82) Japan III

Like the last trip, this one had its own challenges. The biggest problem being how to figure out how to change my return flight to Korea. The secondary problems were being in Japan for three days while only enough money for one day- and not being able to get money out of an ATM.



My flight left at 9:40 am, and I couldn’t pick up my passport until 9:30 am. That was conveniently planned to leave me 10 minutes to make the 45 minute journey to the airport, check-in and go through the whole airport process… not the best planning. So after a nightmare of a time trying to figure out how to change a flight, I figured it all out. Then I had some tight budgeting to figure out. I was only supposed to stay for 1 day and 1 night, leaving early the next morning. So I had about $100 set aside for fees, transportation and accommodations, and 100 for spending. That would have worked almost perfectly, had I not had to take more trips to the airport and spend an extra night and nearly two extra days.



I do not want to sound like I am complaining. I had a good trip, and like I said, I love Japan. I met a guy named Trevis at the Korean embassy, and we hung out the whole trip. He had been to Osaka before, and knew where to stay, and had a bit of a plan of his own. We stayed in a capsule hotel, which was really awesome. The hotel was 5 floors, three of which were dedicated to the capsules. One floor had a fantastic sauna, and the one of the others had a massage area, tv lounge, and restaurant. The bizarre thing was, that there were women workers and cameras though out the place- this is bizarre because it is a men’s only hotel, and naked men everywhere. But no one seemed to care at all, so we tried not too.




We also took a day trip to Kyoto, because Trevis had heard it was extremely beautiful. After wandering around for a while, we came upon some temples in the mountains, and quickly realized it was a huge tourist destination- although mostly Japanese tourists. It was pretty cool, but in the end we think we didn’t really see the real beauty of Kyoto, and didn’t have the time to try, so we headed back to Osaka that afternoon. All and all it was a nice little trip to Japan, and a nice break from school.


Below are pictures from Kyoto-above are pictures from Osaka.

81) Out the Window

We have been having some truly beautiful spring weather in Seoul lately. I always love the feeling of spring- leaves and flowers sprouting up where there was once only brown. The recent warm weather has been reminding me that I am traveling, and actually on a trip. I forget that a lot. It is easy to get tied up in a routine and schedule- so this is a nice and welcome reminder. Knowing I am on a trip seems to make everything go a little smoother.

The pics are just from out my window. It rained and we had some interesting clouds tonight.

80) Children’s Day Pictures

Saturday is children’s day in Korea, which means my Thursday and Friday were filled with the chaos of seemingly non-stop games, screaming, and candy. From what I understand children’s day is just a day for kids to get presents and have fun.


Casey, Justina, and Cindy- ^


Eddie putting the ball in his mouth- certainly not a good idea seeing as how the table was wet from saliva... ^


don't know the first girl, but the second is Angie, and the third is Elly- ^



Dave and Lucy- ^


Alex and Brian. Brian out of control as usual- ^


Amy, Sofie, and Rina- ^

79) Feelin’ Lucky

This is just a picture I took today- it has nothing at all to do with what this entry is about... I just liked it.


Searching for an apartment can be a real hassle... especially in a foreign country.

A real brief overview of what my situation was all about- my old apartment was sold and I had to move out in one week. The problem- I didn’t have a new apartment yet. There were a couple options, but they didn’t seem very good at all. Then I was told on a Friday that I had to find an apartment by Saturday (one of my Korean friends, Kevin was to help me). So we searched all day, and I eventually settled on one apartment. It was very modern and in a nice location, but small. For whatever reason the boss did not care for that choice at all. She said we had one more option- so we checked that out.

It turns out the one last option is amazing. It is on the roof of a five-story building that is on top of a small mountain. So the view is really nice from almost all sides. It sure beats the view in my old apartment- the brick wall of the next apartment building three feet away. It has a sunroom, a huge balcony and a big bathroom with a tub (not common to have a bath tub in Korea). The location is also fantastic, about a two minutes walk away I can go hiking, or be in one of two parks. It sure beats the location I was in before- surrounded by love motels. And it makes my apartment in Suji seem like some sort of sick joke- or experiment to see what a person could tolerate and handle. But maybe those two places make me appreciate this one even more- as right now I am feelin’ real lucky.

I am just happy that this whole searching and moving process is over. It was a real pain for about two weeks. I lived with Chip for 1 week. Living with him was fine, and it was nice to hang out with him, as we don’t get to hang out as much as we would like. But the main problem was the hour long commute (each way) each day. It just isn’t a good way to start or finish a day.

I am still in the process of re-arranging and decorating, so I will wait to post pics of the inside until that is all done. But I have a couple of the views.

This is a picture looking off of my balcony towards the right. ^

This one is looking off to the left. ^

This is out of my bedroom window. ^

78) Cherry Blossoms

Last weekend I went back to the cherry blossom festival and met Chip and our friend Gloria there. I had high hopes of taking a lot of pictures, but after about a half hour my camera started to malfunction. The same problem had occurred a few days before at the school, but I thought I had fixed it- apparently not.

Exactly what I will do with the camera I am not sure, but I will probably sell it at one of the huge “digital markets” in Seoul, and upgrade to a better camera. I would rather just keep the camera, but to get it fixed is costly… and confusing.

I did end up with two pictures from that night that I liked. The first one is just looking down a section of the street. The flowers were much better the first time I went. The day before this picture was taken saw some rain and high winds- knocking some of the flowers off the trees. The only nice thing about that was all the flower petals on the ground and bushes, it was beautiful.


The second picture is of a section of a crowd that gathered to watch a street musician. I was standing in the back with my head down sending a text message when I heard “Hello!” It sounded to me like it was the musician, and as a sort of natural reaction I looked up, and sure enough, he stopped his performance to say hello to me. Now I have the eyes of around three hundred strangers on me while this guy continues to talk to me. I could feel my face turn red and my hands get even sweatier than they already were. But in the end I was happy for the little conversation, and thought it was one of those things that could only occur in a foreign country. I usually forget just how much I stand out in the average crowd here, but little things like that bring me back to that reality- usually just momentarily.

77) Little Cuties

These are three pictures of three kids from the lowest level class I have. The class actually has four kids, but one of them had to go to the bathroom. I tried to get him to stay, as we only had five minutes in left in class, but after I saw him grab his crotch I knew I had better just let him quick go- as I was in no mood to be cleaning up urine. These kids are about 6 years old, and a lot of fun!



from left to right: Angie, Ted, and Ricky. Angie and Ricky are twins- although I would have never guessed it. They have very different personalities and abilities- but they are both great kids.

76) Two Pictures

These two pictures came from areas 30 seconds away from my front door. The flowers are cherry blossoms (I am pretty sure). Last night I went to Yeouido (an island in Seoul) to check out the cherry blossom festival. I didn’t bring my camera, so I will have to go back. But in the mean time I thought I would practice on the tree by my house.

The second is heading down the street from my apartment. The area I live in is full of “love motels”. Because so many people live with their parents until they get married, they need a place to get away and get busy sometimes! Or the other use for these motels is prostitution. They have these little cards every where in this area with a picture of a scantily clad lady and phone number on it… you can guess what that is for. I have also heard that some gambling goes on in these places.

After about two minutes a guy from the hotel I was shooting in front of came out and shoed me a way- I would guess he was nervous I may be taking pictures of “his clients”. They are pretty secretive at these places, for instance they have these low curtain type things hanging down in front of the parking areas so you cannot see peoples heads, and they cover the license plates of the parked cars!

75) Nice Nonetheless

My original plan went something like this: stay up all night wandering around the city, looking for shrines or interesting areas to take pictures of, and then if I get tired find a PC room or 24 hour café and spend the night there drinking coffee and reading or surfing the web.

Reality went something like this: I get off the train from Japan Central Airport and find that a thunderstorm has just started.- cancel wandering around all night- thus canceling my master plan. After about an hour I found a café called Mr. Doughnut and stayed there for a while- hoping some new plan would come to me. Nothing came to me, so I started to wander a little bit (luckily I brought and umbrella) and found a 24 hour Gold’s Gym. I figured they would at least have a shower, and I may even be able to crash there for the night. They were not too keen on that idea, so I asked him if there were any hotels nearby. He said there was a capsule hotel (where you basically stay in a capsule with a TV).
the rain almost letting up


I accidentally wandered into the wrong building but realized I may have stumbled into a better place- a sauna. I met a guy that told me the deal and what floor it was on, and headed on up. It was a really fantastic sauna- better than anything I have been at in Korea. It was multi-floored and had a small casino area and even a movie theatre with individual beds. Right when I got in I did the whole sauna routine (shower, sauna, cold tub, hot tub, and repeat) and then went into the movie theatre. I found a bed next to an old man and enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha without understanding a word of the movie. Eventually I dosed off only to be awaken a few hours later by some guy talking in his sleep- it was bizarre, annoying and slightly comical at the same time.
cherry blossoms- they were all over Nagoya (atleast what i saw of the city)

At some point that night I realized some of the ways I have changed since I have been on this trip. For one, I don’t know how comfortable I would have been a few months ago with arriving in a foreign country with no place to stay, no real plans, no ability to speak the language, and no one I know. Or how comfortable I would be with sleeping in a large room with about 100 other strangers- or being naked with them in a bathhouse. But I was quite comfortable with everything, and didn’t even realize it until I stopped to think about it. This little overnight trip to Japan turned out much different than I imagined, but it was nice nonetheless.

this is for those of you who have not seen a recent photo of me lately...

74) A Fond Farewell

Today was Adam’s last day at our school. Him and I were the only two full time foreign teachers at the school (while I have been here). I’m sad to see him go, as we have hung out often in the last couple months, and he has made my work days go by fast and fun. All around he is just a great guy- and all the kids loved him. I will certainly miss his generosity, friendship and great attitude! The last two days I have been having the kids in my classes make him cards (most of them have had Adam as a teacher). Some of the older kids seemed pretty sad, and wrote him some really great notes and cards.

There was a sort of sad and slightly weird atmosphere in the school today. Generally the some of the kids were in a weird mood today. I don’t know if it was because of Adam’s leaving or what, but there were a couple weird and funny comments in three of my classes today. The first came from an incredible class that Adam and I share. The kids just got out of kindergarten last month and can carry on full conversations and read very well. Pretty impressive considering this is the third language for some of them. Anyways, I was bent over correcting one of the kid’s homework when one of the girls started tapping me on the butt trying to get my attention. One of the other girls in the class yells out “Kyle… she’s touching the bum!”
The second one came from a pretty fun class of mine while rehearsing a conversation/speech. The line was “Oh really? What did you do, Song?” but it came out as “Oh really? I want to do you, Song!” The kids had no idea the meaning it had to me, but they laughed just as hard as I did.
And the last came in a class that has a couple troublemakers. I really try to get this class to only speak in English, and the good students really but out a good effort at it. One of the girls had enough of one of the boys speaking in Korean, and told him “Shut up! Shut up the mouth!”

73) Sex Bomb

Every once and a while there is a video or movie that really inspires me to be something. For instance- Zoolander made me want to be a male model, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon made me want to learn martial arts. Finally there is a new aspiration, and it is thanks to Evgeny Plushenko.

72) Jiri Mountain

Friday night after work John and I headed south to Jiri Mountain. We finally got in and met up with two of John’s buddies from college at around 4 am. We spent the night in a “hotel” of sorts- it was really just a room with a tv, some blankets and pillows and a bathroom.


I was worried that we were going to get rained out, as it had rained all Friday. But when we headed out at around 9 am it was just really cloudy and misty- which I enjoy while hiking. It always makes me feel like I am traveling through some unknown land, or a dream or something.



This mountain was great because it was the furthest away from civilization I have felt in Korea. In reality it cannot compare with the remoteness I have been in while in some of the National Parks and Forests of the US, but it was still great and brought back some nice memories.



It was particularly nice to hear only the sound of a rushing river for hours- I really miss the nights I have spent in my tent next rivers- exhausted and still a bit hungry, but fully content with the place I was.





I always remember little bits and pieces from all the various backpacking trips I have taken while hiking or backpacking. It is like a dream or déjà vu. Vivid glimpses into the past. I love getting into the place where nothing else matters, nothing else exists, it is just me and nature.



As it turned out, Saturday, the day we hiked, saw no rain, just beautiful fog and clouds, and the occasional glimpse of sunlight. We got down just as it was getting too dark to safely hike anymore. We had a small dinner at one of the restaurants attached to our hotel, and then cooked up some samgipsaw (it is like think bacon) in our room and ate until we could take no more.



The next morning we woke up to rain. It rained the whole way back home- but I didn’t mind. I enjoyed seeing the mountains through the low clouds, it reminded me of my summers in Olympic.

71) Field Trips

^ Eric with Kevin trying to hide


^ Eric and Kevin


Last week and this week I was able to take some kids on a field trip. We went to an area called Insa-dong. I had never been there before, so it was pretty cool to see. It is a pretty hot tourist area, so there is enough stuff to do, such as shopping and there are some temples and museums. The first time I took two boys, Eric and Kevin. They were great, and I was really happy to be able to go with these two boys. There were some statues and paintings of topless woman- and every time they spotted one they would get me to look at it, and then start laughing and pointing at me. The school director gave me more money than I could spend, so we had a great lunch, and I bought the boys some gifts.

^Kevin picking the statues nose

^Katie, Tina, Lesha, and Jane


The second time I went with four girls. I have three of them in one of my classes, so I already knew and liked these girls. They are great kids to have and class, and I was happy to be able to have fun with them on this field trip. It was funny to see the difference between the boys and girls. The girls really wanted to shop and look in the stores, while the boys just wanted to run around and have fun.

^ At the restaurant


^ this is Jane- she wasn't too happy about this picture...