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.

Snowy Day in Tokyo

After a couple days by myself, visiting friends, swing dancing, and trying to remember to Japanese language, culture, and train system, I went to meet Denise at Narita Airport. I felt kind of special being the only one there waiting at the arrivals gate without a name sign. That night we stayed at an Airbnb (like a guest house/ host family) near Umejima Station (not without getting lost in the train system along the way, of course). Kaji, our host, offered to make us dinner so that we didn’t have to go back out in the cold. And Yoshiko, his wife, made us delicious breakfasts both mornings.

On the morning of February 29^th we woke up to a view of snow-covered Tokyo from the 9^thfloor apartment. A friend had asked Denise to bring Tim Bits and snow when she came to Tokyo. We weren’t able to meet up with him to give him the Tim Bits, but there was plenty of snow for everyone in Tokyo! That day we met up with our long-time friend, Mayuko, who very coincidently lived just a 10-minute walk down the street! Together we wandered through the snow and slush to visit the Imperial Palace, Asakusa Shrine, and Ueno Art Gallery. For lunch we warmed ourselves up with hot bowls of ramen.

 

Back at the Airbnb, we made curry rice and chocolate fondue with Mayuko and Kaji and my friend from Selkirk, Hiro joined us too even though it was his only day off from working 9:30am-9:00pm 6 days/ week! As we were wrapping up from dinner, there was an earthquake! Just a little one, but it sure made their 9^th floor apartment sway. That was the first time Denise and I had felt one and then there was another one just as we were falling asleep and one two minutes after we woke up the next morning.

Japan Culture Shock

These first few days in Tokyo have been busy and fun! Half the time I'm shocked by all the things I had forgot about and that are different from Korea and the other half the time, I feel as if I never left Japan or that I have come home in a way.
Here are a couple observations of the things that struck me when I first got here:
- In a polite conversation between two people who had just met, 80% of the statements were made in question form
- There's slightly less foreigner fascination/ phobia here
- Cell phone service cuts in and out on the train and subway :(
- You can't talk on your cell phone on public transportation
- At 6:00pm on a Saturday night, the subway was crowded with drunk business men
- There are so many bicycle lanes and parking areas and bikes aren't even locked up :)
- There are public washrooms in the convenience stores
P.S. I also stayed in a capsule hotel for the first time :)

Parlez-vous français?

These past two weeks I have been tutoring French for two beginner students. It has been a good experience for all of us! They always had challenging questions for me. After our last class yesterday, Dazy's mom invited me to their house for dinner.

Pendant les dernières deux semaine j'enseignais le français pour deux étudiants débutants. C'était une bonne expérience pour nous tous! Ils me posaient toujours des questions difficiles. Après notre dernière classe hier, la mère de Dazy m'a invité chez eux pour le souper.

Daegu with Penny - 2

This weekend I went for a day trip to Daegu to visit Penny and his mom. It was much like when I went there two and a half years ago only this time we drive to his dad's tofu factory in the countryside, stopped by a bullfighting stadium, and went out for BBQ beef

instead of duck. Also, I was able to talk to his mom a bit in Korean :)

Here's my blog post from my first visit in 2009: http://www.kimkimu.blogspot.com/2009/09/daegu-with-penny.html

Exploring cont...

On the last day of the sunny weather this week, we went for a marvellous day trip up the East coast.
이번주말에 날씨가 좋아서 우리는 멋진날을 위해 동해로 여행을 갔어요.

Our first stop was an oceanside picnic of Kimbap (seaweed and rice) followed by a visit to the Museum of Marine Sciences.
우리의 먼저 바다옆에서 김밥 소풍을 하고 수산 해양 박물관에 갔어요.

Next we visited a famous seaside temple with a golden statue of Buddha and a cave with spiritual water.
다음으로 해변가에 금불상과 약수터가있는 유명한 절에 갔어요.

Lastly, we ventured further up the coast to picturesque lighthouse church where we caught the sunset.
마자막으로, 우리는 조금 더 들어가서 사진을 많이 찍을수 있는 아름다운 등대교회로 갔어요. 거기서 우리는 일몰을 봤어요.

Books, hiking, and murals

This past week we visited an alleyway packed with used books and went for a hike along the ocean and one up a mountain. Along the way, we discovered two narrow walkways lined with murals.

Room 410 :)

Welcome to Room 410 at the BUFS dormitories - my home for the next three weeks. I lucked out on getting just one, really nice Korean roommate with whom I share meals and many conversations in Korean.

Bienvenus à la chambre numéro 410 aux dortoirs de BUFS - chez moi pour trois semaines. Je suis très chanceuse de vivre qu'avec une colocataire coréene sympatique avec qui je partage les dîners et conversations en coréen.

Bienvenidos al cuarto numero 410 en los dormitorios de BUFS - mi hogar por tres semanas. Tengo la suerte de vivir solo con una compañera coreana simpática con quien comparto comida y conversaciones en coreano.

Bem-vindos ao quarto numero 410 nos dormitorios de BUFS - a minha casa por tres semanas. Tenho sorte de só morar com uma companheira coreana simpática com quem compartilho comida e conversações em coreano.

ブサン外国語大学寮の410番部屋へようこそ。私の3週間の家です。ルームメイト一人います。親切な韓国人です。一緒に料理を作って韓国語で会話をして、本当によかったです。

부산외대기숙사 410번방에 오신것을 환영합니다. 저는 3주동안 여기서 살거예요. 제 룸메이트는 한명입니다. 친절한 한국친구예요. 자주 우리는 같이 요리하고 한국어로 이야기합니다.

WWOOFing in Winter

Unfortunately, it was just poor timing with my farm stay on Jeju so I've come back to Busan. They weren't picking Hallabongs (citrus fruit) this week, but instead building a new WWOOFer house and burning piles of junk. There was no need for two WWOOFers, so we just stood around and waited most of the time. It was really cold, especially in the work trailer where there was no heating except for a little space heater and hot blankets at night. In the farm description it said there where two guest rooms, but instead there was one bed in the office trailer. It didn't bother me so much to share the room with the 34-year Korean guy who’s WWOOFing there, but there was no privacy/ quiet space because the family came in and out at all times of the day. So it was impossible to concentrate on anything.

On our day off, the other WWOOFer and I went sightseeing, spent a lot of money on lunch and tourist attractions entrance fees, and got lost because he was no good at following directions. He was also a chain smoker which really got on my nerves. So here I am back in Busan, at the university dorms for a couple weeks to study and enjoy time with friends. At least I practiced a lot of Korean and got to go for a nice hike one day. I hope to go back to Jeju for a relaxed visit with good company when the weather’s nicer!

Jeju Island

Jeju is often referred to as the Hawaii of Korea – but what’s all this snow?? On Tuesday evening I took the bus from the ferry terminal to JejuCity and the snow on the pine trees lining the narrow, winding mountain road reminded me of back home. In JejuCity, I met Min Hui, an English teacher who studied TESOL at Selkirk Collegeseveral years back. Shana had recommended I contact her and she invited me to stay at her house that night :)

Jeju is also famous for three things: women, wind, and rocks. And sure enough, on my first day, I went for a drive with three women, through the blustering wind to visit rocks :) Min Hui and two friends took me to eat boribap (like bibimbap, but with barley). Then we had tea in a self-serve coffee shop where the owner comes a few times during the day to brew coffee and refill supplies. We watched the waves crash against the rocky shore as the wind hurl snowflakes against the island. Before I caught the bus to Seoguipo to meet my farm stay family, we visited the dragon rock and the temple where the three founding fathers of Jeju are said to have emerged from three holes in a meadow there.

Lunar New Year

Apparently it’s just my luck to end up sitting next to nice people on the bus :) On the bus from Gwangju I met James, a 27-year-old Taekwando instructor who is going abroad for the first time to teach Taekwando in Abu Dhabi for a year! I was on my way to Yeosu to visit Nikki and he was on his way there to visit his girlfriend. The next day he sent me a text message to wish me a happy new year and it turned out that he was at his family’s house in the next town over from Hadong, where I was spending the weekend with Jungeui, who I had met on the bus in November! In the end, I got a ride with James and his family back to Gwangju today where I took a shuttle bus to the ferry to go to Jeju :)
This weekend has been like cultural immersion. Korean people are very family oriented and the collective ideal extends to their friends, and their foreign friends are no exception. On new years morning after setting the table for Jungeui's family's ancestors, we visited the graves of four ancestors. We hiked up to each grave with her dad, uncles, great uncle, and cousins where we left an offering of food and soju and bowed twice. Over the weekend we visited several of her friends’ and relatives’ houses where sat on the heated living room floors and were offered fruit, drinks, deep fried seafood, Korean pancakes, and sweet rice cakes. It would have be rude to refuse, so I learned to eat as little as possible at each place, but to try one of each thing to be polite. Still, I was full for two days straight! Grandparents give children money and I was included whenever Jungeui received money. I also got to give some money to her friend’s 2-year-old daughter :)