An American in Nagasaki...

I almost didn't go to Nagasaki. It just felt awkward to go to a city that your country's government was responsible for decimating.  And yet, it didn't feel awkward. No one treated us differently for being American. The museum and Peace Park focused on the history and the campaign to end global proliferation. It didn't bad mouth the Americans. The signs just stated the facts. My favorite part were the personal narratives that were recorded (with subtitles). They were the most depressing to be sure but absolutely fascinating. I wish I had gotten to see some when I studied the bombing in school.

Adorning many of the monuments were strings of folded paper cranes. I remember reading a book in elementary school about a little girl suffering from leukemia in the years following the bombing and starting to make a thousand paper cranes so that her wish would be granted but not being able to finish before she died. I wish I could remember the name of the book now.

I had lunch sitting down by the river...which was full of giant koi. It was wild to see them outside of little ornamental ponds.

And then I was off to explore the temples on windy back roads.

The temples all had working shrines and such but none of them were fully operational, that is to say, had monks living there. It was a distinct contrast to temples in Korea which seem to all have monks there in one capacity or another.

Prayers? Probably.

Very strange palm trees.

Aside from the temples were what the guide book called temples but really seemed like a shrine and a graveyard. Nonetheless, the shrines were interesting though I didn't take pictures inside of them (disrespectful) and people didn't seem to mind us wandering around. These little figurines were set under a tree outside of the main shrine. I'm not sure what the red aprons are for but it was a theme with the smaller idols to be adorned with a cloth cap or smock like the ones above.

A group effort getting down the stairs.

A cool door handle.

Don't do it! The little men said so!

Up next, Beppu!

Fukuoka, Japan

First,　apologies　for typos. Japanese　keyboards are Very strange. Japan is very cool. In many ways it's like a richer, cleaner version of Korea. Which　isn't to say that I don't love Korea.  Anyways, so I took the ferry from Busan to Fukuoka and then was a bit lost as to how to take a bus requiring exact change when I only had big bills. Thankfully, the ubiquitous drink vending machines take larger bills. I finally arrived at my hostel, got dinner and then did something very exciting--I went to sleep. In my defense I have a head cold and sleep is highly necessary.

Me feeling very sassy at my very first Japanese temple. Tocho-ji was unimpressive architecturally but it did boast the largest wooden seated Buddha in Japan which was pretty cool.

At the next temple, there was almost no one there (and I'm not sure of the name) but the bridge was lovely.

Did I mention that I felt very chic/Japanese in my outfit? It's not everyday that a girl can rock fishnets, chucks, and a nice black dress and fit in perfectly.

Don’t let that statue's head get cold!

Definitely don't let that dog turd sit there!

Enjoying the park on the way to the art museum.

And finally, my boxed lunch (and fabulous Japanese beer) that I bought for the train ride to Nagasaki. I'm not sure when I'll update next as internet is pretty expensive but we'll see.

Sayanora!

Strange English and Lack of Updates

Many writers are more prolific when they are down--that is not me. The happier I am, the more I write.  Hopefully, spending 6 days in Japan will cheer me up!! I don't expect to update when I'm there, not because internet rooms/cafes aren't available but because I'm traveling on a serious budget.  To tide you over, look at some amazing snaps of strange English that the Partial Asian took!

For all of your Muppet dietary requirements.

Make love on the table!

Konglish?

Today, one of my 6th grade students was wearing this shirt:

I thought it was hilarious, random Konglish and the other two Korean English teachers in the building thought so too. 

When I was breaking it apart with my co-teacher it dawned on me that I knew exactly what it was referring to. In my pseudo-advanced English class last year we were studying "Aesop's Fables" (I say this with quotes because they were butchered beyond belief but that's ESL for you) and there was a story about these mice getting butchered by a cat. The mice had a meeting and were all like 'let's put a bell on the damned cat so it can't sneak up on us anymore.' Everyone thought it was a fabulous idea until of course the wise old mouse asked 'but who would put the bell on the cat?' Or, in perfect Konglish: who will bell the cat?

Of course, I have no idea what 'hawnatural' is. 

I miss having a computer at home, however slow and crotchety she was. Even if I was reading I'd keep Facebook chat on so I could chat with friends back home. It's lonely. So instead, I go to a PC bang and worry about dying from cancer induced my second hand smoke. Think, this blog entry is brought to you at the expense of my lungs!  People as rampantly morbid as I am should be allowed to safely squirrel away in their studio apartments during off hours. 

RIP Hermione

Just in case you weren't aware that I was a huge nerd (in which case, where have you been?!), my computer's name was Hermione. As in Hermione Granger, the bushy haired nerd from the Harry Potter books. Anyways, Hermione needs yet another new motherboard, a power supply and honestly paying for them when I plan on getting a new computer in December seems silly.

Goodbye dear Hermione, you were a good heating pad, a slow piece of very breakable crap that gave me anxiety attacks with every crash during the school year--but I loved you anyways because you were my piece of crap.

She officially died late last week and since then I have read 3 books: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers), Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (David Sedaris), Changing Places (David Lodge).   The Heart is a Lonely Hunter book is stunning but the tone of it is so lonely that reading it alone in your studio apartment late at night is bound to get you down. The other two were good but nothing I probably would have chosen for myself.  They just seemed like filler. Not pure fluff, not intellectually stimulating, just something to pass the time from after dinner until I go to bed.  Last night I even found myself vaguely wishing that my TV worked. Making up my own dialogs to Korean TV shows is always fun...

I want new books.

Dear Amazon (or any other bookseller that ships to Korea),
Do you want to randomly decide to hold a sweepstakes and send me 20 books of my choice? Pretty please? I'll even write reviews for your website!
Love,
A bibliophile estranged from a library.

Oh the joys of being illiterate

Friday afternoon I got an electric bill for 88,000 won (68 USD) and an official notice that looked suspiciously angry. I was confused since my electric bill is generally around 13,000 won (11 USD). I shrugged and got my co-teacher to look at it today. The company is claiming that I haven't paid my electric bill in three months and as such are threatening to shut off my power on the 15th if they haven't received payment. Which is nuts, of course I've paid my bill. Thank god I saved all of the bank receipts because when we called them just now they said that the computer has no record of my payments. Tomorrow I have to bring in all of my bank records, call them and then fax them over. What a nightmare.

Meanwhile I always feel guilty asking for help with things that I should be able to take care of on my own. It's just that the bills are so confusing with so many words that I don't know and trying to speak on the phone with someone who will shoot rapid fire questions in Korean is a bit daunting. I can ask where you are going for Chuseok but not 'I paid this what is going on?' And even if I could, I probably wouldn't understand the answers. My co-teacher doesn't mind helping me, the same way I don't mind checking over longer English documents for her but it still sucks that I can't manage on my own.

Spaz update: My toe still hurts like crazy even though there is no bruising or swelling. I'm considering going to the doctor but I would feel like such a moron. Hi, I stubbed my toe and it hurts. How? Oh, I walked into my bookcase. And honestly, it's not like there is some medical miracle for curing particularly stubborn cases of stubbed toes.

A New Principal, Spaz Attack

We got a new principal for the start of the semester. In the USA, people tend to stay at the same school for several decades. In Korea, you can't stay for more than 5 years at one school and you are often forced to teach a different subject/year every year within that school. So much for fine tuning lesson plans over the year and getting comfortable with an age group. Tomorrow night we are having an official welcoming party.  It's not like I have better  plans but  Friday nights are sacred. My priorities are a red meat dinner, chocolate, a beer, and some serious R and R.  A couple of the new teachers this semester have struck up conversations with me (yay for my Konglish skills) but generally, staff functions are a bit lonely for me.  On the plus side, there is guaranteed to be a plethora of food and booze which does meet two of my Friday night requirements. Does the new principal speak English? Who knows.

Spaz attack:
1. My lovely cut tongue is a bit infected. I can't exactly but Neosporin in my mouth so I bought some mouth wash and am using it a few times a day which seems to be helping.

2. Last night I stubbed/rammed my second smallest toe into the bottom of a bookcase. It's still seriously painful though it doesn't seem broken. I think I just bruised the bone.

Random: I went to the school library today to take out a kid's book to practice my Korean. It's called 고래 똥 향수 or Whale Poo Perfume. It's a little hard for me but I should be able to get through it with a dictionary. They don't seem to have any REALLY beginner books, probably because we don't have a kindergarten program.

Bring on the whale poo!