Dynamic Busan

It may just be that I am so familiar with Busan, but I think it is the best city in Korea. In the week we spent in Busan, we visited the beaches, hiked along the ocean side and in the mountains, ate lots of bibimbap, walked in the UN Memorial Park, strolled though the book alley and international market, rode a cablecar, and hung out with many wonderful people!

Songrisan National Park

Fifteen-kilometre hike past a temple, through valleys, up rocky outcrops, in the snow, and in the sunshine too :) … All followed by a delicious meal of wild mushroom stew with none less than 21 side dishes!!

Gyeongju

On our way to Gyeongju, we stopped to visit Birch and Vanessa in Daegu. Vanessa prepared a wonderful pasta with her homemade veggie sausage and after dinner we went to a DVD room to watch a movie.

We spent our first day in Gyeongju, visiting Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram Grotto, Anapji Pond, Cheomseongdae Observatory, and the Daereungwon Royal Burial Grounds all in the pouring rain.




The next day, we visited the national museum that explained thousands of years of Korea history and featured many artifacts found in the tombs of royal families from the various time periods. From there we made our to Yangdong Folk Village just north of Gyeongju. This village was recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2010 as many villagers still live in the houses that their ancestors built nearly 600 years ago.












In Gyeongju, we stayed in a "love motel" - this is the name foreigners have given to a type of motel that is often the cheapest and most convenient accommodation in South Korea. Love motels are easy to spot with bold, sometimes castle-style exteriors and bright signs. They provide all the ammenities lovers could want including privacy when checking in, face masks, shampoo and conditioner, and DVDs. At the motel we stayed in, there was even a computer with internet, so at less than $40 per night, it worked for us!

Boat to Busan

Our 19-hour Panstar Cruise ferry from Osaka to Busan was a fairly pleasant trip and well worth saving the money from a flight and a night in a hotel. We had the four-person dorm room all to ourselves, sailed under Japan's longest bridge,

enjoyed a dinner buffet and breakfast buffet, and even got some slightly patchy internet access! The only negatives were the stuffy room, the smoke in the lounge, and the rough seas that kept me awake for a couple hours.


When the boat landed in Busan, we took two days "off" from travelling and relaxed at Harry and Angelina's appartment near Gwangari Beach before setting out with just small backpacks to travel around Korea.

Nara Trip

On Sunday, our last full day in Japan, we took a trip to Nara.

Ayumi's co-worker and a friend rented a van and showed us all around, starting at Japan's first UNESCO site, Horyuji Temple. It is the oldest wooden structure in the world - built throughout the 7th and 8th centuries. It is incredible that it survived several wars and earthquakes.

After a lunch of udon (we had the vegetable-full udon^^), we moved on to the Todaiji Temple, of which I had heard so much. We were immediately greeted by several of the hendreds of deer who freely roam the park and head butt visitors when they don't give rice crackers. As we walked towards the temple, it started to rain. Being March 11th there was a memorial service for the earthquake the year before. The feeling I got as I gazed up at the 45-foot tall Buddha to the haunting music of an electric trumpet is indescribable.












Our last stop before dinner was at the top of the mountain above Todaiji Temple with a beatiful view of Nara and distant storm clouds rolling in. Also, being March 11th, it was Denise's birthday. Ayumi's co-worker had found a restaurant that not only had vegetarian options, but served a five-course vegan feast! It was delicious! And so was the birthday cake that followed :) We went home that night pleasantly full and fulfilled.

Osaka Send-off

We thoroughly enjoyed our last few days in Japan with Ayumi, her family, and other past Selkirk students. Ayumi's mom was so nice drove us to and from the nearest train stations and perpared us a lovely breakfast every day. Overall, the whole trip highlighted how generous Japanese people are. When you stay at their houses, you are truely a guest and expected not to help with anything, which for a polite Canadian can be frustrating when you want to help. I hope I will be able to return the favours when they all come to Canada!

Saturday was our day to visit Osaka. We snapped a couple pictures of the tallest tower from the ground because the elevator waiting time was about an hour! On our way back to the station, we stopped to try a pinball machine in an arcade where you win snacks for prizes instead of money because there is a no-gambling law. In the afternoon, we strolled amongst the hundreds of plum trees in Osaka Castle Park with exquisite white, pale pink, and dark pink blossoms. The castle itself is also beautiful and unlike at Nagoya Castle, you only pay to go in the castle, no to enter the park. That evening we met up with other students for a Selkirk reunion dinner of okonomiyaki.

On Sunday we went to Nara...

Kyoto... and Kurama!

The weather was finally sunny for our first day in Kyoto. After dumping our bags at the guest house I had found on Craiglist, we borrowed some bikes and weaved our way through the traffic to meet up with my friend, Ayana. We visited a large temple that is the mother temple for Buddhists. In the evening, we sang together in a karaoke room then went for dinner (soba and vegetable tempura).

The next day was rainy, so we borrowed umbrellas instead of bikes and spontaneously took a train ride out of town to the mountain village of Kurama. There we hiked up Kurama Mountain, from one shrine to another, up the winding forest path that turned into a river of mud on the way down. It was beautiful and so peaceful there :)

That afternoon we took a free tour of the Emperor's Palace, an impressive set of buildings with centuries of history to be told. Before catching our train to Osaka, we stuffed some suitcases in a locker at the train station and met up my past classmate and his girlfriend and sister for tea. Then we wandered around the Gion district in search of vegetarian food which ended up being bibimbap... with ground beef :(

Visit with Hisako

The first time Hisako had a conversation with a foreigner was two and a half years ago when she invited me to sit beside her on a crowded train from Nagahama, her hometown that I visited as the last stop on my summer trip. Within ten minutes, we had exchanged addresses and when my mom came to Japan, Hisako and her husband hosted us at their house.

This time is was the first time she had hosted a vegetarian, so she carefully thought out what to make for lunch and dinner. She is always so curious. She wanted to know all about our travels and took notes on the places we have visited, the cultures we have experience, and languages we have learned.

In the afternoon, Denise and I wandered around the small city of Nagahama. We visited the castle on the shores of Japan’s biggest lake, Biwa Lake. We passed the oldest remaining train station in Japan, walked around temples and shrines, visited the glass blowing museum, and stopped in a couple shops. In the evening, we went to admire 90 potted blossoming plum trees some of which are 100, 200, and even 400 years old! They were on display at a community centre with a pine tree garden.

Natsukashii Nagoya

It's been about two and a half years since I lived in Nagoya and barely anything has changed. Saturday night, we hung out with my university friends in Osu Kannon, went for okonomiyaki (an omelette-like pancake), and out for coffee, then went back to Sobue-cho with Mayu to stay at her house.

Sunday we took it easy :) Denise got some course work done while Mayu and I went for a bike ride to get groceries for... waffles! Denise had brought my Japanese waffle maker all the way from Nelson to give it to Mayu. It was great to share the waffles with her whole family on a Sunday night, according to our family tradition. Mayu's 90-some-year-old grandparents ate the waffles with chopsticks.

Monday we made our way to Nisshin to stay two nights at Mr.Nomoto's house. I met him when I lived at the Nagoya University of Foreign Studies dormitories and went out for a morning walk in the neighbouring community where he lives. His wife is a certified chef and she prepared us two beautiful breakfasts and a wonderful dinner!

It was great to visit the university again, walk to lunch at Ikue's with her daughter, Ayumi, go out to a new sushi bar with Fabien and Maina (past NUFS students), and visit the hill shrine where I spent so much of my time. On Tuesday, we spent the whole day in Nagoya with the Suzukis who treated us to a visit to the Tokugawa Art Musuem, a beautiful picnic lunch, and a tour of Nagoya Castle.

Izu Sister City Visit

On March 1^st, we set out with our two big backpacks and Denise’s suitcase for everything that she needs for several months in Africa after the trip. With the Seishun 18 Kippu (Youthful 18 Ticket – which really means you just have to feel as young as an 18-year-old to use it), we hopped from clunkety local train to clunkety local train and saw the crowded intersection at Shibuya, the beach at Atami, and a snow-covered Mount Fuji on our way to Izu City.
In Izu City, we stayed with members of the Izu-Nelson Sister City Association. They took us out for a fabulous dinner on Thursday night, showed us around Shuzenji Temple and the theme park with a mini-Nelson on Friday, and hosted a presentation we made about Nelson at city hall for the 19 grade 8 students who have signed up for a cultural exchange to Hope and Nelson this summer. Unfortunately Atsumi got the news that morning that the Sister City Association in Nelson is unable to send students this year or host students from Izu. So Atsumi and I are looking into other options for them to still be able to visit Nelson.