Love Ballads and an Ostrich

Little Campus

I've been a kindergarten-elementary school teacher for three days now.  Day one, I showed up having no idea what to expect.

 First things first, you can't wear shoes in the building.  I was given a pair of slippers to wear.  The "no-shoes" rule seems to be very common in Korea.







That morning I sat in on two classes and after lunch, with no training, I was thrown into the deep end.  My first class was one of the classes from the regular kindergarten who we see once a day.  They spoke no English.  They asked me question after question in Korean and I just sort of stared at them.  It didn't help my classroom control at all.  Any time I told them to sit down or be quiet they just looked at each other and continued.  They had no idea what I was saying to them.

I did have one little girl on my side in that class.  Any time I yelled at one of the misbehaving boys, she got up from her chair, smacked the boy across the head, and sat back down.  I had to fight back my smile; it was hilarious.  Completely inconducive to my goal of calmness in the classroom.  But hilarious.  







Day two was a little rough as well.  First, in the morning, the director took me to the Immigration Office in attempts to apply for my alien registration card (ARC card).  He spoke no English.  We had our phones out speaking into google translate in attempts to understand one another.  It was sort of futile.  Made for a very silent car ride.  And I couldn't even apply for my ARC card.  I needed the medical check up first.

The class I had after lunch was awful.  I had to separate three of the kids.  I don't really understand why kids just feel the need to poke, prod, and annoy one another.  I had one more little boy that could just not keep quiet and it was as though he were being repelled by his chair, springing into the air every two seconds.


After school, the teachers invited Alan and I to go out to Korean barbecue with them.  No shoes again. We sat on mats on the floor and they brought out buckets of charcoal that were placed into holes in the tables so we could cook our own meat.  

Throughout the dinner, I watched my supervisor, my director, and a couple of the teachers throw back beer after beer.  My supervisor is rather rambunctious sober.  Her volume level just increased from there.  I'd read about co-workers and even their bosses going out and getting drunk together in Korea, but I didn't think I'd ever experience it.




When we finished dinner, everyone said they were going to a "norebang".  A karaoke room.  So Alan and I tagged along.  The first thing that happened upon arriving was the appearance of more alcohol.  The evening overall was amusing and enjoyable.  It was a good way to break the ice.  Or shatter it, rather.





Today, day three, I had to go to the Ulsan City Hospital for the medical exam.  It was a rather humiliating process.  The nurse I was with was pleasant enough. But overall the place was not clean and I felt like an animal being tested.



Teaching today was a little better.  I discovered that if I stop mid-sentence and do nothing but stare at the misbehaving child, it works wonders.  I also discovered that the younger the class, the less effective this is.

During lunch today, one of the teachers told me that the school had an ostrich.  A real ostrich?  From Africa?  Yes.  I didn't believe her.  Guess what.

My kindergarten has a pet....ostrich.

The school actually has dozens of animals.  No others quite so exotic, but they have chickens, rabbits, peacocks, ducks, birds, fish, and dogs.  And puppies!!

It's like a zoo.  I love it.  :)

Some more observations about Korea.

- Traffic rules are a mere suggestion.  Red lights stop no one. Other cars occasionally do.
- Jay walking isn't really a thing here.  In fact, it might cost you your life.  See previous.

Visas, Birthday Suits, and a New Home

So, I'd like to say that, after all the stress and worry and extra cash the E2 confirmation number caused by showing up late, I think it was worth it.  Japan was an amazing and beautiful country and I can't wait to go back someday.  While there, the visa process even seemed sort of secondary.  I dropped my passport off on Wednesday which took just a few minutes.  They told me to come back the next day at 1:30pm.  I showed up, expecting it to take some time to finish the proceedings.  But they had my passport waiting there, showed me my picture and asked if it was me, and handed it to me.  Couldn't have been easier.  My passport, however, feels infinitely more valuable after all of the legalities and time that went into that visa.  I treasure it dearly.


So after the two minutes it took to grab my visa, I got to cross something off of my bucket list.  Alan and I traveled an hour and a half up into the mountains of Japan to visit an onsen.  We found a few blogs online about the Ajisai No Yu onsen, here and here.  One of the blogs suggested calling ahead to see if they were opened.   So Alan called and they spoke absolutely no English.  But someone answered, so we assumed that meant they were open.

So we grabbed a train to the Yahata station about an hour away.  There's a free shuttle bus that shows up to the bus stop I think every 20-40 minutes or so.  (Probably whatever a round trip from the onsen takes).  We got lucky and the bus happened to show up 2 minutes after we got there.  Which is good because we had no idea where to wait.

The bus is pretty discernible and looks like this. 

The view on the way through the mountains was beautiful and really got me excited for the hot springs.

So we got there and had no idea what to do.  I took a few steps inside and was pleasantly greeted by an angry Japanese woman indicating that I should take my shoes off.  

We kind of just stood there a while until we figured out that you have to buy your admission tickets at a sort of vending machine.  They cost about 800 yen ($8) each.  You can also buy things like shampoos, towels, hairbrushes, etc for extra fees.  We gave our tickets to the above mentioned Japanese lady who now was actually pleasant after we had removed our shoes and she gestured that we should go downstairs.  

Down the stairs, you'll find the entrances to the male and female baths.  In blogs, I had read that ladies generally go through the red curtain and men the blue, but we waited to watch someone go in to be sure.  They have private baths for couples or families that you can rent out, but that defeats the purpose of experiencing an onsen, right?  I can bathe with my husband at home.  It's not every day that I have to don my birthday suit in public and bathe with the old Japanese ladies.  So Alan and I said our goodbyes and respectively headed inside. 

There's a locker room immediately upon entering that you stow your possessions in.  The lockers cost 100 yen but they spit your coin back at you when you put the key back in the locker so you don't really pay anything. As an ex-swimmer, wearing very little clothing and having things hanging out that generally shouldn't was nothing new, so walking around naked didn't perturb me much.  Walking into the bathing area to find all the 60+ year old women was the more troubling part.  It's a quick shock, but the appeal of the baths dissipates it quickly.  You're all there to enjoy the same thing.  

Now, onsen etiquette rule number 1.  You DO NOT go into the baths without scrubbing off first.  You all have to share that water, you'd better be clean getting in.  So there are two rows of little faucet stations with little stools to sit on and buckets to rinse yourself with.  They have body soap, shampoo, and conditioner provided (for the ladies at least.  Alan will have to speak for the men).  After you've scrubbed off, there are various baths and saunas that you can enjoy.  Alan said that inside, there was also a cool bath, but I never found that one on the lady's side. I just went right outside, which was glorious.  It was quiet-just the gentle hum of cicadas and I could see the mountains all around me.  It made me realize that my mind had been nothing but a train engine for the past week.  Loud and constantly chugging.  It felt great to settle down a bit.  

After you've finished with your bathing and you've dressed, there's a waiting area directly outside the locker area that has massage chairs and foot massage machines that can be used for a few hundred yen.  

Upstairs, there's a rest area that you can go to do whatever (nap, read, talk quietly, etc) and a restaurant on the third floor.  The good thing about the restaurant was that it also used vending machine tickets.  The waitresses spoke no English, so we just had to match the picture of what we wanted to the correct ticket to purchase and wallah!  Food!    

Even though the commute was very expensive and time consuming, it was definitely worth it.  Even if visiting an onsen wasn't something on my bucket list, it's still a great experience that I'd recommend for anyone.  Totally worth it. 

So Friday, we got back on the ferry to Busan, Korea and stayed the night there.  We found a great Thai place online that we sought out.  It's kind of nice to know that no matter where you go in the world, Pad Thai is pretty much the same.  :D They also served us plum tea for desert in really decorative cups.  It was delicious.  Sweetest tea I've ever had.  

On our way back past Busan Station to the hotel, there was a water/light show going on.  They had music playing and the water/light was synced to it.  It was really pretty and aesthetically pleasing to those who enjoy synesthetic experiences.

We got back to Ulsan this morning and met with our landlords.  Chung (whose first name is actually Youn-Jo I discovered) helped us with translation and took us to the store to buy a few essentials.  So we're all moved in now.  We have a home.  We have a washer (Koreans don't use dryers), fridge, stove, functioning bathroom, internet, tv, and AC.  We have no furnishings yet though.  So we'll be sleeping on the floor for a bit.  But Korean mattresses are notoriously hard as concrete, so I don't think I'll notice a difference from the beds I've been sleeping on.  XD  It's just good to not be homeless anymore.  

The view from outside our window

Cross Country Adventures

The last few days have been quite something.  And I learned a lot very quickly.  Particularly about what to look for when you want to book a hotel.  Location location location!

Monday, we grabbed a taxi to Seoul Station for the KTX train ride to Ulsan.

Map of South Korea.  You can see Seoul in the top left and Ulsan in the bottom right.  It's about a three hour express train ride.  

 It took us an hour and a half to get tickets because Alan tried to get us a $130 discount that a quirk ended up making us ineligible for.  :(  Worth a shot though.  When the train arrived, we thought we had lost the tickets we just spent so long trying to get. That was a nice panic attack before we found them again.  After getting off the train, we realized that our hotel was all the way across Ulsan.  It was probably after 10pm by this time.  We took a 45 minute bus ride to the general area and then spent a half hour dragging everything we own to the hotel.  The wrong hotel. (It happened to have the same company name).  My heart sort of sank when the front desk guy told us. But he took a look at the mass amounts of luggage we had and said he'd drive us.  He was heading home anyways.  When we pulled up and got out of the car, the entire street reeked of beer and alcohol.  And a drunkard came stumbling down the street.  And the hotel had no elevator.  The manager there came outside and with wide eyes said, "one night?  All of this, one night?"  He helped us get everything upstairs.  My first lesson in hotel booking.  Get a place near a bus/train station.  And make sure it's not in some drunken alley somewhere.

Lesson number 2 in hotel booking.  Make sure it's near where you want to go.  Just because the hotel is in "Ulsan" doesn't mean it will be anywhere near where you want to go.  The next morning, we got a taxi to take us all the way across Ulsan again.  We were meeting UNIST's International Center guy who was helping us get settled in.

Here's a general map of Ulsan.  The KTX train station is right smack dab in the middle of Ulju.  Our hotel was located all the way in Dong.  UNIST is also in Ulju, sort of near the train station.  I couldn't have picked a farther hotel.. lesson learned.  

Chung (that's his name) spoke wonderful English and took us out apartment hunting.  We actually got lucky.  The first place we went to was brand new, no previous tenants, and has an amazing view.  It's actually much nicer than the place I lived at in Cleveland for a year.  The landlords both spoke absolutely no English and were absolutely thrilled whenever I said "kamsahmida" (thanks).  The female landlord would sort of chuckle and I'm pretty sure mutter something like "Awe, look!  She can say thank you!"  Chung translated everything for us.  And we signed the contract.  The rent is not bad.  Less than what I paid in Cleveland.  But the deposit is a monster.  In America, the security deposit is typically equal to your first month's rent.  In Korea, it's anywhere between $5000-$10,000 USD.  Ours was $5000 USD.  It's a lot to cough up at once, but you can sort of think of it as a long term savings that you just can't touch until you move out! 

It was probably about 1 at this point.  We booked it back to the KTX train station.  It was time to head to Japan.  We took the 20 min train to Busan.  We got on the 1:21pm train.  Now, the internet says that you need you be at the International Ferry Terminal at least an hour in advance to boarding the ferry.  In fact, Alan read somewhere that they stop check-in at that one hour mark.  We started to realize that we weren't going to make it.  Dread began to creep into my chest.  This was our only shot at a visa run and these ferry tickets run about $200 USD a piece.  This wasn't something we wanted to miss.  

When we got to Busan, we had to hop on the metro to the next station over.  We had no idea which metro that was.  None of the workers spoke English either.  I had my handy dandy binder though with general directions and such.  I showed one of the elderly male workers the name of the place and he sort of gently took my arm and directed me.  

We got off the metro and the only directions I had were "walk towards the water".  We were surrounded by giant buildings.  Where the hell was the water??  Alan, being a human gps, found our bearings and got us there.  It was about 2:20pm when we got to the check-in counter.  We were supposed to be there before 2pm.  I was prepared to beg, but it wasn't necessary.  The lady took our reservation voucher and our passports, checked us in, and gave us our tickets.  All that worry for nothing.  

The ferry ride to Fukuoka, Japan was about three hours and was pretty awesome.  I fell asleep most of the way, but it was my first time being out on a boat in open water.  And when we started nearing Japan, the islands are absolutely beautiful.  It was nearing sunset too.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I wish I would have grabbed a picture, but I'll try on the way back.

You can see Busan in the background

Open ocean water

After getting through immigration, we hopped on a bus to Hakata Station.  Thankfully the city has free wifi in all the metro stations that can be used for 15 min at a time.  Yay google maps!  We hopped on the metro to Nakasu Kawabata and found our hotel.  I think we've discovered that our first hotel was more of the exception to typical Korean/Japanese hotels in terms of spaciousness.  Our current hotel (IP City Hotel Fukuoka) has a bed and just enough walk space to walk by it.  The Ulsan hotel wasn't much larger.  It's not a bad hotel by any means though.  Just small.  

Something I haven't mentioned yet about Korean/Japanese toilets.  They wash your butt.  No joke.  The Koreans especially are very particular about their hygiene and wiping yourself with a piece of paper until it comes back clean doesn't cut it for them.  It squirts a jet of water at your intimate areas and then dries you with warm air.  

Various toilet functions

I tried it once.  I've felt too violated since then to have another go at it.  Alan tells me that the one at Tria Hotel in Seoul even has a jet that moves in circles.  

Now, I booked the Ulsan and Fukuoka hotels somewhat together.  So I am being forced to learn the same lesson twice.  Location location location.  IP City Hotel happens to be located in Fukuoka's red light district.  

The view down the street from our hotel

There were "gentlemen's clubs" lining both sides of the street and the street was full of Japanese businessmen and ladies with their bust squashed as far up and prominent as possible.  I thought it was hilarious.  Alan wasn't as appreciative.  XD

Today we made it to the Korean consulate and they accepted my visa application.  I will pick up my shiny new visa tomorrow afternoon!  We wandered around for a bit after putting in my application and we found a small mall with an arcade.  The arcade was two floors and was absolutely awesome.  Now, it took us a second to realize when we had reached the "adult" arcade.  And you can see why.

That woman is gambling.  On a Mario Party game.  Japan. 

We had a really good time looking around the arcade.  A lot of the machines had anime figurines that you could win.  Some even had food.  

Now here are some immediate observations (and comparisons to Korea) about Japan (based off of the city of Fukuoka)

• Japan is significantly more liberal than Korea.  (But we already knew that) 

• Japanese men seem to be much hairier than Korean men.  Many of the Korean men I saw had absolutely no facial hair and very little to no leg hair.  Japanese men have loads of leg hair and facial hair is not uncommon.  

• Korean men all seem to have the same short haircut.  Japanese men have many various hairstyles and a lot have decently long hair too.  

• The clothing is much more liberal in Japan than Korea. Just check out how Koreans dress at the beach.   http://ulsanonline.com/Travel/?p=729

• No one rides bikes in Korea.  It's too hilly.  Everyone rides bikes in Japan.  At least in Fukuoka.

• In Korea, everywhere you go in Seoul, the signs are brightly colored, everywhere, in your face, and pretty much overwhelming.  This is not the case in Fukuoka.

• Japan seems to have a calmer feel to it.  The atmosphere feels more relaxed.  

• No one stares at us in Japan.  I don't know what the difference is, because we're probably even more of a minority in Fukuoka than Seoul, but no one even looks twice.  Anywhere I went in Korea, people just stared.  

• Korea is very cheap.  Japan is very expensive. 

• Korea is very very humid.  Japan is just very very hot.  

• The Japanese are not obsessed with cosmetic surgery like I found in Korea.  Most of the ads I saw going places were for plastic surgery in Seoul.  I haven't seen a single one in Fukuoka.  

So far, we've had quite the adventure.  We made it from the USA to Seoul to Ulsan to Busan to Fukuoka.  In a week.  I'm beat.  But I'm loving it.  

More Observations

I have some more observations about Seoul.

• Because I'm white, everyone automatically assumes I want help or that I'm lost.  I've got a human gps (Alan).  I'm good guys.  XD

• I would never ever want to drive a car here.  And you'd have to be clinically insane to be a bus driver.  I'm pretty sure I've been nearly killed just walking around.  Koreans are the most aggressive drivers I've ever seen.  

• I'm pretty sure that everyone smokes.  If you go on the streets during lunch time, you might choke.  

• Koreans must be camels or something.  I wrote last time about the weather being so hot and humid.  It's close to 90 degrees F here, and everyone's wearing loads of clothing.  There are no water fountains anywhere.  Again, how are they not overheating or becoming dehydrated??

• It's amazing when you have a language barrier how much can be communicated through a look, facial expression, or a gesture.  

I'm currently at Seoul Station about to board a train towards Ulsan.  We're still homeless for the moment, but are hoping to go apartment hunting in the morning before heading to Japan.  And boy, I thought Korea was intimidating where I can at least read the alphabet and sound out words.  Japan will be even worse since I can't read anything and speak even less Japanese than I do Korean.  We're going to try out an onsen while we're there though.  I'm so excited.  Huge Japanese custom.  It'll be awesome.  

I've also had the problem recently of mixing up my Spanish and Korean.  I keep nearly replying in Spanish when people speak to me.  Jessie, they're not the same thing.  At all.  Quit it.  I have to keep telling myself that.  

We got cell phone plans today.  It feels good to be connected to the world again.  :)

And that's our update.  

Seoul Food

I have some immediate observations about Seoul.  

• The city is huge and pretty dirty (sooty?).  And sometimes smells too.  There's a lot of trash in the  side streets.

• Everything is very colorful.  

Colorful Bus

• Korean attempts at English are slightly hilarious.  
  

Wrapper for a bath sponge

• Koreans do not sweat.  It is HOT here.  Nearly 90 and muggier than Cleveland on a hot July day.  Yet, I see people all the time in long sleeve shirts, pants, and business suits without any trouble.  Alan and I are drenched and these people aren't even breaking a sweat!

• I think Koreans are slightly obsessed with looking good.  There are ads for cosmetic surgery everywhere, and in the subway, there isn't anything but.  
  

Cosmetic surgery place.  

• We are definitely foreigners.  Even in a city as large as Seoul, I've seen very few non-Asians.  The good thing about this is that Alan is very easy to spot in a crowd if we get separated.  However,  I've already noticed the stares (some not so discreet) and even watched a Korean lady hesitate to sit next to Alan on the subway and then scootch as far away as she could after sitting down.  (Must be the beard.  :P)

• Everyone has a smart phone.  In the US, you still see a lot of people with flip phones and texting phones.  Not here.  All smart phones.  

We went to see the Gyeongbukgung Palace today.  It was built in 1395 during the Joseon Dynasty and has been burned down twice during the Japanese invasions of the 1500's and early 1900's.  It was a pretty fascinating place and we took a tour through it.

Throne room and the court yard

Inside the museum.  Panorama of the palace.  

Throne room.

You have to take your shoes off before entering the King or Queen's sleeping chambers.

Bukchon Village is a residential area not far from the Palace and features traditional Korean style housing.  We walked through there for a while.  

It's been a nice day of walking around and seeing Korean history.  

Goodbye America. Hellooo Korea.

This has been the longest day of my life.  No joke.  We got up around 6am Wed morning and thanks to physics, we flew in the sun the whole time.  It is now nearly 8am Thursday morning Ohio time and it's the first time I've seen night.  It's about 9pm Korea time now.  It's a rather fascinating effect.  My mind is being tricked into thinking it's just been a normal day, but my body is so exhausted that it knows better.  The 14 hour flight went by much more quickly than I thought it would.   They had the windows closed and the lights dimmed most of the time.  Alan was conked out for a good majority of the time and to me it just felt like an infinite point of time.  So when we finally got off the plane, I felt like maybe two hours had passed.

They served both Western food and Korean food on the plane.  Alan received a Korean meal and I was slightly horrified.

One of his sides appeared to be eel offspring.  

My western food was good though and Alan enjoyed his (minus the baby eels).  XD

Here's our first glimpse of Korea.  

We landed safely, made it into the country, found our bags, got through Customs, managed to buy the correct bus tickets, and then get on said bus.  

a

An hour bus ride and a lot of carting luggage uphill later, we found the hotel.  And it's shwanky.  :D

So, we're here.  We're safe.  We've got a great room to sleep in and chips from the local mini mart to munch on.  I found what I thought was a peanut butter sandwich there, but it turns out I was mistaken.  The "peanut butter" is not real peanut butter at all but rather, some peanut butter cream.  Almost like cream cheese.  So I'm going to stick to my chips and enjoy some much desired rest.  :)