Christmas 2011: Japan with Jaime (Day 4)

We got up early my last day there, had breakfast, and went to an internet café to skype our parents. Once again, however, things did not go as planned. This specific internet café had glacial-paced internet, and skype was not downloaded onto the computers. This makes sense, though, given the fact that it lacked webcams as well. About fifteen minutes later, we gave up on that, grabbed an international calling card, and called home from a payphone. 

My trip back to the airport and ride home couldn’t have gone more smoothly, though. The guy next to me on the plane spoke perfect English and was super helpful. He helped me find a bus that would take me from the airport back to Ansan, and even waited outside with me to make sure I got on okay.

When I write it all down, it sounds a bit hectic and frustrating. When it was actually happening, however, it was just really comical. I’m super glad I spent Christmas with Jaime…and I think all the chaos kept us busy enough that we didn’t have time to get homesick. 

Christmas 2011: Japan with Jaime (Day 3)

Christmas Day
Christmas Day started off pretty late again. We went out for a perfect Christmas brunch at a small café/restaurant not far from our hostel, and then set off for a smaller town (still huge, though) called Nara. This place is famous for free-range deer that will walk right up to you and eat straight from your hand. We thought it sounded Christmasy enough to feed deer small, so off we went. We hit up another temple first, with the biggest Buddha statue in Japan (the world? Japan? I don’t remember), and then took out our cameras for the deer experience. It was pretty wild. The deer are a bit aggressive, and one bit and slobbered all over my jacket. 

One the way back to Osaka we planned on going to a spa. We got off the train at the stop closest to SpaWorld, and figured we could find somewhere to have Christmas dinner along the way. Ok. So, it was a good thing we had a peaceful, quaint Christmas breakfast, because our dinner was anything but such. We apparently stopped in the most ghetto neighborhood in Japan. We had a hard time finding a decent restaurant, but eventually settled for one out of sheer hunger and coldness. The food was good…nothing like some good ole sushi on Christmas (actually, it was exactly what I was in the mood for)…but the environment left a bit to be desired. The drunk table next to us kept asking us, via charades, if we had any cigarettes. And a heavily intoxicated man from another table approached us on his way out and asked in broken English where we were from and if we were “a pair.” Alright. 

Then there was the spa. The communal, nude bath house. Once we stopped giggling about how awkward it was, it was actually amazing. It was the perfect thing to do after being cold all day, and was actually super rejuvenating. There were wooden-barrel baths, stone baths, middle-eastern baths, a steam room, a salt scrub room, and even outdoor baths that had giant tea bags in them. It felt like I was in a giant cup of peppermint and jasmine tea. Well, I guess I kind of was. While in the salt scrub room, a handful of Japanese women about our age knew enough English to explain what to do with the giant goblet of salt in the middle of the room. I appreciated their help, but it was definitely a new experience to converse with complete strangers, in a well-lit room, completely in the buff. We ended our time there with a massage, and then headed to the train station.

After buying our non-refundable tickets, we were informed that our train didn’t run again until 4 a.m. Interesting. Thankfully the taxi ride was pretty cheap. 

Christmas 2011: Japan with Jaime (Day 2)

Day number two started around noon. 


Sleeping in on vacation was absolutely necessary.  We got a yummy brunch, and then hit up a beautiful Buddhist temple. 

 

Then we decided to go shopping. Jaime wanted to pick up a dress for New Years, and there was an awesome street full of stores and restaurants right along the water. We were on a mission to have a certain type of noodles and tempura for dinner, but we couldn't find a restaurant that served it for the life of us. We were just about to give up when a Japanese man tried to give me a flyer to somewhere. I usually take the fliers and just dump them off somewhere else, but Jaime laughed at me for taking them often enough that I finally decided to blow the guy off. But then low and behold, he said the word “tempura” and got our attention again. We followed him down an alley and found the exact type of restaurant we were looking for!

At the end of the night we were planning on doing some karaoke, but were too exhausted. We ended up just chilling with some of the other travelers at our hostel and exchanged stories. 

Christmas 2011: Japan with Jaime (Night 1)

 Jaime has been in Japan for a while now, but I’m pretty sure this was her first time to Osaka, which made getting around a bit interesting. 


She knew we needed to take the train to get from the airport to our hostel, and that it was about an hour away. Ironing out the details was a bit complicated though. To make a long story short, it took us about two and half hours to get there. Why did it take us so long? Well, we managed to lose the paper the directions were scribbled down on (actually, pretty much our whole weekend itinerary was mapped out) while waiting at the train station. We realized this as we frantically searched for them when it came time to transfer trains. I had thankfully written down our hostel address and phone number though, so Jaime was able to call them for directions. We called them a grand total of five times, in the midst of taking three wrong trains and getting off at a completely random station. 

I'm going to cut us a little slack, however, given that the directions were given to us accordingly: “Get off at Tsunsurro (or something to that extent) stop. Then exit the station, turn to the right, and go down the street with lots of colorful lights and people. You will see a Mr. Doughnuts. We are next to that.” Ok. First of all, pretty much every street in Osaka is bright and colorful and heavily populated. Second of all, all of the stops sound the same. Tsunsuro, Tsunshimmi, Tsunsushi, etc. Nonetheless, we tried our best and got off at a stop that sounded right. We exited the station, turned right, and went down what we perceived to be the brightest street. When we didn’t come across a Mr. Doughnuts we stopped and asked a street vendor where it was. He looked at us like we were crazy. So, we went back to the station. We called our hostel back to double check the stop. Go figure, we were at the wrong one. So, we asked again, how do you pronounce it? Um…right. Heavy accent, confusing syllables. Tsunsurro, Tsunshimi, Tsunsushi??? We asked him to spell it. The first letter he said was M. What the heck.

We eventually made it to the right stop. Exhausted and carrying heavy bags, we decided not to risk it and just hopped in a taxi. The taxi driver didn’t recognize the name of the hostel though. This was not looking good. So, once again, we called the hostel. When we gave the phone to the taxi driver, he talked for about 30 seconds and then started laughing, glancing back at us periodically. It cost us $7 to drive one block. We were apparently right next to it.

Given that we were so excited to see each other, though, all of this was actually quite funny to us. Thankfully.

We dropped our bags off at the hostel, freshened up a bit, and then decided to head over to a Christmas festival and sight-seeing tower to take in the view of the city. As we’re standing outside our hostel, trying to make sense of our map, two Japanese men asked if we needed help. They ended up taking us to the festival, seeing the sights with us, and showed us a great little tavern-style restaurant where they ordered all the traditional foods…including some very questionably-textured raw seafood dishes. At the end of the night, they helped us get back to the hostel, and bid farewell. Completely random, but fun and helpful.

Needless to say, we crashed into a deep sleep the first night.

The Issue of Nationality

A Quick, Entertaining Story

I've been asked three times in the last two weeks if I am a Russian woman by various cab drivers.  I found this intriguing. I mentioned it to a friend, and he informed me that most Russian women here are prostitutes. Um... Ok. So either they ask every foreign female they see, with hopes of getting lucky...or I need to change my style of clothing.  (It's winter, however, so I'm typically bundled up in a jacket and mittens.  I don't think it's my clothing.) 

That leads me to one other thing.  Many of my students here...and cab drivers...and random people I meet...are all very entertained by my mittens.  I'm not sure why.  I bought them here in Korea.  But they all ask me, via charades, if they are oven mitts.  Perfect.  I guess my sense of fashion isn't up to par here. 

South Korea

So, I've been in South Korea for just over 3 months now and figured that maybe...just maybe... it's time to update my blog.  It's kind of overwhelming to try and capture all of the highlights of my experience so far, but I'll hit on at least a few key points to bring everything up to date.


I've looked through the documents on my computer, and came across a journal entry I made on the flight over here.  It reads as follows:

What I’ve Noticed So Far… (And what has been the theme the past three months here.)

...is that things have a way of magically working out.

A Few Examples:

A new computer, with a webcam and all the bells and whistles to make Skyping easier, showed up the day before I left for Korea.  (Thanks!)

Also, I forgot how to get to the employee parking lot of the Milwaukee Airport...where I was supposed to drop of my dad's car and catch my flight.  Literally within two minutes of needing to make a lane change decision, my dad called and confirmed the route.  (Keep in mind, this was at 3am... perfect timing!)

Then, the shuttle (that Dad didn’t even think was running that early in the morning) showed up right behind me after I parked, and asked if I wanted a ride.  I hadn't even gotten two parking spots from Dad’s car!

And I've had no delays with my flights, and no problems with security or anything so far.

Some Perks of Traveling with Asiana Air
The plane comes with accommodations!

• Slippers
• A warm wash cloth
• Red wine
• Water
• My choice of a Western or Korean meal (The Western meal sold me when it came with chocolate cake.
• And a second meal after that: spicy octopus…huh. (They ran out of the Western option by the time they got to me...I guess it's time to start eating like a Korean!)

From doing a little people-watching, I've concluded that they...well, at least the Korean people on my flight... are incredibly helpful.  In fact, they almost compete with each other to see who is more helpful and polite.  Example: A lady dropped her blanket and pillow in the airplane and the flight attendant rushed over to help her.  When the lady saw she was coming, she tried to rush to grab it herself.  Then the woman actually offered it to the flight attendant (just in case she wanted it?).

My only complaint right now, besides missing home like none other, and being incredibly tired…is that I wish my cup of water was bigger.  I’m rather dehydrated.  (It turns out that will be a complaint my entire time here...they have very small cups compared to America - and they only fill them halfway.)  If those are my biggest concerns, however, I think I’m doing ok.

Concluding Thoughts 

I keep going back and forth between a mixture of straight up fear and near panic about submerging myself in a culture so foreign, with a language I know nothing about…and excitement and almost laughter that I’ve put myself in such an adventuresome situation again.   Korea.  Who would have ever thought.  

(A quick side note: I had a four hour layover in the Chicago airport, and given the fact that I didn't sleep at all the night prior, I decided to take a nap.  When I fell asleep, I was in a completely empty terminal.  When I woke up, I was surrounded by about 50-100 people speaking very fast Korean.  I'm pretty sure I was the only foreigner about to board that flight.  Either way, it was an intense way to wake up and a fairly accurate segue into the next year of my life.  It was also a bit unsettling.)

With that being said, thank goodness for Skype!  Not the same, but being able to see my family will be fun.  And I can show them my apartment.  And I can see how everyone grows and changes.  Hopefully that will make Christmas away from home a bit easier.  I wonder how the plans with Jaime will work out.

As for now, I need to get some sleep.  I hope I don’t sleep through the meal.