Ruth's Korean Adventure: A Little Jaunt to Japan

What a week we had.  Rather than chronicle our day to day with names of neighborhoods and temples that will just read as gibberish to most of you, I'm going to stick to the highlights of the trip...  Boiled down and aside from what I've written below, we visited various temples and shrines, went to Tokyo Tower, did a lot of shopping in various neighborhoods, and ate a lot of good food (duh.).  

First, a video of Desiree on the train from the airport:

Highlight 1: Spending a day with Sho

Sho was a foreign exchange student at North Cedar during my senior year of high school, and, for Ruth and I, meeting up with him was a non-negotiable.  So, on our first full day in Japan, we met Sho at a train station about an hour and a half away from our hostel, hopped in his minivan (this kid is awesome.), and began the short drive to Kamakura (a seaside town) to the Hase-Dera Temple (whose brochure bills it as a temple with a view and lots of flowers - they weren't wrong).  Before reaching the temple, we stopped for lunch at a popular sushi restaurant that serves its sushi on a conveyor belt.  Twenty-five plates of sushi later (I'm not joking), we were back on our way to the temple.  The temple itself was beautiful (though there weren't many flowers given the time of year...), beautifully set overlooking the Pacific ocean and a colorful array of houses below.  The temple was bustling with people there to pray and make offerings for the new year - the religious (and inherently cultural) practices of Buddhism are profoundly interesting and strangely beautiful to me.  And, spending time with Sho was priceless.  After we covered every nook and cranny of the temple (including going inside the huge Buddha in front of which we are standing in the picture above), we drove along the ocean on our way to try to see Mt. Fuji.  Let me just say, road trips are the best.  Ruth and I thoroughly enjoyed simply spending time with Sho in his van, rehashing high school and our class reunion and listening to a strange mix of all of our music.  Sho, however, was very disappointed to find Mt. Fuji covered in thick clouds upon our arrival, impairing our ability to experience what I'm sure is a beautiful mountain.  It didn't bother Ruth and I in the slightest - we were so thrilled to be in the general vicinity (with Sho!) that not being able to see the mountain itself was not so bothersome...  The day ended with us eating a delicious, completely random dinner in an area of Tokyo called Shinjuku.  Overall, a very simple day, but one of the best, in my book.  Seeing a country at the hands of someone who lives there is always the best way.

Highlight 2: An early morning tuna auction and sushi breakfast at Tsukiji Market
We arrived at the market (after all night (for some... not this kid - I took a much needed nap!) karaoke) at 4:30 AM to secure ourselves a spot from which to view the impending tuna auction (only the first 120 people to arrive get in!).  Though we weren't sure what was going on, watching various rubber boot clad men inspect the tuna via specially cut flaps in the frozen tunas' flesh was kind of fun.  After the auction was over, we made our way to the best of several sushi bars, waited in line for two freezing hours for five of the 10 or 12 stools to open, and savored every single bite of the best fish into which I've ever sunk my teeth.  Seriously.  I now understand why Bob and Kris rave about the shore lunches of their Canadian fishing exbeditions.  Fatty tuna that, somehow, tasted creamy.  Deliciously strange sea urchin.  Beautifully colored salmon rolls.  UGH.  Take me back!  For real, if I could start each day like this, minus the waiting in the freezing cold morning part (I was a crabby pants - ask Ruth - she'll corroborate), I would.  Sweet Jesus, that was one of the best meals of my life!  We were home by 10 AM, sleeping like well-fed little babies.

So there you have it - the two absolute best parts of our week in Japan, and a butt-ton of pictures :)

Next (and last post about Ruth's Korean adventure): Ruth's epic exit - we did those last two days right.

Ruth's Korean Adventure: Piercings, Fish Pedicures and Lots of Good Food

Photo cred: Ruth

So much happened this week.  Buckle your seatbelt for (kind of watered down) explanations of our day to day...

Monday:  After school (Charades!), our group assembled for Chinese food at the Chinese place in the Gwangj.  We ordered all the good stuff and got ice cream afterwards.  Par for the course, people.  Then, we went to our favorite noraebang.  We payed for two hours.  How long did we stay?  Three and a half hours.  No big deal.

Tuesday:  After school, we headed for Seoul.  Ruth wanted to get her ears pierced, so I took her to my favorite shop, The Crow, in Hongdae.  Afterwards, we had an awesome dinner at a real cool basement Indian restaurant in the same neighborhood.  The food was soooo good and the company wasn't too terrible either :)

Wednesday:  We went with the Husteds to Namhansansang Fortress for dinner after school.  What a delightful meal we shared!  We all love mountain food and Ruth even said that this was probably her favorite Korean meal.  No big deal :) Afterwards, we went back to the Husteds to sample some of Scott's homemade soju concoctions.  YUM.

Thursday:  After school (Friendship bracelets!), it was fish pedicure time.  First, we arrived to the cafe and had our obligatory cafe drinks, plus some honey bread.  Then, it was fish time.  We opted for the little guys (Ruth's tickle tolerance is, apparently, low) and, true to form, Ruth giggled like a little girl.  Not long after we got started, a Korean couple also came to the fish tubs.  They were shrieking and giggling and making a general raucous about the big fish, so we invited them over to the little fish tub to share with us.  They were reluctant, but came over anyway and spent much of the time trying to figure out if Ruth and I were a couple.  So, that was fun :)

Friday:  This was the last day of Winter Camp.  We made trifles and did a review game.  After it was all over, Mr. Shin gave some closing remarks, some involving thanking Ruth for coming to help.  He asked her to give a few remarks about her time here and by the end, homegirl cried.  Precious.  Everyone loved having Ruth at school - one student drew a picture of her and several other students gave her letters.  She was a hit.  After camp was over, we went out to dinner with Mr. Shin, Vice Principal Choi and another teacher from school.  We had SUCH a good time!  Usually those teacher dinners are all business (and by all business, I mean, we eat and talk a little, but mostly eat, and then leave), but this dinner lasted for such a long time.  We talked and talked and laughed and laughed.  The food was delicious, of course, but the company was so, so refreshing and fun!

Then, after a serious amount of cajoling (I was soo tired!), I agreed to take Ruth out for a drink at the famed Cafe Swalo.  What was supposed to be one drink turned into two bottles of wine with our new Korean friend Brad (he likes Brad Pitt because he has the distinct privilege of being married to Angelina Jolie, who has nice lips.) who wanted to practice his English.  He and Ruth pinky-promised to be pen pals (he fiiiiiiinally e-mailed her today!!) and we learned all about his very Korean girlfriend who was at home sleeping.  As if providing us with wine during this delightful two and a half hour conversation wasn't awesome enough, he bought us a bottle to take home with us too.  In a satin lined box.  Homeboy didn't mess.

Saturday:  Saturday was real chill.  We walked around the Gwangj, finished up some souvenir shopping, walked around the traditional market, got some Korean pizza and packed for our impending trip to Japan.  Ruth's favorite pizza featured spaghetti.  Some things can't be explained with logic, like, why there was spaghetti on this pizza.  But, trust me when I tell you, it's delicious in the weirdest way.

Next post: JAPAN.  Get excited.

Ruth's Korean Adventure: Weekend in Seoul

Ruth's first weekend in Seoul went like this: dinner and noraebang Friday night, the DMZ and various food and drink experiences on Saturday and a palace and some shopping on Sunday.  Busy weekend, but delightful all the same.

We stayed in a cozy hostel in Hyehwa (a bustling university neighborhood) for the weekend, so after finding our digs and assembling our rather large group of people (Ruth, Desiree, Diane, two of Diane's friends Grace and Lena, Sunny and me), we headed out in search of dinner.  We quickly settled on a very Korean restaurant in our general neighborhood and ordered an obnoxious amount of deliciously traditional food.  We sat around, eating and talking for quite a while before heading out in search of a noraebang.  Let me just tell you, Ruth pulled out all the stops in her first noraebang experience.  No stone was left un-turned.  Homegirl is a champ.

The next day, Desiree, Ruth and I woke up briiiight and early to make it to our 7:00 AM tour of the DMZ.  This time, our military guide was much less intense and much more enjoyable.  Many of the same emotions as last year ran through me on this trip (click here for a full run-down) but with less intensity, given that this was my second time to hear most of the information.  Ruth and Desiree, though, were blown away at the reality that is North Korea.  Pretty heavy stuff...  At our last stop on the tour, though, the mood was lightened by watching two Korean soldiers chase each other around the train station when they thought no one was looking.

After our tour at the DMZ ended, we made our way to the Korean War Memorial Museum to have a look around.  But, instead of looking at any war information, we opted to explore the museum's special exhibit: Body Worlds.  I'm no science buff, but this exhibit was really freakin' cool.  The whole exhibit was filled with people who had donated their bodies to be used in the exhibit upon their death.  Their bodies were then configured in various ways to show muscle use, certain body parts when exposed to various diseases, etc.  Watching Ruth look at each component was just as exciting as viewing the exhibit itself - she told me later that, for her, it was very much a spiritual experience.  I was so glad that I got to share something like that with her.

After the museum, we met up with Sunny for dinner and makgeolli at an obscure basement establishment called Sanchez.  This place is awesome!  Its door is a flowered bed sheet.  The decor is totally random in a laughably comfortable way.  The man who runs the place is delightfully awkward, has a fantastically wide range of different flavors of makgeolli and man, can homeboy cook!  We sampled many different flavors of makgeolli, most memorably, corn (which tasted kind of like creamed corn) and citrus (which tasted on the yummy side of the citrus flavored fluoride I had to gargle in middle school).  Next, we found ourselves in the attic of an adorable cafe, sipping lattes and discussing who knows what.  Our night ended, after a brief stint in a street food tent where we introduced Ruth to the delightful flavor of duk boki, in another coffee shop in our hostel's neighborhood.  A good night, for sure.

The next day, we woke up at our leisure, took our time getting ready and eating brunch and met Diane and Grace at Gyeongbukgung Palace.  It was a gorgeous, albeit chilly, day to look around the palace grounds.  While Diane, Desiree and Grace dressed up in traditional Korean clothes, Ruth and I wandered (and hobbled, respectively) around the palace.  I still marvel at how large this place is, given its location in the middle of the city.  Post-palace, we ventured to Insadong for Ruth to take care of some souvenir shopping.  Homegirl didn't mess around.  And, thus ended Ruth's first weekend in Seoul.  A delightfully tame experience.

Next up: the following week and all its glory.  Get excited.

Ruth's Korean Adventure: Arrivals and Introductions

I've been putting off the writing of this series of blog posts because writing them means that Ruth's trip is officially over (even though she's been gone for four days...) and also, let's face it: I'm lazy.  And so, without further adieu, here is the first of five installments of Ruth's Korean Adventure.  I hope I do the last three weeks justice...

Ruth was set to arrive to Seoul from Tokyo around 9:00 on Tuesday night.  So, around 5:00, I hobbled to E-Mart in my boot (with my freshly sprained ankle) to eat some gut-busting food at Popeyes (their french fries - oh. my. wow.) before boarding the airport bus.  I arrived to the airport around 8:30 or so, and looked up Ruth's arrival information on the monitor to see at which gate I should wait.  But wait!  A glitch: the information I had written down regarding Ruth's flight information was nowhere to be found.  I called Desiree for help, had her hack into my e-mail and double-check the flight into.  She told me (or I made this up in my head - which is very likely) that her flight was operated by American Airlines, which made sense, given that I was staring at a monitor with six flights coming at 9:30 from Tokyo via American Airlines - all arriving at Gate C.  So, I hobbled over to Gate C, found myself a seat on a bench right in front of the arrivals gate and hauled out my book.  I waited, and waited, and waited.

Ruth's flight arrived and I continued to wait.  An hour after her flight had arrived, no one from the Tokyo flight had emerged (I talked to a man who was supposed to pick someone up from the same flight and was concerned that he had missed him.)  So, I continued to wait for this flight to come through the gate, along with a hundred strangers, until a man came to the gate and announced that Gate C was closed and the flight for which we were waiting would actually come through Gate B.  Upon hobbling over to Gate B, people from the flight began to pour through the gate.  I saw the man to whom I had talked greet the man for whom he was waiting and several familiar faces from Gate C greet people from the same flight.  Still no Ruth.  At this point, I considered having her name announced over the airport loudspeaker, but I wanted to give the girl some credit.  Maybe her bags were taking a while to come through.  Maybe she had to pee.  What did I know?

Just then, my phone began to ring.  Desiree was on the line, telling me that Ruth was waiting for me in Gate D.  I hobbled as fast as my good foot would allow and lo and behold, there was my best friend!  As we walked to the taxi stand (by now it was well past 11:00, and there were no more buses available), I found out the rest of the story.  Ruth's flight had been operated by United, not American Airlines and she had been waiting in Gate D, literally hundreds of feet away, since 9:30.  She had arrived to the gate with hopes of being greeted by a familiar face after hours of travel and all she got was a sea of strangers.  I felt like such a dunce.

Upon realizing that I was nowhere to be found, Ruth had called her mom, who called everyone she could think of in Mechanicsville and the surrounding areas who would have my address, my phone number - anything to contact me.  Then, Ruth remembered our good pal Facebook.  I had sent a common message to her, Diane and Desiree regarding our accomodations in Japan.  So, she sent a message to Desiree, who then called me.  Thank God for technology :)

So, anyway, we were together, at last, and that's all that mattered.  We gabbed and talked and giggled and reveled in how crazy it was that we were together.  In Korea.  All the way home.  Our cabby looooooved us, obviously.

The next morning, we woke up, walked to school, taught a Taylor Swift song (you're welcome for the pictures :) ) and walked around my school's beautiful campus.  Ruth took crazy amounts of pictures and I regaled her with adorable student quips.  You know, the usual.

That night for dinner, along with the Husted's and Diane and Desiree, we ventured to our neighborhood all-you-can-eat meat house for a carnivore-fest.  Ruth loooooved it - especially the new star of the show - smoked duck.  I know, I know, I'm hungry now too.  She also ate a freshly grilled (and previously, freshly living) whole octopus.  That's when I knew this trip would be delightful - homegirl has no qualms about eating weird food.  YES.

The next morning was my doctor's appointment (read: show up at this time and the doctor will see you when it's your turn) at the hospital downtown.  Ruth came with me, and I kid you not, she was like a kid in a candy store (at home, she's a psych nurse at the University of Iowa Hospital).  If there hadn't been a gross language barrier, she would have inquired about and fully understood the inner workings of the place.  Some things can't be helped, I'm afraid.  The appointment itself went like this:

Doctor: Your ankle is still swollen.  Wear the splint for one more week.  Did you take your medicine?
Noelle: No...  I thought it was for pain and it doesn't hurt.
Ruth: (the look on her face said this) ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
D:  (sigh) It is also an anti-inflammatory.  Take the medicine.
R: I'll make sure she does.  (She did, too!)
N: (sheepish laughter that was not appreciated) Okay.  Can I have a new prescription?
D: I thought you didn't take the medicine.
N: Nope, and I never filled the prescription either - and, I don't have it anymore. (cue a very large smile.)
D: (more sighing, rapid Korean to the nurse.)  Come back on Tuesday. 

So, I'm obviously a real big hit at the hospital...  Five dollars later (including the prescription!) and about 15 minutes of our time from arrival to leaving, we were on our way back home.  Then, more school, more teaching - this time we made personal ads to practice present tense.  Ruth was real amused when a girl shared that she desires a man with a six pack and nice hands, whatever that means...

Thursday night, we were invited over to Toni's for dinner made by her daughter, Nicki, who was visiting for a month from Australia.  Oh. Em. Gee.  That food!  Nicki cooked us a traditional Aussie meal (meat (pan grilled steaks) and potatoes (a creamy scalloped-ish potato casserole) with several yummy salads) and we all (Diane, Desiree, Toni, Ruth, Nicki and me) sat around Toni's table for hours, talking, drinking wine and sharing embarrassing stories.  Plans to noraebong got put on the back burner.  We were tuckered out.

Friday was more school - future tense.  We played MASH, a game that determines your future - who you'll marry, how many children you'll have, where you'll live, etc.  Welcome to American fifth grade.  It was pretty fun, though.  Those girls kill me.  Every time.

Then, it was off to Seoul, a weekend that warrants a post of its own.  Stay tuned...

New Spectacles

Posts from Ruth's stay in Korea and our jaunt to Japan are on the way.  I promise.  I was actually doing school stuff at school yesterday and today, so maybe this weekend will afford me some time to chronicle the glory of the last three weeks.  Also, please excuse my seventh grade style self portraits, and my gross attempts at artsy photographs to show off my new nerd glasses.  I'm just so jazzed about them and want to share how they came to be.

Let me preface this with a little self-disclosure.  My eyes are bad news bears - like Coke bottle lenses style.  So, wearing my real glasses in public is much like wearing a monocle.  On both eyes.  Not attractive.  Also,  I haven't had an eye exam in a year and a half.

Desiree wanted some new glasses and I had heard tell of how cheap they are here, so I decided that I would check into some too.  So, Desiree and I had grand plans to venture to Seoul to a market where Dionne and Scott always get new glasses for real cheap.  Like, blow your mind America cheap.  As we were running a few errands before getting on the bus yesterday, we ran into Mario, one of the head teachers at the high school.  We told him our plans and he told us about a shop that one of his former students owns.  "I'll call and tell her to give the two beauties about to come to her shop a big discount," he said.  That sounded much better than going all the way to Seoul for new glasses, so we took him up on his offer.  He had some time to kill, so he decided to walk us there himself.  Desiree and I got right to work trying on new frames and both quickly found exactly what we wanted.

Once we had picked out our respective frames, we each sat through an eye exam, right there in the store.  Awesome.  Upon removing my contacts, the woman in the store informed me that I would be taking two exams - one with contacts and one without.  Oh boy.  The exam was real slick - all computerized and very similar to what I'm used to at the Mt. Vernon Eye Clinic with small differences and heightened technology...  So, first I did the standard reading numbers, only vertically instead of horizontally.  At one point in my non-contacts exam, I saw a white box, but literally could not see any numbers (or black figures of any kind).  I told Mario this, he translated to the woman and she sat back, stunned.  I was more than she bargained for.  On top of that, the box was fuzzy and glowing to me - like 3D style.  I also shared this with Mario, who then shook my chair and asked if that made it a 4D experience.  He also asked if I was a superhero.  What a circus we brought to that store!

Anyway, after several other kinds of tests, many of which I horribly failed (like, there was a definite correct answer, and I kept saying the definite wrong one), two pairs of test glasses (the first with so many combinations of lenses that I felt seven feet tall wearing them) and lots of laughing, Desiree and I paid for our glasses and made arrangements to come back the next day (!!) to pick up our new glasses.  How much did they cost, you ask?  Brace yourself, American readers.  My new glasses (including frames and two exams) cost me a little less than $60!  How is that even possible?

Here's the catch - my eyes are so terrible that my new glasses are reading glasses.  To wear with my contacts.  Can you say old lady at 24?  Today, while telling these stories to Ruth, one of the co-teachers at school, I made the decision to have LASAK eye surgery at my next possible convenience.  This bad eyes thing is for the birds.

this is what happens when you fall off a bus:

Yesterday, after a perfectly delightful dinner and coffee outing in Seoul with my pal Sunny, I put a damper on my evening.  As I exited my bus to Gwangju, I narrowly missed stepping onto the curb, and instead, tumbled out of the bus and onto the street between the bus and the sidewalk.  In true Noelle fashion, I twisted the hell out of my left ankle.  (Yep folks - this marks the second time in six or so months that I've sprained the same ankle...  Good stuff.)

So, after our first day of Winter Camp came to a close, Dionne and Scott drove me to the hospital and guided me through the whole process (seriously, I'd be one sick puppy without the Husteds!  They are awesome!).  And, let me just say, the Korean healthcare system is crazy efficient... and awesome!  I was in and out in 40 minutes from arrival to payment.

First, I took a number and waited less than five minutes to check in with the front desk.  The woman who helped me asked me all kinds of general questions and pointed me to the foot doctor down the hall.  I waited between five and ten minutes to see the doctor and when I went into his office, it was all business.  He looked at my foot, felt both sides of my ankle and sent me to have it x-rayed.  The x-ray happened bad fast and in five minutes or so, I was looking at it on a computer in the doctor's office.  It wasn't broken (though you could have fooled me - ankles look crazy!) so after we scheduled a follow-up appointment for Thursday morning, I went across the hall to get my ankle set in a splint.  The kid that set my ankle was real nice and he got extra cool points because he smelled real nice :)  But of course, no experience would be complete without an awkward exchange, ergo the following:

Splint Kid: (looking up at me and making awkward eye contact) Russian?
Noelle: What?
SK: Russian?
Noelle: (still not sure what he said because I was expecting it to have something to do with my foot) uhhh no...
SK: Blue eyes!
Noelle: Yep!  (then I understood...) I'm American...
SK:  Oh. American.

And with that, I was off to the pay station.  The whole situation cost me around $30.  Not bad, not bad...

And so, here I sit, in my apartment, busying myself by preparing for Ruth's arrival tomorrow (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and icing my ankle with various frozen food from my freezer.  My current choice is dumplings, though pineapple and aloe vera have also made appearances...  I should be up and running in no time :)

Hello, 2012.

In an effort to further put off doing the dishes (a task I absolutely loathe), here I am, posting pictures from a delightfully low-key New Year's Eve with some of my best gal pals.

We started our afternoon by combing Gwangju for fireworks.  The man who runs the costume shop in town is soooo funny, and festive, and certainly came through in the fireworks department.  I've heard he can be cranky, but I've never seen that side of him.  How can you run a holiday / costume / pyrotechnics shop and be a miser?  I think he's delightful.

Next, we made a real sweet three layer funfetti cake with green tea vanilla frosting and fresh strawberries.  YUM.  Somehow, Korea's strawberries are 100% flavorful 100% of the time.  I don't understand, but I'm certainly not complaining - those things are too delicious to worry about why they are as such.

Then, at the stroke of 11:45ish, we ventured down to the shallow creek (that sometimes transforms to a river...) that separates our 'hood from the rest of the Gwangj.  We stood in the middle of the (frozen) creek, lighting off fireworks and dancing around with sparklers.  For a good hour and a half.  (That's how many fireworks and sparklers we bought!)  It was so, so fun and oddly refreshing (and maybe invigorating too) to be outside in the crisp air with sparkly fire in the wee hours of the morning with some of my favorite Korea pals.  I think we should do it again.

Then, we hightailed it back to the warmth of Miss Desiree's apartment to eat our cake and drink some wine.  This is my favorite kind of New Year's Eve celebration, especially if it involves wearing sweatpants.

A Day in the Gwangj...

Desiree and I ventured out on the town today.  We mailed some letters, bought some bread, ran into about a dozen students, walked down my favorite street (twice!) and gave the head honcho at our bank a little lesson in American English by reading the Lord's Prayer and the Apostle's Creed for him so he could make accent and pronunciation marks.  Never a dull day in the Gwangj...

In other news, winter break [round one] is in full swing.  I've been thoroughly enjoying sleeping without the looming sound of an alarm clock, watching embarrassing amounts of Breaking Bad and recuperating from an exhausting last couple of weeks of school - (that's a funny joke) - the last two weeks of school went like this:
(The projector screen in the classroom is down, the lights are turned off and the chairs and tables are arranged in tight rows, perfect for staring at the projector screen in the dark.)
Students: "Teacher!  We will watch movie?"
Noelle: NO!
Students: Really, Teacher?
Noelle: Really.
Students: So sad story, Teacher.
Noelle:  HAHAHAHAHA!  Just kidding!  We're watching School of Rock!
Students: (nervous laughing).

Also, with some of the first grade students, we played a Christmas game.  Some gems from said Christmas game:
Q: Who helps Santa make toys?
A: Bart Simpson?

Q: What does Santa ride on?
A: Toilet!