I promise to continue my Korea posts...just need a random entry to vent and share some great news.
I called my mom today. We couldn't talk for very long because she was at the wedding reception of some family friends (Long and Angel) who just got married. It was great to hear her voice, of course :-), and it was wonderful to hear that so many friends were there to celebrate the beautiful event. But I would be lying if I said that part of me felt a little sad. Now don't get me wrong, I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to live and work in such an amazing country. And yet, I really wish I could have been sitting at the reception with these people that I love so much. Most of them I met through my big brother, Daniel. But over the years, they have become my friends, as well. The last 10 years have had many ups and downs, and this group of people has been with us through a lot of it. Man, even the word 'friends' doesn't even really do them justice. They are our family. And I'm so happy that two of them were able to perform such a beautiful event today.
Well, it's back to school tomorrow. I've only been back at my base school for 2 days, and it's been a little rough. Some of the kids are going through their "awkward-teen-angsty" phases. I just gotta put on my "genki" face and keep trying! That's part of the challenge in this job. I've survived 1 year. I'm not gonna let this get me down. I got this!
...p.s. So my enka neighbors decided to wake me up on Saturday with a live concert at 7:45 in morning! Now, that was a record! Even I'm a little impressed...well, now at least.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Korea: Part 1 BUSAN!
I'm just going to give a basic rundown of my overall impressions of the trip. Sarah gives a much better and more thorough recap of our visit to the beautiful country. (Please see http://sapporosarah.blogspot.com)
So, the first day we (me, Sarah and Tarnjeet) flew into Busan (Pusan? Both spellings are used). Busan is a beautiful port city, much like Hakodate in Hokkaido. (Sorry if that doesn't mean much to anybody.) Busan is the second largest city in Korea, after Seoul. We were only there for one night, and quite an interesting night it was! The city has a kind of cool, funky feel to it.
So, first off, our hotel! Our trusty travel agent set us up in some pretty snazzy digs.
After us girls did our ritual, "Take a Lotta of Silly Photos in the Hotel Room," we mozied on downstairs for dinner (see facebook photo albums). There were a couple of interesting restaurants inside the hotel itself. They seemed quite western, and we really wanted to try some Korean food. So luckily enough, we found a nice buffet serving a variety of traditional Korean dishes. One of the highlights of the dinner was a conversation we started with the chef.
(Side note, the three of us don't speak a word of Korean. The most we could say was "Thank you." That was it. Some Korean people speak Japanese. Japan is so close to Korea, that many people will study some Japanese [for school, work, tourists, etc]. The older generations can speak some Japanese because of the Japansese occupation. Now, in our everyday life we're used to speaking Japanese in public. So, it's sometimes hard to turn off.)
When the chef first saw us, he tried to speak in English. And almost by reflex, we responded in Japanese. He was caught a bit off-guard by this. It was a pretty funny conversation. And every time we got up to serve ourselves some food, he'd open a tray and say, "Delicious! Delicious!" in Japanese.
Later that evening, we out to explore the nightlife. My first impression of the nightlife in Busan was that it looked very similar to Susukino, the night district in Sapporo. It basically consists of a strip of various bars and clubs. The really cool thing about Busan was that the people weren't as afraid of being forward. Many Japanese people, men in particular, get very nervous around foreigners. The men in Busan weren't shy. We ended up following this guy (I know, I know, it sounds shady, but it really wasn't.) to this really cool dance club. We had passed by it earlier, and made note that we'd want to go back and check it out. So it was a pleasant surprise when we found ourselves back at this cool-looking establishment. The waiters sat us down, brought a huge tray of food (fruit, ice cream, etc.) and beer. It was great! Now let me say, this place was HUGE inside. There was a huge dance floor, accompanied by a huge stage that the DJ spun from. After we built up a bit of liquid courage, we headed out onto the dancefloor. Now, I gotta say, Korea knows good dance music! It switched back and forth between hip-hop and Korean pop music. The K-POP was really catchy. And the most AMAZING part was that apparently it's required that all young Korean citizens know the latest dances to popular songs. It was great! Both the men and women were dancing. No one was shy. We loved it!
It took us a while to realize, but during one of our dancing breaks, we noticed something strange. A waiter was dragging 2 female customers across the club. At first, we were really confused. Where was the waiter taking the girls!?! Then, said-waiter slowed down as he reached a table of 2 men sitting right across from us. We looked around and noticed that ALL of the waiters were trying to match up fellow patrons! It was awkwardly-hilarious! Sometimes the matched couples would hit it off, but more often than not, the girls would wander off. The 2 boys sitting across from us had at least 12 girls taken over to them! I'm not kidding! Luckily, we weren't dragged off anywhere. I think one of the headwaiters (the same guy who took us to this amazing place) was trying to find some English-speakers, but he had no luck. It was perfect that we couldn't speak Korean, because we were left alone to enjoy the night and still have fun observing!
PICTURE TIME!
Teej upon arrival to Busan!
The Infamous Dance Club
Random adverts with members from my favorite Korean music group, BIG BANG:
TOP
Tae yang
BIG BANG is so amazing that they will be getting they very own post!
So, the first day we (me, Sarah and Tarnjeet) flew into Busan (Pusan? Both spellings are used). Busan is a beautiful port city, much like Hakodate in Hokkaido. (Sorry if that doesn't mean much to anybody.) Busan is the second largest city in Korea, after Seoul. We were only there for one night, and quite an interesting night it was! The city has a kind of cool, funky feel to it.
So, first off, our hotel! Our trusty travel agent set us up in some pretty snazzy digs.
After us girls did our ritual, "Take a Lotta of Silly Photos in the Hotel Room," we mozied on downstairs for dinner (see facebook photo albums). There were a couple of interesting restaurants inside the hotel itself. They seemed quite western, and we really wanted to try some Korean food. So luckily enough, we found a nice buffet serving a variety of traditional Korean dishes. One of the highlights of the dinner was a conversation we started with the chef.
(Side note, the three of us don't speak a word of Korean. The most we could say was "Thank you." That was it. Some Korean people speak Japanese. Japan is so close to Korea, that many people will study some Japanese [for school, work, tourists, etc]. The older generations can speak some Japanese because of the Japansese occupation. Now, in our everyday life we're used to speaking Japanese in public. So, it's sometimes hard to turn off.)
When the chef first saw us, he tried to speak in English. And almost by reflex, we responded in Japanese. He was caught a bit off-guard by this. It was a pretty funny conversation. And every time we got up to serve ourselves some food, he'd open a tray and say, "Delicious! Delicious!" in Japanese.
Later that evening, we out to explore the nightlife. My first impression of the nightlife in Busan was that it looked very similar to Susukino, the night district in Sapporo. It basically consists of a strip of various bars and clubs. The really cool thing about Busan was that the people weren't as afraid of being forward. Many Japanese people, men in particular, get very nervous around foreigners. The men in Busan weren't shy. We ended up following this guy (I know, I know, it sounds shady, but it really wasn't.) to this really cool dance club. We had passed by it earlier, and made note that we'd want to go back and check it out. So it was a pleasant surprise when we found ourselves back at this cool-looking establishment. The waiters sat us down, brought a huge tray of food (fruit, ice cream, etc.) and beer. It was great! Now let me say, this place was HUGE inside. There was a huge dance floor, accompanied by a huge stage that the DJ spun from. After we built up a bit of liquid courage, we headed out onto the dancefloor. Now, I gotta say, Korea knows good dance music! It switched back and forth between hip-hop and Korean pop music. The K-POP was really catchy. And the most AMAZING part was that apparently it's required that all young Korean citizens know the latest dances to popular songs. It was great! Both the men and women were dancing. No one was shy. We loved it!
It took us a while to realize, but during one of our dancing breaks, we noticed something strange. A waiter was dragging 2 female customers across the club. At first, we were really confused. Where was the waiter taking the girls!?! Then, said-waiter slowed down as he reached a table of 2 men sitting right across from us. We looked around and noticed that ALL of the waiters were trying to match up fellow patrons! It was awkwardly-hilarious! Sometimes the matched couples would hit it off, but more often than not, the girls would wander off. The 2 boys sitting across from us had at least 12 girls taken over to them! I'm not kidding! Luckily, we weren't dragged off anywhere. I think one of the headwaiters (the same guy who took us to this amazing place) was trying to find some English-speakers, but he had no luck. It was perfect that we couldn't speak Korean, because we were left alone to enjoy the night and still have fun observing!
PICTURE TIME!
Teej upon arrival to Busan!
The Infamous Dance Club
Random adverts with members from my favorite Korean music group, BIG BANG:
TOP
Tae yang
BIG BANG is so amazing that they will be getting they very own post!
Ramblings...
Well, I really should write about Korea, but I'm feeling a bit lazy right now. I'm at work. And by work, I mean I'm in the computer room at my board of education. On Thursday, the schools in Sapporo will open back up, so I'll be able to finally see the students from my base school. I haven't seen them since September. I really miss my students!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
My Horoscope from the Irish Examiner
Care of Justin, AKA Irish:
TAURUS
At last, love is beginning to make sense. For the past while, romance has all but driven you crazy and you went around a couple of bends. The road is now straight and narrow and someone is set to accompany you on this important journey called life.
TAURUS
At last, love is beginning to make sense. For the past while, romance has all but driven you crazy and you went around a couple of bends. The road is now straight and narrow and someone is set to accompany you on this important journey called life.
Neighbors
Just a short post...
Now, I've never been one to complain about my neighbors. So far, knock on wood, I've been very lucky to have some very polite families living around me. I try to be as respectful as possible, since I am foreigner living in a foreign country. However, I do feel the need to share a little bit about the interesting people living on the other sides of my walls.
Most single apartments, like my own, are sandwiched between double size apartments. These are usually inhabited by couple and/or families. Now, the family that lives on the right side of me seems to be a bit older. Occasionally, I have shared the elevator with the man who lives there. He is very nice, older man. And almost every morning, as I'm passing by their door, I can hear a hair dryer going. Now, no offense to the older man, but from the amount of hair that he has, I don't think he's the one using the electrical appliance. That's what leads me to believe that his wife, sister or daughter, lives with him.
Now the people on the left side of me seem like very lovely, interesting people. They have a beautiful garden on their balcony. I first noticed it when some of their plants slowly started drifting onto my side. My balcony isn't much to look at, so I welcomed the beautiful plant life. Also, during the summer, they have a small fountain that runs. At first, the sound used to freak me out because I thought I had sprung a leak somewhere. But it turned out that my neighbors had turned on their new garden ornament. Its sound is quite peaceful, so during the summer I'll leave my doors open to listen to it. Another reason I say these particular neighbors are interesting is because they are quite the "karaoke couple." At least once a week, they break out their karaoke machine, and sing old enka hits. (For more information on "enka," please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enka and http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=D_CGEmbszrY&feature=related) I find it rather cute because it sounds like an older married couple singing to each other. And yet, the cuteness begins to fade when I'm trying to get to sleep at 12:30 in the morning! I know, I know! I'm such an old-fogey now. It's just that the enka show ended for me after about the 4th hour!
Finally, the neighbors above me. I don't know much about them. I do believe a younger couple lives there. And I can assume this because I've heard them shower at night...together. And that's all I'll say about that. (Feel free to ask Sarah about this. She slept over that night and was fortunate enough to share that awkward experience with me. Hehe.)
As far as I know, no one lives underneath me. And if there is, then I truly apologize for all the times that I did my laundry really late and got carried away dancing to music off my itunes!
Ok, time for sleep...accompanied by a serenade from my enka-singing neighbors. ;)
Now, I've never been one to complain about my neighbors. So far, knock on wood, I've been very lucky to have some very polite families living around me. I try to be as respectful as possible, since I am foreigner living in a foreign country. However, I do feel the need to share a little bit about the interesting people living on the other sides of my walls.
Most single apartments, like my own, are sandwiched between double size apartments. These are usually inhabited by couple and/or families. Now, the family that lives on the right side of me seems to be a bit older. Occasionally, I have shared the elevator with the man who lives there. He is very nice, older man. And almost every morning, as I'm passing by their door, I can hear a hair dryer going. Now, no offense to the older man, but from the amount of hair that he has, I don't think he's the one using the electrical appliance. That's what leads me to believe that his wife, sister or daughter, lives with him.
Now the people on the left side of me seem like very lovely, interesting people. They have a beautiful garden on their balcony. I first noticed it when some of their plants slowly started drifting onto my side. My balcony isn't much to look at, so I welcomed the beautiful plant life. Also, during the summer, they have a small fountain that runs. At first, the sound used to freak me out because I thought I had sprung a leak somewhere. But it turned out that my neighbors had turned on their new garden ornament. Its sound is quite peaceful, so during the summer I'll leave my doors open to listen to it. Another reason I say these particular neighbors are interesting is because they are quite the "karaoke couple." At least once a week, they break out their karaoke machine, and sing old enka hits. (For more information on "enka," please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enka and http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=D_CGEmbszrY&feature=related) I find it rather cute because it sounds like an older married couple singing to each other. And yet, the cuteness begins to fade when I'm trying to get to sleep at 12:30 in the morning! I know, I know! I'm such an old-fogey now. It's just that the enka show ended for me after about the 4th hour!
Finally, the neighbors above me. I don't know much about them. I do believe a younger couple lives there. And I can assume this because I've heard them shower at night...together. And that's all I'll say about that. (Feel free to ask Sarah about this. She slept over that night and was fortunate enough to share that awkward experience with me. Hehe.)
As far as I know, no one lives underneath me. And if there is, then I truly apologize for all the times that I did my laundry really late and got carried away dancing to music off my itunes!
Ok, time for sleep...accompanied by a serenade from my enka-singing neighbors. ;)
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Must Improve!
So, if you've ever tried to keep in touch with me, you must know that I'm REALLY REALLY bad about keeping in touch with people. I really need to be better about keeping in contact with my friends and family. Honestly, I don't have a good enough excuse. But, hey, it's a new year and a new opportunity to try harder this year.
Last night, I had my base junior high school's bonenkai (sp?). (A bonenkai is a party celebrating the end of the year.) I haven't been back to my school for the past three months, so it was really nice to see all of my teachers. The 1st grade teachers (the equivalent of 7th grade in the States, and in other countries, I'm not exactly sure. Sorry!) Maeya-sensei was a definite highlight of the evening. Or rather his alter ego, Beer Man, was amazing! But I'm gonna try to get a picture of him from the school nurse. So I'll save that story for a future post.
And, alas, there was Nakai-sensei. If you read my previous blog, you will know how I feel about that beautiful man. For new readers, please allow me to give some brief background on this Osaka-Man. Nakai-sensei teaches social studies. He's fluent in English and will randomly plop down into the seat next to my desk and start up a big political discussion. Now, I feel obligated to say that he is also married and has three beautiful children. So, I'm quite content to just have my simple little crush. Anyway, at the nijikai (the second party, or the after-party) one of the teachers made me give the toast and then I started a big conversation with a teacher who never speaks to me. (That's a usual thing between teachers and ALTs.) After a little while, Nakai-sensei comes over to us and asks if he can cut in. And get this, he said that the other teacher was hogging me and he wanted the chance to speak with me. And that just about made me year! So, we had a nice chat about Obama and global politics. Then, we exchanged numbers because he'd like me to meet his family and teach his daughter some English.
Preview of next post:
*SNOW!
*KOREA!
*Aoyama-sensei dressed up as a yakuza (AKA Nezumi-Senpai)
*Maeya-sensei in a gold jumpsuit, hehe
Last night, I had my base junior high school's bonenkai (sp?). (A bonenkai is a party celebrating the end of the year.) I haven't been back to my school for the past three months, so it was really nice to see all of my teachers. The 1st grade teachers (the equivalent of 7th grade in the States, and in other countries, I'm not exactly sure. Sorry!) Maeya-sensei was a definite highlight of the evening. Or rather his alter ego, Beer Man, was amazing! But I'm gonna try to get a picture of him from the school nurse. So I'll save that story for a future post.
And, alas, there was Nakai-sensei. If you read my previous blog, you will know how I feel about that beautiful man. For new readers, please allow me to give some brief background on this Osaka-Man. Nakai-sensei teaches social studies. He's fluent in English and will randomly plop down into the seat next to my desk and start up a big political discussion. Now, I feel obligated to say that he is also married and has three beautiful children. So, I'm quite content to just have my simple little crush. Anyway, at the nijikai (the second party, or the after-party) one of the teachers made me give the toast and then I started a big conversation with a teacher who never speaks to me. (That's a usual thing between teachers and ALTs.) After a little while, Nakai-sensei comes over to us and asks if he can cut in. And get this, he said that the other teacher was hogging me and he wanted the chance to speak with me. And that just about made me year! So, we had a nice chat about Obama and global politics. Then, we exchanged numbers because he'd like me to meet his family and teach his daughter some English.
Preview of next post:
*SNOW!
*KOREA!
*Aoyama-sensei dressed up as a yakuza (AKA Nezumi-Senpai)
*Maeya-sensei in a gold jumpsuit, hehe
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Oh, Christmas Parties...
So, last night my friend, Sarah, hosted a Christmas party at her place. The night's guests were a mixture of some fellow ALTs, ALT friends and some Japanese friends. Like most Christmas parties, the party kinda got off to a crazy start, but once the alcohol came out, all things became jolly! (Side note, I motion that for future gatherings we must invest in Mexican tequila. Japanese tequila just doesn't pack the same punch.)
Anyway, I really enjoyed the キス game! More on that later! ;<)
Anyway, I really enjoyed the キス game! More on that later! ;<)
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