Seoul

Check out the bruise I brought back from Seoul! I slipped and fell on a rock while I hiking. Given the fall, I am actually pretty lucky that it was all I ended up with, the alternatives being a broken camera or a twisted ankle.

I also brought back a stomach full of angry gerbils, but I won't go into that! But just a warning - Japanese food, as healthy as it is, makes your stomach weak! Korean food toughens it up really quickly though :-)

So yes, I went to Seoul last weekend for a visit with my old friends. It was a fantastic trip, and I was surprised by how much I missed the place. I got to see tons of people and eat all my old favorite foods, plus stock up on girlie supplies from Face Shop and Skin Food! Ah, Seoul...I really did come to love it, and it took a visit back after a year to really realize that. As Taejin put it - "Korea is in your blood now!" The country really has a way of doing that! I didn't expect it at all, but I was sort of bummed that I had to come back to Japan. Mostly because Japan is still new to me and has not yet made it into the "home" category - I think it takes almost a year for that to really happen. So going to Korea and then leaving was like leaving home all over again, only it is the home that I really don't know when I will return to.

Sun's new look: This is what happens when you let me do your makeup.

A few new things of interest in my old neighborhood - a Ferrari dealership,

and a Hooters! Wow. Apgujeong is really complete now.

These are the people teaching English to the next generation of powerful Koreans:

Ryan

Sean

Aaron

Taejin and Sun after climbing Dobongsan. Take a guess which of the two forced us to go all way to the top, and which one was ready to kill her for it :-)

The beautiful view of Seoul from the top of Dobongsan.

Signs of the Seasons

Over the past few weeks, I have been noticing a lot of little changes that come along with the switch from summer to fall, like the appearance of chestnuts in the store, the disappearance of air conditioning in the teacher's room, and more and more students wearing their full winter uniform, complete with vests and jackets.

This morning was the best though -- it was the first morning that I have walked out of my aparment and though that maybe I should have put on a jacket, but I didn't have time to go back because I had to catch the bus. I usually buy a can of coffee from the vending machine (a sure sign that I have properly adjusted to life in Japan is that I now prefer green tea or sweetened canned coffee). As I was putting my coins in the machine, I thought about how nice it would be if the coffee were hot instead of cold, which it usually is. And sure enough, when I reached down to pick up the can, it was nice and toasty warm. You've gotta love Japan for stuff like this - even the vending machines change with the seasons!

Sports Day

Last Thursday was my high school's Sports Festival, part of the national holiday commemorating the 1964 Olympics. Sports Day is a really big deal in Japan, kind of the same level as homecoming in the US if you had to compare. It is super fun and one of the few days that Japanese kids really get to express themselves.

I had so many photos so I decide to post them on Kodak Gallery instead. Make sure to read the comments, it will explain a lot!

Link:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=mynbz59.68uikbxd&x=0&y=-8g3vt4

A few previews:

Tuesday October 2

This week's moment of hilarity is brought to you by .... Jason! Jason is a student in my 24HR class (he is half-filipino, which is why he does not have a Japanese first name.) He is one of 'cool' boys with spiky hair who does almost no work and spends most of his time in class sleeping. Today, while I was passing back papers, he tells me that he had learned some new English words from David, the Australian exchange student. When I asked him what he learned , he says with a perfect accent, 'Suck my dick!' I was torn between scolding him and laughing my ass off....

And then, to top it off, he yells all the way across the room to his Japanese teacher, 'Hey Matsuda-sensei, SUCK MY DICK!'

At least he is learning something....