Tokyo

HEALTH WARNING: This blog is longer than usual. I tried to be succinct but.. well.. I'm a talker.

I went to Tokyo. AWESOME.

I had a great time. It was definitely different to how I thought it might be but I really liked it. It feels very different to Seoul – more fashionable and glitzy. Tokyo definitely has more tourists too! It was a strange phenomenon wandering around and suddenly hearing some English – still not loads, but enough to put a little smile on my face each time.

Morning Calm --> Rising Sun

On Wednesday morning I headed off to Incheon airport. The non-stop express train leaves from Seoul Station which is only 5 subway stops from my apartment and takes around 40 minutes to get to the airport. I checked in without any problems or any waiting around and went straight through security like a breeze – I didn't even get patted down which is rare for me!...and a little disappointing to be honest…

I flew the short 2 hour flight on Asiana Air. The service was excellent and even on a short flight there was a full meal and drinks service included – I’m not sure who I could compare them to of the European airlines really…certainly not Ryanair!! We landed right on time and I headed through to passport control and immigration – I did get quite a few more questions on the Japan side – The immigration guy seemed thoroughly confused when I said all I had with me was my little backpack and I was here for 4 nights.

“Huh?.. And then you go home?”

“Yes, I’ll leave Japan on Sunday”

“So you’re UK and you come only for 4 days”

“Yes, then I’ll go back to Seoul. Where I work as a teacher”

“But you won’t teach in Japan?”

“No. Promise. I just want to see some sumo”

“HAHAHA OK, OK, off you go, have a nice time”

WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!

I eventually got to my hostel where I was able to get in touch with my friend Sam who had arrived a day earlier. We went for a walk around the area and got dinner. We found a strange arcade where people seemed to be sat in a trance fixated on these small games machines. But they didn’t use money – everyone seemed to be putting ball bearings into the machines. I would have loved a go but the noise in there was incredible. I think it must be to stop people falling asleep… weird place.

Day 1

On Thursday we were up and out of the hostel by 7.30 am – early starts, a running theme during the trip. Unfortunately, one of the train lines was closed due to a “passenger incident” and I know from my time at TfL that could be any number of things with no definite time for the trains to be up and running again. This meant Sam and I had to contend with the hoards of Thursday morning commuters – or ‘Salarymen’ – on their way into downtown Tokyo. We arrived at Shinjuku station some time later, a little more familiar with the smells of Japanese commuters’ armpits. I wish I could have taken a picture of the train guards physically pushing people into the carriage in order for the train door to close, alas, I could barely breathe never mind take my camera out of my pocket!

Funicular Fun

Cable car crossing

From Shinjuku we boarded a train bound for Hakone, a small town to the south of Tokyo. It was a glorious day, the sun was hot and the crowds thinned somewhat as we left Tokyo central. In Hakone we were able to ride the funicular to the top of a mountain where we change to ride a cable car. From the cable car we were able to spot Mt. Fuji for the first time. It was an incredible sight but sadly the photos don’t really do it justice. We stopped for lunch at Owakudani which is famous for smelling of egg. No, really! They cook eggs in the natural sulphur that comes from the mountain. It reeked, but it was worth it to get a proper chance to look at Fuji in the distance.

Whiskey soda and Sake - ARIGATO!

We carried on in the cable car which brought us down the other side of the mountain to the shore of Lake Ashi. 20 minutes later we got on a large boat – a pirate ship! – and sailed in the sunshine across the lake whilst enjoying a cold beer. A bus ride back to Hakone station and a sleepy local train back to Tokyo followed. We were able to find our hostel after quite the walk, dumped our stuff and headed out into Shinjuku for the evening. We got dinner and went to a bar but hit the sack by around midnight ready for another early start.

Day 2

Just delicious

We were out the door by 7.30 to get to Tsukiji Fish Market as early as possible. We weren't interested in seeing the tuna auction but did want to eat sushi and see the market in full swing before it quietened down for the day. OH THE SUSHI. It was delicious. So many people had warned me not to eat the fish because of the risk of radiation poisoning since the nuclear plant radiation leak recently [SURPRISE mum and dad, didn't tell you that bit did I!!] but it was so worth the risk. We were able to wander around the fish market (being careful to avoid the carts whizzing past at break neck speeds) and we got to see some very unusual sea food.

350m hiiiiigh

We left the market and walked towards the centre of the Gumi area. We stopped for a coffee and to plan out the rest of the day. From there we got on the subway and headed north to the Tokyo Skytree. At one point this tower held the Guinness World Record for being the world’s ‘Tallest Free Standing Tower’, but I think this record has now been broken. Most likely by something in Dubai. The tower stands at 634m and has two viewing platforms. We went up to the first viewing deck which is at 350m…. that was quite far enough for me!! Even before I stepped into the elevator I could feel my palms sweating. Safe to say I did not walk over the glass floor… I carefully shuffled around the edges!

Big guys. HUGE.

Once safely back at sea level, we continued our day at the Edo-Tokyo museum where we were able to learn more about the history of Tokyo and how it has developed into the modern business and technology hub that it is today. Next door to the museum was the Ryogoku sumo arena, something I had been looking forward to seeing for a long time. As we went in we were handed a booklet that explained the rules and traditions of sumo and how the sumo fighters are ranked. I was surprised to see two white guys competing at the very highest level – whilst I still can’t understand how being that huge can be good for anyone it was clear to see that all of these guys are supremely strong. It was quite impressive.

The night wasn't yet finished. After sumo, we got back on the subway and journeyed south to see the Rainbow Bridge. Sadly the bridge wasn't rainbow coloured onFriday evening but it was still a great view from the window seat of the restaurant we ate at. We wandered outside and sat at the small beach for a while.

Click to enlarge

Sam and I stayed in separate hostels on Friday night but it turned out they were a 3 minute walk from each other! We walkedback to the Skytree to get some night shots – It looks incredible lit up at night.

Day 3

With Sam heading back to Seoul I was on my own on Saturday. I had a rough outline of some of the things I wanted to see so it was another early start to get across town to the Meiji Shrine in time for the 8 am ceremony.

Click to enlarge

No photographs were allowed but I’m glad I went along. It was so peaceful at that time in the morning with only a handful of people there. I followed that with a sit down and a large cup of strong coffee!! I wandered around Harajuku main streets and past a small farmers’. It seems don’t really get going until 11am in Tokyo, even on a Saturday. Eventually I made my way to Takeshita Street (yes, that really is it's name..) and wandered in and out of dozens of weird little shops. Everywhere was packed full of young guys and girls buying bows and ribbons and pins and things to customize their clothes. I left that area and walked for ages until I was thoroughly lost. It was quite nice really – I had nowhere in particular to be and it was a sunny day so I took my time looking in shop windows and stopping for a beer whenever and wherever I wanted to. I jumped on the train and went south of Harajuku to Ebisu and the Tokyo Photography Museum. The exhibitions were excellent and one photographer was there giving a talk (in Japanese sadly) about his photos.

Harajuku FASHION for men.

One tricky moment in my day came in the convenience store where I was trying to buy a bottle of water. I knew I had loads of money but for some reason the check-out girl was telling me “no money, no money”. I had the money right there in my hand in front of here – what was going on?! I hurriedly left the shop without said bottle of water and carried on down the road where I put a few coins into the vending machine to try once again to get the bottle of water that I really needed by this point.

An old man who looked like he’d been working on the building site next door approached me just as I was about to punch the machine for spitting my coins out and refusing to let me buy this bloody bottle of water!...

“Hahaha…”

“Ha… ummm… water?”

“No”

“Why”

“No. No money”

“Yes, this is money. Right here, this is my money”

*old man’s even older builder friend approaches*

“Hahaha”

*pointing and Japanese words I don’t understand*

And then, all of a sudden they both pointed at the coins in my hand and said one word I understood.

“HANGUK”

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU – I had mixed up my KOREAN coins with the rest of my Japanese money and so I had been trying to buy water with 10p rather than ￡1 – Idiot. I thanked the two old duffers the best I could and scampered away, fully embarrassed and still thirsty. I found the next convenience store and enjoyed not one, but two bottles of water in quick succession, feeling like a pro at the till too!

Eiffel?

Now, fully hydrated I grabbed some lunch and headed to Roppongi Hills. Here, I saw Tokyo Tower (like the Eiffel Tower only red and white and a little bit taller) and some more art work. I stumbled upon an Indonesian Cultural Festival too and stopped to listen (and obviously sing along) to the band singing Sweet Child of Mine and enjoyed a free Indonesian beer too - I think this is going to be my 노래방 song of choice!!. After that I went to see the Imperial Palace in the centre of town - it looked really great in front of the setting sun.

The last thing on the agenda for the trip was to head back across to Shibuya to watch people flood the famous intersection as the little man turns green. I've seen this crossing on films and TV clips about Tokyo so many times. I exited the station and waited with hundreds of other people... most of the foreigners (including myself) had cameras at the ready to document the short walk. The best bit was nipping into Starbucks and getting a second floor window seat to watch the action.
I know, watching people cross a road doesn't sound the coolest thing I could have done on my last night in Tokyo but... well... I never said I was cool.

Click to enlarge

It was a really full trip. I woke up at 5am the next morning to get back to Narita airport and eventually got back to my apartment in Seoul just after 1 pm. But I wasn't ready for the Chuseok break to be over so I headed up to Katie’s and bought myself a new bike! Seoul has miles and

Beaut!

miles of dedicated cycleway – much better than the cycle “super highways” in London – so we rode from Banghak over to Nowon and back again at a very leisurely pace whilst chatting and swerving Korean joggers.

Back at school on Monday this week and it was clear the kids still wanted to be on holiday – as did I!

Thursdays seem to be a good day to try to update this blog. I have a free period first thing so, as long as everything is ready for class, I’m free to do whatever I want. I've been using this time to catch up with Korean homework and plan stuff that I might do at weekends but mostly… watching silly YouTube videos. I’m in school from 8.30 until 4.30 and I have quite a lot of free time:

This weekend I’m heading to a Varsity rugby match – Yonsei U vs Korea U. 20,000 screaming students and a few foreigners thrown in for the LOLs. Should be good! I’ll tell you more next time.

Until then,

Bren x

Ps, More Tokyo photos posted to my Facebook page HERE.

Chuseok

It’s the last day before the 5 day Chuseok holiday and the students and teachers are all equally excited to have a few days off – including myself.

Chuseok is the Korean Thanksgiving. Traditionally giving thanks for a good harvest, it is more common now that Chuseok is chance for families to get together and return to their home towns and spend time with each other and friends.

Climbing

PEAKING

Hongdae LIVE

Since I have no family here **sobs** I decided to head over the water to Tokyo, Japan. I booked this trip way back in June when I found out about Chuseok and that we’d have the 3 days off as a National Holiday. I've got recommendations from friends and my Lonely Plant guide - I’m SO ready to go.

I’ll arrive in Tokyo on Wednesday evening where I’ll meet my friend Sam and we’ll go and have lots of adventures that I’m sure I’ll tell you all about once I’m back. Teachers at school can't seem to understand that I'm going to Japan with a guy who isn't my boyfriend... If only they knew the truth!!........

There are a few things that I definitely want to fit in and whole load more that I’d love to do if we have the time. I’m only going to be there for 3 full days really, leaving early on Sunday to catch my 2 hour flight back to Seoul so I’m going to have to go some to get the most out of the trip. I’m going to be exhausted...but, I'M GOING TO TOKYO. Mental. My life right now... hilarious.

I’m still catching up on sleep from this weekend. I made the most of it, fitting in a dinner down in southern Seoul, Korean class on Friday (that went particularly badly!), chicken and beer with a friend, Dana (chicken and beer is a popular combo here), daytime wandering, nighttime Hongdae, Yongmasan mountain climbing and watching the LG Twins lose a baseball match with Katie.

Mt. Yongmasan

Jamsil Stadium

Back at school, Monday and Tuesday this week flew by so quickly – 7 classes and Teachers’ Conversation Classes DONE. I was outta that school early doors at 4.25pm.

Seafood Sidewalk

Fixie

Tonight, I headed up to Banghak for a trip to a bicycle shop where Katie bought a superb bike and we had a dinner of mostly muscles, egg, beer and soju on the side of the road.
We wandered into what we thought was a pool hall but turned out to look like a serious pool club. We moved away fairly quickly. Further into the building we saw a sign for a gym and both of us had been looking for one for weeks so even thought the lights were off we walked on, down the corridor. This corridor started to look more and more creepy when we saw an elderly man with a walking frame hobble past us in the opposite direction. Eventually we saw the door for what we had assumed was the entrance to the gym...

Turns out we were in some weird little hospital and had wandered ONTO A WARD WITH PATIENTS SLEEPING/..............

There are no words. It was hilarious and totally awful all at the same time. I really don't know how we end up in these situations. Korea is weird and crazy and I never have any idea what the hell is going on!

An excellently odd start to the Chuseok break.

Next stop: Tokyo!!

Until next time,
Bren.

PS, So... I went to Hongdae to watch the performers in the park. I was dancing along. I danced into a bush.

Possibly funnier if you were there.

Sprinting for Fish.

Where to begin?!
From where I left off I guess...

Now I’m in my third week of teaching I've worked out my favourite classes and students and worked out who the more ‘challenging’ students are. I have one mute girl who I get to do a lot of listening and writing activities; one boy who gets bullied quite badly and one boy who is…a little big shit. He’s the school bully and is completely horrible and I've not really worked out what I can, if anything, do about him.

As well as my regular classes with Grades 4 and 6 I've now started teaching a 2 hour “level up” club for the students who need to study more to get to the level they need to be at before moving onto Middle school. This week I taught my first Conversation Class with the teachers… They told me the teachers’ book and the CD were very expensive so they seemed quite impressed when I told them I’d found it online and downloaded all of the modules and recorded some of the activities myself on my phone. In conclusion – the teaching is going well.

MOVING ON…
Because you're not really here to hear about the teaching. You're here for funny Konglish stories and to find out really just how good McDelivery is.

But first, let me journey back to a couple of weeks ago…

Team SPRINT FOR FISH

I headed north on Tuesday evening to meet up with a few people for dinner. One miscommunication led to more broken English/Korean questions from a charming restaurant owner and the next thing I know, I’m sprinting after a tiny apron-clad Korean lady through the streets of Nowon with 7 other foreigners, all laughing so hard we could barely breath whilst being watched my the hoards of local street diners. Eventually the sprinting ends and we arrive outside a “fish roasting”

Photo booth fun

restaurant, all thoroughly confused but bloody hungry.

Just an average Tuesday evening here in Seoul!

What had happened was… We had one vegetarian in the group which is hard enough here in Korea because they seems to put meat in EVERYTHING but it’s made even harder when you go into a Korean barbecue restaurant and try to explain this in Korean. Luckily this vegetarian eats fish and we tried to ask if they served fish or vegetarian meals at the barbecue restaurant. So, not understanding us at all but in classic Korean style they offered (but really did not explain whatsoever) to take us to a fish restaurant. Quite why we had to RUN there is still unclear...
Luckily it all worked out brilliantly; the food was delicious and company was great. I’ll have to try Korean barbecue another time…

The Korean lessons I mentioned last time have already started!! I went along to the Korean 

Easy when you
know how...

Language Institute a couple of weeks ago to sign up for the classes starting in October but it turned out that they had one space left in this month’s group. I've had 4 of my 10 lessons now and while it’s really tough and I feel exhausted after every class, I’m just about holding in there and can read most Korean word – albeit very slowly!

An update on the Sunday Roast situation: I’m still in need of one. There seems to only be one place in the whole of Seoul that serves a Sunday Roast. It’s a place in the foreigner area (naturally), Itaewon. It looks delicious but it’ll have to wait until after payday. I really hope Korean gravy doesn't taste like tofu.

And while we’re talking about food, I might as well tell you about some videos I made. They’re on YouTube. Yes, you might notice I've had a channel for a while… I was too embarrassed to tell anyone…
The video shows me trying some traditional Korean sweet(?).

And yes, I have tried McDelivery – it’s incredible. All those times I've had one of those hangover where you think you might actually be passing away and the things I've said I’d do to get someone to bring me McDonalds… It arrived in 10 minutes and was just so simple! They’d make a fortune if they started that service in Fallowfield – or any University town for that matter.

Last week my ARC (alien registration card) was delivered to school and that meant I was then able to sign up for a mobile phone. I went to the phone shop with Seunghee and we talked to one of the sales guys – yes, they're just as sleazy as the sales guys in the UK – I was really grateful that she came with me, otherwise I think I would quite easily have been ripped off! I'll talk more about money and price comparisons to things back home later in the year when I've got a better idea about things – at the moment it still feels like toy money (like Euros!) so I'm not really paying attention to prices.

Last weekend there was a big party for all the new EPIK teachers in Gangnam. My memory is

Club Core

foggy but I'm certain I had a good time and was reminded of the specifics the next day - dancing on a platform, swinging around a pole...
It was good to see some people from Orientation that had got the bus up to Seoul from all over the country – I was supposed to be hosting Andrew, a guy I met at orientation who is based in Cheonan but we got separated during the night so he crashed in a hotel and I ended up at Suraksan in northern Seoul! We met up the next day and got the cable car up to the Namsan tower. I took some nice photographs of our day – unfortunately none of them saved to my camera so I’ll have to make the trip again.

My favourite thing about school this week has been the annual Yongdu Elementary School English Speaking Contest. I was one of the three judges and was also opening the event (with translation from Seunghee). The principal and parents seemed to be impressed as 26 students from Grades 3-6 spoke for 3 minutes each on a topic of their choice. One of the funniest moments (of many) was when one boy who was talking about his family said, “I love my sister, we used to play a lot together but now we don’t because she is in puberty”. I nearly spat out the mouthful of water I’d just taken but nobody else batted an eyelid…

I also made the school newsletter!...

Don't think I was supposed
to smile quite so much

Tomorrow i'm meant to be playing in a Touch tournament but I expect it to be rained off so I might go to the Coex mall in Gangnam and play in the arcades! On Sunday I think I’m going to do some hiking up one of the many mountains that surround Seoul and maybe even catch an evening baseball game at Jamsil Stadium. Other than that, I’ll be planning the last few things for Tokyo (less than a week to go!!) and looking forward to the 5 day Thanks Giving break.

Until next time,

Bren

Ps, I've just re-read this post and I talk about food a lot. I'm writing this in a free period I have just before lunch sooooo I'm pretty hungry. Today's menu?...

급식실에서 알려드립니다.

오늘 오징어찌개는 --> 꽃게탕으로 메뉴 변경하여

제공됩니다. 참고하시기 바랍니다.

*식품알레르기 식재료 안내*

꽃게탕(꽃게) - 제거식 제공

Pps, For anyone interested (dad?).. Here is a breakdown of the nationalities of EPIK teachers (the ones based in Seoul only)

SMOE: Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education

We’ve Got a Year

I’m a teacher! I've taught my first lessons and met all of the students I’ll be teaching this semester. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I teach four Grade 6 classes and on Tuesday and Thursday I teach three Grade 4 classes. The Grade 3 and 5 kids are taught by a different teacher but from February when everyone moves up a grade, I’ll meet those too.

Yongdu Elementary

My Desk and English Classroom

Yongdu Elementary is quite a small school compared to the numbers I've heard from some of the other teachers here – still, over 400 students so enough to keep me busy! The school has a great outdoors area for break times and PE lessons. A full running track and a large football pitch as well as a climbing wall, swings, see-saw, monkey bars and climbing frame. The school also has a dedicated English classroom which is where I have my desk alongside my co-teacher (CT) Seunghee and apart from lunchtime when I eat with the rest of the staff, it’s where I spend all of my time. They've got really good facilities, including smartboards and a small library. My CT has been great with helping me get registered with immigration and setting up a bank account and speaking to different people to get me the best deals for a mobile phone and internet contracts. Without her I would have had to act out a lot of things or spent ages flicking through my pocket dictionary.

The language level at the school is quite low. This includes the staff. It’s been difficult to chat with them because I often just get a smile and a nod back at me, which is friendly enough but when you’re asking where the photocopier is, doesn't really get me very far… From next week I’ll be running a 2 hour afternoon class for 3 teacher who have expressed an interest in learning some English and I have signed up to start Korean language lessons twice a week starting in October. I hope this will narrow the English/Korean gap and that I’ll be able to get to know some of the other teachers a little better. I've been invited out for a welcome dinner with all of the teachers at the school on Friday evening – our new Principal will also be there so I’ll have to be on my best behaviour!

Me, Katie, Dana, Sam, Pete C

Subway Stare

Apt at Jegi-dong

My apartment is just a 10 minute walk to the school. The size could be described as… petite. But compared to what you could get 20mins from the centre of London for the same price, it’s brilliant! I've got a double bed and plenty of floor space – easily fit me plus 3 guests, as tried and tested on Friday after a night out in Itaewon.

On Saturday morning I left 2 of those sleeping bodies and heading to play Touch Rugby in Gangnam. I didn't have to worry about them locking up because I don’t have keys to my apartment…it’s just a keypad code on the front of the door!

Views from the top of my building

Rugby was great. Two girls I’d met at orientation were there too, as well as some of the members of the Seoul Sisters Rugby Club. Training for contact rugby starts in a few weeks so I’ll be playing Touch until then. I did OK, but this heat is a killer. Well, the heat and the hangover… The previous night’s soju was dangerously close to making another appearance so I left half an hour early and headed back to my apartment for a nap.

Today is Sunday and I’m planning on taking a walk along the Cheonggyecheon stream followed by whisperings of the possibility of going for a SUNDAY ROAST. Whilst my school lunches have been pretty tasty there’s no way I’m missing roast potatoes and gravy!

And that sort of brings me nicely to my post title. There have been times this week when I've been absolutely knackered (9 year olds are exhausting!) and I could have quite easily come home from work and stayed in doing nothing, watching a movie, messing around on the internet. I said a few times this week, “I've got a whole year”.. so there’s no rush, I can do things tomorrow/next week/next month… But I’m acutely aware that actually that isn't a great deal of time. Not when there is so much that I want to do and fit it. So now I've changed that to, “I've only got a year”. I don’t want to necessarily turn into Yes Man and it doesn't mean I’ll go on every single night out or event, but if my only reason for  not doing something is that I can do it another time then that’s not good enough.

This new sense of semi-urgency took me to a Wednesday night FC Seoul game at the World Cup Stadium – both sets of strikers were worse than Torres in a dry spell but with a 17000 attendance and beers allowed in the stands I happily sat with the FC Seoul “Ultras” and sang (as best I could without knowing the lyrics or Korean) for the whole game which ended all square at 1-1. I got chatting to a guy I spotted wearing a Notts Forrest shirt and he’d been in Korea for almost 4 years and goes to the mid-week games quite often.

Lucky dip dinner at Banghak (above)
Lucky dip dinner at Jegi-dong (below)

Earlier in the week I also journeyed 25 minutes north to Banghak where Katie is living and working. The area has loads of traditional sit-on-the-floor-while-you-eat type places and most importantly, a Baskin Robbins. I’ll be back! Pete C and Peter C (nightmare!) are also at a school's in that area, whereas Sam is around the same distance from me but to the south. I feel quite central which is nice but it’s so easy to get around on the subway (which I keep referring to as the Tube (old habits die hard)). I’ll need to practice a bit more on the buses before I know exactly where I’m going but everything has announcements and signs in English so it’s not too bad.

I’m going to be talking a lot about different places in Seoul and the rest of Korea over the next year so check out this subway map to get an idea of where I've been to. My stop is Jegi-dong.

Oh, I’ve also booked a trip to go to the Korean F1 in October… HUZZAH. But I’ll tell you more about that nearer the time.

Right, I’m off to explore my new city.

Until next time,

Bren.