Our visa-run to Japan!

Bridge to the Dazaifu Shrine
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Konichiwa! Thats 'hello' in Japanese! How is everyone doing? We r doing great!! A little tired but great! Well, SO much has happened since my last email, but I'll try and keep it short! Well, last week was pretty interesting here at school..Friday was 'theme and activity day' for the kindergarten kids. And the theme was Easter! So each teacher was allocated an activity to do with the kids..Rich and I got the job of decorating chocolate eggs with stickers..and all I can say was ..'WHAT A MESS!!!'. We had squashed eggs, melted eggs..and sticky paper everywhere!!! By the time 2pm came, the classroom looked like an atomic bomb had hit it! But one of the joys of being a teacher is being able to say...'KIDS..CLEAN UP!'..its like waving a magic wand!!!!Michael got the job of playing easter games with his classes..so every now and then we'd walk past his classroom and watch him hopping like a bunny with his kids following behind!!!! So we were pretty glad we got the easter egg job! Other activities were making Easter baskets and Kim gave her classes cooking lessons..making these rice cakes in heart shapes..ok, i must admit, her classroom was in a worse shape than ours at the end of the day!!!!! One of the activities that the Korean teaches did with the classes this week too was rollerblading..they take them down to the park near the school ..i'm glad I wasnt there to watch a group of 30, 4 to 7yr olds on skates! It must have been chaos! But we are much more relaxed at school now..we've got a much better idea of whats going on, so things are going much more smoothly! Except the Korean teachers still like to spring things on us at the last minute!!! Like on Friday we were told that we had to prepare tests for all our classes for this week Wednesday..thats like 11 tests i had to write!!!! And nobody seemed to care that monday and tuesday we were in japan and so we had no time at all for the tests. Oh well, luckily we got it all done..last night we left school at 8pm! Michael, Rich and I couldnt resist getting a drink after that!!!! The kids behaviour is not getting much better, but we know (in most cases!) how to handle them now, so we dont let it get to us. Rich has resorted to making kids stand outside holding a rubber against the wall with thier noses and making them sit outside on an imaginary chair (with their backs against the wall!) and a book in their lap..apparently the one kid started shaking his legs got so sore! I just send them outside and make them stand with their hands in the air, and later call Kim to shout at them, while Michael has resorted to flicking kids on the forehead and twisting their ears! You see, this place is like the UK..U arent allowed to smack the kids - especially when u have cameras on you ALL the time for parents to see! The one class Rich told to pack up their books so he could explain something to them at the end of the lesson (without them shuffling with their papers)..and the next thing Emily (Korean teacher) walks in with a parent wanting to know why Rich made the class pack up 5 mins early! Korean parents are very strict when it comes to education..some kids in my classes (like 6 yrs old) take chinese and japanese afternoon classes too! And thats besides martial arts and other activities too! NO wonder they dont want to work!!!!!! Anyway, enough about school! So, on Saturday we decided to take the subway to the river in Seoul so Rich could do some birding..there is a walkway for people all along the edge of the river ..so there were loads of people rollerblading and cycling ..and can u believe it there is an open-air gym on the side of the river..fitness flyers, weights etc (see photos!)!!!! Anyway, rich managed to see quite a few new birds, mainly types of ducks. And it was interesting to see quite a few woman picking herbs for their traditional medicines. So on Sunday we decided to head off to the South of Korea to a coastal town called Busan (Pusan). From here we were going to take the Ferry across the Sea of Japan to Japan. Our ferry ticket was only for Monday, but we decided to go down a day earlier to see some of Busan. (We were going to Japan for 2 days to get our teaching visas.) We left Guri (say Guli, Kuri or even Kuli! cos K is the same as G and r is the same as L!) at 5:30am on sunday on the subway..we had to do one transfer to another line, so we got to seoul station in about 45 minutes. From there we were meant to catch a 4 and a half hour train to Busan, but we found a new train..called a KTX train which does the journey in TWO and a half hours! It goes at about 300km/hr!!! It was a really comfortable train too..it cost $44 each for one way. Luckily we didnt mind the extra cost cos this was all at the schools expense!!!! The scenery to Busan wasnt spectacular but we did get good views of the rice paddies and some of the forested hills. We arrived in Busan at about 10am. (we still cant believe it only takes max 5 hrs to get to cross the entire length of the country..yes, South Korea really is small!!)..we then went to look for a hostal. Hostals are a bit expensive here compared to Ecuador..a room for us cost $20 together ..in Ecuador it would have cost us max $10. But it was very comfortable..we got to sleep on a 'Yo'.. a traditional Korean bed..basically a matress on the floor!!! From there we decided to do some sight-seeing..we headed for a Buddhist temple just near Ulsan called Suknamsa ..sometimes spelt differently..like Seognamsa. It took us over 2 hours to get there, we had to catch 2 different buses, and we were put on the right bus but going in the WRONG direction, so the journey should have only taken an hour!!! The joys of travelling!!! (Mark u should know what I'm talking about!!) When we finally got to the temple at 3pm..we were happy to see that the temple was in a really beautiful setting!! Loads of forests around and a stream running down the hill. It was really pretty..you can see why the buddhists chose that area. It immediately made us relax after a hectic day of trains and buses, and Rich was able to do some birding. Unfortunately we didnt have time to sit by the stream, so we headed to admire the temple buildings. They really are visual masterpieces (as lonely planet says!)..I have attached photos with this email! We got to see a gold Buddha and people there were kneeling and praying as they walked past. From there we decided to stop at one last temple on the way back home..Tongdosa. This temple was also in a beautiful setting..not as beautiful as the first one, but I thought the buidings were a bit more impressive. We had to do a 1km walk along a river and it was lined with colourful lanterns. When we got there we had to go through like a huge 'tube' of lanterns..see the photo. On the other side were the buildings.. - really impressive! And we were lucky enough to catch the buddhist monks doing a ceremony at sunset. They were beating a huge drum with sticks and each one took there turn to hit the drum (see photo), but there was never a break in the tune, it was great! There were also people there dressed in traditional Korean clothes..called 'Hanboks'..like puffy skirts and shrugs...see photo. So we were very glad we made it to the second temple. We then left and caught a bus back to Busan ..we got to our hostal at 10pm..it was a very long day! We woke up the next morning (monday) at 7am to catch the ferry to Japan..so we walked to the international ferry terminal where we bought our tickets ($95 round trip each) and changed our money to the Japanese Yen. Its about 120 yen to a US$. The ferry we went on was called the Kobee beetle..its a hydrofoil or jetfoil ferry..which means that basically it has three kind of 'legs' that stick out from the bottom of the boat..and when we pick up speed, the whole boat lifts out of the water..and it moves on the 'legs'. Obviously this reduces friction with the water so the boat can go faster. It travels at about 85km/hr..so we got to Japan in less than 3 hrs! the other ferries take up to 14 hours for the same journey! The inside of the ferry is very smart..like an aeroplane and there are two floors. Duty free at the ferry terminal wasnt that great though, so we havent bought our camera yet.The ferry ride was great except we didnt get to see any whales or anything like we were hoping, but there were quite a few times when the ferry had to swerve for a whale in its path!!So we had to stay strapped in with seatbelts and we weren't allowed to go out on deck. Oh, we had to get a tourist visa for japan can u believe it! So we basically had to get a visa..to get a visa!!! South africans are only allowed a 15 day tourist visa (but it takes up a whole page in ur passport!). So when we go and visit japan again, we'll have to get another visa!!! As the ferry came near to Japan we couldnt see a lot because there was mist covering everything. We could faintly see the dome and the tower. The city we went to is called ' Fukuoka'. Say Fookoo-okka. After we had docked at the port, we caught a taxi ($20) to the Korean consulate, filled out our forms for our 1 year teaching visa, and then we headed to our hotel.. called 'The Central Hotel'! VERY SMART at $120 each per night!!! We felt a little under-dressed, well, that is an understatement!!!!!Kind of like when i stayed at the Hilton Hotel in London on my way to Ecuador!! Anyway, we quickly left our bags and headed for some food.yes, we must admit we had to go to macdonalds cos it was the only thing we recognised!!!!!!!!! We totally confused the poor girl at the counter (obviously cos we cant speak a word of japanese!) and after finally getting the right order we headed for the subway to the Daizaifu Shrine. Daizaifu is a very quaint town like 30 minutes out of Fukuoka. There are small tourists shops, where we managed to pick up some postcards, and we saw little slippers, silk kimonos (WHAT A PRICE!!!$2000!), and japanese dolls, samurai swords..it was really interesting just to walk through the streets! The daizaifu shrine had ponds and small bridges that had been constructed around it and they were beautiful! (see photos!)! Dazaifu is known for its Ki-Uso (Bullfinch) wooden carvings that are used at religious ceremonies at the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. It is believed to turn bad luck into good. We headed back to town and walked around for AGES just enjoying the bright lights of japan and trying to find a restaurant that DIDNT serve raw egg or raw seafood with the meals!!! We didnt find one..so we settled on KFC!!! Stupid I know, but maybe next time we'll buy a japanese phrasebook to make life a little easier! Japanese food is very much like Korean food..except more raw stuff!!!!!! After dinner we walked around some more, and then decided to go have a look at the spa at our hotel..we changed our minds after we saw that males and females have to sit in spas in different rooms! So we decided to call it a night. On Tuesday morning we woke up early to eat breakfast. The hotel serves a free buffet breakfast..which includes a bowl of raw eggs for the Japanese to break over their food!!! The breakfast was great, all the usual, plus some traditional Japanese food. The only irritating thing about breakfast was the fact that all the japanese guests lined up to get their food at 7am and then there was just pushing from all sides!!! I thought the people in Ecuador were pushy..! You couldn’t even put the food on your plate without someones hand being right there to grab the spoon from you! From there we walked to Ohari park which is kind of like central park in New York..very pretty, there is even an island in the middle of the lake. Then we headed to The Yusentei Garden cos I desperately wanted to see a real Japanese garden…the pond area was BEAUTIFUL, see photo. I think what I’m really looking for though, is a Zen garden, so we’ll have to look one of those up for our next trip to Japan. From there we caught a bus back to the subway station and then headed to the Hakata Riverain where we stopped off at Robosquare- a place dedicated to showing people the latest in robot technology..it was awesome..we got to ‘play’ with Aibo the dog..play ball etc and I even got to hold a robotic seal which is so life-like in its movements that they use it in old-age homes as pets for the elderly (costs about R15000 for one!). Almost like a therapy for them.(see photo of me holding it!). It really is so life-like, when u pick it up, u almost try not to hurt it! U can go to www.robosquare.com to see more. We were then shown this robotic dog on a skateboard..u wave a pink ball (at the end of a stick) and it pushes itself off..and rolls in the direction of the ball! We really enjoyed that!! By this time it was already lunch time, so we had to head back to the hotel to get to the consulate to pick up our visas. On the way back to our hotel we passed a number of temples including the Shofukuji temple and the Tochoji temple and we passed through the fancy Tenjin underground shopping arcade which is like over a km of shop after shop after shop! Our ferry back to South Korea was at 15:45 and we arrived back in Busan at 7:30pm. From there we caught the KTX train back to Seoul which arrived in Seoul at about 11pm. From Seoul station we caught the subway to Ichon and then to Guri and finally we took a taxi back to our apartment..so we only got back at like 1am! We were exhausted!!!!!!!! Japan is a country which you really have to go to, to see it for yourself..it looks like it was built two days ago..everything looks brand new..the buildings are state-of-the-art. So much work and detail has gone into everything, even the paving is perfect. The roads look like they were painted yesterday.the paint is still bright white..and everything is spotless..no litter anywhere, but there aren’t many bins around either! The streets, eventhough it is a concrete jungle, are lined with bright green Ginkgo Biloba trees and the garden displays are beautiful. They have really put in a load of effort! There are LOADS of business men in expensive suits, and woman in designer clothes..but despite this..most of them travel by bicycle! The song may as well have been..’there are 9 million bicycles in JAPAN’! Women ride their bikes in stilettos!!!! And considering that Japan is the developed country that it is, u would expect the people to have state-of-the-art bicycles, but they are just these 1950 style bikes with metal baskets in the front, like u see in old movies! What a sight..a business man with a designer suit using a high-tech cell phone..on a 1950’s bike on his way to work! We had to laugh! But I can understand why people would choose a bicycle..less traffic and of couse its cheaper! Transport is really expensive..a 20 min bus ride costs about $6 and a 5 minute subway trip can easily cost $4..looks like the UK isn’t the only rip-off! Oh, and in the car parks..there is a metal grid that comes up when uve parked ur car so it cant be stolen. There are also vending machines around each and every corner. And I wont even talk about the orchids that they have there..just AMAZING! So, all in all, we were REALLY impressed with Japan. We only got to be there for just over 24 hrs so we r definitely going to go back for our summer vacation which should be in July or August. Rich really enjoyed the fact that he got to visit 2 countries on his birthday! So we went back to school on Wednesday..dead tired..only to find it was excursion day..so we went on a field trip to the national arboretum…the kids weren’t in the least bit interested, but it gave us a bit of a day off, so we were glad about that. But like I said, this week is test week, so not only were we at school until 8pm setting tests last night, but we now have to mark all of them!!!! Luckily 2moro is Friday..YAYY! The biggest festival in the country is on in Seoul on Sunday night..the lotus lantern festival..so we r really looking forward to it!!! Other than that, we’ll probably just relax this wknd, cos we r planning a trip to one of the national parks for next weekend (cos next week is only a 4 day week cos Friday is Buddha’s birthday..yayyyy!) Otherwise that’s all the news from this side..oh, we did go out to try some more Korean food the other day..Rich tried some Kimchee stew ‘kimchee jjigae’..which is HOT HOT HOT. I had a small taste and ended up in such a coughing fit that the waiter bought me a glass of water!! I tried the ‘jjajangmyeon’..which is egg noodles in a black bean sauce…it was really great..they serve it with a different type of kimchee…not cabbage… but pickled ginseng! Michael decided to be adventurous and he just pointed to any name on the menu (cos it had no pics and we cant read Korean!) ..and it ended up that he chose the egg noodles too, so he wasn’t impressed!!! So all is sorted now, we have our visas finally, and now we just have to get our identification cards. Michael is getting his card on May 4 th , so hes getting wireless internet in his apartment asap after that, so we should have internet in our apartment soon! The final foreign teacher is coming on the 6 th May (Hes a Pom)..so our schedules wont be nearly as hectic as they have been, which is great (although we have been scoring on the overtime hours this month!). Plus the Stanford class is being joined with the Cornell class cos it is so small (one kids parents took him out so that he could go to an international school in Malaysia).. so that really reduces the number of hours of teaching for us. Michael and Rich and I have been quite sick lately..must have caught something from the kids…just bad coughs and sore throats and we nearly lost our voices! Not good when ur dealing with kids all day! But Kim gave us all some traditional Chinese teas and herbal lozenges from Japan, and they seem to have done the trick! Other than that, sorry for the essay again, but hope u all enjoy it! Keep well and smiling! Lots of love, us Hope everyone is SA is enjoying all the public holidays!

Robosquare, temples, Dazaifu, Ohari Park