Japan - The BIG Surprise

You might want to mute the volume before watching the videos...

There and back again, a tale by Justin Cassel. This was my second trip to Japan; however, this time it was only for a quick, 5 day visit. We left Incheon Airport around 1 pm and arrived at the Kansai International Airport at about 3 pm. It took us nearly as long to get through customs as it did to fly to Japan. After we got through customs, we purchased our train tickets and caught the next train to Namba. In Namba, we met up with Hiroko!

It was great to see Hiroko and she looked a bit more mature this time. She called her dad to see where he was at (her father didn’t now Katrina and I were coming) and Hiroko told him to meet her at a certain place. He thought she had a co-worker with her… I popped out from behind a pillar and here was his reaction:

Next was Hiroko’s mom. When we got back to her house, her Mom was out walking Leo, their dog – named after Leonardo DeCaprio, I am guessing Hiroko had a thing for him when she was younger. He’s not the greatest actor, at least in my opinion. So, no Mom. I ended up hiding in a room adjacent to their kitchen, her dad said something and then clapped, and I hopped out. Here is her reaction:

We ended up doing Chinese for dinner and then coming back and having a few drinks, beer for myself, Katrina, and Hiroko’s mother, vegetable juice for Hiroko and her dad. Thus concluded the first night in Japan.

Back in S.K.

I just wanted to let everyone know we made it back safe and sound. At some point this week I will try uploading a lot of photos or a slideshow of our trip. We had a great time, in large part to the Aochi family, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart. Stay tuned for an update within the week...

Seoul and Surrounding Areas

Sorry, I'm a bit behind. We had a busy weekend. On Saturday we were in the greater Seoul Area and on Sunday Katrina and I went to see Inception - it was better than average but it didn't blow my mind. The pictures from Saturday will have to wait at least another 5 days... Why you might ask? In 15 minutes we are headed to the bus stop, catching a bus to Incheon International airport, and flying to Japan! VACATION has arrived. So, until further ado, have a WONDERFUL week.

PS - I forgot to mention, I met perhaps the coolest older couple I have ever met (next to Poli Poli and Plowboy, of course) in Itaewon on Saturday. (Check out - www.sparkyourdream.net) 10 years ago they got in a car and started driving from Argentina to Alaska. Now, they are touring around Asia. When they first started they didn't have any kids - now, they have four! Amazing. I absolutely adore people who follow their dreams!!!

Terrific Tuesday

You might be wondering why Tuesday was so terrific. I will tell you. If you do not care to know, skip to paragraph two where you will get a work update. Tuesday was great for two reasons. For starters, I only had two classes. The new guy, Spenser, picked up one of my classes which gave me an extra 70 minutes to do some work - grade essays, enter class comments, etc. So, it was nice to have the extra time. On top of that, an expected package arrived from my mother and was sitting on my desk when I got back from my first class - another great surprise. Inside was everything I asked for and then some (a tarp - which actually cost about $100 mom - to use as a rain fly for our $15 tent, a belt, a wallet so I can use my T-Money card without actually having to remove it from my wallet, tooth paste, lotion, gum, honey roasted peanuts, 3 cans of refried beans, 2 Old El Paso and 1 Taco Bell, tootsie rolls, chocolate, and the powdered drink packets which can add flavor to any bottle of water! A glorious package! I was quite pleased, in fact ecstatic, to say the least! Thanks again Mom!

As for work, we start intensives on Thursday and they last for a week. Intensives allow students the opportunity to come in for an extra class and focus on one specific area of English - this semester, speaking. There are two nice things about intensives - more breaks and I am done at 9 pm. Nevertheless, there are also some drawbacks. I now start at 12 pm instead of 2 pm, I only have an hour of prep time instead of two, and there is an additional class each day that I must prepare for. I have the hour of prep time, teach a class, then two breaks, then three classes on Monday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday I have the hour of prep time, class, break, class, break, two classes. My sweet day, Wednesday, I have prep time, class, two breaks, two classes, then a break at the end of the day. Not a bad schedule, my only real complaint is that my Monday and Friday break is from 2:10 until 4:40, which is not conducive to a nice dinner. On the plus side, I do think I make a few extra dollars, however, due the lack of communication within the work place this has not yet been confirmed or denied so I will have to wait until August 10th and check my pay stub.

As for now, that is the latest and the greatest. We are headed to Insadong this weekend to try to find Katrina's Dad and step Mother birthday gifts. We might stop at Itaewon on the way back for dinner. There aren't really any set plans. I am getting more and more excited about our vacation with each passing day. I keep telling myself with the extra work - VACATION, VACATION, VACATION!!! It's only for 5 days but it will be a wonderful 5 days! I am looking forward to seeing Hiroko and her family and I am sure there will be lots of pictures from the trip.

Manseok Park

On Friday night, Spenser came with me over to Katrina's apartment. Katrina's power cord on her Mac Book (tsk tsk Macs) had not been working so she wanted to go up to Seoul to get another cord. While Spenser and I were on the bus I got a text message - her cord worked again. So, we just ended up hanging out Friday night and drinking Makali (fermented rice wine). We woke up on Saturday with a new objective - go to Itaewon for another falafel sandwich. We were down a man because Katrina wasn't feeling good. In fact, she hasn't been feeling good for quite a few days now. So, Spenser and I were going to make the journey ourselves.

On our way to the bus stop, about a 10 minute walk, we got drenched. Spenser's umbrella turned inside out and quite a few times, mine almost flew out of my hands. Welcome to Monsoon season in Korea - 60% chance of rain everyday according to the Weather Channel, and that's on the 10 day forecast. Again, WELCOME to the Monsoon Season. Therefore, Itaewon was out and Suwon Station was in. We went to the station and walked around quite a bit, I was able to "Have it My Way," with a delicious flame broiled Whopper and onion rings for lunch.

After checking out the station we headed over to Home Plus (aka the Wal-Mart of Target of Korea). Spenser hadn't been yet and I know what it's like being the new guy so I walked him over there. Afterward, I came home, cleaned up a bit, did some laundry and waited for Katrina to come over. In order to celebrate me quitting smoking and our - dah da dah - one year anniversary of living together, we got pizza, or should I say pizzas, one cheese, for you know who, and a Super Combi (sausage, peperoni, green peppers, onions, and CORN - yes, for some reason they put corn on their pizza, including cheese pizzas). Also, I got some wings! Not bad, not good, just wings. I also confirmed I can call and order pizza from the place since I go in there once a week. I told the guy when I call I'll say "Mi-guk" which means American and "Cheesu Pizza" which means Cheese pizza (but they say cheezu) or whatever I wanted. He just smiled and nodded. His wife said "10 minu" and I said, "Yes, 10 minutes" and she said, "Yes, minutes, minutes, minutes." At least I can order the pizza in advance now which I am pretty stoked about.

As for the quitting smoking, I've been trying since Japan and have yet to kick the habit. However, I recently read Alan Carr's "Easy Way to Quit Smoking" and I now consider myself cured. What I couldn't do in two years he did in two days, of course with my help since I read the book.

Today, Katrina and I went to Manseok Park and here are some pictures:

(On the way to the park you can see the highest structure from the Fortress, the one that is at the top of my blog)

(On the way to the park I saw this giant bug moving on the ground only to realize it was being dragged by an ant. By far, my favorite animal photo of ALL TIME!)

(A lone Lotus Flower with background)

(Me at the park)

(Romance is blooming - Happy One Year Anniversary of Living Together)

(Just a cool little bridge that I liked)

(Katrina hanging out on a bench, enjoying the view)

(Traditional structure located in the park)

(View of the lake/pond at the park)

There is also a trail which runs around the park that is 1.6 kms long or 1 mile. I think I am going to start running around once I get back from Japan to try and get in shape again and get some of the gunk out of my lungs. I did enjoy the park because it is so quiet. Obviously, there are cars and buses within 100 meters at all time. However, due to the planning it was exceptionally quiet.

Hope you had a nice weekend!