Templed out

Kyoto has so many temples and palaces. Unfortunately that's pretty much why you come to Kyoto, to see them all. What happens when you see the majority of them in one day? You want to die. Of course the guide book points out whats great about all of them, which makes you want to see ALL OF THEM. Then when you don't see one or two you feel like a bad person or that you're missing out on some hidden gem. No thank you, 6 temples in one day is fine for me. Plus, all of the admission fees add up.

I'm shipping out of Kyoto today. Check out of my hostel is in an hour and a half. I don't know where I'm going yet tho. I really want to stay at a Japanese hot spring but I don't really know how to set that up and they front desk guy at my hostle isn't in yet. There are a few places like that I could stay in Kyoto, but I want a real "bathe in a hot spring sitting on a rock" experience.

Today is the start of the second half of my Japan adventure. So far I've had a day where I've eaten sushi for every meal, stayed at a capsule hotel, saw the A-bomb site, seen the Golden Pavilion, and had a conversation with someone about how all asian pastries are shit because they all sneak in red bean paste. I'm excited to see what the rest brings, seeing as how after today, I'll be spending all of my time in Tokyo.

JAPAN!!!!!!!

I GUESS I'LL MAKE THE BEST OF THIS COMPUTER NOT HAVING CAPS CONTROL, JAPAN IS PRETTY EXCITING. ITS SUMMER VACATION TIME AND MY TRIP IS TAKING ME TO JAPAN AND CHINA.

JAPAN IS AWESOME. EVERYTHING HERE IS JUST SO COOL. AND EXPENSIVE. WAAAY MORE EXPENSIVE THAN I EVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. SO FAR I'VE BEEN TO FUKUOKA TO EAT SOME RAMEN. YOU FILL OUT THIS ORDER FORM FOR EXACTLY HOW YOU WANT IT. HOW MUCH OIL, GARLIC, THE TENDERNESS OF THE NOODLES. IT WAS GREAT. AND YOU EAT IT IN THIS LITTLE BOOTH. VERY COOL EXPERIENCE.

THEN CAME HIROSHIMA. IT WAS AN AMAZING CITY. THE MUSEUMS AND MONUMENTS WERE SAD BUT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT I'M GLAD I SAW. THE A-BOMB DOME WITH ITS BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES WAS ALMOST TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. I SAW THE FLOATING TORII GATE AT MYAJIMA AND SOME PAGODAS LATER THAT DAY. I ATE A LOT OF OKONOMIYAKI. ITS THIS PANCAKE MADE WITH NOODLES, EGG, BACON, BEAN SPROUTS, AND GREEN ONION. IT WOULD BE THE BEST HUNGOVER FOOD EVER.

TODAY I CAME TO OSAKA. AT FIRST I WAS PISSED OFF BECAUSE NOTHING WAS LABLED CORRECTLY AND I ENDED UP WALKING AROUND FOR AN HOUR TRYING TO FIND MY WAY. AT LAST I FOUND THE UMEDA SKY BUILDING AND TOOK A CRAZY ESCALATOR RIDE TO THE TOP. THEN I POKED AROUND OSAKA CASTLE FOR A BIT. TONIGHT I'M STAYING IN A CAPSULE HOTEL. ITS REALLY COOL BUT YOU HAVE TO USE THE PUBLIC BATHS TO GET CLEAN. SO MUCH FOR KEEPING MY RECORD OF NEVER USING ONE HAHA. THE HOTEL IS IN AN AREA CALLED AMERICA VILLAGE. ITS JUST A TRENDY SHOPPING AND BAR DISTRICT. SOMEBODY I MET WHILE FINDING MY HOTEL SAID THAT ALL THE JAPANESE HERE THINK THEY'RE GANGSTER RAPPERS. DINNER TONIGHT WAS AT AN AUTOMATED SUSHI PLACE. THE PLATES COME AROUND ON A CONVEYOR BELT AND YOU JUST PICK THEM AND THE ATTENDANTS ADD UP THE COST BY THE COLOR OF THE PLATES. IT WAS SO GOOD. RIGHT NOW I'M AT A 'MEN'S RELAXATION ZONE' AKA THE ONLY PLACE I COULD FIND INTERNET. ITS KIND OF STRANGE. SCRATCH THAT, VERY STRANGE. YOU GO IN TO HAVE SOME...ALONE TIME. AND THE FRONT DESK HAS MANY PRODUCTS THAT CAN HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR...ALONE TIME. NO THANKS, I'LL JUST STICK TO THE BASIC ROOM WITH A COMPUTER SO I CAN BOOK MY HOSTELS.

TOMORROW I'M OFF TO KYOTO, THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF JAPAN.

WHATS NEW...

WELL, BESIDES THE FACT THAT THE COMPUTER I'M ON HAS A BROKEN CAPS LOCK KEY, A LOT IS NEW.

FIRST OFF, I'M STAYING IN KOREA UNTIL FEBRUARY. I WAS STUPID NOT TO RE-SIGN MY PUBLIC SCHOOL CONTRACT BUT I WAS ABLE TO GET A HOGWAN (ACADEMY) JOB UNTIL THE END OF FEB. WE'LL SEE HOW IT GOES FROM THERE. I LOVE THE LIFESTYLE HERE A LITTLE TOO MUCH TO LET IT ALL GO RIGHT NOW.

I'LL BE BACK IN AMERICA SOMETIME WITHIN 2 YEARS...

Tension is high.

Just in case you haven't heard, tension is high between North and South Korea. Here is a basic time line of what happened.

March 26, 2010: The South Korean warship Cheonan mysteriously sinks in the West (Yellow) Sea, killing 46 sailors. People suspect North Korea is to blame.

April 25, 2010: South Korea's defense minister says the most likely cause of the sinking is was a torpedo.

May 20, 2010: A United Nations investigation finds that the sinking was in fact caused by a North Korean torpedo. On May 15th, torpedo parts were found that matched the schematics for known North Korean torpedoes.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak promised that there would be repercussions for the North. North Korea has denied all of the allegations, even though a small fleet of submarines left their North Korean base shortly before the attack and returned shortly after. The North has also promised consequences for whatever measures the South will take.

Its crazy to think that just 6 hours north of me, this is happening. And yet, nobody seems too concerned. Although today I was asked if I was registered with the embassy and in my extra class my students told me that I would have to go home soon because of the war. Its all kind of scary.

Enough with being a downer.

Thinking about how much fun last Friday at school was completely reverses whatever negativity I was feeling earlier. Last Friday was sports day at Jonggo Middle School. Classes were canceled, students didn't have to wear uniforms and everyone was happy. The students broke off by grade. The third graders went to the gym to play basketball, kick volleyball, and this weird jump rope thing. The first and second graders went to the outside field to play soccer, basketball, and tug of war. At the end they all ran a relay race. For the majority of the day I hung out with the third graders, and by that I let them pull me around and sat there uncomfortably when they cracked my neck and hands and touched my arm hair. Pretty awkward. Between the games some students did a dance to this song. Be careful, it will get stuck in your head.



It was good enough to make up for not being at lip sync this year.

All the students had a great time and so did I. The raw fish and soju dinner we had afterwords was also awesome.

Bonus, tomorrow is like Friday because of Buddha's Birthday!

I need to shake this funk.

I have no idea whats wrong with me. I'm living such a carefree life, I'm making great money, have awesome friends, but for whatever reason I've just been in a funk the past couple of weeks. Maybe because I've been stressing myself out about my contract being renewed. In trying to prepare myself for the chance that I don't get rehired I think I really got myself excited to go home. But what is at home? Yeah my friends and family, but what else? I have no job. The job market isn't great right now. Oh and I'd be living in my parents' basement. My current situation seems way better. Job, money, friends, adventure, self growth. I guess I just feel stagnant. I'm not working towards anything. The sooner my school tells me if I'm being re-signed or not the better because then I can start on a TESOL course to give myself something to do. This is the first summer that there'll be no big summer vacation. Maybe thats getting me down.

This week is a short week, so thats a plus. Hopefully something comes together for the weekend. Its Buddha's Birthday on Friday so we have the day off. My original plans to go to Seoul fell through and I really don't want to sit around Yeosu and do the same things.

Sick season? Really?

Most people get the flu or the plague or whatever during the winter months. Leave it to me to be sick for the third time in three weeks when the sun is shining and the weather is warm.

Two weeks ago I had a killer sore throat and fever. Last week it morphed into a full blown head/chest cold complete with losing my voice completely. Now this week its dizzy spells and throwing up in the bathroom at school. I went to the doctor who told me I have enteritis. He could tell by the wince of pain when he poked where my small intestine is. I got sent home early yesterday and today I am in bed to, as they say in Korea, take a rest.

At least the health care is cheap. I know I praise the hell out of it every time I'm sick but its just so great. The trip to the doctor and 2 days of 5 different meds all together cost me less than $5. What a great country.

Now to put my head down and force feed myself crackers.