Not in a hurry? Go to Murree!

After a day of recuperating from our mountain expedition back in Abbottabad, we set out again, this time heading back towards Islamabad, stopping in Nathia Gali and Murree.

As we drove to Nathia Gali, we stopped briefly in Harno, where the locals had created a lift that transported people from one side of a deep valley to the other. I'm pretty sure the lift was made from the back covering of a truck bed, painted light pink and suspended by a wire. It looked extremely precarious and unsafe but we ferried across the valley for fun none-the-less. The lift is used mainly by the villagers who live on each side of a gorge, a common means of transportation since it's timely and difficult to go around or through, otherwise.

We had lunch in Nathia Gali in an outdoor restaurant selling grilled chicken and rice (I still wasn't eating much at this point but I was starting to get my appetite back!). As we ate and chatted, we watched as a family of monkeys made their way from tree branches to housetops in the area overlooked by the restaurant. We saw the same type of monkey the next day along a road somewhere. I spend a lot of time taking pictures of them. I'm pretty sure this was the first time I'd seen monkeys living in the wild!

We walked through Ayubia National Park. It was a 4K hike, winding along a mountain cliff. Beautiful, natural sites! And the trees were on strike. Periodically, there would be a sign on a tree, expressing a grievance of nature. My companions were not as enthralled by the hike and needed to take frequent breaks as we went (which usually meant I get a chance to take more pictures!).  We started the hike in the afternoon and it was quite dark by the time we got back to the car.  At the end of the hike, we went down a small street that had some stalls set up with purses and little nicknacks. I think this was the first time I'd seen a tourist-focused area.

We drove back into town and had dinner across the street from where we had lunch. I tried a sweet and sour soup, which was reddish-orange in color and a syrup-y consistency. It sounds weird but I quite enjoyed it! It had an initial sweet flavor but had hot pepper flakes in it that gave it a spicy aftertaste.  We had other food as well, but I can't remember what it was! Probably chicken, rice and Nann :)

After eating we went to the house where we were spending the night. One of the guys I was traveling with is related to a Government official, who has access to this house. It was sitting on a hill just outside of town in a gated area. There were a few houses on the property. The part we stayed in had two or three bedrooms and a lawn to enjoy the sunrise in the morning. Before heading to bed, we played card games and ate dried fruits and nuts. The power went out at some point, as it did throughout my travels in the country (they really need to fix their wiring!) and I ended up in a pitch dark washroom, unable to see or move from where I was. I eventually made it out alive though!

On our way to the house for the night, we actually pulled over to the side of the road (in the dark) and got out for an impromptu dance party. We cranked the car speakers up to full blast and the guys got out and started doing a traditional style of dance. I didn't know it and not much of a dancer in general, so I just stretched my legs and recorded the moment on my phone. It was these small moments of spontaneous fun that really made the trip fun. These guys were a hoot to travel with.

The next day, we woke up "early" and drove to Murree. Murree is a small touristy town with street stalls with clothes, souvenirs etc. We walked through and poked around the shops. I bought a light-weight cloth that is normally worn like a shawl around the shoulders. The stalls had simple cloth, machine woven/patterned cloth, and cloth with hand-stitched embroidery work.

A little outside of the town, there was a chair lift that took you to a look-out point. It took a long time to get through the lines and I wasn't blown away by the view. They had some half-hearted tourist attractions at the top. At the bottom and top of the lift, there were winding lines. I was getting stared at a lot and the fact that we were in close proximity to people and couldn't get away from them did not put me in the greatest mood. I don't mind the stares and the pictures if they're in passing, but the stand in a line for an hour while everyone is looking at you... not super fun. One guy asked to take a picture of me. I declined (a little rudely) and his friends laughed at him. We then continued to stand near each other for an hour... awkward...

Once we got back to the car, we drove to the bus station near Islamabad and got on a late bus to Lahore!

Jeeps and Snow

Pakistan cont...

As mentioned at the end of my last post, I was lucky enough to be in the presence of the co-founders of the Janbaz hiking and trekking group. These guys are awesome! They planned our trip and took time out of their busy lives to drive through the mountains with us for a few days at a time.There were six of us travelling together and our drives included an interesting mash of music, including American pop, traditional Pakistani songs and everything in between (Despacito became the theme song for the trip despite the fact that none of us spoke Spanish. By the time it came for us to part, they were planning on making renditions of it in their home languages and Urdu).  Many good times were had with this group of fun individuals, despite that fact that my stomach was killing me throughout most of our time together.
From Abbottabad, we drove up North to Shogran, which is located in the Kaghan valley. We started off in a car, but as we got into the more isolated (and less up-kept) areas of the mountains, we payed a jeep driver to take us up to the hotel where we were staying for the night. Probably due to the lack of food I'd been consuming the days leading up to the trip (and during), I ended up freezing and shivering uncontrollably all night. It wasn't very cold in the hotel, but it had been raining all day and the temperature decreased considerably as we drove higher into the mountains. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night. Nevertheless, we got up early the next morning and after a quick breakfast, got back into the jeep and drove another 20 minutes up the mountain to where the trekking path began. Our jeep driver kept us entertained with his singing and stories (he didn't speak much English but my companions were certainly enjoying his stories). At the drop off point, we were greeted by mules and horses that you could ride up the mountain path. They also rented boots for those who wished to go on foot (us). So off we went, in our rented boots, up the snow-covered hillside. It was only lightly raining at the beginning of the hike, but we could see ominous clouds a little ways off, so my friends insisted on bringing an umbrella with us... Smart, but impractical. It's quite difficult to climb a steep, slippery slope with an umbrella, but they managed it!
If you google search Shogran Siri Paie (Siri Paie means 'head and hoof', referencing the glade we were hiking to), you'll be overwhelmed by images of lush green mountain sides and majestic mountains... In April on a rainy day, we got dead grass and fog. Hahaha. Fog cleared a little near the end of our time there, uncovering the view, but I wish we'd had better weather (and had been able to see it during the summer. April was a little too early to be up there).  On our way back down the path, we were lucky enough to be pummelled by frozen rain, forcing us to take refuge under the trees for a bit until it subsided. And back into the jeep we went!

After a quick stop at the hotel to collect our things, we got dropped off back at our car and we headed into a small town for lunch. We went to a waterfall restaurants, where the tables and benches are in the water. You rest your feet on cartons that are placed in the stream. It was a very interesting experience. We were served fresh fried fish from the river. I'm not a big fish fan but these crispy morsels were to die for.  This was also the first meal since Islamabad, 3 days earlier, that I actually felt hungry and managed to eat a full meal without my stomach rebelling against it. Good sign!! Mountain air is a God-send!!  When we had eaten our fill, we got back into the car and drove the rest of the day up to Naran... or tried to. Right before reaching the town, the road was blocked by snow. It was getting dark at this point, so instead of climbing over the snow to get to the other side, we drove an hour back along the winding mountain road to a hotel that one of the guys frequently stayed at when he had business in the region. The hotel was under a restaurant, in a building that was overhanging a major river. We fell asleep listening to the thrum of the river below us, which was difficult! I have always felt that water carries a lot of energy with it and having such a strong flow of water just below our window made me feel too restless to sleep well.

In the morning, we drove back to the snow block and walked to the other side where there were jeeps waiting to take people into the village. We by-passed the village and drove directly to the mountain path that we planned to hike up. Apparently we were the first tourists of the season braving the snowy path! We once again borrowed boots and walking sticks and trekked off up the mountain side! This was a more treacherous path than the one from the day before and we soon found ourselves knee-deep in wet snow. The weather was once again working against us and we occasionally found ourselves shielding our faces from fresh falling snow. Just as we were getting close to our destination, the (snow covered) lake at the peak, the clouds darkened and we started to hear thunder in the distance. We were advised by our jeep driver (who had chosen to come with us instead of siting in the jeep) to turn around and get back before the storm hit. We begrudgingly agreed and thus never made it to the elusive lake.

We ate lunch in the village before climbing over the snow-block and back to the car. I slept most of the way back to Abbottabad, only occasionally being awoken up by a hearty rendition of Despacito.

Family and Secret Services

Pakistan cont...

After our time in Islamabad, we took a bus to Abbottabad, where my friend's family lives. The first day there, I was quite sick (stomach wasn't adjusting to the food very well), but that did not stop my friend's mother, brothers, aunts and cousins from piling into my room to say hello and take pictures with me (I was still in my pyjamas at this point). His mother was very caring and came up with many home remedies to try and settle my stomach; husk, honey, fruit juice. Regrettably, for most of my stay at the house, the only home cooking I could nibble at was plain boiled rice and lentils and hard boiled eggs. Our last night with the family, I was feeling well enough to eat a chicken masala dish which tasted amazing. It was very flavourful and not too spicy. Yum^^  Custard was a regular dessert while we were there. I was always excited to see what sort of design she'd put on top.

2 custards, a typical breakfast, and sag

All of the Pakistani homes that I was lucky enough to see had high ceilings and large, wooden doorways. My friend's family lives in a complex comprised of about 10 homes that are all connected by a private street. Instead of living rooms, like we have in Canada, these homes usually have an outdoor sitting area and a courtyard where guests are entertained and children play. This family also has a small pasture area where they keep a few cows and goats (fresh milk and butter for breakfast!). I experienced amazing hospitality while staying with the family. I couldn't sit down without food and tea appearing from the kitchen. Family members would come sit with me, commenting on my dress, piercings, and eating habits (Muslims traditionally eat with their right hand... I always forgot). They also gave me a beautiful Pakistani dress that they had one of the uncles tailor for me. I feel very honoured to have been invited into their home. I just wish I'd been able to communicate with them more! Only a few of them were confident enough to talk to me in English. Most of the time, I needed my friend to translate what they were saying (and I usually got quite a general translation..."They're talking about your dress"...).

Another thing I loved about the family was how they so freely went from one house to another and the close relationships they had with each other. And so many children!! There was always a baby or toddler being passed around. Children roamed so freely around the compound I could rarely pick out which baby belong to which mother... and it didn't seem to matter! The youngster didn't seem to care who was holding them; parent, cousin, aunt, uncle, sibling... didn't matter!

My second morning in Abbottabad, I ventured out on my own for a morning walk. This was the only time I was completely alone in the country. Unfortunately,  I was pulled over by a guy who worked for a secret services agency!

'Where is your husband'
'I don't have one'
'Why are you here?'
'I'm visiting a friend'
'Where?'
'Down the street'
'Show me your passport... ok. You should go back now.'

Now I'd like to make a few things very clear; it is perfectly OK for women to walk alone in Pakistan. That was NOT the issue. The issue was NOT the way I was dressed and I had NO ISSUES with the other pedestrians on the street (though most of them were openly staring at me). The issue was that I had not registered with the police. When you go into the Northern regions of Pakistan, foreigners are (apparently) supposed to let the police know that they're in the area. They offer you protection in case you feel you need it (I didn't) and it hopefully stops secret service employees from pulling you over during your morning stroll.  By chance, I ran into this same agent again in the presence of my friend and he told us to go to the police station (which we did right afterwards).
When travelling, it's always important to remember that not everyone is fluent in English and usual people who have learned it as a second or foreign language do not always understand how tone and word choice can  make simple inquiries come off as demanding and rude. I think this would be a good example of this. If you know me personally, I'm sure you can imagine how my expression changed after each questions. If you don't know me... well, let's just say my eyebrows were raised so high they were probably above my hair line. Husband???!! How dare he...

During our stay in Abbottabad, we spent a lot of time with my friend's University pals, who are now the proud CEOs of Codematics, which is among the fastest growing IT companies in Pakistan and is now a strategic partner with Google! They have produced apps that are now being used by millions of people around the globe, including Universal TV Remote Control, and my personal favorite, Flicky Chicky. They also own Diversity Virtual Reality Arcade in downtown Abbottabad. They have a variety of cool games! We spent a few hours taking turns on the equipment and other families were coming in as well.

On a more serious note, their mission and vision is to encompass a peaceful and safe world for future generation.  They're using their IT skills to start a holistic approach towards simplifying and solving issues that people face every day.  They have an app that encourages people to donate blood by finding them nearby blood banks.  Check out their other projects at http://www.codematics.co/ or like them on facebook!

These same friends are also the co-founders of Janbaz Hiking and Trekking Club! My next post will be all about our adventures into the Himalayas and other parts of Pakistan!

Don't give Islam-a-bad name

Hello! Sorry for the long pause in the posts. Life gets busy and boring (and I got lazy) when you have a full time job, even if you're in a foreign country!

 After 2.5 short years, my Korean adventures have come to an end. There were certainly some ups and down during that time but I'm happy to say that my last year was mostly happy and stress-free. I ended up at a very good academy where the CEO let the teachers do their jobs without being interrupted or micro-managed. My co-workers were friendly and I couldn't have asked for a better group of students.

I also managed to make some international friends while in Korea. One of these friendships resulted in the trip that this post is gonna be mostly about!  Before coming back to Canada, I squeezed in a quick trip to Pakistan to visit a close friend before leaving Asia for good. He had been constantly going on about how beautiful his country was, so I decided I'd hop over and see it for myself! It didn't disappoint ;)  It was so awesome, I'll probably end up writing a few posts about it, breaking it up into digestible chunks . This post will go over our first four days in (I'm sure you guessed from the title) Islamabad!

I landed at the Islamabad airport late Monday evening. The airport is quite small and immigration and baggage claim took no time at all. Judging by how quiet these parts of the airport were, I was not prepared for the mob of people that were waiting on the other side of the Arrivals door. Apparently, someone of importance arrived around the same time as I did and their supporters had come to give him an enthusiastic homecoming.  There were flags, chants and a great deal of confusion as they made their way through the small foyer. At the time, I had no idea what was going on and assumed that the airport was always like this (my friend filled me in later).
Once we were free of the crowd, I immediately became aware of how many people were staring at me as they walked past. Even in the capital, white foreigners are not commonly seen, making me a point of interest for most. I was used to being singled out and getting the foreigner treatment in Korea, but the open, silent stares I was getting here was still a little unnerving. I don't mean to say that it was threatening or hostile.. you just get a weird feeling when you realise people are looking at you.  Usually, that's a clear sign that you have food between your teeth or there's something wrong with your clothes.

During our time in Islamabad, we used an app called 'couchsurfers' to find accommodations.  Couch surfers is a world-wide travelling community that connects travellers with hosts who are willing to provide sleeping arrangements. Back in Korea, I hosted another Pakistani national and a Turkish lad who was hitchhiking his way through Asia.  It's also a great way to meet locals when you're travelling, even if you don't want to stay in their homes. You can arrange meet ups, events, or simply message other users in the area for travel advice. 

Our amazing hosts <3

Shortly after arriving at the airport, we met up with our gracious host. He picked us up in his car and drove us into the city for dinner... or tried to. As we were about to enter the city, we noticed cars driving on the wrong side of the road and trying to cross the median. We soon realised that the road ahead was blocked by cars and people, though the reason for it wasn't clear. Our host guessed that there had been a political arrest and the group was beginning a protest. We turned the car around and tried to find an alternative rout. Things soon became even more chaotic as we found ourselves in the middle of an outdoor market and an insane number of cars trying to make their way through the blocked area. There was also a wedding in process, so plenty of guests idly milling around. My friend got out of the car and started directing cars to open up enough space for us to get through. Instead of heading into the city, we went to the apartment that my host was providing us for our stay (his work provided him with an apartment, but he and his wife live with his mother and siblings in Rawalpindi, the sister-city of Islamabad).

After we dropped our luggage off, we got back into the car and took a different route into the city for a late dinner. We ordered a few different traditional dished including Haleem, a puree of lentils, chicken, and spices. They confused our order and brought out a plate of curried brains... which I decided I was not ready to try (it kinda looked like ground beef. If they hadn't told me...).
After dinner, our host dropped us back off at the apartment, which was in a rural gated community just outside the city. We made friends with a stray dog who felt it was quite alright for her to come into the apartment with us (it took a lot of gentle coaxing to convince her otherwise).

That night, there was an intense thunderstorm and we woke up the next morning with no electricity and a washroom covered in broken glass from a light bulb that had exploded due to a power surge. Once we had cleaned that up, we set out to explore the area around us. Within the gated community, there were peacocks, parrots and a variety of other exotic birds. We also ran into a bunch of German Shepherds and poodles in the yard. In April, there wasn't much in bloom, but there were enough flowers and foliage to make it quite a picturesque walk. There was also a river that ran in front of the apartment where we could see cows, ox and buffalo grazing.

Our host picked us up and took us to Quaid-e-azam University for lunch. After lunch, our host went back to work and we took a Careem (similar to an Uber) into Islamabad and found a money exchange and went shopping at the Centaurus shopping mall. I bought a Pakistani dress and tried a snack called gul-gappay, which was a shell pastry filled with spiced chick-peas, which you dip in a bitter sauce before popping it quickly into your mouth.

A little later, we met up again with our host and his lovely wife and we went to Monal restaurant for dinner. Monal is at the top of a mountain and has a lovely view of the city. We sat outside and enjoyed an amazing BBQ platter and had lots of fun chatting and taking pictures.

The next day, we went to the Faisal mosque and the Pakistan monument.  Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque in Pakistan and was built in the late 1900s. It does not have the dome roof design typical of other mosques. Instead, it is shaped like a Bedouin tent (designed by a Turkish architect), surrounded by four tall minarets, which are visible from a good distance away, peaking out over the tree line. It also has a large courtyard area in front of the building where people socialise and hang out. There was also a lower level with places to wash yourself before prayers.Unfortunately, the mosque itself was closed when we went, so I didn't see the inside. Nevertheless, we spent over an hour exploring and taking pictures of the building and surrounding areas.

The Pakistan monument is another interesting structure to see. It is shaped like a blooming flower, with a star-like statue in the centre. The four petals depict different places with national significance to the country. From the monument, you have a clear view of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. There is also a national museum that shows the political and social development of the country.

We also went to Lake View Park (the lake was more like a large mud puddle in April, unfortunately) and drove (I drove!!!) to the ancient Buddhist caves just outside of the city. The caves were small and not very interesting to explore, but it was a nice drive out into the hills and we had fun just hanging out in the sun on a beautiful day and drinking sugar cane juice, the national drink of Pakistan.

On our last day with our hosts, we piled into their car with a fellow traveller from Germany and we drove 2 hours out of the city to the Hindu Katas Raj Temples. The area is made up of 4 temples connected by walkways. The buildings surround a pond that used to have brilliant jade water. In a Hindu poem, it is claimed that the pond was created by the tears of Shiva, as he mourned the death of his wife. Hindus from around the world still make the pilgrimage to visit temples.

Next stop: Abbottabad! Stay tuned for the next blog post!

Hand-to-paw combat and German Beer in the rain

 Hello!

So a lot has happened since my trip to Japan in January. I wasn't happy at my school and was getting constant negative feedback from my boss. She actually gave me an official warning of poor performance because students complained that my classes were boring…. So I quit in March and found a new school to work at starting in April! I've been working at my new school for just over a month now and it's been great!! The kids are lovely and my co-workers are very nice. It's a  more established academy and has more advanced students and more middle school classes, which I love to teach. Younger kids are cute and can be fun… but I really love it when they get to the age where you can tease them and if you leave them alone in the room for more than 30 seconds, you don’t find them hiding under desks or running wild around the room!!

I have one middle school student who tries to secretly study vocabulary under his desk while I teach… I have to CONFISCATE HIS VOCABULARY BOOK EVERY CLASS because we won't stop studying… rebel…

The new school is located in a more centralised area of Busan, so I can go places before work and I run into other foreigners!! I also live closer to my Korean friend SeongJune, so we meet for coffee or food before or after work. This has made me feel way less isolated and alone over here :) Things are looking up!

Last week was Buddha's birthday and Children's day, so I had a few days off work! SeongJune and I took a trip up to Mount Jiri for a few days. On the way up, we stopped in at Ssanggyesa temple 쌍계사 and the Choi Champandaek 최참판댁 property. 

Ssanggyesa temple was colorfully decorated for Buddha's birthday and there were a fair amount of people there for the celebration! You could pay to hang a lantern with your name on it, either for a day or for a year. I'm assuming it's supposed to give you good luck. 

The temple was originally constructed in the Silla Era, but was burnt down during the Japanese invasion in the 1500s and was later rebuilt. The temple area is made up of many separate buildings. After entering through the main gate, there are many different staircases that lead to different temple buildings. Most of the buildings look pretty much the same, with similar designs painted on the outside and the interior. I don't know if each building has a unique purpose, or if you just get to choose where you want to pray that day… The temples don't usually come with instructions (at least not in English).

The Choi Champandaek property used to be owned by one of the wealthier Korean families (the Choi family, in case that wasn't obvious from the name). The property, like the temple, was also made up of many out-laying buildings, each with its own purpose. It's all located on a mountain side and has a beautiful view of the surrounding area. On one section of the property, they had live chickens and a cow.  Apparently Koreans are a little skittish around farm animals. A few people were carefully holding up long pieces of grass for the cow to eat, but were being careful not to let it get too close to their hands. To SeongJune's surprise, I casually started petting the cow's face and talking to it as if it were a dog… He later told me that that was a very Canadian thing for me to do.

We then drove up to Uisin 의신 and stayed in a MinBak 민박 which is a small, one-room accommodation. We had one room with a heated floor to sleep on. The Minbak provides sleeping mats, pillows and blankets to lay out on the floor. We also had a kitchenette with a gas stove top, sink, rice cooker (of course) and mini-fridge.

The first night we had them set up a Korean BBQ grill for us and we cooked pork and vegetables for our dinner :) We soon noticed that our dinner was attracting the resident cats… so we tried to make friends with them by throwing small pieces of meat to them. They were quite wary of us and wouldn't get close enough to touch. We had to re-throw a few pieces of meat that were apparently too close to the door for them to risk grabbing.

The next day, we drove to the entrance to a hiking trail on Mount Jiri 지리산.  We hiked 5 km up and 5 km down the side of the mountain (It took us about 5 hours. At the turn-around point at the top, there was a meeting area where multiple trails merged together. The meeting area had a building with a resting room, washrooms and a picnic area where you could sit and rest. As we sat eating our sandwiches ( my friend had never made sandwiches before and photographed the process), I watched as many different groups of hikers pulled out their camp stoves and their instant ramyeon packages. I thought this was a strange choice, since they were all day hikers… Who brings a stove on a day hike?!  There are so many more convenient foods to bring for lunch that don't involve boiling water!!!! Most of the people hiking had large packs with them (the kind you would take if you were planning on backpacking for a month)… What was in them aside from their instant noodles and their stove, I can only guess. My friend says that it is normal for Koreans to always carry large hiking bags with them when they hike… maybe half of it is full of kimchi… in case they get lost in the woods and need something to survive on. Hahahahahahaha.

The only wildlife we saw on our hike were chipmunks… We were warned of a bear and they had bear signs posted along the trail… but no such luck. SeongJune was concerned about a bear and asked me if I knew how to "fight off the bear"… so maybe it was a good thing we didn't run into the bear, because apparently my friends thought we should engage it in hand-to-paw combat to save our lives.

That night, we chose to watch Revenant, which seemed fitting for the end of our day of hiking. 

The next day we drove down to Namhae Island 남해, which is a popular vacation destination. We decided to spend our day in the German village there. Unfortunately, it rained all day, which put a bit of a damper on our afternoon. Despite the rain, the village was crowded and it took about an hour to find a parking spot. It was about 2pm by the time we got out of the car and we were ready to eat!! I was looking forward to a good sausage and mashed potatoes… but we were misinformed about the restaurant options and ended up at a Korean buffet for lunch instead. We then walked up and down the street for a bit in the rain before taking semi-refuge in a pub. The café/pub was so full of people that we ended up sitting outside under a parasol.  Haha… I got a nice German beer, which I promptly spilt all over the table. Sadness… We then called it quits and drove back to Busan. 

All-in-all a great long weekend :)

New Years in Tokyo :)

Hello :)

I've been in Busan now for 4 months and I've settled into my new school... mostly. My co-workers are very nice and friendly, which is great. My boss... is a boss and we don't always see eye-to-eye, but oh well :)  This academy is much smaller than where I was working in Daegu and it only opened a month before I started working there. My boss is still trying to figure it all out and, unfortunately, it makes working with her difficult at times. Haha.

Anyways, on to the travelling news!!

I had the first week of January off so I started the new year off in Japan!  A university friend is currently teaching near(ish) Sapporo and also had the time off, so he met me in Tokyo and travelled with me to Kyoto and Ossaka. It was absolutely amazing to travel with someone who is competent with the language and who knows where to go and how to get there!

We spent the first weekend in Tokyo... well, kinda. Due to lack of planning, we couldn't find a place to stay IN Tokyo that wasn't going to break the bank, so we ended up in a hotel in Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo, connected by the JR train. I'm not a big city person, so this suited me quite well and our strange location actually resulted in some pretty cool adventures!

Thanks to the creepy stalker-ish side of facebook, a guy Corey had met a few years earlier through a language exchange program, was notified that we were in the neighbourhood and he graciously opened his house to us for a New Years Eve celebration! Before heading to his house, Corey took me to a shrine in Tokyo where we sampled some Japanese street food and observed the beginning of the New Year's rush. There was a line of people leading up to the main shrine even though it was early evening and already dark out. New Years is a big deal in Japan and everyone spends New Year's day with their families, going to a shrine to give the first offering of the season and to get their New Year's fortune told! I guess the New Year's Eve crowd was squeezing in one last offering before the year ended.

After the shrine visit, we headed to Corey's friend's house. We were greeted warmly and were soon joined by another family and a guy from the States. They're an artsy group and spirits were high :) Half of it was in Japanese, so I can't say what exactly we talked about, but apparently I'm very good at nodding and smiling and pretending I understand. Haha. It's a survival skill when you live in a foreign country with a foreign language.  The other option is just looking lost and confused all of the time and that's simply no fun.

We stayed the night at their house and spent most of the next day with them as well. They dressed me up in a fancy kimono and took us to a local shrine.  The shrine was set back in the woods and had old stairs leading up to it. At the bottom of the stairs, there were food trucks set up with delicious food and warm drinks. We spent most of the afternoon there and were invited back to their house for dinner. We had Odang, a staple Japanese food, and rice cake soup, traditionally eaten to celebrate the new year. We left our gracious hosts and went back to our hotel to catch up on our sleep.

The next day we met some other friends in Odaiba, an area of Tokyo with a large shopping Mall and a miniature statue of liberty. We stumbled across a car dealership where you could test drive cars... so we took spin in a fancy green Prius.

That evening, we took the JR train to Kyoto. We stayed at a hostel in Gojo, which is one subway stop away from Kyoto station. There was a lot to see in Kyoto. It's an older city with well-preserved historical sites.  Most of Japan is very modern and cutting edge, but Kyoto prides itself in its traditions and historical significance. To keep the traditional feeling alive in the city, women dressed in kimonos are given discounts at restaurants... Seems like a good reason to get dressed up :)

We spent five nights in Kyoto and I think we only scratched the surface of what the city had to offer. We visited Kiomisudera Temple, Fushiminari Shrines, Kinkakuji (Gold Pavilion), Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), Heian Shrine, and the Imperial Palace.  All were quite beautiful and I'm sure they're even more breathtaking in the spring when the trees are green and the flowers are blooming. Even with a winter backdrop, these places were beautiful.

We also went to Arayashiama, which is a natural area just outside of the city. Normally, there's a tourist train that takes you through the area but it wasn't running when we visited. Arayashiama has a large bamboo forest, which we walked though and a small shrine with a zen garden.

While we were near Heian shrine, we decided to walk around the surrounding area and found bonsai convention. You had to buy tickets to get in, so we just peeked in the door and were about to leave when a lady approached us and handed us 2 tickets... so we went to a bonsai convention! I learned that the smaller the bonsai, the more expensive it is. It was an interesting and unexpected experience but quite enjoyable... and random. Haha. Living abroad certainly teaches you to 'just go with it'. 

We also did an evening tour through Gion, a Geisha district at the heart of Kyoto, not far from where we were staying. It was interesting to learn about the Geisha culture. Though not as popular is it was in the years talked about in  'A Memoirs of a Geisha' (which i read while in Japan), there are still Tea Houses where Geisha perform and entertain their guests (by invite only). Apparently it's rare to see a Geisha in the area, since they value their own privacy and the privacy of their guests. 

We spent our last 2 days in Osaka. We spent an afternoon at Universal Studios Japan, where we went on some cool rides and visit Hogwarts :) The second day, we went to Osaka castle and met a group of Corey's friends in the evening.


All-in-all a great trip :) For anyone looking to travel in Japan, a word of caution... It's expensive! Food, transportation, hostels. Killer on the bank account. I spent just under 1.5 thousand CAD during my 8 days there. In most other parts of Asia, a third of that would be more than enough for a week of traveling. Oh well. Money well spent :)

I'm Coming Home!

Sorry for the lack of updates! I had a few busy months where I did a few things and just didn't have the energy to write about them. So, the next few posts will probably be a little out of order, since I'll try and go back and write about what I did over the summer :) But let's live in the present for a while and I'll tell you about this week ;)

Well! It's been a year since leaving home for Korea!! I finished my contract at my school in Daegu and it was overall an enjoyable year :) So good, in fact, that I decided to find a new teaching contract! I did, however decide on going to a different school. I've signed a contract with a smaller private academy in Busan, the coastal city to the South East of Daegu. I spent a lot of time there on weekends this year and I'm looking forward to calling it home :) My school and apartment are within walking distance of the ocean (not the beach, unfortunately) and I'm looking forward to having access to nicer and more natural places to walk in my free time!

Before I start that job, though, I negotiated 2.5 weeks off to come finish the homeland! I'm currently sitting in Dallas airport. It's 5am.  I left Daegu about 30 hours ago ( that might be a lie. I'm too tired to figure out the time changes) and I'm waiting for my 5 hour flight to Toronto… This trip was supposed to be much shorter. But… Life happens. Delays happen… layovers happen… …

So I caught a 9am bus from Daegu to Incheon Airport Wednesday morning. 3 hours into the 4 hour drive, I am informed by my mother (and later the airline) that my flight from Seoul has been delayed by 3 hours. I was already going to be 4 hours early for my original flight, so I found myself with 7 hours to kill in the airport (it's a nice airport, but it is greatly lacking in entertainment facilities).  I played solitaire, phone scrabble, aimlessly walked around, sat and charged my phone… the usual.

When I finally boarded the plane, I found myself in a window seat with an middle aged gentleman beside me and an empty aisle seat. 'Perfect', I thought to myself. 'He can move over and we can both have some personal bubble room.' NOPE. He quite stubbornly sat right beside me, both legs crossed, knees sticking out and taking up as much room as possible. Mer. At least he didn't attempt to make awkward broken English conversation with me.

Now. I'm not quite sure if the following is a true story, but I honestly can't rationalize it in any other way… So, 6 hours into the flight, I decided to take a nap. So I begin the usual pre-nap rituals; ear plugs, neck pillow, shoes off, chair reclined, half-hearted apologies to the guy sitting directly behind me as a kill all of his hopes and dreams of having space in front of him, blindfold on, turn in a circle three times, bum wiggle into a 'comfortable' position, snuggle into questionable airplane blanket.  You are now ready to pretend to sleep on a plane. 

At the time, I thought everything had gone well. No mishaps in my nap preparations… It was not until 6 hours later that I realized that MY blanket with tucked under my elbow, still nicely folded, unused. I then realize that the gentleman beside me seems to have inexplicably lost his blanket that he had, at one point, been using. Soooo there's a very good chance that I stole a blanket from my neighbour while he was using it and 100% did not realize it at the time. I guess I should have snuggled into the blanket BEFORE putting on my blindfold. The next time he got up to go to the washroom, I casually put my clean blanket on the empty chair for him to use. Haha…

I would feel bad about this incident, but I call us even since he intermittently would send a methane gas attack in my general direction.  Luckily my blindfold was easily turned into an air filtering mask for these lovely occasions. 

Due to the delays in Seoul, I missed my flight to Toronto and ended up with an overnight layover in Dallas. The airline provided a hotel room for the night (the bed was suuuper soft. I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud) and I had to be back to check in for my flight at 4am in the morning. Up-side to jet-lag: this was not as horrible of a wake-up experience as it first sounded. Much easier to get up at 3am when it feels like 5pm.

The flight into Toronto was blissfully short and uneventful :) I was greeted at the arrival gate by my mom and brother. We had lunch and then I climbed into my brother's car and drove to Cornwall (near Ottawa), where he had recently moved.  It was a long few days but I made it through in good condition and decently high spirits!