A Funny Story

I have a funny story I wanted to share with everyone.

 I have this one class of middle schoolers...they can be a hassle, but usually I have a lot of fun with them.
The other day was no exception.

In this class, I am supposed to just come prepared with a topic and we should have a discussion in English for the entire period. (Usually, this lasts for about 10 minutes and I spend the next 30 trying to reel them back in)...

On this particular day, I decided that we would talk about aliens. That topic has set forth my new favorite quote from my students.

Here is the discussion:

Me: So, if aliens came down to Earth, what would you do? Would you run and hide...try to talk to them...try to fight them?

...(silence)...

Me: Well, see, teacher (for I always refer to myself in 3rd person around them...who knows why?) Teacher would run and hide, call her mom, cry and pray that she doesn't get killed. (went for the laughs...didn't get any).

....(silence)....

I then noticed a few of my students whispering in the back.

Me: Jason, Amy...what would you do?

Students: Teacher...send the Jew.

Me: Uh.....what?

Students: Send the JEW!

Me: Send the Jew? What?!

Students: Ya, you know...J-O-O. Send the Joo.

I was in complete confusion. What is J-O-O?

Students: You know teacher, like many many animals....

Teacher: (After it took me a minute) ...oh...zoo? Send the zoo? Z-O-O

Students: YA! Send the Joo!

:) After having a discussion about the difference between Z's and J's...I still have yet to understand their thinking of how sending animals to go meet the aliens would help us...but it did give me a good laugh.

On another note...I'm starting to actually be able to read Korean. The alphabet is not super difficult to understand, and so I'm trying to memorize it and learn. It's kind of exciting when I can walk the streets and see many things that I can read. It's also nice because a lot of English words sound the same here, so I just read them in this "Korean" accent.

Tomorrow, March 1st, is known as 삼 일 절....or Korean Indepence Day. (when they separated from Japan) and so we have a day off! :) I'm looking forward to it! A new art exhibit is in town and its called Trick Art...so a few of us are off to check that out. I'll update with pictures soon!

Hope all is well with you!

Miss and love you all.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto....and an apology. :)

I am SO sorry it has been a month since my last post! Time has literally flown by...which is good and bad! So, here's a recap of the last month or so....Thanks again to the devoted friends and family that have checked everyday, I'll get back on track, promise! :) No more slacking!



The Japan Post! :) here's a recap...

champagne! 

On Saturday January 21st, I woke up real early and met Aine and Bonnie. We took a taxi downtown and then caught the airport bus to Busan. When we got to the airport, we checked in and (best news ever) we were in Business Class! So, we got to do priority check in and then we got to go to the first class lounge. It was just a quiet room with some snacks and drinks, but it was still nice.  And then, we got to board the plane...and I have now seen how the other half lives. I don't think I can ever go back to economy! Business class was so wonderful. As soon as we boarded, someone took our coats and handed us champagne. Helllooooo wonderful.  The flight was a short one, but we soaked up that wonderful first class service! And then...we were in JAPAN!

After we got off the plane, we took the train into central Tokyo. We stayed in Asakusa, the older part of Tokyo, and we really enjoyed the hostel. We met some really cool travelers as well.

That first night, we decided to grab some dinner near our hostel and call it an early night, because we heard that Sunday the 22nd was the last day (and championship) of the Sumo Wrestling tournament, and if we got to the arena early, we might get tickets. So, we went to bed in hopes of seeing some sumo!

empty sumo arena

Sunday we woke up early again and found our way to the sumo arena and got tickets! We were so excited that we went in right away...at 8am, even though it didn't start until 10am. But, the matches lasted all day, so we took a peek at the place empty and then went in search of 1. coffee, and then 2. some Harajuku girls!

We had been told that if you go to the area Harajuku in Tokyo on Sundays, you can see some wonderfully entertaining outfits...and that we did! We also went shopping!    










After a mini shopping spree, we went back to the Sumo championships and enjoyed in the revelry of this wonderful sport. I have a new favorite! :)
We rented some radios, there was an english announcer broadcasting, and sat way up in the nosebleed seats, but still had a blast!  I rooted for my new favorite athlete, Barto, from Astonia...who won the whole shebang! Go BARTO!


After the championships were over, we headed to a sushi restaurant and basked in all that is raw fish...which, isn't really my style, so, we ended up stopping along the way home again! :)

We went back to the hostel, and made a plan to get up super early (about 3am) and make our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is one of the most famous tuna auction sites, and a must see in Tokyo.

Bidders checking out all the goods. 

So, we woke up, once again, early...and made our way to the fish market.  Only the first 120 visitors are allowed to view the auction, so we got there super early. It is a spectacle. Also, who knew tuna were so HUGE?
Unfortunately, I don't think our tour was as exciting as others, but it was still an amazing sight to see!

Fun in the rain! 

After the fish market, we decided to go back to the hostel and take a long nap! Which was glorious!

Once we were refreshed from our little cat naps, we decided to go see the palace gardens, but due to the weather, they were closed.

The Royal Family still lives in the palace, so much of it is closed to the public and heavily guarded. So, we decided to walk in the rain around the castle and take fun pictures.

The Palace surrounded by a mote. 

We then went to Roppongi, where the Tokyo tower is located. This is a copy cat structure that looks like a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower, but it is still an amazing sight. We decided to go to the top and check out the view...and escape the cold air!

When we were over looking Tokyo, I finally got the sense of how BIG this city actually is! It is HUGE! It was a very phenomenal sight to see all the lights and how far out the city went. Very beautiful.

While overlooking the city, we noticed that it had started to hail and snow outside, so we decided to make our way back back to our hostel.



But first....we found a Mexican restaurant! I don't think I have ever been so happy to eat Mexican food. It reminded me SO much of home and we were all ok with splurging a bit on this meal!

You can tell by my face how happy I was!

We ordered all the basics...chips and guacamole, margaritas, burritos, enchiladas, etc. etc. It was one of the most expensive meals in my life...and one of the best! :)

While we enjoyed our meal, and the wonderful ambiance that made us feel right at home...we looked outside and the snow had begun to really fall. HUGE flakes. It was so pretty.

But...we knew we had a trek back to the subway and then to our hostel...so we, very reluctantly, put our coats and scarves back on and made our way out into the cold, but beautiful, snow covered streets of Tokyo.






The next day, we woke up early (again) and this time, slipped and slid all the way to the subway on the ice covered streets. :) But, still beautiful.

The beautiful view of the lake.

Snow EVERYWHERE!

We had to run to catch our bus that would take us to Mt. Fuji!  Due to the weather from the night before, the usually 2 hour drive ended up being almost 4 hours, but we did get a spectacular view of the  peak of Mt. Fuji from afar.  However, when we arrived there, the clouds had rolled in and we could only see the base. But, it was still a very awesome experience. The whole town was covered in snow and looked gorgeous. There was a boat/cable car tour that we bought...and we had the whole boat to ourselves! :) very cool.

After our boat ride, we decided to walk along the lake. It was a nice walk, and really was kind of poetic when it started snowing! :)

We then took the cable car to the top of the mountain, but really had NO view because by then, it was foggy and snowing hard. But, still...fun.

We then headed back to the city in search of the LIGHTS! We had all talked about how much we wanted to see the lights of Tokyo. Whenever you see a movie, pictures, or a show about Tokyo...I feel like you always see lights! And boy did we find them! It was a such a fun last night in Tokyo. We had dinner at a "vending machine" restaurant. A place where there is a vending machine type machine with pictures of food, you pick your number and put the money in the slot. A ticket pops out and then you hand it to the man at the counter. And, walah! Your meal comes soon after. Pretty cool.

We then found dessert and enjoyed the sounds and lights of Tokyo!

The next morning, we woke up and went souvenir shopping and then headed to the airport!









And then, we were on our way "home". Which was funny to think about. Usually when I go to another country, going home is going back to America...but it really did feel nice to think about getting home to my apartment and my bed.
Unfortunately, our seats on the flight back were only economy...but still...it was an AMAZING trip!

It all worked out really well, because we came back late on Wednesday January 25th, and then the next day was my 23rd birthday! :) And honestly, it was an amazing one.  I was kind of worried about how my birthday would be away from home and from close friends and family...but I learned that I have some truly amazing friends here.

I woke up and got to talk to my parents and then headed to school...which was weird to work on my birthday, but still alright. All of my kids were SUPER good that day...so thank goodness to whoever told them! :) And I even got a few little gifts from them! Awesome.  The co-teachers gave me a cake and sang and said how happy they were that I was there...which was so good to hear.

After work, I met a few friends at this delicious soup restaurant and they pulled out all the stops. They are AMAZING! They serenaded me with songs and showered me in gifts. And we all talked about how glad we all were that we were all here together. It was simply an amazing birthday.
After dinner, as I walked home -(I live down the hill, while they all live up the hill)- I could hear singing, and I turned around, and they were all standing there...in the middle of the street, singing "Happy Birthday" to me one last time. Pure. Magic. :)

After the birthday....time has literally FLOWN by. I cannot believe that I have already been here for almost 4 months. Wow. And now, I can honestly say, I love it here. It took me a lot longer to settle than I thought it would, and it was one of the hardest transitions I've ever had to do, but I am so glad I did it. I honestly believe that I have grown immensely from this experience. I'm really glad it was hard actually.  It gave me an obstacle that I had to overcome on my own. And even though I still have some weak moments where I miss home and family and friends, I have had some amazing experiences here and I am so lucky to have had them.

I promise to write more! :) The weather has been super chilly the past few days, but then there are signs of spring in the air...and I cannot wait to see this wonderful place in the spring. I found a website that listed the 50 Top things to do in Korea, and a lot of them are flower fields...how exciting!

The other night, I stumbled upon a night farmer's market on the streets near my apartment. My work schedule in February has been really relaxed, which has been nice. It has allowed me to explore parts of town that are open, rather than closed when I normally got off work. I decided to walk home the long way the other night, and came across this market. I walked along for about a mile looking at all the fruits, vegetables, and fish, and everything else....and it hit me...."I am happy to be here." It took 4 months, but I can leave you all with that... I am very happy to be here, and I look forward to the next 8 months that lie ahead.

Thanks again for being devoted to this blog! I love and miss you all!

Things I've Learned in Korea...

43. Due to the cold weather, everyone wears jackets. Indoors and outdoors. But, my students wear them even when we have turned the heat on in the classrooms. Then, all through class, they complain. "Teacher, HOT!" And so, I try to explain the concept of taking their jackets off and then they wouldn't be so hot...but they NEVER take their jackets off. It's become a bit of a pet peeve of mine..."Teacher, HOT!"...I wish I could just say, "Take your damn jacket off kid." But instead I say, "Roll up your sleeves....and turn to page 15."

44. Tunnels here are super long. It's weird. I usually play this hold your breath through a tunnel and make a wish at the end of it game in America....I can't do it here. Lame. :)

45. I have started making my kids do creative writing assignments. On Wednesdays I usually teach writing, and the assignments have become quite boring. So, I added some English major jazz and flare to them....but some of these kids have NO imagination. It's kind of sad actually. The other day, I asked one class to write about what they would wish for is a genie granted them 3 wishes. The top wish? An iPhone. BORING! And then in another class, I asked the kids who they would want to have dinner with if they could choose any 3 people in the world, dead or alive. Top two choices? Mom and Dad....WHAAAAT?!?!?!