first leader. The country was now in two.

It didn't take long for the North to attack the South. The South was busy being a democracy and didn't have much of a chance to develop an army, after all. In 1950, the North pushed the south all the way back to Pusan, a very southeastern port town. An influx of UN troops, however, made a comeback possible, and the South pushed the North back above the 38th parallel. Three years after the 1950 invasion, an armistice was signed to "cease fire" in the Korean War. The border was set, and there was to be a neutral territory 2 kilometers north of it and 2 kilometers south of it. This area is know as the Demilitarized Zone. It is the most heavily militarized place in the world, but there is no fighting... just mines, lots of mines.

We had three stops on the tour. The first was the Joint Security Area. We traveled by military bus into the DMZ and on to the border. We were guided by military personell (Sgt. Walker, to be exact - he was from Alabama!) through the Freedom Building and into this:

The guards dressed in green are South Korean military personnel. The blue buildings are UN buildings, and the big gray building in the background is a North Korean Army building, complete with a KPA guard staring us down with binoculars. The concrete slab in the middle of the photo, that goes straight down the middle of the two blue buildings, yeah, that's the border. Here, I'll point them out to you.

Zoom in of the North Korean guard staring us down:

Then we went into one of the blue UN buildings.

This guard is standing on the border. The table is bisected by the bored. To the guard's left, is North Korea. To his right, is South Korea. I WENT INTO NORTH KOREA!

My feet in the North, Dustin's in the South:

After the JSA, we got some lunch and then made our way to Dora Observatory. It's a military post built into a hill that can see far into the north side of the DMZ. Unfortunately, there was a "photo line" behind which was the only place to take photos from. This is the best I got. The HUGE North Korean flag you see in the middle is 31 meters long, 25 meters high and weighs 600 pounds. It is flown amidst an uninhabited propaganda village that via loudspeaker boasts North Korea as the promised land, welcoming anyone who would like to come. Sign. Me. Up.

After Dora, we went to the 3rd (of four) infiltration tunnels that have been found by South Korea. These tunnels were built by the North after the DMZ was established in an attempt to attack the South in secret. They've found 4 of them, they think their may be between 25-30 of them. We weren't allowed to take cameras, had to wear hard hats, and made our way down to the dark and damp tunnel. It's pretty museum-y by now, but amazing nonetheless. It boggles my mind that these tunnels were built without anyone knowing! They better find the rest soon...

So, yes, for all of those who were worried... I made it back safely. I strongly recommend you read the memoir; it will make you very grateful... And just in time for Thanksgiving!

Interruption!

Interruption!
My mom's friend Beth (a.k.a. Stretch) left a comment on my Chuseok post with an inquiry about our class sizes. I thought since it might be a question that some of you had and didn't even know it, that I'd share it here. I also know that the comment section can go unnoticed at times. I don't get e-mail updates about comments left, do any of you? Anyways, I didn't want this to get lost under the radar, as my response was pretty lengthy. So, here you go...Beth said...Molly, this is such an amazing record of your time in Korea! The pictures are great, and your stories are fun to read. I'm curious about your class sizes, though -- it seems you have only two students, and other teachers have three or four. How is that? Here, it seems all of those children would have just one teacher.11.10.09 molly said...Thanks for following! I've visited your blog a few times, too. I feel so much smarter having read it. If/When I grow up, I want a vocabulary like yours.I typed out an extraordinarily long comment to your comment and then my internet pooped out on me for a second and I lost it all. Since I managed to collect my thoughts in the process, though, I think I can sum it up better than the first time.Dongbaek, our city, is only 5 years old. Our school is going into it's third year. The growth is imminent, so I think the owners are trying to lay the ground work properly. To do that, they have to keep students separated into groups that fit their age and proficiency level. The word kindergarten is used loosely, students can attend our school from ages 5-7 (4-6 in America) before starting first grade at a public school.Zach and I have the youngest students. His, though, came in already knowing the alphabet and most of the letter sounds. Mine knew nothing. He has four students. Liz has three students that are a year older and are in their second year at our school. Dustin has five students and John has nine. Both are teaching third year kindergartners, but Dustin's are a bit more advanced than John's.Because the private school's here operate more for turning a profit than actually educating, the goal is to keep the parents happy so their kid keeps coming to school. To do that, the class has to be a good fit for their child. Long term, it makes more sense for the school to keep the levels separate even if right now they could earn more money buying pay one or two less teachers.Why do I get the light end of the load? To be frank, it sounds like the teacher I replaced wasn't the best and because its too expensive to fire and hire someone, they just lightened her schedule to where she could kind of handle it. I would venture to guess, hopefully without sounding too pretentious, that in time, the weight will be more evenly distributed. I've already picked up one of John's elementary classes so he could have a planning period. All the kids graduate in March, and then the new school year starts. I'll be interested to see what happens then.I hope that answers your question, without being too verbose. I like being reminded that things that are just common knowledge to me are not to my readers!

Tokyo! - Day 3

Monday morning in Tokyo was a whirlwind. I was trying to remember all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes, but also trying to actually enjoy them at the same time. Liz and I checked out of the Ace Inn and travelled with our bags to Tsukijishijo Station, exit A1 to meet Yuko and Zach. Exit A1 was a little ambigous, and it took us a while to find each other. It was drizzling a bit and the air smelled slightly of fish. We were trying to wait patiently, but we were getting to that "it's time to go home" point. Finally, Yuko saw us from across the street and we were a family again!


We made our way into the Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market. The first half was a consumer market that didn't have a lot of fish, but fresh fruit and vegetables, knives, fish baskets, boots, etc. This is where we found the restaurant to have our Monday brunch... SUSHI!


Here we are waiting in the line/rain for seats at the small restaurant.


We waited about 45 minutes until there were 4 seats available at the bar. There was only seating for about ten people. We were served green tea, and then had a tray in front of us with ginger and wasabi. Slowly but surely, the chefs filled our trays with an assortment of sushi. There was salmon, tuna, shrimp, eel (cooked), and other fish served as sushi (just pieces of fish on rice). Then we also had pieces of spicy tuna and salmon eggs in sushi rolls. It was all very good. Liz struggled a bit, even gagged on her last attempt, but we were proud of her valiant effort, and happy to help her finish!

Here is the inside of the restaurant:

Here is my tray of sushi, full except for the 6 rolls we also received:

Sushi at a fish market in Japan!

After Sushi, we proceeded to the commericial side of the fish market. This is where the fisherman were. They were throwing around their catches from the morning, chopping the fish, gutting it, and packaging it for delivery to the local retailers. Anyone can visit, but the rules are that you have to stay out of their way, and take no flash photography.

Zach, Liz and Yuko at the market:

Me at the market:

I had never seen wasabi in fresh form... but this is what it looks like:

mmmmm. Tuna shark (I think?)! Look how BIG it is! well, was. That basket is a normal-sized laundry basket.

Fisherman closing up shop and wrapping up the day (at 11 am).

After the market, we got some coffee and walked around Tsukiji and found our way to Sony Plaza, which was this big room of Sony electronics that would be played with. We were pretty zonked though, Liz was still trying to keep her fish down, so we found some benches and waited while Zach went and bought a battery for his camera. Then, Yuko guided us back to the train station. It was time to head back. Zach was flying stand-by again and when we arrived at the airport, the lines to United were very LONG! Liz and I left Tokyo at 5 pm on Monday and returned to Seoul a little after 7. We boarded the bus to head back to Dongbaek. Upon arrival, we had both received e-mails from Zach saying he was stuck and was going to try to get out the next day.

We were both very nervous for school the next day, but we crafted a pretty good story about Zach's absence and all is well in kinder land!

I head to the Demilitarized Zone this weekend to take a peak at North Korea! I just finished the memior, "The Aquariums of Pongyang." I highly reccommend it if you're interest at all in the current happenings in North Korea. Kim Jong-Il and his father (The Great Leader) could really give Hitler a run for his money, they just haven't tried to take over the world yet. More about the book after my return from the North!

Tokyo! - Day 2

Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 7:30 am. I climbed down my ladder and tip toed across the hall to Liz's little box of heaven. I threw open her curtain and was about to shake her violently, but she was already awake. Apparently, she hadn't slept at all. :-(

We made our way down to the first floor with our towels, toiletries, and 100 yen in change to take our ten minute showers. They were very clean and each room had a changing room attached, too. It was very private and surprisingly clean. It was a great start to the day!


After getting ready (which didn't include blow drying our hair as the Japanese plugs are the same as the USA and we brought along our Korean units), we had time to spare so we went across the street to a crappy coffee shop to get some coffee. I had packed some Fiber One Bars (Thanks, Aunt Becky!) but Liz had to order the nastiest egg sandwich I've even seen in my life. She ate what she could, and we crossed the street again and went down into the Akebonobashi subway station. We were to meet Zach and Yuko at the Takeshita Exit at the Harajuku station. It was two stops back to Shinjuku, then a transfer to another line, and then 3 stops more.

We arrived right at 10 am, and Yuko walked us to the COOLEST antique market. It only happens once a month, and she had never been. We all were mesmerized by the Japanese antiques. This was MY kind of souvenir shopping. After much haggling, I settled on a set of porcelain sake glasses, with a pastel floral print on them. They were stored in a neat little wooden box that had Japanese writing on the front. Originally 1000 yen (about $10), I bought them for 500 yen (about $5).

Here's a shot from the market:

When we were kind of finishing up at the market we heard the strange and slightly creepy sound of a traditional Japanese flute. The tune it was playing was the Japanese wedding march, Yuko told us. We followed the sound up a few flights of stairs to a small temple where, sure enough, there was a wedding going on. We waited around until the group came out of the temple. As the two families were lining up for a large portrait, we also snapped a few. HELLO, I'M A TOURIST!






Then, we walked over to Takeshita Street. I still can't get over the the name. It's pronounced "Tahk-a-sheet-ah" but it looks like it'd be pronounced differently! It's a huge street filled with little shops and restaurants.





After visiting the 100 yen store on Takeshita, we were huuuungry. We were searching for somewhere slightly inexpensive to eat, because Tokyo is a very expensive city and we are all of limited funds. We found a nice little Thai place and we all ate for less than 1000 yen ($10). It was a welcome break from the 2500 ($25) dinner we had the night before. After dinner, Yuko wanted to take us to Omotesando, the the famous shopping district of Tokyo. On the way, I spotted this:



If you know me well, you know that I would live in H & M if I could. An 8ish story H&M!?!? SIGN ME UP!!! Yuko asked if I wanted to go in. I told her that that probably was NOT a good idea... I may never come back out again!

On our way to Omotesando, we got distracted again at the Menji Temple. It is an old famous temple in Tokyo, but hadn't been on our agenda. We sauntered through it anyway, and got ourselves photographed with some cute little women in their kimonos:




We finally made it to Omotesando! This picture is of the main promenade. Along this street you can find floors and floors of designer stores such as: Chanel, Dolce and Gabana, Jimmy Choo, etc. It was amazing! If I ever win the lottery, I'm shopping in Tokyo.


Speaking of shopping in Tokyo, I'm still working on my Korean fashion blog post, but I'd like to make a note of the Japanese style. Koreans tend to wear a LOT of heels, and many layers. In Japan, however, there were BOOTS everywhere. The overall style, though there were plenty of exceptions, was slightly more punk-rock than Korea. I envisioned Madonna in the 80's wearing a lot of the same close as the women in Japan were.

Next, we took the Ginza line to Shibuya station. If you've ever seen the movie "Hachiko," with Richard Gere, then this statue will mean something to you. The movie is about a Japanese legend in which a dog (Hachi) dutifully followed his master to the Shibuya station every morning and waited there until he returned from work. One day, however, the master didn't return from work. Hachi waited and waited for the master, but the master had died. Hachi eventually parished, as well, waiting for his master. This statue sits right outside an exit at Shibuya station. The exit that leads you to one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo.



The intersection, known as Shibuya Intersection, has three roads that intersect. On top of that, it has three roads and a subway station's worth of people crossing at about 7 different crosswalks. First, the cars from two lanes go. Then, they're stopped and ALL of the pedestrians are allowed to walk. The first picture is of me on the ground. The second is of the cars being allowed to go. The third is of the people walking. The latter two were taken from the second floor of the Starbucks behind me in the first.


One road of cars being directed.



A whole bunch of people. The phenomenon was that there were this many people (or more) crossing every few minutes when they'd let the people cross!

By now, our feet were very tired and we were getting very hungry again. Yuko wanted us to see the Park Hyatt Tokyo's New York Bar because it is where parts of the movie, Lost in Translation, was filmed. We got to the hotel at around 3:30 pm, and the bar didn't open until 5 pm. So we remained in the hotel's window garden restaurant, until 5 pm. We each had a beer and caught these amazing views of Tokyo by day!

We all ordered Asahi beer. It is brewed in Tokyo. Yuko pointed out the brewery when we were in Asakusa. It had this poop shaped structure on the building, that's actually a really ugly yellow-brown color. It's known as the poo building. It's hilarious. She pointed it out after we left the temple the night before and it was too dark for me to get a good picture. Google: Asakusa Asahi Breweries and search images. It's a treat. The beer doesn't look like poo, though!

The bar finally opened and we made our way up. We ordered another round of over priced Asahi, and by then the sun was setting. I got some evening shots of the table at which Lost in Translation was filmed and some views of Tokyo at night.




We had to leave by 7 to avoid paying a fee for the live music ($20/person!), so we walked back to the subway and went to some area of town that I can't remember the name of, but Yuko and Zach had eaten there the night before we arrived and he was RAVING about how cool the place was. He was right (don't tell him). Everything was much older looking and there were mazes of alleys only big enough for walkers and scooters. Little restaunts were everywhere. We thought this one looked appealing from the outside:

So, we went in. The menu was all in Japanese, so Yuko made all of our decisions for us. In the top left corner is squid ink, which is a delicacy in Korea, too. The course in the middle was our favorite, fried balls of yummy goodness. There was chicken in the middle and then was surrounded by a cornbread/dough situation and then fried. The food served in this restaurant was not traditional Tokyo food, but Okinawa. I find it akin to eating Tex-Mex in Fort Wayne, still American but not going to be the best Tex-Mex in the world - you only find that in Texas. After this meal, I want to go to Okinawa. This food was amazing! If it's this good in Tokyo, I can't imagine what it's like there!

We parted ways after dinner to find our beds and rest up for our trip to the fish market in the morning to eat some sushi!

Tokyo - Day 3.... coming right up! (weak stomach's beware!)

Tokyo! - Day 1

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of traveling to Tokyo, Japan for the weekend (in case you weren't aware) with Liz and Zach. Liz and I left Dongbaek on the airport bus at around 7:00 a.m. and arrived at the Seoul airport around 9 am as traffic was pretty bad. We checked in with no problems, cleared immigration, and made it to our gate for our 11:05 am flight without any problems. Zach flew on Friday because he was able to get on an earlier flight for free because his dad works for United!

Here we are on Liz's third ever plane ride! (Her first and second were on her way to move to Korea for a year! Isn't she the bravest?)

Upon arrival in Japan, clearance of immigration and customs, we followed Zach's instructions to buy a calling card, call his friend Yuko Ono on her cell phone, and let them know when we would be arriving at Shinjuku station to meet them. Zach had e-mailed us upon his arrival in Tokyo letting us know that he wouldn't be meeting us at the airport and gave us instructions on how to get to Shinjuku station, where he would meet us. We did so, boarded our train and got comfortable for our 1.5 hour train ride into Tokyo.

Here are some of our fellow passengers. The swine flu masks are hilarious to me. I want to pull them down, cough, in their face and say: "You live in one of the most densely populated cities in the world! The mask won't save you!" But, they wouldn't understand me because they don't speak English, so I don't say anything I just laugh inside.

We met Zach and Yuko at Shinjuku station by a stroke of luck/utter genius common sense. You see, when we called Yuko's cell phone, she didn't answer so we left a message saying we were boarding the 3:15 fast train and would meet them at the platform at 4:40. Zach told us in his e-mail that the fast train left once in hour at quarter after and was 1:25 minutes long. Turns out, we bought cheaper tickets on the slower train, but it left at 2:45. We arrived at Shinjuku station at 4:30, and had no idea where to go because we took a different train than we had been instructed by Zach's e-mail. As I searched dutifully for it, I realized I had left my notebook with Yuko's phone number and the calling card by the payphone at the airport. Basically, we were both on the verge of panic, but had to go to the bathroom really badly. So, we found the nearest toilet, but it was the squatter kind so I refused and walked back out into the main lobby to think up a plan. I wanted to come up with one and pretend to be calm before Liz returned from the bathroom. Then, like a flash of lightening my eyes fell on one of the 18 million signs that directed passengers to the 18 million subway lines that met at this station. The one that caught my attention had an arrow pointing up an escalator and the words next to it said: Airport Express Bus. We followed the arrows until we found the terminal that we should have been on in the first place. We also found Zach, just as the train he told us to be on rolled in! It was PERFECT!!!! We saved $20 on train tickets and had no problems finding him! I keep thinking about what would have happened if I hadn't refused to use the squatters...

Yuko and Zach took us straight to our capsule hotel on Akebonobashi. It was two stops up on the subway so it only took us about 10 minutes to get there. We stayed at the Ace Inn Shinjuku. We paid for two nights, received our keys, and made our way up to our "rooms." My bed number was 608 and Liz's was 614 (Zach stayed with Yuko in her itty bitty apartment). We had NO idea what to expect. This is what we saw.

The rooms:

Me in cozy 608:

These are the sinks we used to brush our teeth, etc. There were surprisingly clean showers on the first floor we could use for 100 yen (about $1) for ten minutes. Behind these sinks, were about 6 bathroom stalls with normal western toilets! Well, almost normal. Japan has lots of fancy buttons on their toilets. Many come equipped with heated seats, and automatic bidets and dryers. Kind of shocks you a bit at first!

Here are the lockers. Each bed is assigned one. Your room numbers correspond with the locker number. We shoved all of our stuff in, and made our way back downstairs to Zach and Yuko. We had no idea where we were going, but hoped dinner was in store!

We headed for Asakusa, where we pretended to not be as hungry as we were as we made our way to Nakamise-Dori, which is the road leading to Senso-ji Temple. Today, it is lined with touristy sounvenir shops, but it is symbolic of the food and travel item shops that lined the street when people of long ago and not so long ago would make pilgrimmages to the temple. Here we are at the beginning of the road: Liz, Molly, Zach (Jack)

Here is the north-facing side of the first gate to the temple (Hozoman). It was absolutely beautiful. This gate has been rebuilt a few times because of destructions from wars and fires, but is now built to be fire-proof, so all of the relics and the important documents from the temple are stored in the upper story of this gate.

Once through the gate, to the immediate right was a five-storied pagoda. I don't know much more about it, except that it looked really cool and it's five-storied pagoda.

In the foreground of this photo is a large stove of sorts that burns incense all the time. The smoke from the incense is to help heal and strengthen wherever you shoo the smoke. Yuko said if you had a headache, or wanted to be smarter, you'd waft the smoke to your head. She also mentioned that she wafts the smoke to her breasts regularly, and they haven't grown yet. In the background is the south-facing side of the Hozoman. The actual temple was under construction and was all boarded up so we didn't get to see it. Normally, this might have bothered me, but I was STARVING!

Yuko grew up in Asakusa so we went to one of her favorite restaurants. I have no idea what the name of it was, or if it even had one, but here is what it looked like on the outside:

Liz Teacher and Molly Teacher are all smiles despite their growling stomachs:

Jack Teacher poored us some sake, which warmed our empty stomachs right up. I prefer it to Korean soju, I think, as it has a bit more of a wine flavor to it. They also serve it warmed or cold, which is fun to mix things up.

Our meal consisted of a few different trays, mostly varieties of chicken. We also ordered some eel and rice, and some pasta. It was delicious and I gobbled it too fast to actually pay attention to what any of it was. Sorry.

Next, we headed to Roppongi. Roppongi is an area of town that is known for it's nightlife. We passed a karaoke bar and I snapped a shot to show you how tall it was! Karaoke is a Japanese word. "Kara" means empty and "oke" means orchestra. The "karaoke bars" in Japan and Korea (they are called noribongs here) are actually just karaoke rooms that you rent out with your friends. Each room as a karaoke machine that keeps score. The building's also have a bar where you can buy refreshments, beer and snacks if you'd like. We skipped it in Japan, because we had just been to one in Korea on Wednesday and were still trying to get our voices back. Here's the one we passed:

Yuko wanted us to go to Roppongi because it was her favorite view of Tokyo Tower. I loved it, too. I was shooting pics of it the whole time we were there. Roppongi was SO BUSY! Here's one of them:

We strolled around Roppongi, ignoring cat calls from foreigners and then made our way to Tokyo Midtown. It had this really interesting piece of architecture so I snapped a shot as we all stopped to rest our feet for a bit.

Then, we went our separate ways home. Liz and I made it back with no problems and a subway map. We were exhausted and were to meet Zach and Yuko at 10 am the next day, so we scurried home and crashed in our little bedrooms. It's funny how traveling wears you out so much!

Tokyo! - Day 2 coming soon!

Chuseok at School

On Thursday, October 1, we had a Chuseok celebration for the kindergartners at school. I showed you the picture below a few days ago, but I wanted to remind you how cute all the kids look in their traditional Korean wear. The girls' dresses are called "hambuls." I have no idea what the boys' outfits are called, but I'll look into it.

I borrowed the following passage from Wikipedia.com to help describe what the holiday is all about. Our boss, James, refers to it as Korean Thanksgiving. It seems that that is an appropriate title to draw a comparison from.

Chuseok (Korean: 추석), originally known as Hangawee (한가위) (from archaic Korean for "great middle"), is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food. One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits.

All the kids in their traditional dress:

Liz Teacher's class with my class (Jasmine, Grace, Amy, Jina, and Aisha):

Grace and Jasmine in their hambuls.

My girls showing me the traditional reverent bow. If you've ever been Good Friday service at a Catholic church and cringed when you saw the priest just kind of drop to the ground, that's what it looked like!

My class combined with Jack Teacher's class for the day. Instead of having class, we participated in the creation of numerous traditional treats and games. We started with coloring Korean masks.

Grace and Jasmine coloring away:

From left to right: Michelle with her completed mask, the masks, Rachel with her completed mask.

Then, we made ddakgi with old newspaper.

It is a game where you have two flat squares of paper. You leave one on the ground and you try to flip it with the other one by throwing it very hard against the one on the ground. Here's Jasmine trying:

Then we made jeagi chakis out of tissue paper and one coin. These are used like American hackey sack.


Evan showing the class how to do it:

Then, we made songpyeon. You start with the rice cake dough in a ball as on the left. Then, you make them into a dish shape like Belle is doing in the middle. Then you fill them with ground soy and sugar, as on the right.

Then you push the ends up and together to seal the filling in.

And they look like this:

Grace got pretty bored after a while.

Susan steamed them for us and we had them with lunch!

At the end of the day, we all went to the gym to play traditional Korean games. We started with an arm wrestling tournament...

... and ended with tug-o-war. This picture is of John Teacher vs. his whole class. He won.

It was a very fun, easy day. I had a blast participating a bit in this traditional Korean holiday! Liz, Dustin and I visited a temple with Irene, her daughter, and Susan and her family the next day (Friday). That will be the topic of my next post! I'm going to give you Tokyo in pieces after that, once I get all my pictures uploaded!

Happy Chuseok!

Oh, and Grandma Rowan.... I haven't gotten to call you yet because of the time difference (it's either too late at night or too early in the morning), but I hope you had a VERY happy birthday and I will call this weekend!