A bed sneeking boy
With Korea being devoid of public Luna New year celebrations (and with Kat spending Luna New Year with her mum in Shanghai!) Emily and I decided it was the ideal time for another Adventure Korea trip - they're becoming a bit of a regular occurrence now!.
In Korea Luna New Year is a public holiday, it is the biggest celebration after Ch'usok, so the trip was over two nights instead of the usual one, giving us more time to get to know the others on the trip.
We departed Seoul early Saturday morning and headed to Phoenix Park for some snowboarding, before going to a youth hostel type place in Bang-dong where we would have a BBQ and camp fire on Sunday night before walking along a frozen lake on Monday morning.
The snowboarding itself was fairly uneventful - I taught myself one fairly unimpressive trick and Emily realised that as she didn't have Kat to be slow with she had to try harder and keep up with me, by the end of the day I had her turning on the black runs - quite an achievement for Emily!
VIDEO - Snow Ballet - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Boarding/snowballet.WMV
The weekend's fun and games was off the slopes.
We went back to the bus between afternoon and night boarding to be assigned our room. We instantly spotted an American guy complaining loudly about the cost of the lift pass and decided we definitely didn't want to share with him (he turned out to have his wires crossed and, to his credit, apologised to the guy he was having a go at). There was only one other person on the trip we didn't want to share with and that was a very loud bird, called Reena, we'd met briefly on the last snowboard trip.
As there was only two of us we decided to hang back whilst the rooms were being decided and, aside from trying not share with the two aforementioned, we would take a spot in whatever room was available.
As we were waiting a girl asked if we wanted to share with her and five mates, she assured us: "Don't worry we're all normal," but added: "Do you mind if we come in late!" We agreed, and having found another girl, Rebbecca, who'd come by herself had a full room. It was then we found out that one of the 'five mates' was Reena!!! Too late now.
We got to the room and everyone, apart from Emily and I, went to get Korean for dinner. Not feeling so adventurous Emily and I headed to Domino's pizza. On the way to the takeaway we met two European guys, called Fransisco and Chris, who asked if we would meet them for a drink later, we agreed and arranged to meet at midnight (we were boarding till 10pm) in the sports bar. Then in the take away we bumped into an English guy who'd been on the last snowboard trip, him and eight mates had arranged their own Luna New Year snowboard trip. We told him we'd be in the sports bar later and he said they may come for a drink.
After devouring our pizza we went night boarding which was wicked fun but a little too icy for my liking.
Emily and I met some friendly penguins during out night boarding session.
When we got back to the room we found two guys (whose names I can't remember) in bed having injured themselves in the afternoon and the rest, Reena, Liz and Rob, drinking Soju. Just as we were heading out they went to find the organiser guys, who they spend a lot of time drinking with.
We arrived at the sports bar half an hour late only to find we'd been stood up. So we had a few beers before they closed at around 1:30am, then exhausted we headed back to bed.
We got back to the room to find the two nameless guys and Rebbecca asleep, Reena, Liz and Rob were still out.
About 3am Reena and Rob came back, turned all the lights on, shouted for a bit, woke everyone up then left again.
Then half an hour later Reena and Rob came back. Reena walked in shouting: "Has anyone got a fag," turned all the lights on, woke everyone up then left again.
Around 4am Reena and Rob came back again, this time Reena had lost her shoes, she switched all the lights on, woke everyone up, then left seemingly crying about her shoes.
About 10 minutes later she came back demanding to know what had happened to her shoes, switching all the lights on to look for them. Luckily her friend (who'd stayed in) got up and went to the room upstairs, where she'd been, and recovered her shoes.
Then around 4:30am Reena, Rob and Liz finally came to bed, but in the process turned all the lights on, shouted for a bit and woke everyone up AGAIN. They were so drunk by this point that Liz had to pushed up the ladder onto her top bunk because she was too drunk to climb!
Around 5am I was laid in bed and I could here someone saying: "Your bed is over there, this is my bed." I drifted back to sleep thinking I was dreaming but the voice started up again. This time I woke up properly and discovered a very drunk Rob, not having a clue what he was doing, trying to get into Emily's bed! She kept saying: "This is my bed," to which he responded: "I know"! She told him: "Your bed is over there," to which he responded: "Yeah!" This dialogue continued for about five minutes before he got out of her bed and started trying to put on her clothes! Emily said: "They're my clothes," to which he responded: "I know!" Luckily the helpful friend awoke again and coerced him back into his bed.
At this point, laying in my bed, I had a little giggle to myself. The night had been so ridiculous that we would laugh about it in the morning. But there was more still to come!
We'd just got back to sleep when we were woken by Rob yet again! This time he was putting loads of [his] clothes on. When asked why he said it was because he was cold as he didn't have a duvet. He'd come in so drunk that he'd neglected to notice the duvet placed beneath his pillow and had been asleep on top of it all night - well for the last few hours anyway.
After this incident we managed to grab about an hours sleep before Reena's alarm, on her phone, started going off. Still being very much out of it she put it on snooze and went back to sleep. Ten minutes later it went off again, but this time she was too comatose to even notice. After the third time of it going off her friend had to climb out of bed and switch it off for her.
About half an hour later the same scenario was played out with Rob's phone. It was now after 7am and we had been woken constantly throughout the night.
At 8am Rebbecca got up to go skiing for the morning and after failing to fall properly back to sleep Emily and I decided to get up and visit the jinjibarn (Korean spar). Upon getting up and getting ready to go we were exasperated to notice that those who had kept us up all nigh slept right through us getting up - grrrr.
Stay tuned to find out about our adventures on day's two and three of our Luna new year trip.
Over and out till tomorrow.
- Posted by j150vsc on 27/02/2007.
- 2 comments
Everything changes
I'm almost up to date with the blogging, just Luna New Year and the kindy performance to go. Time for a post to remind myself of the happenings at school!
Today saw the oldest kindy kids graduate from kindergarten (a post with lost of video to follow), I have tomorrow off kindy, Thursday is a national holiday (not that anyone has told me or Kat!) then on Friday everything changes as the new school year begins.
It's going to be an interesting transition because since I arrived in September the number of students attending the school has fallen dramatically, probably because of the opening of a state funded hagwon nearby.
I used to teach thee Kindergarten classes yellow, blue and pink. When I arrived yellow class (aged 4, Korean age 5) had four students, this is the one class that hasn't changed much one kid left and another one arrived. Blue class (aged 5, Korean age 6) had 12 students, it now has seven and pink class (aged 6, Korean age 7) had seven students, when they graduated today there were only four left. As Pink class have now graduated each class moves up a level, blue become pink, yellow become blue, but there are no new kids arriving in yellow class so kindy is down to just two classes.
It is harder to tell who is coming and going in afternoon classes. The essay class all left to go to university and the younger kid in that class was taken out of the school. In other classes the odd student here and there has left but there seem to be very few arriving to replace them, despite the director employing someone to go door knocking to promoted the school. We were told a while ago that the school has lost over 50 students which, in a school of just 250 is a lot! On our new timetables Katrina and I have gone from having one 25 minute break per day to having two 25 minute breaks three days a week - so we are almost down to working the number of hours stated in our contracts - the director must hate that!
The drop in students has also lead to a drop in the number of Korean teachers and changing roles of the Korean teachers.
When I arrived we had three Korean kindy teachers Ji, Joyce and Kang plus myself. Then Joyce and Ji would teach afternoon lessons until six, I would teach until seven and we had four Korean afternoon teachers Yoon, Cindy, Henry and Anne who taught until nine plus Daniel who taught until nine.
Shortly after I arrived Yoon left to get married and was directly replaced by Jennifer. Then a little while later Joyce left and Jennifer took over her position teaching kindergarten and afternoons until at six but no one took on Jennifer's previous teaching until nine. Then Ji stopped teaching afternoon lessons and Kang (who'd always been in school until six despite not teaching any classes) took on some of her classes.
Daniel left and was replaced by Katrina.
Now Cindy and Jennifer are leaving and Anne is moving to kindergarten. So two new teachers have arrived and appear to both be taking on afternoon roles (no one has actually told us anything about their roles).
This means that kindy is now down to two Korean teachers Anne and Kang plus myself (which makes sense as there are now only two classes). Kang and Anne will both teach until six but I get the impression one of the new teachers is taking on Kang's afternoon classes. Henry is still teaching afternoons along with (I assume) the two new Korean teachers. This means afternoon lessons are down to three Korean teachers plus Katrina.
So in all we have lost two whole teaches in six months. The school must be having mega problems attracting students. Maybe the parents have figured that the kids memorising books they don't understand is not the best way to learn English!
800 steps
A bit more catching up to do..... Earlier this month saw us off on yet another trip with Adventure Korea, this time to Seoraksan National park. This time 'us' included Kat's mum who had come to visit for a couple of weeks.
The weekend took us hiking in both inner and outer Seoraksan, a mountain range that boasts one of Korea's highest mountains. Seoraksan is situated in Gangwon-do province, it is Korea's most famous national park and one of the most beautiful. The Seoraksan mountains stretch over an area of 373 square kilometers with their highest peek reaching 1078 meters.
After an early start we arrived at Seoraksan around lunch time and were supplied with a lunch of bebimbap (a traditional Korean dish consisting of vegetables and rice). However everything, including the rice, was cold and after eating a particularly chewy mushroom I was put of eating any more.
On the way to the start of the hike we were given two hiking options. One option was to hike to the top of Ulsanbawi rock, a difficult but rewarding climb that included scaling over 800 steps. Or we could take a cable car followed by a 20 or 30 minute hike to the Gwongeumseong Fortress. Where, due to it's high altitude of 1,200 meters, you could (apparently) enjoy a stunning bird's eye view of the Seoraksan Mountains.
Looking up at Ulsanbawi rock.
Despite being slightly daunted by the thought of 800 steps and a little concerned that the course was recommended for experienced walkers I chose the Ulsanbawi rock hike and we set of through the beautiful scenery.
Along the hike there was a temple and a large rock (Heundeulbawi), which can be moved! As we passed we took a well earned rest and attempted, successfully, to move the huge five meter high rock.
VIDEO - rocking the Heundeulbawi rock - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/DSCF4115.AVI
The walk got tougher when we reached the bottom of Ulsanbawi rock. Confronted by hundreds of steps set at a very steep angle into the rock and with the weather, it had been snowing gently for most of the day, closing in around me it took dogged determination to overcome my fear of heights and reach the top. More than once on the way up the steps I thought I'll give up in a minute and go back down; after all with the weather being so bad it was unlikely that I would see anything from the top.
Emily fighting against the snow at the bottom of the 800 steps.
But after persevering I arrived at the top of Ulsanbawi rock and the snow that had plagued my assent suddenly disappeared, then clouds broke offering spectacular views across the Seoraksan National Park, down to the East sea and along the mountain range that looked a bit like scales jutting out the back of a dinosaur.
Looking across the mountain range.
Looking down towards the East sea.
Emily, me, Kat's mum and Kat at the top of Ulsanbawi rock.
After taking in the view it was time to begin the decent. I was pleasantly surprised that the steps bothered me more on the way up than on the way down. Although by the time I reached the bottom my legs were certainly feeling those 800 steps.
Looking down some of the 800 steps on Ulsanbawi rock.
After descending to ground level we were taken to our hotel in the Osaek area and before dinner we had time to relax, soak aching muscles and share our experience of the day's hiking in the hotel’s hot spar. It is the norm for Koreans to use these spar's naked, but being prudish Westerners we wore our swimming costumes and were relieved to find the spar full of other people on the Adventure Korea trip all wearing swimming costumes.
The spa had two pools one with hot water and the other with cold. You are supposed to sit in the hot water as long as possible then submerge yourself the cold, but both Kat and Emily had problems dipping more than their little toe in the cold water. However after a bit of coxing and me sitting happily in the cold water for about five minutes they managed to get in, all be it for a very short time. The spar room also had a long thin bath like pool which is apparently where the Koreans sit to wash and along one wall of the spar was showers and soap, also meant for washing.
After our spar we went out for dinner, there were a number of restaurants near the hotel but the majority of the Adventure Korea group ended up in the same restaurant, where the evenings drinking and merriment began. Feeling exhausted from our early morning and long walk we gave the Soju a miss and shared a beer whilst eating Samgyopsal (like Galbi but pork) and a spicy mushroom noodle soup thing.
After dinner we headed to bed, but not before meeting some people in the hotel lobby and becoming embroiled in their drinking game, which I lost and ended up having to down the most disgusting concoction of Soju, beer and another flavored Soju type drink - yuck!
As we headed to bed word spread that Nori bus was kicking off (Nori means song in Korean). It is a very popular past time here to spend an evening at a singing room (called a Nori bang) with friends. So as we went to bed the majority of people headed to 'Nori bus' for a spot of karaoke. Getting back to our room we could here the bus loud and clear and from some of the attempts at singing I could hear I was glad there was bricks and mortar separating me form the noise.
On Sunday we hiked the Jujeongol course, which runs through a valley in inner Seoraksan. The course begins at a natural spring where we sampled the Osaek Mineral water. As we lined up for a taste of the water people emptied their water bottles in anticipation of filling them with fresh tasting spring water. But after tasting the water I was glad I hadn’t followed suite, it tasted a little like carbonated water that was far past its best!
The Jujeongol course took us through a scenic valley, across some interesting bridges, to the beautiful Yongso waterfall. We arrived at the waterfall around the mid day and had some free time to explore the area. Being slightly adventurous we decided to follow some others and climb on top the waterfall to have our pictures taken. As we walked towards the waterfall we came across a rather alarming piece of bridge (see pick below).
Looking back along the valley on the Jujeongol hike.
Me crossing the river.
If you look closely you can just about make out us on top the waterfall (I'm on the left and Kat and Emily are on the right).
Notice the bridge on the right. Part of it was still attached and we had to walk across the attached part to get to the top of the waterfall.
The Yongso waterfall.
After exploring the area around the waterfall we headed back to Oseak for lunch consisting of rice and side dishes before packing up, boarding the bus and heading back to Seoul after a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.
COMMUNICATE
We are approaching the end of the school year and everything at school is changing. It would be nice, however, to be told about it rather than having to guess what was going to happen next!
March 2nd is the the beginning the new school year, where I assume there will be lots of new students starting at the hagwon and some of the older students will be moving on to pastures new.
My top class, the essay class, made up of high school students whose English was better than any of the Korean teachers have left. This class was only taught by myself and Katrina and their departure to university left gaping holes in our timetables. Not one to want us to have a break the Director promptly filled the gaps with bits of classes that would normally be taught by the Korean teachers. Only he neglected to tell the Korean teachers he was doing so! Earlier this week I stood waiting outside a classroom door, waiting for one of these 'extra' classes, only for the Korean teacher to come out and announce that she would take this class because they needed to finish their book! So why timetable it to me in the first place? Approaching another teacher about what she wanted me to teach in her 'extra' lesson she was initially confused: "but I have the class at that time," she said. She had no idea what I was talking about until I showed her my revised timetable! Do these people not realise that things could be done a lot more quickly and efficiently if only they learnt to COMMUNICATE!
On top of the timetable changes there are three teachers leaving at the end of this month, something which amazingly we were informed of in advance. However I walked into kindergarten on Tuesday - with no idea what I was teaching because they have finished their curriculum for the year. I spent ages trying to find one of the teachers to ask about her class. Noticing her bag wasn't on her chair I asked: "Where is Ji," to be met with the response "She's left"! Right ok, it was nice of someone to tell me before I spent 10 minutes looking for her. I then found the head of the kindergarten to find out what I was supposed the be teaching Ji's class and was given possibly one of the most honest answers to a question I've had since arriving at the school. Q: "What am I teaching them?" A: "I don't know!" Well at least it was honest.
Because of the teachers leaving this month some new teachers have been employed. One started a couple of weeks ago, I was given approximately one days advance warning of her arrival was and introduced to her after she'd been around for just two days! Then on Tuesday two other people appeared at the school and took up desks in the staff office. I sit here writing this on Friday and at this point, no-one has told me they are the new teachers, neither of them has been introduced to me, neither has made any effort what so ever to communicate with me or even acknowledge my presence in the school. Yet in one week's time I am going to be sharing classes with them. I guess I'm just not important enough to be spoken to!
Phew.... rant over
Valentine's Day Korean style
I know Valentine's was a couple of weeks ago but lots of people have asked me whether Koreans celebrate Valentine's day, the short answer is... yes! But in a different way to us.
In Korea, on Valentine's Day, girls give chocolates to boys NOT the other way round. Girls can also give chocolates to their friends and, as I was happy to discover, teachers! Unlike in western cultures the gifts aren't reserved solely for loved ones with girls giving chocolates to friends, co-workers, teachers and students. On Valentine's day at my school the chocolate was flying around everywhere. If you are a chocoholic like me it was one of those days where you really wanted to be teaching you favourite students in the hope of adding to your chocolate stash.
There is another day on March 14th called White Day where the boys have to return the favour and give gifts to those who gave to them on Valentine's Day. Originally the return gift was supposed to white chocolate or marshmallows hence the name White Day.
In Korea single people, or unit solo (솔로부대), are not forgotten. There is another day called Black Day on April 14th where those who did not get anything for Valentine's Day or have anyone to give to on White Day gather together and eat Jajangmyun (짜장면) (Korean noodles with black bean sauce) and commiserate their singledom!
More information on White Day can be found here.
More information on Black Day can be found here.
What's in this hole?
Our first trip with Adventure Korea, a company that organises trips for foreigners, proved to be a fantastic day jam packed with new experiences.
After an early start we were tired an hoping to sleep on the bus on the way to Hwacheon, where the festival was held. But after the excitement of Emily arriving just as the bus was about to leave her because of problems with her train and the bus playing, at a loud volume, the first decent western music I'd heard for a long time sleeping was out of the question.
We arrived at Hwacheon and found the festival was held on top of a frozen lake. But there were parts of the lake that weren't frozen at all, we figured that for parts to be frozen and parts not, and to ensure the safety of the thousand of festival goers, the lake had to be artificially frozen - but we couldn't figure out how!
We were taken to the part of the lake dedicated to ice fishing were hundreds of people were looking into small holes in the ice.
People ice fishing.
We had been given an ice fishing rod at the bus. They looked a bit like misshapen fly swots with brightly coloured bait on the end of some twine! We hijacked a ready made hole, it looked like far too much effort to build our own, and joined the masses kneeling on the ice and peering into a small hole. But after a significant while, we hadn't even seen a fish, let alone caught one!
Video - Making a hole in the ice - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Ice%20fishing/digginghole.MPG
Kat and Emily looking very interested in a hole in the ice.
As we were starting to get board the guy next to us caught a fish and we amused ourselves marvelling at his wares, wishing we could catch something and asking how he did it. We were slightly disappointed to find out that there was no skill involved what so ever and he had no idea how he'd caught it. But it did prove that somewhere under the ice there were fish swimming around and, as vigorously as you can, we went back to peering in our hole and trying to catch a fish.
Just as the monotony of unsuccessfully fishing was taking hold the organisers of the trip came and asked if we would pose for some photos for them. With noting better to do we obliged and were given a fish each for our trouble. The next hour was spent shamelessly posing for photos with fish in their last throws of life.
VIDEO - When will we grow up? - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Ice%20fishing/Icefishing.wmv
One of the pictures taken by the professional photographer.
Lovely fishes!
Emily fancies some raw fish!
Once we tired of taking photos of ourselves we invited a couple we had met to help us eat our fish and set off for the cooking area.
We took the fish to a man we assumed would gut it, but he just sliced the fish rubbed some salt in and wrapped them in tin foil. One of our fish had been fatter than the others with a squidgy stomach, we had assumed she was pregnant. But as he cut her stomach a brown sack poked out through where he cut, then burst spilling some manky looking brown stuff everywhere. Unfazed the man simply changed the tin foil and said she would be fine to eat!
We found a space in an open fire chucked our now prepared fish into the coals and waited for them to cook. After about 15 minutes we took them off the fire and found some rocks over looking the festival site where we sat and consumed the fish that 30 minutes ago were gasping for air as we posed for photographs with them! Unwrapping the tin foil we opted not to eat the one that had been 'pregnant' but feasted on the other two who were absolutely delicious, and sooo fresh! Whilst we were eating a Korean man came over and gave us the left overs of his meal, this included some bean paste, raw fish, lettuce leaves, and Soju. Apparently giving away your unwanted food is the done thing in Korea, waste not want not and all that. I tried the raw fish and it was ok but I couldn't get past the fact it was raw so didn't eat very much!
Cooking our fish.
Eating our fish.
After lunch we wondered around the festival and tried out some of the activities.
We came across a tent where you could dress up in traditional Korean dress - a Hanbok. (A previous post about the Hanbok can be found here).
Me wearing a Hanbok.
The we came to an area where you could take part in traditional Korean games. One of those games is called Nol-Ttwigi (Korean See-saw) and involves two people standing on a see saw type thing and seeing how far into the air they can propel one another. The idea is to jump and propel the person on the other end as far into the air as possible. This game is traditionally played by women and it is said to have originated during a time when a woman's place was firmly within the home. Women would use these see-saw's to try and propel themselves high enough to see over the walls of the family compound to catch a glimpse of the world outside.
Emily and I had a go at the game and as you can see by the video below we were pretty useless.
VIDEO - Me and Emily attempt to play Nol-Ttwigi - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Ice%20fishing/seesaw.MPG
After this it was time for the bare hands fishing. Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt we had to stand in knee deep ice cold water and try and catch fish with our bare hands. After having pneumonia Emily, sensibly, decided not to do it. But Kat and I took the plunge.
The pool was a small circle full of very, very cold water. Getting into the water wasn't too bad and it felt ok on you legs. The problem was the intensely cold stones on the bottom of the pool. After a few minutes your feet were so cold that walking in the water was immensely painful. We were told the best place to find the fish was at the sides, but after only catching sight of one and just about getting hands to it before it swam off i was convinced there were very few fish in that water. I am ashamed to say that after a while the pain in my feet became to much and like a proper girl I bailed, got out of the water and tried to spot fish whilst sat on the side. I am proud to say that I was by no means the first one out of the water and once I had regained some feeling in my feet I went back in for a second go. But once again the cold in my feet was incredible and I was very glad when time was up and we were able to head back the the changing rooms. I have never been so glad of extra hot under floor heating.
VIDEO - Me and Kat bare hands fishing - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Ice%20fishing/barehandsfishing.WMV
Once I had regained some feeling in my feet we headed back to the bus and home.
A man of few words
Our last day in Japan and we were up early to make it to the Imperial Palace for the Emperor's appearance then to the airport in time to fly back to Korea.
After leaving our bags in a locker at the station we made our way to the palace. Coming out of the subway station we had no idea how to get to the palace but soon spotted masses of people heading in the same direction and figured the best option was to follow them.
Outside the place grounds the queue was huge. We walked for about five minutes just to reach the end of it. Once we joined the queue we were amazed at how quickly it moved. As we neared the entrance everyone in the queue was given a Japanese flag. We soon arrived at a security gate where our bags were searched, I was told not to remove my bottled water anywhere inside the grounds, and we were frisked before being allowed through to the second security gate. Once safely through security we made our way to a mass of highly organised queues. There were about six queuing areas marked out. As you walked towards them you were guided towards one of the areas and organised into a row of four. We were lucky enough to be at the front of one of the queues and could watch what was going on.
The gates opened and as the queues were let go, one at a time, a walking mass of people converged on the gates of the palace.
VIDEO - The queues converge - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/IPq.AVI
As our queue began to move and we followed the crowds through the palace grounds to the area where the Emperor was to appear we had to hang onto each other so as not to get lost in the crowds.
Walking through the main gate.
We eventually stopped in front of a large balcony and waited for the Emperor. After about 20 minutes there was a massive roar of appreciation from the assembled crowd and the frantic waving of Japanese flags marked the appearance of the Emperor and his family.
The Imperial Family.
The family members on the balcony were their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and some other adult members of the Imperial Family. But apart from the Emperor Akihito (明仁), who is the guy in the middle, I have no idea who is who.
The Emperor waved at the crowd then spoke briefly, we had no idea what he said but I have found this English translation on the Imperial Household Agency website:
I am deeply saddened that last year as many as 150 people lost their lives in natural disasters including heavy snowfalls, torrential rains, typhoons, and tornadoes. My heart goes out to the people of Niigata Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture who are spending another winter living in temporary housing as a result of the earthquakes in those areas.
There were also regions where salty winds from typhoons caused great damage to rice crops, and my thoughts are with the people of the farming communities affected.
At the start of the new year, I pray for the happiness of the people of Japan and the world. It is my sincere hope that all of us work together to pursue a society in which people can live in mutual trust.
His speech lasted around three minutes then hie stood for a further five minutes waving at the crowd before leaving the balcony less then 10 minutes after he emerged.
VIDEO - The emperor - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/Ipemperor.wmv
Once the Emperor was gone the crowd began to move towards the exit. Because of the crowds we hadn't been able to get much of a look at the grounds so upon nearing the exit we decided to walk the long way round in the hope of seeing more of them. But we were so far out of the Palace there wasn't a lot to be seen.
Me, Emily and Kat in the Palace grounds.
The grounds of the Imperial Palace are set against the backdrop of Tokyo's skyscrapers.
Despite the Emperor being a man of few words and not getting a good look at the Palace or the grounds it was a fantastic experience. On January 2nd 2007 I was at the Imperial Palace in Japan surrounded by Japanese eagerly waving flags watching the Emperor give his new years address.
Once we left the palace all that remained for us to do was get something to eat and head back to Korea.
Ueno park
Anticipating a hangover and getting up late on new years day we didn't plan much.
We woke minus the hangover but the lie in was very much appreciated and decided to spend the day at Ueno park.
There were many people doing the same as us and taking a news years stroll around the park but the winter scenery was fairly bleak. Ueno park is renowned for having over 1000 cherry blossom trees. During the cherry blossom season it is one of Japan's most popular and crowded places for having cherry blossom viewing parties called hanami.
Uneo park also has many museums, including: the Tokyo National Museum, the Orient Museum, the National Science Museum, the Shitamachi Museum, the National Museum for Western Art and the Tokyo Metropolitan Fine Art Gallery. It is also home to Japan's first zoo, which has some Giant Pandas that were given to it by China on the normalisation of diplomatic relations in 1972.
But because we visited on New Years day everything was closed. However Kat and Emily did get to see the Pandas.
Kat and Emily outside the zoo with a Panda and a Gorilla.
And we found this street entertainer (may take a while to download).
VIDEO - Street entertainer - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/balloon_0001.wmv
Once we'd got board of him we went and made our own entertainment! (This may take a while to download)
VIDEO - Us playing in the park - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/PlayinginUenopark.wmv
From Tokyo Joe's (Preston) to Tokyo (Japan)!
Ok, I know I'm a bit behind with the old blog, but I've been a busy bunny!
Back to New Years Eve in Japan.
After spending last new year in Preston's most cheesy nightclub, Tokyo Joe's we searched for somewhere hip and happening to spend new year. But After asking people in our hostel and spending some time searching the internet we ended up going to the only place we could find advertising New Years festivities, Zojoji Temple. Zojoji is situated below Tokyo Tower and despite being the only place we could find it looked like a very good place to welcome in the New Year. I have since discovered that, like Sydney harbor bridge in Australia, it is THE place to be in Japan on New Years Eve - so we made a pretty good choice.
After spending the day at Sensoji we wanted a 'little sleep' before going out and ended up running late. Whilst we frantically got ready, each of us had our moment complaining that we didn't have anything to wear, not that it mattered because we were going to spend the night outside wrapped up in our warm coats. So all the photos would again be of us wearing the same coats we have on in EVERY photo! And despite spending new year at a temple instead of a nightclub we wanted to maintain New Years drinking traditions and got a bottle of cheap wine from the local supermarket to drink while we were getting ready.
Me, Emily and Kat in the hostel before we ent out.
Arriving at the train station we realised no-one had looked up which station we needed to get off at for the Temple and we couldn't remember where we had got off for the Tower. We asked a Japanese couple on the train but they couldn't help, so we disembarked at the next stop and asked a train guard. He told us a stop, different to the one for the Tower, and we got back on the train.
After a couple of stops a western man, accompanied by a Japanese woman got on the train. He waited about five minutes then, looking over at us, asked: "Where are you from?" in an American drawl. Our response of: "England," was met with the increasingly irritating: "Eeenngggaaaallllaaannnnddd, you're kidding." He then proceeded to talk at us for the next 15 minutes: Amongst other things he told us he was 45, a grandfather, his daughter, who lives in California, would be 21 in a few weeks, he has been married twice (the Japanese lady was his second wife), he thinks England is beautiful, but has never been there and never will! He doesn't have a job because he can't speak Japanese, Japan is backwards in a lot of ways compared to America, oh and he won't get a job as an English teacher because he wants to die Japanese!!!!!! This bit none of us could comprehend.
At one point his wife asked us what we were doing in Japan, but as soon as one of us spoke he continued his monologue about himself. Unfortunately he was also going to Tokyo Tower so we had the endure the rest of the journey listening to him.
Once we arrived at our destination we headed for a really pretty looking restaurant we'd spotted whilst visiting the Tower. Unfortunately appearances can be deceptive. The menu was boring and we all plumped for spaghetti and garlic bread. When the meal arrived the food was tasteless and the bread solid. After we finished we waited ages for our table to be cleared and to be offered desert only to get bored of waiting and ask for the desert menu, to be told the kitchen closed five minutes ago. Gggrrrr (as Emily would, and probably did say)! Knowing that they wanted to close, and annoyed that it has cost a fortune for a crap meal, we made our drinks last as long as possible just to irritate them, but were eventually driven out when they turned the heating off!
Me and Emily looking like we were having a fantastic time at dinner.
After paying for our ludicrously over priced and rubbish meal we went to Zojoji temple to welcome in the New Year the Buddhist way.
Emily, me and Kat arriving at Zojoji Temple.
Zojoji Temple was originally built in 1393 but was moved to its present location in 1598. It is the main temple of the Buddhist Jodo sect. This sect is simpler than other forms of Buddhism and believes that everybody can achieve salvation by strongly believing in the Buddha Amida.
At midnight the people visiting the temple were going to release 10,000 eco frindly balloons with wishes attached to them, so as soon as we arrived, wanting to be part of the action, we found out where to get the balloons and joined the very large queue. As we neared the front of the queue we realised everyone had tickets. An Aussie girl (who spoke fluent Japanese) in front explained that the tickets had been given out earlier and we couldn't get a balloon without one. Already being near the front of the queue and having queued for ages we decided to stick it out and see if we could blag one.
Upon reaching the front of the queue and pretending we'd just realized we needed a ticket we asked if we could just have one balloon, but were given a resolute "no" by some guy who shook his head and talked at us in Japanese. Oh well - it was worth a try!
After our balloon disappointment we headed back into the crowds. The steps to the temple were full of people, mainly couples, sat waiting for the ceremonial festivities to begin. We picked our way up the steps only to get to discover there wasn't much up there except more people!
Hundreds of balloons in front of Zojoji Temple with Tokyo Tower behind.
The inside of the temple appeared to be closed so we attempted to have a look at some of the stalls. It didn't take long to discover that most of them were selling food and the queues were too thick to bypass. After a lot of pushing, shoving and squeezing through small gaps we found our way to a (kind of) merchandising stall and decided it would be fitting to all get something to mark the occasion. After much discussion we opted for a phone charm - they were cheap- of a pig/boar (marking 2007 the year of the boar), saying Happy New Year in Japanese.
With just 20 minutes until midnight we picked our way back down the steps and headed towards the big temple bell, as this was where the action would be. We managed to get ourselves a good spot from which to watch proceedings, just behind the Tokyo TV man.
With about 15 minutes to go the ceremony began. An old man, that I presume to be the head monk of the temple, dressed in elaborate orange robes performed the ceremony before giving a brief address to the crowd.
VIDEO - The Ceremony - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/Zojoji-ceremony.wmv
After addressing the crowd he went to the back of the stage in preparation to ring the large temple bell at the stroke of midnight. Through the night the bell would tool 108 times. This is because Buddhists believe humans have 108 worldly desires, hearing the bell toll 108 times absolves you of your desires for the coming year.
Once the monk reached the back of the stage and settled in his seat, he was too old to stand, the lights around the temple went off and the countdown to 2007 began. It was strange to hear the countdown in a foreign language knowing that at home, in England, it was still the middle of the afternoon.
On the stroke of midnight the bell was struck making a deep reverberating noise around the temple, and I turned around the see the beautiful sight of 10,000 balloons floating into the air like bubbles lit against the night sky.
Video - Midnight - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/Zojoji-midnight.wmv
Taking in the atmosphere as hundreds of people hugged loved ones and welcomed in 2007 we all found each other and realised we had been so caught up in filming and taking pictures we had barley noticed each other as the new year dawned. As the bell was struck for the second time we wished each other happy new year with a group hug and wondered where we would be at the same time next year.
VIDEO - The temple bell tolls - http://www.mediamax.com/j150vsc/Hosted/Japan/Zojoji-bellringing.wmv
With that we turned and followed the crowds heading for the tube station, stopping to have our photo taken under Tokyo Tower with 2007 lit up on the side.
Me, Emily and Kat under Tokyo Tower shortly after 2006 became 2007.
