transferring over

I've been super busy lately, and I'll write a proper post later to at least somewhat get this thing up to date. In the meantime, I'll just copy-paste (ko-pi-pe in Japanese) a small blog entry I had to write for my Japanese class about my CIP (community involvement project), aka the calligraphy club. It's in Japanese, so anyone who follows this thing that reads Japanese (which would be...no one, I'm guessing?) can read it, but it's probably impossible for anyone else.

私は日本の伝統的なことに興味があるので、日本に来たら、色々なことをしてみたかったが、上手になるように、一つを選んだほうがいいと思った。だから、書道部に決めた。茶道とか剣道も面白そうだが、必要な道具が高くて大きいから、かんたんには出来ないと思った。でも、書道なら、筆しか必要じゃない。そして、どこでもできる。アメリカに帰ってもし続けられる。

日本に来る前から、書道に興味があったが、経験は全然なかった。でも、日本人の学生と交流したかったので、先生から習うのではなく学生の書道部に入った。知らなかったが、実は書道部に先生も来るから、両方が出来ている。まだ下手で、書き方もきたないが、部員と先生のおかげで、だんだん上手になっている。みな親切で、私の質問にはっきり説明をしてくれる。

書展に出品するために、何かを書くつもりだ。漢字を七十ぐらい書かなければならないから、ちょっと忙しくなった。大変かもしれないが、書きながら楽しんでいるから、かまわない。書道部の部屋は静かで、たたみがあって、たたみのいいかおりもして、そこにいれば、落ち着ける。漢字に集中すると、頭がすっきりする。今からもっと練習して、うまくなったらいいと思う。いい趣味をみつけた。

I have to write yet another entry in English later, so I'll post that here as well. It'll probably be much better written too, given how minimal my grasp of the Japanese language is. My fall break starts on Saturday! Yay! I'll have time to actually catch up on things that I've been wanting to do for a while. Such as writing. And tweaking photos. And programming. And doing some self-study. And sight-seeing. And moving around in general.

water spiders that dance in your hands

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to Okayama prefecture over the weekend. Everyone in my study abroad program--all forty-one of us--stayed there for two nights and three days. The program split us up into four groups, and my group went to a city called Kasaoka. Probably their most famous landmark is the kabutogani museum. The kabutogani is a fairly rare crab-like thing, and if there are any avid Pokemon fans out there, it's the model for Kabuto. As I learned at the museum, although they're called "kabuto crabs," or horseshoe crabs in English, they're actually much closer to spiders than crabs. They're basically spiders with water armor. They're ADORABLE. Especially the young ones. I think the kabutogani get so much hype because they haven't changed much in a long, long time. As in, they haven't really evolved for the past two-hundred million years. As my handy dandy kabutogani handout explains:

If the history of the world were equated to the span of one year, one day would equal 12,600,000 years, and one second would equal 146 years. By that analogy, the horseshoe crab would have appeared in November. Humans would have arrived on December 31 at 6:17 pm (Kasaoka Horsehoe Crab Museum).

I don't know if that makes their age easier to grasp, but I thought it was a pretty nifty analogy. Anyway, after that group activity, we went to audit a Japanese middle school's club activities, where we were paraded around like...a parade and stared at quite scrupulously. Well, the very American-looking students were, at least. Since I look Asian, and clearly not exotic, the Japanese students didn't even bother asking my name or where I came from. On the one hand, the complete lack of care was a little surprising, but on the other hand, it wasn't surprising at all. I know that made no sense to anyone but me, but that's all that matters. On the bright side, I feel like I can rest assured that I don't stand out as a blaring foreigner when I'm just strolling down the streets of Japan.

After the parade at the middle school, every was split up and scattered throughout the city into various homestays. We spent all of Saturday, as well as Sunday morning, with our Okayama host families. I had a BLAST. My host parents were in their late sixties/early seventies, and they were both of the kind-of-artsy, slightly-kooky breed. They both painted, except in completely polar styles, and they were extremely warm-hearted people. As soon as I met them, they told me to call them Mama and Papa, which in Japanese turned into mama-san and papa-san.

As a very Japanese activity, they took me to make soba. From scratch. I got to mix the water and flour, knead it, roll it out, and then cut it up using a special soba knife and plank thing. It was a great experience. And after working hard to make the noodles, eating them felt just that much better. Although all the KCJS(Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies--I can't remember if I used or defined the acronym already) students were supposed to be scattered around doing independent activities, I actually ended up in the same place as Cecilia, and we made soba together. Yay! Cecilia cut her noodles like a pro, and if all else fails, I think she can move to Japan and open a soba restaurant. On the other hand, mine came out a little chubby, but were tasty nonetheless.

My host mom's hobby was origami, so she taught me all kinds of fun, interactive origami things. Although I've made the standard, follow-the-book origami, I never really made things that were interactive. I learned how to make a cute little caterpillar that inches along if you blow at it through a straw, as well as a really unique paper airplane thing. I also learned how to make sunflowers, which made me very happy because, if I haven't already mentioned it, sunflowers are hands-down my favorite flowers.

My host family's daughter and grandchildren came over, and I folded flowers with the grandkids. They were adorable! The oldest one is fourteen, and she's just starting to study English in school, so we became pen pals, and I'm going to write her a letter soon. I think kids that are eager to learn are just so cute!

On Sunday morning, I went to do shodo. It's amazing how much I luck out with homestays. It turns out that my host mother's younger brother is a shodo teacher. I almost couldn't believe what a coincidence it was. Everyone in Okayama was so generous, to the point where I almost started feeling bad about accepting their gifts, and when they heard that I had a strong interest in shodo, and even joined the shodo club at school, my host family was ecstatic. And then proceeded to grab brushes and give them to me. I lucked out to the max. The younger brother (who's actually probably a dude in his sixties, which doesn't fit the image of "younger brother," but oh well) even carved me a hanko, which is a name stamp, usually, if not always, carved out of stone. If you ever see scrolls from Japan or China, there's usually a red squarish stamp in some bottom corner or side. That's produced with a hanko.

My host family was amazing, and I was sad to leave on Sunday. But since my Kyoto host family is fantastic as well, I at least looked forward to seeing them again. In any case, I have my Okayama host family's address, as well as their daughter's/grandchildrens' address, and I very much intend to write to them. They also invited me to come back and visit any time, which is an offer I just might have to take.

of foxes and other animals

On Sunday, I went to the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to Inari, the god of rice (and business). Scattered throughout Japan are a bunch of temples dedicated to this god, but the one in Fushimi is the largest and most famous. It's beautiful. I met with Adam and Cecelia in the late morning, had lunch at a takoyaki stand right next to the train station, and then we made our way to the shrine.

The actual shrine part is fairly accessible, but the really famous part is the hike up the mountain, the trail of which is lined by torii, which are the red/orange gate-looking things in the picture above. Walking through torii after torii was pretty trippy. I don't have all that much else to say about the hike; words--aka my really out-of-practice English abilities--would not be able to properly describe the experience. I think anyone who visits Japan should go to Fushimi Inari to check it out personally.

There was this really cool, random flower growing in solitude in a space along a trail by the shrine (wow, that was too many prepositional phrases right there). Adam and I took probably far too long taking various photos at various angles. It was really neat though. Only after I returned from the shrine did I realize that the same flowers are actually growing all over the place. My observational abilities are clearly far from keen.

I was really shocked by the various animals that just pop up. As Adam said, I can see how the concept of Pokemon is fairly feasible in Japan. Rather than the normal pigeon or spider, we were greeted by a large caterpillar, some feral cats, and two MONKEYS! Yes, that's right. Wild monkeys. They came really close to us too. I was standing probably less than two feet away from a wild monkey. I think we did something to piss off one of them though; the one closest to Cecilia started freaking out and attempted to attack her. With her mad ninja skills, she managed to avoid the attack. (I'm totally playing this up because it really wasn't that dramatic. But I swear, she did almost get attacked). The monkeys were blocking our path, so we couldn't really leave. Luckily, Adam randomly had a banana in his bag, so he threw it into the forest to distract the monkeys, and then we took our leave. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.

Today I went to the calligraphy club, again. At first it was mad awkward because the person I had been in contact with was not there, and apparently never goes there (there are two campuses and, thus, two calligraphy club locations), so I had to get acquainted with a new set of people. I think Japanese students in the shodo club are far less outgoing than the ones I've been associating with up until this point, so it was a little hard to make conversation. But since everyone was pretty focused on their activities, and I eventually was too, I didn't mind too much.

I arrived there at around 4:45 pm, and at 6 pm, much to my surprise, an actual teacher came by. I was under the impression that the club was just students doing their thing, but they actually have an expert come in and teach them stuff, as well as correct their writing. He taught me a bit about basic stuff, and I proceeded to sit there, until 8 pm, practicing. I got totally absorbed in writing, and the time just flew out the window. Calligraphy is so interesting. And really, really calming. It's nice to have some time to clear my thoughts.

Because I was at the club so late, I missed my potential second BlazBlue tournament in Japan. But I hadn't practiced much, and the calligraphy club only meets once a week, so it sat at a much higher priority than the arcade. Actually, I went to the arcade on Tuesday anyway... I played a couple different fighting games to check it out, but BlazBlue definitely still remains my favorite. Nate heard/read/somehow obtained the information that Melty Blood is also a really good game, so I tried it out, and it's pretty fun. It's very beginner-friendly. Fighting games are the best!

I'm off to Okayama for a school trip tomorrow, and the bus ride there is five hours, which is why I'm awake writing rather than sleeping. I'll be able to catch up on sleep during the ride there. Okayama's in Japan's countryside, so it's supposed to be extremely beautiful. I'm excited!!

a storm of the best kind

Typhoons are my friends. I woke up at seven this morning, as always, and went downstairs to find out that my classes had been canceled for the day because of a typhoon alert. I had the option of either going back to bed and sleeping to my heart's content or waking up and doing something that a functioning member of society would do. If I were in America, option one would have been the way to go, but since I need to make the most of my time in Japan, I opted for option two. It was a good choice indeed. I'm amazed at how much one can accomplish by waking up at seven in the morning and doing nothing but productive things.

After taking my time with breakfast, I headed to school, despite the rain, to meet up with Nate and learn some programming. Yes, I am learning programming. Yes, it is extremely fun and rewarding. Yes, I feel like I owe Nate something huge because he's patiently teaching me stuff. So far, I made some colorful circles and stuff. It's amazing how something that looks so simple can give one such a sense of accomplishment. I know I was just doing some super basic stuff, but still! It felt awesome. I can't wait until my brain can actually get a full grasp on the basic concepts so that I can cram more programming-related stuff in there.

Since I had free time today, of course I went to the arcade as well. For the first time, I did not play BlazBlue, but I decided to try out another game instead. I settled down with Arcana Heart, which is another fighting game with nice aesthetics. It was fun, but I had no idea what I was doing. I still have no idea what I was doing. I'm going to look up the basic gameplay right after writing this entry, and maybe my arcade experience will make a bit more sense. I know the game involved some characters and some elemental monsters. That's about all I could glean from playing.

Both my host mom and host brother, Miwa and Hiro, respectively, do tea ceremony (sado), one of Japan's well-known tradition arts. They have lessons every Wednesday, but since their schedules are different, they usually go at different times. Usually Miwa goes in the early afternoon, and Hiro goes in the evening, after school. Lesson times are open anytime between 10am-5pm, I think. However, because of the typhoon, Hiro's school got canceled as well, and he and Miwa were able to go at the same time. Since my classes had been canceled and I had a pretty free afternoon, they invited me to go along with them and watch their sado lesson.

I was with Nate at the time, so we both went to watch. I was nervous about inadvertently being extremely rude, so I was glad someone else was there to be nervous as well. Hiro went through his lesson first, and it was interesting to watch someone who's usually so energetic and bubbly perform a quiet and deliberate ritual. He's been taking lessons for three years now, and he seemed very comfortable with the whole process. I was amazed, however, because even after three years, he still got corrected plenty by the teacher. I never thought that where you place your feet on the floor or hands on the water pot could be such a crucial thing.

Speaking of the teacher, he is ninety-five years old and extremely healthy. I think such a meditative ritual as tea ceremony must do worlds for one's mental clarity. Unfortunately, I could barely understand him when he talked to me because he spoke with a pretty extreme Kyoto dialect. I'm also not particularly skilled with Japanese, so that might have been it too... Anyway, Nate and I had to leave after Hiro's lesson because we had plans, and I felt bad that I was missing Miwa's turn. However, she said it worked out fine because she gets nervous easily while Hiro doesn't. It was better that we watched Hiro go through his lesson smoothly, and since we were leaving, Miwa said she could relax a bit. I think she was just being polite, but I really did feel a little less bad about leaving. I was definitely glad I went to witness the lesson though. All in all, the tea was delicious, the sweets that accompanied the tea were delicious, and the experience was quite enjoyable.

Afterwards, we met up with Adam, who had been doing nothing at home all day, and we just walked around the city for a while. We returned to the arcade for a short bit, and I watched Nate and Adam partner through a fun-looking taiko (Japanese drum) game. We returned to our respective houses after that. I ate dinner. Now I'm here. Yay! Typhoons are awesome.

the sun never sets for new adventures

I am so busy. I don't think I've ever been so busy in my life. Or been so happy with being busy either. Every day is so much fun! I truly feel like I'm using every minute of my day to its fullest extent, and it feels great going to bed every night knowing that there wasn't a single thing more that I could have squeezed into my day. Japan is wonderful.

Clearly, the blog updates in proportion to busy-ness rule still holds true. It's been far too long since the last time I posted up my life happenings for the world--aka the friends and family that care about me enough to read this blog--to see. Honestly, every day more exciting and fun experiences get added on to my list of things write about, and I keep putting off updating this thing for fear of being stuck writing forever. But I think that sort of defeats the purpose of having a travel/study abroad blog, so I'll just write a tad bit about everything, rather than exhausting myself going into depth about one thing and then stressing out about having neither the time nor energy to continue on in the same vein.

Starting from the most recent outing, I went to the Tokyo Game Show yesterday. Tokyo is not particularly close to Kyoto. Going was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I was hanging out at the zoo on Saturday afternoon with some friends, who I guess I should actually introduce because I will soon get really tired of writing "this friend" and "that friend." I was hanging out at the Kyoto Zoo on Saturday with Cecilia, Adam, and Andres. Just as we were buying tickets for the zoo, I got a phone call from Miao, asking if I wanted to go to Tokyo that night with Erica, Nate, and him. Since they were soon going to buy their tickets, I had about ten minutes to decide if I wanted to shell out about a hundred dollars for a round trip there, plus whatever amount I'd end up paying for the show itself, as well as for other diversions in Tokyo. Why the hell not? So my ticket was bought.

I returned home from my middle-of-a-typhoon trip to the zoo, shocked my host family by telling them I was taking an overnight bus to Tokyo that night and would be gone until Monday, and then did some homework before heading to Kyoto Station in time to catch the 12:10 am bus. Since I was a little late in responding, we couldn't all get tickets for the same bus, so we split into two groups of two. Nate and I arrived at Shinjuku at 6:30 am. We got to the convention center at 9 am. We waited in the blistering sun for an hour, and then entered the convention at roughly 10 am. I think we were both sleepy and hungry, so we spent the first hour in a slight daze, but after we finally located some food and regained our energy, we were able to wander excitedly around.

THEY HAD BLAZBLUE CONTINUUM SHIFT EXTEND. I mean, it's one of Japan's largest gaming conventions, so it's expected that they'd have a to-be-released-soon-ish, rather popular game, but still. I was very excited. Except not excited enough to wait in an hour plus line, so I watched, rather than played. I didn't mind too much; I was probably too sleep-deprived to gloss anything useful from playing anyway. Nate and I met up with Miao and Erica later, and since we were all way too exhausted to stay and deal with the crowds, we headed toward Akihabara for dinner, and then after that, to our bus stop so that we could catch yet another overnight bus. I actually still haven't gotten any real sleep since Friday night, which is probably why my writing is all over the place. Anyway, that was my Tokyo day.

I didn't ditch class; we had a three day weekend. We have another one coming up, so this day will be a three-day school week.

On Friday, I went to a no play, which is a traditional Japanese performing art. It was part of my class. Speaking of classes, I actually ended up in the C Japanese class, which is exactly the middle level, so I'm rather satisfied. I'm also taking a class on pragmatics--language use in context--which focuses on Miyazaki films, such as My Neighbor Totoro, and a class on no and kyogen, which explains why I went to the play. Honestly, it was kind of boring. Oh well. I've got quite a few more to go to throughout the semester, so there's no point in whining. I'm sure I'll eventually understand enough about no to enjoy the performances more.

Right before the play, I went to check out Doshisha University's calligraphy club. I was all stressed out earlier in the week from having to contact the club representative via email and use formal Japanese, which I have pretty much completely forgotten. But, everything ended up fine, so I went Friday to check it out. The atmosphere was really nice. The entire room had tatami floors, and there were books, brushes, and various other calligraphy-related items scattered all over the room. Since I really want to learn proper calligraphy, I asked the club representative to help me learn the very basics, so I spent my hour there practicing how to write the kanji for "one." Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun. Cliched as it may be, there was something extremely peaceful about concentrating super hard on simply making the correct brush movements. All the clutter in my head just kind of faded out for a while. I'm definitely joining the calligraphy club. I, awkwardly, didn't introduce myself properly to the members, but I'll deal with that the next time I go.

The day before that, Thursday, there was a BlazBlue tournament at the arcade near-ish my school. I entered and lost promptly. I was aware that was going to happen, however, so I didn't mind too much. My goal is to enter every BB tournament at that arcade, which take place every other Thursday, and to hopefully, by December, at least make it to the next round of eliminations. I'm trying to be as efficient as possible with my time so that I can semi-frequently drop by the arcade to practice. Actually, I'm trying to be as efficient as possible with my time so that I can just enjoy my time in Japan to its fullest. Homework is important, but I'm here to experience Japan, and spending all my time doing homework is not a good way to do so.

I kind of don't remember what happened before Thursday. I'm sure it was fun though. My commute to school is really not nearly as bad as I originally had thought. I just walk 30 minutes to the train station from my house, or skate 15 on my longboard, ride the train for 30 minutes, no transfers necessary, and then walk/skate some more from the station to school. It's quite simple, and I get a decent amount of exercise every day.

I could keep writing forever, but the sleep deprivation from two consecutive nights of bus sleeping is finally getting to me. Who knows when the next time I can update this is, but I'll make an effort to write at least sometime. I haven't even been taking many pictures, which is really terrible. I am forgetting the essential rules of always carry camera and always take a picture when the slightest urge to capture the scene arises. I just made the wording up on the fly, but the rough concept has been in mind. Well, except for recently. Blabber aside, the point is that my camera is lonely. I just got a new screen protector for my camera; protecting the screen from scratches is about the best I can do since I don't really want to keep my camera in a camera bag. I feel like if I keep a camera bag, I'll be too lazy to whip out my camera to take pictures. Since my screen is now safe, I guess I can feel a tad bit more at-ease toting my camera round my neck/shoulder, or when that gets tiring, shoving it into my backpack.

I'm totally rambling now. On a final note for this post: my host family is really awesome.

the firebird alights

I met my host family yesterday. The family consists of the mother, Miwa, the father, Eno, and the son, Hiro. Actually the dad's real name is also Hiro, but since it could get confusing, he's using the first two syllables of their family name as his nickname. They've also got two dogs, Miru and Karu (short for Milky and Calcifier). The dogs are SUPER SOFT!! They're long hair miniature dachshunds. I've only known the family for two days, but I have a feeling that we'll get along really well. They're really relaxed people, and they really value cultural exchanges.

When they came to get me from the hotel, I was super taken aback because I was expecting just the dad to come, but all three of them showed up. Since they sent me a photo beforehand, I immediately knew who they were, but I was really just expecting one, so I suddenly got all panicked and nearly forgot all the proper introduction words. But, as soon as they started talking, I immediately felt at-ease, and I knew everything would be okay. They've hosted seven families in the past, so they knew what they were dealing with, and they asked me questions and started talking to me at just the right moments, so things never got awkward. After they got me from the hotel, they asked what I wanted to eat and I responded with ramen. Eno and Miwa both laughed, but since Hiro was like YEAH!! (in Japanese), I felt that my decision was okay. We had some deliciously delicious ramen, and since we were nearby, we then went to Byodo-in, which is one of Japan's national heritages.

Miwa and Eno said that Byodo-in is usually packed, but since there's a typhoon going on right now, there were very few people. The wind was pretty strong, but since there was no rain, I thought we were pretty lucky. The temple is featured on the back of the ten yen coin, so you know it's gotta be important! There are two phoenix sculptures on the roof, and you can even see them on the coin. It's kinda like seeing Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial on the pack of the penny. Being at the temple reminded me that Japan's got a ton of famous and historical places, so I can't waste time! I wanna see as much as I possibly can in these next few months.

Today Miwa and Eno walked me through how to get from the house to campus, and it's seriously so easy. Although it's a bit far, it's really convenient. I just walk straight for about twenty minutes to the train station, take the express train for half an hour, no line changes necessary, and then walk straight another fifteen minutes to get to campus. I've got my longboard, so the walking parts should go by even faster. I bought my three-month train pass, and that's all I need. I can pocket the extra money given to me for the bus pass and subway pass, which I probably won't buy. YES!! I start school tomorrow, so I better sleep early. I really am not looking forward to seeing how low I placed on the Japanese placement.

On the one hand, I don't wanna have to go to school and study, but on the other hand, when I'm in school, I'll be learning more Japanese, so I'll be able to say and understand more things with more ease, so I'm looking forward to that.

good shall always prevail

I took a placement test for Japanese this morning. It was terrible. I know I haven't formally studied Japanese in over a year, but still. The first part of the test was kanji writing and recognition, which left me with a feeling of doom. I think I left more than half of the sheet blank. I know the tests were supposed to get progressively harder, but I forgot even the most basic characters, such as the ones for "to study." The rest of the test was not much better. I felt even worse afterwards when I heard others saying, "oh my god, I can't believe I almost forgot *insert word here*," when I had absolutely no idea what the word even meant. The most frustrating part, however, was definitely seeing something that I'd learned in the past but had completely forgot. About a quarter of the blank ones were like that.

I guess the point of the placement test is to put one in their most comfortable Japanese setting, however, so at least I'll be learning at the level I really should be. And even though the higher classes will be learning more advanced stuff, that doesn't mean I can't study things like kanji on my own. Also, since I'm living in Japan, I'll get a ton more speaking practice than I'd ever get in any kind of class in America. That was a comforting thought, which made me freak out a tad less.

After the exam was a five-minute interview, which showed off my extremely shabby Japanese speaking ability. That's all I'll say about that.

Once the torture was over, however, a bunch of the students went to Nishiki Market, which is this famous street where there are a ton of little shops, mostly dedicated to food. At first I was a little shy about taking pictures, but after I realized that most of the shop owners didn't mind, I started using my camera more. I passed a couple fruit stands and then finally bought a fig for 200 yen, which, after taking the exchange rate into account, is very roughly $2.50. Fruits are EXPENSIVE!! But it was totally delicious and worth the money since I was craving fruit intensely. After walking around for a few hours, we returned to the hotel and then went to a dinner with the KCJS staff.

We had to stand through the entire dinner. It was one of those purpose-is-mingling dinners, and a lot of mingling did go on. Since everyone was talking though, it got super loud, and towards the end, I mostly stopped talking because I got tired of shouting. The food was delicious.

Yesterday I had a ton of fun! After sitting in the classroom listening to some extreme introductions and announcements, everyone split up into groups and were assigned two Japanese students who were going to take classes with us. My group of four American students got a girl and a boy, Maki and Masa, respectively, and they were really awesome. They took us on a tour of the campus and conversed with us in Japanese. I was really excited that I could understand what they were saying most of the time. Well, usually. Since Maki and Masa were both really understanding and explained stuff we didn't understand, I've gotten more used to actually trying to use my Japanese instead of being reserved and embarrassed about potential errors. I've spoken more Japanese in the past two days than probably my entire time studying Japanese in the States. I'm super pumped to how much my speaking (and listening and reading) will get better just by studying in Japan.

After we got back from our tours and did more school orientation stuff, we headed back to our hotel and then met up for dinner. All the students were assigned randomly to one of five groups, led by two or three Japanese students. I lucked out because I got the group with Maki and Masa again! We then ate at an okonomiyaki restaurant. Okonomiyaki translates roughly into "fried thing that you like," and it was basically a pancake made out of cabbage, eggs, pork, and some other stuff. But of course since it's a thing that you like, you can ask the to put stuff in or take stuff out to suit your tastes. The whole thing is covered in some sweet sauce stuff and mayonnaise. Honestly, I can't say I'm a huge fan of it. Although I can definitely eat it without a problem--it's not bad by a long shot--I wouldn't go hunting for it if I wanted to eat something. I'm usually a fan of either crispy or chewy things(with the exception of tofu, which is good in any form), so the texture wasn't really to my liking. It's kind of soft and squishy.

After dinner, I requested that we find an arcade, so my entire group schlepped to the arcade to satisfy my request. But the arcade didn't have BlazBlue!!!! I was really shocked since the arcade had four or five floors of games, but none of them were BlazBlue. I felt really bad for making everyone walk there on a fruitless search. On the bright side, my homestay is in Osaka, which apparently has a ton of arcades, so I'll probably be able to find it there. Or at another arcade in Kyoto since I only checked one so far.

Speaking of homestay in Osaka, I found out that I have the farthest homestay from campus. I thought everyone had about an hour commute, but I found out that some of my peers can bike to school in less than twenty minutes. Even though my house is far, I really don't mind. I may have to wake up earlier than everyone else, but I get to see a lot more places on my way to school. And I'll get to experience Kyoto and Osaka, which have very different cultures. Also, since the school subsidizes transportation costs and pays us in cash (I found out that I live the farthest because I receive the most money...), if I can find some way to shorten my trip, such as skating instead of taking the bus to the train station, I can pocket the difference for my personal spending--such as arcade visits! I'm quite happy about that.

Yesterday I got a sheet explaining how to get from my house to school, which involves walking to the bus station, taking the bus to the train station, taking the train, transferring trains, transferring to the subway, and then walking to campus. Although it seemed like a lot of work, I just though, oh well, no point complaining because there's nothing I can do about it. The only frustrating thing is that since I have to keep changing, I can't just plop down and do some homework or something on the way to school. HOWEVER. Today I visited the housing director, and she said, "There are two ways to get from your house. The first is the way written on your sheet, and the second way is faster, easier, and cheaper." Those are all things I like. She then explained to me that I can actually just take one train all the way from my city to a station near the school and then walk ten minutes to school. AWESOME!! I can now do work on the train and have even more pocket money to go to the arcade with.

I currently believe that Japan is the best place on Earth.

the beginnings of adventure

After a relatively painless hour-and-a-half flight, I arrived at the Kansai International Airport. Immigration took a while, but I met another student studying in the same program as I am in line, so we chatted as we waited, and it wasn't so bad. After I got my luggage, which was waiting for me by the time I got out of immigration, I struggled out the door and managed to find my shuttle. Speaking of luggage, I'm so glad my dad flies a lot. Because he was with me when I was checking in, I got to skip the line, and I didn't have to pay any overweight fees. Thank goodness for frequent flier! I had to split up with my newly-made friend because we reserved different shuttles, but since all the students studying at the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS) were staying at the same hotel, it wasn't too much of a problem.

The shuttle ride took longer than I expected; I think from the airport to the hotel took roughly an hour and a half, but I wasn't paying close attention. I sat next to another person going to KCJS in the shuttle. It was so exciting to semi-coincidentally meet people who I'll be spending the next three months with! After checking into the hotel, I met a bunch more people who were just chilling in the lobby and talking. I dropped off my bags in my room and came back down to introduce myself and be introduced to some more study abroad students.

We went for a walk around the area, and we stopped into various departments stores and oogled at the cool stuff. Before we went anywhere, however, I requested that we all find me an authentic Japanese Calpico/Calpis in Japan. We all went to the convenience store, and I bought a bottle. I hadn't had one since the day I left the states, since Korea, for some bizarre reason, doesn't have Calpico, so I was extremely satisfied.

Earlier, another student had taken the initiative to email everyone about perhaps grabbing dinner together, so we returned to the lobby before six and met yet another group of people. More self-introductions occurred, this time in Japanese, and then we went to dinner. Since our group was so large, we split up into different parties. My group of seven went to a restaurant called Janome, which the shopkeeper translated to "snake eye" for us. Although I had ramen in mind, when I saw kitsune udon on the menu, I couldn't resist! I sure love kitsune udon. The shopkeeper answered all of our foreigner questions quite patiently and thoroughly, and he taught us some phrases in Kansai dialect, as well as a tongue twister, at our request. Because one member of our group was very outgoing and unabashed at asking questions, we got to learn all this neat stuff. It makes me think that I should try to interact with others more freely as well. I'll definitely learn Japanese much better if I do so.

I carry around a small notebook so I can jot down things I learn or ask someone I don't understand to write down what he or she said so that I can look it up later. My great aunt gave me the advice to carry a notebook in a foreign country, and I figured it wouldn't hurt. On my very first day, it's proved useful. While someone else asked all the questions, I recorded all the answers for future reference. I felt slightly inadequate writing, however, because I really couldn't distinguish what the man at the restaurant was saying. Even after asking multiple times, I still couldn't quite figure out if the vowel made a long sound or short sound, and I had to rely on everyone else, who managed to get it quite quickly, to dictate the phrase to me. I hope that I'll get used to hearing fluent speech by the time my time here is up.

I read through half of my pocket guide to Japanese grammar on the flight here, and I realized how rusty my Japanese has gotten. I could barely remember all the characters of the alphabet. I'm worried about my kanji (chinese character) recognition, but I'll deal with that later. I was stressing earlier about the placement test, but since I should be going into level three, and level three is the lowest level they offer, I'll be put into the right class even if I fail the test, so I'm less stressed out. That's sort of a pessimistic way to look at it, but hey, I don't want to be stressed out and studying to death while I'm in Japan. That's not what I came here to do. I'm here to breath in the culture, and that's what I plan on doing. Sure, my main point is to become fluent in Japanese, but that will definitely be accomplished much better by relaxing and interacting with native people, rather than shutting myself up all day with a bunch of textbooks.

the clock counts down

This will be my last post from Korea! In roughly twelve hours, I will be landing at the Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. There is very little I can say to describe my excitement, but I'll try.

I'm excited!

they dance around your head then suck your blood

Mosquitoes can bite me. Ha, that'd be a really cute and punny expression of annoyance if my arms hadn't been completely owned by mosquitoes. The multiple itchy points that are driving me insane are anything but cute. Here's how, in the course of an hour, I went from having zero bug bites to over fifteen:

My dad bought a property in Cheongpyeong, which is a town about an hour outside of Seoul (more like two hours if you factor in traffic), and we went to go check it out yesterday. I was expecting an inhabitable vacation house or something like that, but when we got there, I was greeted with the external walls of a house and not much more. The floor was all rocks and gravel, there were no windows, and the entire place was falling apart. I then understood why my dad needed to "fix up" the place. We went hiking up the hill behind the house, which is when the mosquitoes decided to attack. I think that if I wasn't continually swatting at the air around me, I probably would have received way more bites. Anyway, the house is situated near a lake with boats and stuff, and I'll be happy to return when there's a nice indoor area, where I can go to escape from the blood-hungry horrors.

I went to my cousin's house afterwards, and from there my cousin, his girlfriend, and I went to Dongdaemun at around midnight. Dongdaemun is one of the historic gates that used to guard the entrance to Seoul, or something like that, but it's also a famous shopping area. There are so many clothing stores. My head was spinning about five minutes after we entered the area. My cousin bought some clothes and kept asking me if I wanted anything, but I was in no mood nor energy level to go shopping. I did, however, mention that I wanted a hat, which we proceeded to search for, but to no avail. Since I'm super picky, it's really hard to find something that I really like. Oh well, I'll keep searching.

On our way to Dongdaemun, we got caught up in some protest or something, and the traffic was completely stopped. There were police everywhere, and my cousin said that in all his life in Korea, he's never seen such a large-scale protesting event happen. I guess I got to witness something extremely unusual! We returned from shopping at 3 in the morning (it's amazing that so many places never close in Korea), and I crawled into bed and slept like a log.

Compared to yesterday, today has been relatively uneventful.

the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from friends

Two days ago, I finally went to visit my friend Clyde in Daejeon. I took the express bus from Seoul to Daejeon, and it took just a little over an hour and a half to get there. I expected a bunch of accidentally going to the wrong place and having to call each other repeatedly, but the arrival couldn't have gone any more smoothly. My bus arrived, and there he was. We walked around for a while, grabbed a bite to eat, walked around some more, and then headed to his uncle's apartment. There...really isn't that much to do in Daejeon. The highlight, however, was finding this really cute cafe, where I had my first decent latte since coming to Korea. For some reason, coffee is really water-down in Korea, and every time I get a latte, it tastes more like milk than espresso. But this cafe had the proportions just right! I was very satisfied.

The other highlight of Daejeon was getting hooked on Braid, a computer game that Clyde really loves. With lack of anything better to do, I started playing it on Clyde's computer, and I got addicted. Deciding that I had to have the game for myself, I went ahead and made an account, but when I went to buy the game, my credit card kept getting denied. Since I was in Korea, my current location and the card's billing address didn't match up, and the order wouldn't go through. Frantically, I asked a friend to ask a friend to sign onto Skype so I could ask him to buy it for me. I finally got the game, but at the expense of accidentally waking someone up to get it for me. (I'm really sorry Matthew!!) I've been pretty obsessed with Braid for the past two days. I figured it was about time to do something aside from make my head hurt from thinking about the puzzle-platformer, so here I am writing.

So that was the extent of my day in Daejeon.

Yesterday I met up with Gina again, and we went to Insadong, which is another really touristy part of Seoul. There's a large palace, which we didn't go to, and a bunch of stores selling traditional Korean crafts. There were a ton of things that I really wanted to buy, but I decided to go with saving my wallet. And I don't have enough luggage space.

We went into this traditional Korean tea house to cool off since it was extremely hot outside. It was so nifty on the inside! It sort of resembled an adobe house or something like that, and there were little crevices with wooden benches and tables for customers to sit at. I ordered pine needle tea, and Gina ordered pomegranate tea--both iced. My tea was extremely fragrant. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the tea really did taste like how pine needles smell. The tea was slightly sweetened, which caught me off guard, but it wasn't overly sweet, so I still enjoyed it.

After that, we walked around some and acted like hyper kids in the stores, pointing and exclaiming at all the cool stuff. We went into this REALLY REALLY COOL mall-type place full of handcrafted things. The mall was built on a spiral, so we just keep walking and walking and going up; no stairs necessary! We passed by some jewelry stores, some clothing stores, an etched stone-craft store, a miniature food models store...etc. The top level was full of food places, and we dropped into this adorable cafe (first photo). I ordered a papaya tea, which sounded really intriguing, but it was actually kind of disappointing. It was basically hot water plus a syrupy solution of dried, shredded papaya. If nothing else, we paid for the ambiance. We killed about two hours there just chatting about random stuff. After that, we parted ways. (I'll miss you Gina!! Have fun studying abroad in France!!)

OH, ALSO, when we were in Insadong, we ran into these people making this really cool snack. It's made by stretching out a piece of solid honey into a rope and then doubling the rope over, stretching again, and repeating. They constantly dip it in cornstarch to keep it from sticking to itself. Finally, when it becomes a bunch of super thin strands of corn flour-coated honey, they wrap it around various fillings. When I saw them, I almost started cracking up because they were the same people that I saw on this youtube video that my brother showed we a while ago. They were just as super enthusiastic as in the video. We bought a box because they were just so showy and enthusiastic, and we felt obligated to buy one after they demonstrated the whole process specifically for us. Sadly...they weren't all that tasty. But oh well, it was worth the watch!

Today, after doing a bunch of nothing, I ate dinner with my dad, his associate, and his associate's son. We had a set menu at some fusion Korean food place. I've never seen any food like what they brought out, and I really wish I had brought my camera along to document. Honestly, my favorite part was just the rice and soup, but at least it was an interesting experience.

Afterwards, my dad and I went to the Hongdae area, which is a really bustling place near a famous art school. There's a ton of stores and cute cafes and clubs that are open late into the night, as well as street performers and whatnot. It was a little too crowded for my liking, and maybe it would have been a tad more fun if I were with friends and not my dad... Regardless, I now know where I'd go if I ever had to entertain young-ish people at night in Seoul.

elephants must travel to find water risking their lives

I met up with my friend Gina in Myeongdong today. I hadn't been in the same place at the same time as her in over a year, so it was really nice to finally see her in person again. Myeongdong is a bustling, shop-filled, extremely touristy place. There are all kinds of clothing stores, accessory stores, and random-other-stuff stores all over the place. I have a hunch that there were more non-Koreans than Koreans there. The workers standing outside were switching languages left and right, saying a message in Korean and then following it up with a translation in Japanese, Chinese, English, etc. Sadly--well, is it sad?--I felt quite at home there. I guess I'm most definitely way more of a tourist in Korea than any type of native. Since there were a lot of Japanese people there, I probably could have gotten by better using Japanese rather than my extremely faulty Korean.

Because Gina and I are both fans of fluffy, furry creatures, we went to a cat cafe. When she mentioned it, I really thought it'd be cat-themed, as in cat decor and cat-costumed waiters and waitresses, but I was incorrect. Cat cafe meant, in this case, a cafe filled with live cats. THEY WERE SO CUTE. There must have been around twenty cats just chilling everywhere, and customers were free to pet and play with them. The place really cared about the cats' well-being though. As soon as we entered, we were given a rule guide that included stuff like "don't lift, hug, or hold cats" and "do not touch the cats when they are eating." The cats looked like they were living pretty good lives. I think a cat cafe is a really good idea. I might try something like that since it's a nice way to give cats a home while making enough income to sustain their care. Cats are great. We saw a sign for a dog cafe when we were walking around, and I wondered what that would be like. But I love dogs too, so I'm sure it would have been an equally pleasurable experience.

We went to this store with a bunch of cute stuff and went crazy over the notebooks, stuffed animals, and random other things. I still am at a loss as to why Asian people find the need to use broken English as decoration. I sure get a kick out of it though. I'd like to believe that the decorator's main point isn't to give me a good laugh every time I read the grammatically incorrect sentences, but that's what always happens. I am, however, always impressed when I find one that's got perfect English. But that doesn't happen too often.

For the rest of the time, we basically walked around looking for shoes and earrings for Gina and a backpack for me. We didn't accomplish either of the above. I did, however, manage to get a new pair of Vans to replace my "ghetto ones," dubbed so by my mother. Now I can finally go skating again! My longboard has been mighty lonely this week. This pair of shoes is quite a bit more conservative; they're just an ordinary blue. I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to stand out too much while I'm in Japan. My shoe quota is filled, but I must continue questing for a spunky backpack.

I came home and then did some ironing. I had a bit of an iron fail at one point when I unknowingly unplugged the iron and then ironed half a shirt before realizing that the wrinkles were only semi-disappearing. I plugged the iron back in and then resumed without any additional issues. After that, I had dinner with my dad at some random home-cooked-feeling restaurant. We were originally looking for my dad's favorite tofu restaurant, but since the last time he'd been there, it went out of business. So we stopped at the only place that wasn't a grill-your-own-meat place. It was pretty ridiculous how many grill restaurants there were on that one stretch of street. The lady working there was super nice. Since I really didn't feel like eating anything excessively spicy, she had the spice level toned down in the food, and she brought out additional stuff to kill the spice with, like lettuce.

After that, my dad and I got back in our car and drove off, but we had to wait a bit at the end of the street since there were a lot of cars at the intersection. As we were waiting there, we heard a thump on our car, and when we looked over, the same lady from the restaurant was catching her breath next to our car. She then handed my dad his less-than-a-month-old cellphone, which he had left at the table. I was amazed that she managed to catch us in time; we were pretty far from the restaurant by then.

From this experience, I have gathered that a little bit of inconvenience is not necessarily a bad thing. Although my dad and I were stuck in a bit of traffic, we were saved the stress from the sudden realization that he was missing his phone, and the subsequent frenzied retracing of our steps. Next time I'm stuck waiting for something in an unexpected line or traffic jam, I'll think, even if I'm not directly benefiting from the wait, at least someone around could possibly be recovering a forgotten item. Finding the silver lining always makes everything better.

why being smelly is completely acceptable

I probably reek worse than dead people right now. I just ate a meal composed entirely of pickled radish, scallions, onions, garlic, cabbage, fermented beans, and grilled beef. And I enjoyed every bite. If smelly people smell because they've been eating such delicious stuff, they are totally excused in my book. Well, as long as they don't come too close to me.

During my meal with my aunt and uncle, I realized that I really like them. They take me to good food. And my aunt said when she first saw me after a long time--unlike the rest of my relatives who often begin by commenting that I look like a boy, or that I look chubby, or that my face is crooked--that I look pretty with my hair cut the way it is. Bless her soul. Also, I thought I was going to die on my way back home because my uncle polished off a bottle of soju by himself, and I feared death by a relative who was DUI. But like responsible human beings, my aunt and uncle switched off at the wheel, and my extremely sober aunt drove us back. Props to sensible people.

I clearly have too much time. This is the second time today that I'm updating this blog. At least it's keeping me entertained. Random memory from earlier this afternoon: I was asked by a chef today what I planned on doing for a living. I answered that I plan on being a lawyer. She then promptly asked why I was doing kitchen work. I responded "just in case I want to be a chef." After staring at me like I might be crazy, she told me that her friend is a lawyer. And that he makes four times as much per hour as she does. But she trailed off with...well, everyone should do what makes them happy. I spent over an hour slicing chestnuts, to the point that carpel tunnel was probably developing in both my wrists, and honestly, being a lawyer is beginning to look much more appealing. Sort of. Okay, not really. My prospective career choices have pretty much remained in the same places, but that seemed like a good place to add a snarky sentence.

Anyway, time to return to Seoul!!

when the taste of ripe fruit is not so sweet

Today concludes my days in the Best Western Premier Songdo Park Hotel kitchens. It was a fun weekend. I have to say my favorite day was definitely the second. Although I was in the upstairs kitchen today, which is where interesting stuff for the sky buffet happens, rather than the main kitchen, I definitely prefer the downstairs. The people are nicer.

That isn't to say the people upstairs weren't nice. Although there was a bit of confusion when I first showed up, and I was feeling extremely uncomfortable, eventually another girl chef, who vaguely resembled my friend's sister, appeared and showed me around. I learned how to form rice and place wasabi on fish for nigiri sushi, how to stuff inari sushi, and how to roll cut rolls. It's hard. I don't know how sushi chefs make it look so easy because it really isn't. Or maybe I'm just sushi-making impaired, but I'd rather not think that. The girl chef then handed me off to a really nice chef, who proceeded to give me me all kinds of tasks to do, and I happily continued learning various kitchen things.

I learned how to cut acorn jelly with a squiggly knife, which actually takes some technique. If you try to just cut normally, the knife slides at a 45-degree angle, and you don't get straight cuts. The trick is to tilt the knife just a little to the left when cutting to compensate for the sliding angle, and by doing so, you get a good-ol' perpendicular cut. (If you cut normally, the cut looks like /, so you should tilt the knife like \, and you'll get a cut like |.) I then proceeded to slice enough chestnuts for Santa, his mother, his entire elf factory, and all nine of his reindeer to roast by an open fire. About half an hour into my chestnut slicing, the chef who charged me with the task came by to bring me water, and I was eternally grateful. Another ten minutes later, he brought me a plate of super juicy-looking pineapples and orange slices. Just when I began thinking, "hey, the upstairs people aren't so bad," the so-called nice chef made explicitly sure that I got his name, and to tell me that I should tell my uncle that we're best friends.

Sigh. And all that niceness was just sucking up to the manager's niece. Honestly, I don't mind suck-ups. I'm flattered if someone thinks they can get something from me, or in other words, that I have something to offer. I'm naive enough to think that people are being genuinely nice when they're just trying to make a favorable impression. My advice to anyone that wants something from me in the future: at least don't make it painfully obvious that you're sucking up. I'll believe in you until you do something that alerts my not-so-sharp censors that you're not being true.

Sucking up aside, the guy was really good to me, so I can't judge him too harshly. Thanks to him, I got to partake in jelly-cutting, chestnut-slicing, chestnut salad-mixing, beef tartar-making, bulgogi-marinating, soba noodle-portioning, and dessert-arranging. I'd say that's a pretty good day's worth of work. And he brought me fruit and water. How could I dislike a guy who brought me fruit and water, regardless of his motive for doing so? So I'll just be thankful that he was friendly and talked to me all day, which is more than I can say for the rest of the kitchen, aside from Miss Resembling-friend's-sibling chef. However, would I take the hot and cold pair downstairs, as well as their entire friendly kitchen staff, over him and the upstairs kitchen any day? You bet. Sure, maybe they were also just being nice to me because of my connections, but I'd rather have faith in them. They gave off such a golden aura that I can't believe they'd be people like that. Behold my supreme naivety.

sympathetic thoughts will be the death of us all

I am bursting. I have gotten as close to eating until I puke as I ever will without actually vomiting. Why? I had a buffet-style dinner with my dad, aunt, and uncle--the one who manages the hotel I am currently at. I was really excited to see stuff at the buffet that I had been working on in the kitchen. I wasn't all too hungry, but since it was a buffet, I sampled a bit of everything anyway. Since there was a fruit section, I stuffed my face with fruits because that's what I do. Right as I finished my plate of fruits and was feeling rather full, one of the servers brought a pretty, and huge, plate of fruits, carefully arranged and decorated, from the kitchen downstairs. My family members were also quite full, and I don't even know if they actually like fruit, so no one was particularly keen on making a huge dent in the platter. I contemplated just leaving it there...and then the image of the kind chef who was working hard downstairs, probably diligently placing the fruits in an aesthetic way, the same way he was when I was watching him do the same thing earlier, popped into mind. So I ate the fruits. And then I almost vomited. I didn't even know it was possible to feel that way after eating fruits, but it is. Very possible. I didn't manage to eat everything either; I left some pieces behind, but had I eaten more, I definitely would have ventured from nearly throwing up to actually throwing up.

If I hadn't met the cold-foods chef, and if he weren't such a nice guy, and if he didn't thoroughly and kindly make sure I had something to do all day yesterday, I wouldn't have tried so hard to eat the damn fruits. Those kinds of things can't be undone, however.

Speaking of work in the kitchen, I moved from the cold foods section to the hot foods section today. The chef presiding over me was this awesome, super nice, super cool lady. Her English was alright, but she spoke to me in mostly Korean. Most of the kitchen staff was under the belief that I spoke absolutely zero Korean, and basically didn't talk to me period, so it was nice that someone believed in me enough to think I could understand her if she spoke in Korean and attempted to make conversation. I did actually understand most of what she said too.

I helped make a vat of mushroom soup today. Seriously, it was a vat. Picture a pot large enough to fit a human, and that's how much soup I dealt with. After I had washed so many mushrooms, and was in the midst of feeding them through a slicing machine (what is up with this kitchen and mushrooms??), I saw another cart of some four hundred eggs, and I prayed that I would not be the one doing the cracking today. My prayers were answered, and another chef, the high-pitched dude, picked up the eggs and started cracking away. He was ridiculously quick; I think he finished them in less than half the time it took me to do the same job yesterday. I have much respect for chefs.

On top of washing and machine-slicing the mushrooms, I got to wield a gigantic immersion blender and blend the mushrooms in the cauldron thing for soup. The blender was huge and heavy, and by the end of the stirring/blending I thought my arms were going to fall off. Chefs are buff; I don't know how they do that kind of stuff all day. I also got to slice potatoes for potato gratin and shred orange peels to season some fish. These jobs were assigned to me by the aforementioned female chef who was awesome. I was happy to do something that required a little bit of skill, and that she thought I was actually capable of doing the work she assigned me. I think my motto for the day, and maybe for many future moments in my life, is "if there exists a person who believes you can do something, you can surely do it." I know it's cheesy, but I was really touched. I didn't even know I could slice potatoes or peel oranges that well. Or understand that much Korean, for the matter.

Anyway, today's kitchen experience was fantastic. I swear, kitchen-folk are angels. I look forward to what I'll be doing tomorrow. Ooh also, I got to eat shaved ice, which I have been craving since I watched Mr. Cool-cold-chef-nice-guy-dude make one yesterday. Really, I think if I were to become a chef, I might want to specialize in cold stuff because pretty much everything I want to eat is what this dude makes. I love shaved ice, and he's in charge of that stuff, I had been lusting after some pineapple/fruit, which is what he was slicing earlier, and I was ecstatic to devour a cheese platter at dinner, which is what I was watching him arrange yesterday. Yeah. But shaved ice, fruits, and cheese...who wouldn't crave that stuff after seeing it made? I think my favorite people in the kitchen, coincidentally the people who talk to me the most, whether in broken English or grade school-level Korean, are the lady chef and the cold chef dude. Oh, and the head chef, since he pops in to check on me every so often too. They're super nice people.

As for my day outside the kitchen, I went for a walk with my dad in this casually gigantic park just outside of the hotel. It looks like nothing from the outside, but once you go up the stairs, there are all these trees and plants and a canal with boats. You can't see any of this from street level. I had a field day with my camera. There was this area with a ton of HUGE spiders on their webs, suspended between trees, and they looked really cool. I think I might actually really like spiders.

Somewhere in the park was this huge setup of reenactments from the Bible. I'm not gonna lie; it was really spooky. The props must have been really old because they were peeling and rusting, and some things were slightly graffiti-ed. I think there must be some message to take away from the scene, but I haven't quite placed what. I somehow found it really hard to leave the area, and my camera kept hovering back. Maybe I'm in for some crazy religious ride soon, who knows?

So that was my day. I think the amount I write is directly proportional to how bored I am/how much free time I have. I have a feeling that when I actually have something to do besides sit at my computer, my blog will get very lonely, but for now, sit at my computer is all I do, so update my blog I shall.

there's a chef in you and a chef in me

I cracked 421 eggs today. Four hundred and twenty-one eggs. That's thirty-five dozen plus one eggs. If you're curious what a person with zero formal cooking training can do in a hotel kitchen, crack eggs is the answer. To put my egg cracking adventure into even more perspective, I have a visual exercise. Occasionally when you crack an egg, a small piece of the eggshell falls in, and you quickly snatch it out because you really don't want to chew your eggs and feel that random particle of hard crunchy thing. My hand slipped, and a piece of shell, the size of half an egg, fell into the pot into which I was cracking eggs. It disappeared completely. I stuck my hand into the pot to fish it out, and my hand was completely submerged in raw egg. By the time I found the half-egg-size shell at the bottom, the egg liquid had reached above my wrist. At least they say eggs are good for your skin? Oh! And I learned how to crack eggs with both hands!

After I finished with my vat of egg, I cut enough mushrooms to feed Africa. Okay, that's a huge overstatement, but it was a lot of mushrooms. Imagine the largest salad-serving bowl in your house, triple that capacity, and then triple that again. That's how many mushrooms I cut. What's really funny is that even after all that egg-plus-mushroom action, I could still really go for a mushroom omelette.

Despite the whining, my kitchen experience was quite interesting, and I look forward to the next two days in there. The head chef actually speaks English pretty well; everyone else communicates with gestures and super broken English, and I communicate with gestures and super broken Korean. The kitchen staff are all really nice, and they bear with my pathetic Korean-speaking ability like champions. I think anyone who becomes a chef has got to love food, and anyone who loves food has got to be a good person. Anyway, I'm glad I conveniently have an uncle who manages a hotel, and who can tell people to make space for me in the kitchen. Who knows, maybe I'll end up being a chef after all?

and the roar of cicadas was beautiful

I ventured outdoors today. The sun decided to make a surprise appearance, and it didn't rain at all today! After gathering up my courage, I hopped on the subway to City Hall station and went to the Doksoogung palace museum. And by hopped on the subway, I mean struggled to find the right station on the map, called my dad to ask how to get there, bought a ticket for the wrong amount, and then panicked for the entire ride there, wondering if I'd be allowed to exit the station. It turns out that stations take these things into consideration, and there was a fare adjustment machine at the exit, where I could cough up the extra money.

Inside the palace walls was surprisingly pretty and calm. I was extremely hungry, but there wasn't actually any real food places inside, so I sat down at the little cafe inside and had some shaved ice. It may not have been a particularly nutritious lunch, but it was nice and cool, a perfect contrast to the sweaty, gross me. After finishing my pile of shaved, frozen water with sweet stuff on top, I walked around for a while before entering the special exhibit in the palace dedicated to American art. It was sort of strange seeing American stuff at a museum in Korea, but I guess it's the same as when they have Korean/another other country's art on display at museums at home. The exhibit was mostly Pop art, and though I am not a huge fan of Modern stuff, I thought the curator did a really good job. Or maybe I was just relieved to be somewhere that felt somewhat familiar. I was almost at home when wandering around the paintings and sculptures.

After that, I wandered around the palace some more and then sat down to sketch one of the internal structures. A girl and her mother sat down on the bench next to me and commented on my shoes, my almost obnoxiously-loud, hand-painted TOMS, which made me pretty happy. I feel like, for the most part, at least here in Korea, those shoes just garner me weird stares as the Korean population contemplates why a freak walks among them. It was nice to hear some positive feedback. I mean, excuse me for having short hair and being more comfortable in pants and slightly baggy clothing. Is it always necessary to wear frilly skirts and strap-y sandals at all moments of the day? Apparently the answer here is yes.

Yesterday I was struck by how rude the Korean population is, and today I found more instances of such behavior. Maybe it's unusual for anyone to hesitate slightly here, but every time I search my pockets for change in front of a vending machine or ticket dispenser, some person finds the chance to gently shove me out of the way and proceed to jam their money in before I have the chance. Also, no one gives anyone a chance to take photos. Right as I found the perfect composition in my viewfinder, a lady stepped right in front of my camera and then sat down on the bench closest to my camera, blocking my entire shot. This happened on many more counts. But then I thought, instead of getting frustrated, maybe I'll just make a project out of this. I'll see how frequently people invade my photos and then just focus on the people instead. It could be fun. Maybe.

After I got back, I went on a bike ride along the river near my dad's apartment. I borrowed my dad's bike since it's the only bicycle in the vicinity, but OH MY GOODNESS, it's got the world's most uncomfortable seat. I can see why my dad never bikes. The river was really pretty and green, and I thought that Seoul must be a great place if it can be a booming city yet simultaneously have lush greenery on its outskirts. Then again, it could just be the humid weather here; I mean, what can't grow in this kind of moisture?

Tomorrow I begin some random hotel chef's assistant mini job that my dad hooked up. Woohoo, I'm looking forward to not being able to communicate with even more people.

Day Two in Korea

I'm in Seoul, Korea right now. It's raining. Actually, it isn't raining at this very moment, but it was about an hour ago, and it probably will be again in yet another hour. I had some grand plans to muster up my courage and go to the museum today, but I think I need another day to brace myself. It's hard navigating in a country where you only kind of understand the language and can't speak it at all. It'd be one thing if I were in somewhere like Italy or France where I definitely don't look like I belong, but since I am Korean by blood, people around here just look at me like I'm a moron when I do something strange. Since I spent my day so far eating and ironing clothes, while yesterday was not much better, I'd like to do something fun soon, but today is just a little too soon to venture outside and attempt to find the museum to which my cousin gave me tickets. Maybe tomorrow.

I arrived here two days ago, and I'll be here until August 31, which is when I fly to Japan to begin my semester abroad! For the first time, I was awake longer than asleep on my flight to Korea. I watched five movies during the flight, none of which were particularly amazing. In order of how fun I thought they were: Just Go with It, Beastly, Red Riding Hood, Sucker Punch, Toast. I guess my ranking shows what kind of person I am. Go ahead, judge me.

My dad's apartment is right above the subway station, a supermarket, and various shops and restaurants. I love the location. If I'm hungry, there's a bunch of stuff to eat below, and if I'm bored, I can just plop myself down at a coffee shop and study or browse on my computer...not that I can't do that in the apartment room itself. Speaking of coffee shops, I am shocked and offended that there is a Coffee Bean, my favorite chain coffee shop in existence, in Seoul, Korea, and not a single one in Philadelphia. Why? I don't understand. But whatever, I won't be in Philadelphia until January anyway, so there's no point in complaining.

I can't wait until I can see my friends, who are actually in the same country at the same time, which never happens. Well, except in the USA, but that doesn't count. One *COUGH COUGH I HOPE YOU READ THIS* is incapacitated due to the LASIK surgery that she got yesterday, but hopefully will be free in some days to hang out. The other *COUGH COUGH I HOPE YOU READ THIS TOO* is in the middle-of-nowhere countryside, a few hours away from Seoul, and I am not quite sure how the hanging out with each other is going to work.

Anyway, this is my life so far for anyone who cares. I hope I'll have some more interesting stuff to write about later, but until then, welcome to my relatively tame thoughts.

New Directions

After contemplating for a while, I have decided to open this blog up to more than just food. My reasons are many. Firstly, I am far too lazy to write about my eating experiences on a consistent basis. I have tons of photos backed up of all kinds of restaurants and cooking, but because the pile just grows, I keep getting stressed about the writing part, and I end up just not doing anything. Secondly, I am studying abroad this semester, and I would like to keep a log of my adventures in Japan. Sure, I could start yet another blog, but I'd rather avoid my bad habit of creating site after site, all of which eventually get abandoned. Thirdly, I can do whatever I want; this is my blog anyway.

Absolutely Delightful

Yogurt Delite makes me happy. It's a fairly inexpensive frozen yogurt place that has been around for what seems like forever, long before all the Pinkberrys and Yogurtlands started cropping up everywhere. They have a decent variety of flavors, and their yogurt has good texture and good taste. And they have a stamp card! Also, although I wouldn't say the view from the shop is breathtaking or that the ambiance is particularly noteworthy, there's something about sitting out front, chatting with friends on a warm summer night, and watching the cars pass through the intersection of Shoup and Ventura.

Their sizes are pretty generous. A child-size usually hits the spot, but on those days when I've just got to have my yogurt, a small does the trick. I think I've only seen a medium once, and my friend had to ask for some assistance in finishing. If you're craving some fro-yo (or frogurt, as my weirdo friends call it) after bowling a night at the AMF Woodlake Lanes, hop on over to Yogurt Delite!

Adventures with Anime and Arcadia

Ohh boy it’s been two months. Here I thought that being free at home would make me more inclined to update my blog—clearly not. I actually haven’t been cooking or baking at all. I have, however, been eating out a lot, but I’ve been a poor photographer and neglected to bring my camera along on many of my eating excursions. I guess I just have an excuse to return to the places I’ve enjoyed so that I can gather some visual evidence.

I suppose I’ll start with my run with Anime Expo, a large convention dedicated to Japanese animation. Being the huge dork that I am, I attend this convention annually, and for the past couple of years, I’ve been staying with my friend at her place in Arcadia, which actually isn’t any closer than my house to the Los Angeles Convention center, but is a far more convenient drive. Arcadia houses delicious food.And by delicious, I mean DELICIOUS.

I took my first trip to Tea Station…and the next day, my second. There will be many more trips. Tea Station is a chain café kind of place that specializes in, as the name indicates, tea. Their drinks are superb. My first drink there was an iced rose milk tea with boba. (Boba goes by many names: tapioca pearls, bubble tea, squishy black things, etc. It originated in Taiwan, and it enhances pretty much every drink, even though it looks kind of scary. If you’ve ever seen someone with a drink that has a mass of black stuff at the bottom, it’s probably boba.) The rose milk tea singlehandedly placed Tea Station at the top of my list of good drink places. I don’t care if it was actually a rose tea base or some plain black tea base with rose syrup, but it was so good. I’ve had rose milk tea in other places, but there is no comparison. I say it’s a must-try. The next day I got a lavender milk tea and sweet potato balls. The sweet potato was interesting; it was deep fried, and mixed with rice flour, I think, since it had an extremely unusual texture. It was kind of soft yet chewy. As my Taiwanese friend says, Taiwanese people love their chewy stuff. The lavender milk tea was good, and I also sampled a white peach oolong tea, which was also good, but I think the rose is hard, if not impossible, to beat. I recommend everyone try it out. Just be warned: for a drink place, it’s a tad pricy. But the price is totally worth it.

I also went to Din Tai Fung, a fantastic dim sum chain with restaurants located all over the world…sort of. The one in Arcadia is always packed; the wait time averages an hour. But it’s well-worth the wait. Not that I’ve been to many places, but their xiao long bao is the best I’ve had. Xiao long bao is a steamed dumpling with broth inside. I’ve tried both crab and pork in the past, but I much prefer pork, which, I think, is more standard? I’m amazed at how chefs can make the skins so thin yet strong enough to hold in the hot, soupy goodness. Aside from the xiao long bao, everything else is pretty tasty as well. Din Tai Fung, also very much recommended.

I tried Roscoe’s House of Chicken ’n Waffles for the first time. Though I’ve lived in the greater Los Angeles area pretty much my whole life, I hadn’t been to this landmark restaurant until earlier this month. Like everyone, I scoffed at the idea of eating fried chicken with waffles. Like everyone, I was taught that chicken and waffles are no scoffing matter. Although I’m not on the bandwagon saying that Roscoe’s is so amazingly awesome, I think it’s pretty darn good. And it’s open late! The crispy chicken and spongy waffle mixed in with the sweet of syrup makes for an interesting experience for one’s palate. It’s sort of similar to having bacon with your pancakes, just significantly meatier. I just got the Carol C. Special, which is one chicken breast and one waffle, and I was pretty stuffed after. I’m astounded that people can eat significantly more than that, as in half a chicken plus multiple waffles. That would feed me for days. Anyway, if you haven’t been to Roscoe’s, I recommend it simply for the reputation. A place doesn’t just conjure a reputation out of nothing. I’d definitely go back.

Aside from going to nice restaurant chains that killed my pocket money, I also got back in touch with my childhood during my time in Arcadia and at Los Angeles convention center. I was in a scorching line, so I bought a classic Ninja Turtle ice cream-type thing from an ice cream cart outside. The artificial lime flavor and super sugary gumball eyes definitely cooled me down. I was definitely much happier after consuming my cold reptile friend.

NINJA TURTLES!!!

I went on a Lunchables overdose. Since my friends and I didn’t want to spend abhorrent amounts of money on mediocre convention food, we picked up the most convenient lunches from the grocery store. I think I’ll pass on any kind of Lunchables for the next couple years of my life. I don’t recall them being so salty, but maybe as a kid, I just had no sense of what was considered way too much sodium.

Anyway, this concludes my eating experiences from July 1-July 4. More about other foods and other times later.