Korean DMZ

When I went to Seoul, late last month/early this month---it was my first time there. I was in Pusan before, but mostly for shopping and eating, so I wanted to make sure I could get a lot of cultural and learning stuff in, this time around.

Christina and I took a day tour of the Demilitarized Zone.

Here, on the way, in our tour bus, we could catch sight of North Korea, across the river.

It was definitely a very serious trip. We had to be dressed modestly. We were told over and over again to be calm, respectful, and weary of our surroundings.

It was a strange day to go, especially because everyone was on very high alert. The high alert was because at that time, in the Joint Security Area, there were very high level talks occurring about the sinking of the South Korean ship in March.
Above is the actual Demarkation Line. The soldiers on the far end of the picture, stand away from the camera are North Korean Soldiers. We were only given literally less than 30 seconds to take pictures. We were under strict 'orders' to not wave to anyone on the other side, not make sudden movements, and to not even smile. There were some North Korean tourists on the steps on the other side. Whether or not they are government workers paid to pose as tourists or not, I will never know.

That South Korean soldier behind me yelled at me for taking a picture when I wasn't suppose to, on the bus! I didn't know! Our tour guide told us each of the places we could take pictures (like 2 spots, for 10 seconds). But her English was very hard to understand, and I thought that she said we could! I'm still scared of his wrath! (I had to delete the beautiful photo right away!)

Here is one of the fences at the border. These are wishes and prayers hung by South Koreans. The whole situation is so devastating. I can't even imagine, yet it still brings tears to my eyes to think about how families were torn apart. The isolation of the North Koreans.

That day I went and visited the DMZ was chilling and enlightening.

I hope that anyone reads this makes it a point to learn something new. Something about a part of the world you are unfamiliar with.

...and then hopefully one day, the world won't need weaponry like this...

TOA

So officially, all the new JETS that are coming for the 2010-2011 school year, are now here! Welcome everyone! :D

I was Yamaguchi Prefecture's welcome wagon for the first group that came. The prefecture flew me up to Tokyo, to be part of the orientation held at the fabulous Keio Plaza Hotel.

It was such a blast!

The first day I got there, was training and organizing and stuff like that. Each prefecture sent one person to Tokyo, so I made a lot of new friends!

The first night, I was sent to Narita Airport, to stay, because I needed to be up bright and early, to start my "airport duties". For my terminal, I was at "station one" meaning that I got to literally hold the "WELCOME NEW JETS" sign at the airport!

For the rest of orientation, I was doing things like working the Information Desk, participating in Prefectural Meetings, etc. 3 more nights in the Keio Plaza, walking around like I knew everything. Lol.

But when I wasn't on duty, I was chilling with other TOAs, exploring Tokyo, and .........

Drinking Starbucks EVERYDAY!

Oh how I miss Starbucks. :)

A nice view from the Keio Plaza Hotel.

I really love Tokyo! But I don't know if I could actually live there. Maybe if I had a job that paid like 4 times as much.

Speaking of, a recent study still puts Tokyo as the most expensive city in the world! Taking into account many many different factors: i.e. Housing cost, cost of 1lb of rice, cost of a movie ticket, etc etc.

Working the Hospitality Desk (Welcome to Japan!), and chatting with my old friend Mike who I was friends with years ago at U.C.I. I was very surprised to see him coming off the plane! He told me that I was the one that planted the idea of JET in his head, 7 years ago!

Tokyo Orientation was so fun. I totally would do it again and again and again if I could. We should just have JETS come in on a rolling basis, and I'll wait for them at the Keio Plaza. Grand idea.

Until that happens, back to lesson planning...

Toilet humor

A whole year later.... Japanese toilet instructions still strike me as hilarious.

See last year's even funnier toilet instructions --- here ----.

Octopus Balls

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Osaka! More coming, more coming (eventually) but here is one little tidbit on Osaka...

Osaka is famous for Takoyaki, which are Octopus Balls! Well, pieces of Octopus in a doughy-ball. Its a very unique flavor. I must say, when I first came to Japan, it was definitely not my favorite, due to the sweet brown sauce and mayonnaise that is usually slathered on top of them.

But I've come to really appreciate them! The ones I ate in Osaka were "Oishii!" (delicious)

Below: Making Takoyaki is very simple if you have a Takoyaki grill. You can buy the mix, or make it yourself. Add water. Start cooking the ball, and while its still juicy juicy, you pop on the top of the half-ball the octopus, some ginger, maybe some cheese, and then you flip the ball while its still wet. So the half-ball becomes a full ball because the batter was still runny enough. Wow, I don't think I explained that very well. Sorta like carefully flipping ball-shaped pancakes.

Hope everyone is well!

Cultural Bit

Here in Japan, many people adhere to certain superstitions. Although I don't think superstition is the right word, because what I'm about to share with you is connected to a Japanese Shinto belief. I'm not sure if its an official part of the religion, but here is the sign in front of our famous Hofu Tenmangu Shrine:

The character above the highlighted pink lettering is the Kanji for female, and the right side is for males.

The pink side shows three different ages. 19 years old, 33 years old and 37 years old. The male side shows the ages: 25, 42 and 61.

The Japanese version of TODAYS DATE IS: 22/8/2. (August 2nd, 2010). That is because we are in the 22nd year of the current emperor's reign. When the current emperor dies, the clock will reset, I guess you can say.

So in this 22nd year, for females, the unlucky ages are 19, 33, and 37. And if you are a 25, 42 or 61 year old male, you best be prayin'.

I found out about this because my amazing supervisor at one of my schools (O-sensei) is 33, and she does have the feeling that bad things have been happening to her.

So she bought the good-luck charm below, specifically designed for those in the ominous year of their life, and often prays for much needed good luck.
If you are interested in getting clearer information about this practice, please e-mail me at steffieyoung@gmail.com, and I shall get you more information! I think that this little bit that I know now is really interesting, and would love to have the excuse to pry more into the culture, so ask away! :D