3 days in Japan

Here are a few snippets from my recent visit to JAPAN!!

Osaka castle

I spent two days in Osaka and then one in Kyoto. It was absolutely magical :)!

My trip included a lot of walking and eating. I mostly decided on something I wanted to see, then walked around there until I got hungry. When I first got there the weather was BEAutiful so I went and visited Osaka castle. The castle itself was quite nice, but the best part was walking around the gardens, park and plum tree orchard!

In the plum tree orchard on a warm November day!

That night I checked out dotonbori and shinsaibashi. I’m not sure what I would compare these areas to in Seoul… maybe myeong-dong? Shinsaibashi was basically a strip mall that went for kilometres! The stores were all blaring with lights and music to attract customers (I’ve read it described as the darwin theory; only the flashiest survive in shinsaibashi) so it was total sensory overload! The shopping was really good but I didn’t buy much because I only had a small bag with me. Plus I can get most of the stuff in Seoul for a lot cheaper.

I ate in dotonbori at a place that had lots of pictures on the menu ^^. I had okonomiyaki.. a kind of shredded potato and cabbage pancake with vegetables and lots of sauce! It was delicious. I also had some sashimi which was comparable with other sashimi I’ve had. I’m not a huge fan so I can’t really judge the taste.

By the river that goes across shinsaibashi… really cool district!

The next day was pouring so I went to the world-famous aquarium down by the harbour. It was nice, but very similar to the COEX aquarium and super packed with families on a rainy saturday afternoon… should’ve known! The best part was the whale shark in a huge central tank, plus the hugest stingray I’ve ever seen! Then I did some more touristy things in the same area like a petting zoo and a (enclosed) ferris wheel. When it stopped raining I headed back to the hostel and walked back to shinsaibashi for some more shopping and food. This time I tried takoyaki, a piece of octopus fried in a ball of batter, with sauce on it. I’ve heard Japanese food described as light and fresh before, but I certainly wasn’t in the right place for that!

Eyeing up the takoyaki…

The next morning I woke up early, packed my stuff and left my stinky hostel room (co-ed dorm… ugh) to go to Kyoto! It was a bit of a trek to get there – it was only 40 mins from Osaka station but with all the transfers and waiting it took a lot longer. Kyoto was just amazing. Every five minutes I would stumble upon another gorgeous temple and there were all kinds of celebrations and ceremonies going on so I got to see plenty of people in kimonos.

Kids are so adorable in their kimonos… maybe even more-so than hanboks *gasp!*

I walked from temple to temple and went into a beautiful park called Maruyama and then headed to Gion. The main reason why I wanted to go to Kyoto was because of Gion. I have read Memoirs of a Geisha and got a bit obsessed with it, so going to the place where it was set was like a dream come true. The close streets with their dark wooden slates were not exactly how I pictured them but it was pretty amazing all the same.

what happens in Gion….

When I went off the ‘historial’ streets and onto the main street I found some pretty great shopping and was surprised by a high school marching band! The girls were adorable, waving to me and saying “kawaii, kawaii!”, which I have since learned means “cute”! The way back to Osaka was a little stressful just because the trains were sooo crowded and I had some trouble finding the bus terminal but I made it to the airport in plenty of time and had an easy flight back to Seoul.

Japan was definitely similar to Korea but with many distinctions. I think I would have had complete culture shock if I had gone straight from Canada but coming from Seoul it wasn’t too shocking.

The money was a lot different. The physical coins actually say a lot about their economy I think. Their 500 yen coin is smaller in size than the 500 won coin but worth 13 times as much! Things were a whole lot more expensive in Japan but nothing was completely exuberant. I paid $10 to $20 on a meal and beer was $6-8. Now, coming from my usual $5 meals and $2 beers I was a little put off but not too much.

Another big difference is that they drive on the other side of the road! I’m a bit embarassed to admit it but I was walking around for at least 4-5 hours before I realized this! So while I thought it was interesting, it didn’t really affect me.

The mode of transportation I saw the most of was actually bicycles. It was amazing the amount of bicycles on the sidewalk! And they are all really good at avoiding pedestrians which was nice.

These bike parking lots were every 10 metres.

Overall I found the people exceedingly friendly. When I was looking a little bit lost there was always someone giving me a directions.

Fashion: now, granted I was not in Tokyo but I didn’t find the fashion as great as Korea. There were some amazing get-ups to be sure, but I found everyone dressed to extremes in Japan. People were either dressed in outrageous (-ly awesome) clothes or they were at the other end of the scale. In Korea, I find that the fashion is all quite safe and similar, but everyone looks really good. In Japan, there are a lot of risk-takers and lots of people who clearly don’t care about their clothes. Korea is more consistent in their fashionable-ness, but don’t have that ‘wow’ factor. A few times I actually picked Korean tourists out the crowd based on their wardrobe!

This store had the most amazing costumes… although I’m not sure everyone considered them costumes.

Now, I usually hate when people I’m traveling with say “I’ll come back and see that next time” or something like that. I want to shake them and say “YOU’RE HERE NOW and probably won’t ever come back!!”. That being said, I really really do think I will be going back to Japan and next time I will do a bit of research to know what I actually want to do once I get there ;)!

Wow, this post has gotten quite long so I’ll just say sayounara and arigato Japan!

teacher teacher!!!

Woohoo!! Another blog post! Be prepared for lots of cute kiddie pictures!!

If you or anyone you know is considering teaching abroad, I’m sure you have many questions. Fear not! Getting a job teaching kindergarten in a hagwon (private academy) is easy as recruiters are paid to find teachers from overseas. From there, you can look into other opportunities such as teaching at an international school or university. It’s difficult to get teaching jobs in Korea other than hagwons but if you’re qualified then go for it! If you are at all considering coming to Korea, here are some pros and cons of teaching at a hagwon that might help with your decision.

Seriously, do I really need to convince you? How cute!?

Pros: 

Let’s start with the obvious. Working with children is the career I always dreamt of and what I hope to do for the rest of my life. Even if being a teacher or care-worker isn’t your goal, working with kids is probably the most rewarding work you can do.

Smiling faces every day 🙂

Money. I could have put this as a con because the salary of an English teacher in Korea is not very substantial. However, if I was back in Canada, I would probably still be looking for a job or substituting. A small, steady paycheck is a lot more than most people can say they have. With the money I’ve earned, I have been able to pay back my (small) student loan and save enough to travel southeast Asia for 5 months all while feeding my shopping addiction. In my books, that’s more than enough.

Another pro – gifts from the rich mummies and daddies!

Teaching experience. It’s an easy job to get and if you’re not sure if you want to get into teaching, it’s a great opportunity to try it out and see if you think it’s a good career choice for you. Plus, if you’re at home in Canada trying to get a job, wouldn’t you rather be working with kids than waiting for that phone call?

Who wouldn’t want to teach these guys!?

Life experience. I don’t have to lecture you on the benefits of travel and living abroad. Just do it. Living in another culture is the most mind-broadening, exciting, humbling and educational thing you can do for yourself.

Bumped into one of my students while hiking!

Cons:

Management. Now, I don’t want to burn any bridges here because my bosses have always been good to me, however there are certain things they do and that I hear most hagwon managers do that are just not ok. First of all, they always side with the parents. Just one example… a student of mine went home and told her mother than my co-worker and I were laughing at her how old her mother’s car is, which is of course untrue. Instead of telling the mother, how ridiculous that sounds and that she has faith that her teachers aren’t pretentious dickheads, our supervisor told the mother that she would talk to us about this ‘incident’. Basically there is no support or trust between the teachers and management. Our school has 3 bosses, and if you ask the three of them the same question, you will get three very different responses. There is no clear direction that the school is following and no consistent policies to refer to. I could write an entire blog on this subject but basically every school has teacher-management relation problems because the system is so completely different here than at home.

Yawn… nap on the way back from field trip.

Curriculum. The problems of curriculum and management go hand in hand. The people running the school don’t seem to understand how important simple things like learning goals are. Therefore, we’re not teaching with a goal in mind… we’re just having the students fill in workbooks, hoping some of it will sink in. Our students aren’t learning anything valuable such as problem-solving, co-operation or investigation but they can ‘fill in the blanks’ like a pro! There is no balance to the school day – the students sit at desks for 85% of the day (ps. they’re 5), they have phys-ed an hour a week (with no outdoor play area!), math for 15 minutes a day, and the only hands-on activities are too difficult for the students. There is also no rhyme or reason to anything that the school asks us to do. If we weren’t all dedicated, flexible and creative teachers these poor kids wouldn’t stand a chance.

We also teach ESL classes, which would be great if we had time and resources to prepare for it!

Housing. Schools will almost always pay for your accommodation but the accommodation they provide is not always livable. My first apartment was beyond tiny and my friend’s apartment stank of sewage. We have both moved to more comfortable apartments but we were stuck at our old places for months. The school has a certain amount that they allow for accommodation so if the rent is higher than the allowance then we pay difference. Right now I really like my apartment even though it’s still pretty small.

Another con – saying goodbye to your old class is really really sad!!

This is all based on my particular experiences. Maybe other schools attempt to actually follow a curriculum or have a great employer but I have yet to hear of it. Personally, I think the pros way outweigh the cons. Every school and workplace has its problems and no job is perfect. If you are at all considering coming here, my advice is DO IT!

So much fun :)!

 

pump me up!

If you work out, you know that good music can make or break your workout. Personally, I’m always on the lookout for new songs to keep my feet moving. Here are some of my favs when I’m in the mood for a K-pop-a-licious workout.

Warm-up

Big Bang – Love song. It starts off slow but I find it’s a good song to ease me into cardio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKZEmLvYVF0

Verbal Jint – Perfect Day. This song makes me so happy! Listening to it in the mornings gets my day started on the right track.

Cardio

Jo Kwon- I’m da one. Jo Kwon is so quirky and upbeat he makes me want to dance, but I’ll settle for the treadmill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWgH0DsD0pQ

Tasty – You know me. I cannot say how much I love this song. Or, more accurately, the twins’ dancing. They’ll never be able to teach me how to dance if I’m huffing and puffing. Cardio UP!

Teen Top – Supa Luv. This song has a great beat and the rhythm is perfect for jogging. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boQFnQAaCZc

Sistar – So cool. I mostly just added this song because I noticed I had no female singers on this list. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj3q0ZChgFE

U-kiss – Te Amo. I do cardio so that when I finally meet U-Kiss I can chase Eli down singing this song. Motivation! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxumtpLkyl4

Super Junior – Super Girl. LeeTeuk from SJ has enlisted in the Korean Army *sigh*. I figure when he gets out we’d better be in equally as good shape.

Weights

Younique – Maxstep. This is actually a brand new song so I haven’t been listening to it for long. The group is made up of members from several different groups (including my second favourite member of SJ!). So far it definitely gets me pumped up!

BAP – No Mercy. Someday, I want to be as tough as BAP “,) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hzz4mGyehw

2NE1 – I am the Best. After the gajillionth time hearing it, the bratatata’s still get me goin’! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lSP8Vc3o

G-Dragon – One of a Kind. So me and G-D are homies and we like to do badass things together. Like pump iron.

Cool-down

BoA – One dream. An inspirational song. I need inspiration to do abs and stretching after a hard workout!

Big Bang – Ego. A nice winding-down song that doesn’t put me to sleep.  Plus, beginning and ending my workout with Big Bang makes me a happy girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-oj33ZnAlQ

This is not the full playlist, obviously but I thought I’d share some gems with you :)! Please send more pump-up music my way too!