Kismet

Sorry that its been so long without an update- it's easy to get distracted now that I'm back home. The big news is that we're almost finished moving into the loft. Just some boxes left to be unpacked. Yan Cha has been given a clean bill of health by an American vet and gotten a new sibling: Kismet. He's 11 weeks old, mostly black, from the Humane Society and absolutely wonderful. I've always had good experiences with Humane Society pets, and could not recommend them more highly. It's such a positive way to impact an animal's life.

Law school prep is well underway- shelf space is clear for books, bus schedule has been given a cursory glance, loan agreements have been signed and orientation schedule is in my planner. That came up quickly!

Other than that, I've been catching up on things/ people I've missed. So much fun! If for some reason I've yet to hit you, call me (same number as before)!

I'm home!

Traveling with the kitty for 21 hours went surprisingly smoothly!

We landed in the Cities Sunday afternoon and have spent the last two days recuperating and setting up the apartment. Yan Cha is settling in well, as am I. Would love to catch up with you!

Cell phone number will be the same, but is currently set on the really, really low plan, so don't call it yet. Email's the best bet until we get that reset...

Pictures

I'm trying to get pictures from my goodbye parties up right now, since it might take a while once I get home. They're now up on Facebook through yesterday afternoon, along with random pictures that had been sitting on my phone for months. Enjoy!

Saga: Part 2

In the beginning, I thought leaving Japan would be difficult. Then I heard it could be easy. I slowly started to believe that.

I now know I was right in the first place.

I am so incredibly thankful that I've been calling everyone I can think of, and so has my vet. Turns out Yan Cha has to be checked at a special Animal Quarantine Office in Narita Airport in order to be cleared to leave Japan. A nice tidbit that I only vaguely heard about in all my research. What I found implied that you could just walk in. Turns out, you have to fill out special forms and get an appointment. Thankfully, my vet is awesome and was completely on top of it.

Other than that, I'm 4 goodbye parties in, with 5 left. My house is packed, as are several boxes that I need to ship soon. I've said goodbye to both of my elementary schools and will be saying goodbye to my junior high tomorrow. I have an appointment to say goodbye to the mayor on Friday. I'll be turning in my car on Saturday to the wonderful dealer who is taking it for free! I'm also turning in my cell phone, which I'm kind of sad about (it's cool). In addition, we've figured out the living situation for the fall, which is a huge weight off my mind.

It's starting to feel very real. I'm coming home!

The Beginning of the Goodbye Saga

As of Monday night, I was 13 days from leaving Japan, and had 9 goodbye parties to go to (some joint, with other ALTs, some solo). This is in addition to three goodbye assemblies, and having to say goodbye in classes starting this week. It's kind of overwhelming. I really appreciate that they care enough to say goodbye this much, but it's so hard to have it this drug out. I really don't enjoy goodbyes, and am currently wishing I could fast-forward through the next two weeks. I know if I did that I'd miss out on a lot of things that will be important to me later, but it's still really tempting.

I've been trying to fixate on the fact that I'm so excited to come home, which is definitely helping to counteract how much I'll miss people. That, and just trying to get everything done in time. Doesn't give you much time to feel down.

So far, I've shipped two suitcases home (one with Brian, one with Mebbie), and assorted small boxes as I run across stuff I don't want to deal with at the airport (catnip, knives, oversized bottles of lotion, etc.). Last weekend I packed my last two suitcases, and will be living out of them for the next two weeks. I didn't want that hanging over my head. Plus, I now know that I have just enough space for my 2 L of non-declared alcohol, and will need to ship anything else I want to keep.

My town is switching from the JET Program to a private ALT company next year, and so my house will be vacant for the first time in 12. While it's nice for the town that they won't have to deal with things, it puts me in kind of an awkward position. Specifically, each JET usually sells whatever they have that's useful to the next person who takes their position, and I don't have anyone to sell to. I'd come to terms with that for most things, but it really rankles with my car. I have an awesome car- she's old, but has taken me (and Brian, and Abby, and Mebbie) all over Japan, is cute and gets excellent mileage. I would love to pass her along, as she's a real asset. Unfortunately, I have no way to do that and will have to send her to a dealer. What makes it worse is that she's old enough that I'll probably have to pay them to take her. I'm trying to counteract that by hiding as much of my random useful crap in my desks at school as possible- for some reason this makes me feel like I'm still helping the next person. Hopefully the new ALT will find it all...

In terms of coming home, I've been scouring Craigslist for apartments, and Brian has been checking them out for us. So far nothing quite right has shown up, so keep your fingers crossed (and let me know if you have any leads)! There has been a surprisingly steady flow of decent looking places, so I think we'll do alright- I just need to stay patient...

Also, I'm thinking about putting together a photobook from the last year when I get home. I don't think I'll look at my photos very often if they are in purely digital format. I've heard good things about Shutterfly, but would love to hear what you think of other sites...

Oops!

Forgot to mention- photos from both trips are up on facebook, but (as usual) I didn't take many. If you want to see a more complete set, email me and I'll send you the link to Mebbie's.

Seoul Repeated

I love Seoul.

I knew it last time, and this trip confirmed it. Once again, I enjoyed delicious food, wonderful people, beautiful places, and fabulous dancing. Trip was too short this time too.

The evening we arrived, we'd just planned on finding our hostel and dancing if we felt like it. We wandered around the area we were staying in (near Hongik University), which is artsy and full of shops and restaurants. Ended up going out for a really fun night of dancing, despite the fact that we apparently were not at the "it" swing bar that night.

Next day we explored Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is the largest of several former imperial residences in Seoul. Managed to happen onto it just as the changing of the guard happened, which is worth seeing just for the costumes. The palace is vast- you keep feeling like you must have hit the end, then turning a corner and finding an even cooler building.

We spent the afternoon in Insadong, which is a bit of a touristy district, but a great place to see traditional Korean crafts and try out a Korean tea house (very different from Japanese ones). After that, we went out for Korean BBQ. Delicious. Could be the definition of the word.

BBQ was followed by Balboa. Made for a very happy Emma.

Day two was pretty low key- my wonderful Korean friends met up with us at various points in town, and helped us find delicious food. I had no idea that tofu could taste as good as it does there. Spent a little time wandering in Myeongdong (shopping district) and even managed to convince Mebbie to try out Balboa. Good day!

Day three we flew back to Japan, but not before another delicious meal at the airport. If you haven't tried them, mandu (Korean dumplings) are a treat. Also, Korean airlines managed to get us meals on a 2 hour flight. Twice. In addition to being generally awesome.

I know I've said it before, but I really couldn't recommend South Korea more highly- it's a wonderful place, with amazing people. I don't think it makes it on to too many Western tourist lists, and it's really a shame. Definitely worth a visit.

Roadtrip!

Mebbie is leaving town today, and I've finally got time to sit down and post about the last few weeks. It was a lot of fun having her here- time flew by, we saw some amazing places, and ate way too much delicious food.

Part 1- Tokyo (posted below)

Part 2- Roadtrip (posted here)

Part 3- Seoul (to be posted above)

I'm going to do this chronologically, since we did so much that I might miss something if I don't.

Day 1- Left Sakuho for the Fuji Lakes- considered one of the best spots in Japan to see Mt. Fuji. Managed to see Fuji in (as Mebbie said) "the same way tourists see Mt. McKinley- it's there, just behind the clouds." Continued on to Osaka (our base for the next few days).

Day 2- Took the train from Osaka to Nara, which was the Buddhist center of Japan for quiet a while. It's currently famous for a giant Buddha statue (daibutsu) and deer. One of which bit Mebbie on the butt.

In the afternoon we went back to Osaka and checked out the aquarium there- one of the largest in the world, with a lot of cool stuff. Unfortunately, quality crowd control was not one of the cool things present. Definitely recommended, but I'd go there early on a weekday.

Day 3- Took the train from Osaka to Kyoto. Last time I was there, we'd just looked the attractions up online, and chosen the ones we thought sounded interesting to look at. This time, I chose where we'd go based on my student's recommendations from their school trip. It worked really well. We went to Kiomizu-dera, Ginkakuji, Heian-jingu, Kinkakuji, and To-ji. I was a lot more organized for this trip, and it really helped. Kyoto is a cool city, but there's a lot to cover. Having a plan is really useful.

Day 4- Drove from Osaka to Hiroshima. First on the itinerary was Miyajima shrine (the floating Torii that Brian and I had seen in January). It's very cool, but definitely best seen at high tide. Unfortunately, high tide while we were there happened when it was pouring. Luckily, our hotel lent us umbrellas, and it cleared the crowds (of tourists, and of deer). It's such a beautiful place- it was really nice to see it in a completely different way than last time (when it was clear, but cold).
After that, Mebbie went to the Peace Museum. It's fabulously done, but incredibly depressing, and I couldn't quite bring myself to visit twice. Could not recommend it more highly though- they really did a wonderful job.

Day 5- 11 hours of driving from Hiroshima back to Sakuho, with no air conditioning. Intense, but definitely worth the effort.

Return Stuff

I'll be back in MN one month from today. Exactly 365 days from when I left the US. For some reason, I really like that.