Let's go Pirates!

How do you get a bunch of Korean students to fall asleep really quickly? Put on the Superbowl on the Monday morning after a week-long break. I thought I was doing them a favor by not having class on the first day back from their Lunar New Year holiday. At one point I counted 18 out of 20 heads down, fast asleep.
I guess it was still a win-win though. The other 2 students and I enjoyed watching, and all the others got some sleep in I guess. From time to time their heads would arise. At the halftime show, almost all of the heads were up.
I'm convinced that one of the students, who happens to never pay attention during class, was really into the game. In the first picture, it's the guy in the back right corner. Even though he doesn't speak much English, I'm pretty sure he knows something about American football. He was cheering for the Packers right alongside me.

All in all, it was a good morning. Taylor and many of the other teachers also showed the Superbowl in their classes.

At one point, a student from another class came running in and said "Let's go Pirates." What he meant to say was "Let's go Steelers!" But as we all know, the most deserving time won. Yeah, Packers!

Haircut in Daejon

We have the week off for Lunar New Year (a big deal in Asia) and it has been so wonderful! This past weekend we took the girl's basketball team to Seoul to compete in a tournament. We lost and had a whole bunch of injuries but we still had a good time. I wish I had pictures but I couldn't find my camera before we left for Seoul.

We just got back from a day trip to Daejon. Daejon is where the nearest Costco is. Click here to read about our first Costco trip in Korea. What was meant to be a shorter trip turned into an all-day adventure as we drove around and looked for a huge yummy bakery that Rachael had recommended as well as an Italian restaurant. Those were never found. We also attempted to find a hair salon that I found online that actually spoke English! That was never found either. We ended up finding another hair salon that did the job just fine.

This was at the beginning of the haircut. All I wanted was a trim but I got a lot more than that. I was planning on growing my hair out until it got warmer then chopping a lot off but it still has time to grow before it gets warm.

Did I mention that NO ONE at this place spoke English? Well, that's not entirely true. Between the 2 girls that washed/cut/dried my hair, I think I heard maybe 5 words of English- "Cut? Natural curl? Beautiful." Good thing I had a picture of what I wanted. I tried telling the girls that I have thick hair but I don't think they understood until it was time to blow dry. All of a sudden, two people with 2 blow dryers were surrounding me. I like this picture because the girl on the left was trying to make herself look picture perfect when she saw Taylor pull out the camera. It was a funny moment.

I was definitely nervous about not being able to communicate what I wanted, but in the end, I was very very pleased. This haircut is just like one I got last year in the States, except for the difference in price. Today's haircut, everything included was 12,000 Won, which is roughly $10.80. I paid almost $50 last year for the same cut in the States. We've found many things in Korea to be overpriced but haircuts are definitely not one of them.

Overall, the haircut was a success!

Hello, Hello

I had to post this video. This is a little taste of what we hear in all the stores/malls etc. This is one of the many pop groups here, called K-Pop. The group is Shinee. Whenever I see their faces plastered over every window advertisement, I can't help but think that Korea is about 10 years behind with their boy band craze. They also have girl bands. Enjoy the video. The song is catchy.

Fast forward to about 20 seconds to see the video.

Nagasaki

Life is all about perspective. I am currently sitting in the Fukuoka airport waiting for our flight back to Seoul and I am still amazed at the people I have the privilege of seeing. One reason for that is because I am sitting on the ground, not the seats. This was the nearest plug that we could find. It also happens to be next to the trashcan that screams, “Yes!” and “No!” at us to ensure we do not throw away our trash in the wrong container. One side is for burnable trash; the other is for cans or bottles. If I mess this one up who knows what could happen! In the last 15 minutes a man has walked past twice at a range so close that I could kick him, a boy was amazed that I was using a computer, and the same man that was staring at me (Ashley thought he was in love) has passed us by twice. The invasion of personal space and the constant staring has become a normal thing for me since I have been in Asia. In order to be comfortable with all of this you must come with the right perspective. The first time I came to Japan, I failed. This second trip turned out to be a much better experience.

I am not sure if I can describe the moment when Ashley and I discovered it was a national holiday in Japan on Monday morning. We were 30 minutes into our second journey to Japan when the guard at the Korean consulate pointed to a sign that told us the consulate was closed. Our reaction was not frustration, but joy! I still remember coming back to the hotel excited that we would get to spend one more day in Japan. I am not sure if I would have reacted the same way when we came a month ago. This time, I knew that Japan was going to be expensive, so I prepared mentally for that. Although the school had not researched the Japanese holidays very well, they did take care of us. They rebooked the flight and extended the hotel stay another night. I am very thankful to have a school that would watch after us.

Most people might think that we have bad luck or have a curse because all of this stuff keeps happening while we are trying to get our visas. Well guess what- I have my visa and I got a three day vacation with my wife! With all of the schoolwork we have to do, the extension of our trip to Japan was a gift from God.

Since we had a day to kill, we took advantage of our time and took a trip south to Nagasaki. Yes, this is the same city that the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on. The bomb was dropped only 66 years ago. How do you recover from something that completely leveled 1/3 of a city destroying steel factories, schools, hospitals, businesses and most importantly people? It was hard to swallow the fact that the country I was from was responsible for so much destruction. After touring the Atomic Bomb Museum, walking through the Peace Park and seeing this beautiful city many of my thoughts about Japan, Korea, and the U.S. have changed.

Many of my students seem to express their anger for all things relating to Japan because from 1910-1945 Japan invaded and colonized Korea. While living here in Korea, I have heard claims by the Korean people that the Japanese forced Korean men and women to learn the Japanese language, to work in labor camps, and many women were forced to sleep with Japanese men. Many of these claims are true and I read a news article that discussed how just recently (within the last 10 years) Japanese comic books were permitted to be sold in Seoul. I was also shocked to learn that a large number of Koreans had been moved to Japan for labor purposes and many thousand of them died in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb went off. Many Koreans ask for an apology from Japan and claim that no apology has been given for the 35 years of colonization. After finding a monument made for the Korean people with an apology written I thought I would show it to my class. They have told me they just want an apology, but would that really satisfy them?

After showing them the monument constructed for the Koreans who died in the blast, they said it was not enough. I knew this would be the case, but maybe this helped them realize something. Would an apology from Japan really heal their family wounds? Would they ever truly forgive the Japanese people for what they have done? Being a white American I have not had to experience another country oppressing my race. Maybe I don’t understand, but can we justify hate? Do two wrongs make something right? We can try and justify hate, but if we do, the the cycle will never end. With each new experience that I encounter I feel that I am learning more and more about the love and forgiveness that God shows us. When Jesus died on the cross at the hands of men, he had every right to show hate to those that put him on the cross. Instead he chose to forgive their sins and love them. I want to live my life like this.

At 11:02 am on 8/9/1945 the atomic bomb exploded 500 meters above this spot. The black stone monolith marks the hypocenter. This is located in the International Peace Park.

The child in this sculpture is supposed to represent Japan on the day of the atomic bombing, while the mother represents the support provided by the countries of the world in Japan's efforts to rebuild the nation into a peaceful nation.

This is the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, nicknamed "Fatman."

The fountain is in the shape of a pair of wings, meant to evoke the dove of peace and the crane after which Nagasaki harbor has been named, because of its similarity to the shape of the harbor.

Words from the Sculptor:

After experiencing that nightmarish war,
that blood-curdling carnage,
that unendurable horror,
Who could walk away without praying for peace?
This statue was created as a signpost in the struggle for global harmony.
Standing 10 m tall, it conveys the profundity of knowledge and the beauty of health and virility.
The right hand points to the atomic bomb, the left hand points to peace,
and the face prays deeply for the victims of war.
Transcending the barriers of race and evoking the qualities of both Buddha and God,
it is a symbol of the greatest determination
ever known in the history of Nagasaki
and of the highest hope of all mankind.
-Seibo Kitamura
Spring 1955

Hello again, Japan.

We have now been to Japan twice. The 2^nd trip was MUCH BETTER than the first. The first time we were so shocked by the prices, not expecting everything to cost so much and had several disagreements on spending money. It made the trip rough. This time both of us had a much more relaxed approach, realizing that money is just money. Yes, we are still diligently working to pay off student loans, but it’s all a matter of perspective. We should be completely debt free in less than 6 months. Sometimes you just need a break. Another important thing to realize about our trips to Japan is that we did not have to pay for the flights or hotels. That’s a huge savings! We also got reimbursed for most of the money we spent on our first trip to Japan on food and transportation. I’m not sure exactly how much we spent total, but for our 2 days there, they reimbursed us about $150 in addition to paying for our round-trip flights and hotel. We’ll see how much we get reimbursed this 2^nd time around. I think that we will have to cover some of the expenses, especially since we took a day trip from Fukoaka to Nagasaki. But hey, we’ll submit all the receipts and see how much they pay us back. Even if we have to spend a couple hundred of our own money, that's not bad for a trip to Japan. Another stamp on the passport, right?

So here’s what happened on our most recent trip to Japan.

Sunday, January 9: leave Eumseong at 1:30 pm and head to Seoul. While in Seoul, we went to church and grabbed dinner before we took the cheapest way to the airport- a 1 ½ hour subway ride from the city to the airport. We decided to stay overnight in Seoul on Sunday because our flight left at 8 am on Monday and we didn’t want to wake up at 2:30 am Monday morning in order to get to the airport on time. We stayed at a guest house/hostel 2 minutes from the airport. It was actually some former apartments that had been renovated as guest rooms.

This room had space for more than 2 people. Taylor obviously isn't claustrophobic!

Monday, January 10: took the free airport shuttle at 6:15 AM. The shuttle bus passengers included us and a whole bunch of Asian flight attendants. We were informed at check-in that the flight to Japan could be cancelled or delayed because it was snowing in Fukuoka. This didn’t turn out to be a problem. The flight to Fukuoka from Seoul is right around 1 hour- you barely have time to get a drink and a meal before the plane is preparing to land. I’m actually surprised they even serve a meal. We flew Korean Air which is an excellent airline- one of the best either of us has been on. I watched part of Eat, Pray, Love (disappointing) and Taylor watched part of Scott Pilgram vs the World (he said it’s funny).

The first time we went to Japan, we exchanged money at the airport money exchange office- bad idea. They totally ripped us off by charging around $10 in service fees to exchange about $60. I remembered that when I was in Spain, the best exchange rate I got with the lowest fees was to pull out cash directly from an ATM. That's what we did this time in Japan.

Check out Taylor's face when he thought that the ATM had charged us about $35 to pull out cash (that wasn't really the case).

We arrived in Fukuoka and headed straight for the Korean Consulate only to find that they were closed for a Japanese holiday! Apparently, the HR department at our school didn't think to check for holidays...

The visa processing takes 1 day which means everything was pushed back by a day. This was a problem because we only had 1 night booked at the hotel and our flights were supposed to return the next day. We headed to our hotel to check-in and found out that Japan does not have wi-fi hardly anywhere. So we eventually found an internet café and Taylor paid 290 Yen (about $3.50 USD) to use the internet for 30 minutes (did we mention that Japan is incredibly expensive???). They wouldn’t let me go with him without paying so I stayed in the lobby and found wireless internet for free. This was it! We found the free wi-fi. For the rest of our trip, whenever we needed internet, we went to the stairwell outside the internet cafe to use the free internet.

Taylor didn’t get much done in the computer room because there was no microphone for him to call our school in Korea and let them know what was going on. Little did he know that I had found a signal for free and called the school myself from our computer (at the risk of all the front-desk people looking at me funny as I sat there and talked to myself).

We got everything straightened out with the school, they changed our flights and added an extra night onto our hotel stay, then we set out to find lunch. We went back to the main station and found a huge hallway of restaurants. One thing that's really nice about a lot of restaurants in Korea and Japan is the display cases of meals. Often, the menus aren't in English, but it is pretty easy to look at a dish and decide whether you want it or not.

Fukuoka is famous for its Udon Noodles. I got some spicy chicken peanut noodles, which were good except for the spiceness and the fact they they were cold! Taylor got some noodles in broth which he seemed to be pleased with.We found a convenience store and bought some Pockey- this is our new tradition when we come to Japan. It’s SO good!

Then we headed back to the hotel to rest. Taylor slept while I watched a Korean drama called Spring Waltz.

Before I came to Korea, I hadn’t heard of Korean dramas, but some of you may have. They’re apparently really really good. Several of the teachers here had already been hooked before they ever came to Korea. I decided to check out what all the fuss was about. I asked a co-worker which one I should watch and she said the Spring Waltz is a must-see. You can watch online for free at www.mysoju.com .So I have been watching and loving it so far. I got a couple episodes in while Taylor caught up on some sleep then we headed off to dinner.

We went to the Hard Rock Café which was a nice treat, but at a high cost. The total cost of our meal with 2 drinks, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert was 6,100 Yen- about $74 USD. I don’t think that’s quite the same price it would have been at a Hard Rock Café in the U.S.

As we were paying for the meal, Taylor asked the cashier about a bar he read about online called “The Anchor Bar”- apparently a must-see (according to people on Dave’s ESL Café). He could probably say more about it, but this is a pro-Japanese bar from WWII. It contains WWII artifacts and it is essentially a Japanese victory bar, celebrating the victories of Japan during WWII (think Pearl Harbor). He was interested in just checking it out; I was far less than interested after I saw the reaction of the cashier. We told him we were Americans and asked if he thought it was okay if we went there. He sighed a big sigh, and said, “Um, maybe it’s okay?” as more of a question rather than a statement. Lucky for me, since it was a holiday, the bar was closed! So instead we walked around the area by the Hard Rock and window shopped. I found a Gap store so I did more than window shop. I found some really great deals. I got a couple of shirts with a huge markdown. I paid about $50 dollars for 3 shirts that were originally over $200.

This sweater was originally 6,800 Yen (about $82 USD), on sale for 1900 Yen (about $22). Another sweater I got was originally 8,800 Yen ($106 USD)- who would pay that! See, I can even get a deal in Asia. I was easily able to convince Taylor to let me get them when I said I wanted to use my Christmas money to buy them. Next we headed into an arcade. We wasted a couple dollars before we realized that we could just walk around and find coins on the ground. That’s how we ended up spending about 45 minutes there and not very much of our own money at all. Finally, we went to Toys R Us and looked around. We bought a couple small gifts for the teachers that were subbing our classes for 3 days. I posed for a picture for my cousin, Macie, who loves animals.

We ended the night back at the hotel with 1 episode of Home Improvement from Season 1- classic!

Tuesday, January 12- we’ve discovered that the part of Japan we are in is way way warmer than Korea. The day we left Korea was 7 degrees Fahreinheit. Japan was probably in the mid-upper 40s; maybe even 50s? I’m not really good at judging temperature but I do know that it was a heck of a lot warmer in Japan. Our #1 goal was to get visas so we set off straight for the Consulate after experiencing Japan’s version of “American breakfast at our hotel. It consisted of a glass of milk, white bread, a roll, uncooked scrambled eggs (I could still taste the runny egg white and yolk), sausage, and fish soup.

Yes, I said fish soup. We have this in Korea, too. It’s actually made by boiling anchovies. The soup in Japan was far fishier that Korea. One sip and I was done. One other thing I noted- Japanese tea tastes better than Korean tea! I have yet to taste any tea in Korea that I like (shhhhh don’t tell them that).

After breakfast, we got to the Consulate, turned in our paperwork without any problems, paid the 9000 Yen fee for both of us ($108 USD) and were told to come back the next day to pick them up at 10 AM. Yippee.

Since we had an extra day in Japan, and more than likely this might be our last time to go to Japan (hey, we’re not gonna go on our dime), we really really wanted to go some place exciting, somewhere that was well known. I don’t think Fukuoka makes it on that list. We did some research at our free wi-fi spot (the stairwell right outside the internet café) and discovered that Nagasaki is only 150 kilometers away –about 1 hour by train, or 2 ½ by bus. After comparing bus and train prices, we decided that the bus was definitely the way to go. The price of a roundtrip bus ticket was the price of a 1-way train ticket. We were a little nervous on the bus ride there, because it rained the whole way. It was still lightly raining when we arrived so we bought an umbrella. We ate lunch in the bus station at Nagasaki. For dessert we found fish pastries (similar to the Bungeoppang we have in Korea but not nearly as good) and Bubble Tea!!

We spent the whole afternoon in Nagasaki. I am going to let Taylor blog about that in a different post.

Wednesday, January 12: Since we weren't so impressed by Japan's version of "American breakfast," we decided to try Japanese breakfast. Both of us liked the Japanese breakfast a whole lot more. I will eat a lot of things for breakfast, but fish has always been on a forbidden breakfast food list for me. Not this day.

The breakfast consisted of a cold egg spongey-thing, bland tofu, some weird vegetable-looking things, fish soup, rice, salad, and fish. After breakfast we picked up our visas from the Consulate without any trouble (yay!! Hallelu!), Our flight was rescheduled from Tuesday at 3 pm to Wednesday at 8:50 pm. We had another whole day to spend in Japan. Unfortunately, I did not bring any schoolwork, although I had plenty to do. I thought the trip would be a lot shorter than it ended up being. Taylor did bring work, but we only had 1 computer.We headed off to spend all morning/part of the afternoon in Starbucks. I was so bored.

I went back to the Arcade and hunted for more free coins. Around 3 pm, we headed off to an area of town called Canal City. Canal City is pretty much a giant mall with lots of stores. We even found a Barbie Store- but it wasn't what you expected. We didn't go in the store, but I didn't see any Barbies. What we did see was some scandalous clothing with grown women buying it. How interesting.

Taylor got noodles from "Ramen Stadium," an area on the top floor of Canal City with tons of noodle restaurants. I found a place on the bottom level that was truly an experience. Apparently, the Japanese are very serious about their noodles. This restaurant had individual stalls. Eating is almost like serious business at this restaurant- you go in and get the job done, without leaving any time for socializing. I think the point of the wall dividers between each stall is so you can truly enjoy your noodles, but I'm not sure.

The noodles were really good- that's all I know. After dinner, we found dessert of course. Taylor wanted to try this waffle-looking thing with what looked like whipped cream in the middle. Turns out is was more like yogurt and whipped cream mixed together. It was a little tart but really good!

We split one of the waffle thing so we could each get a filled crepe. That's what I had my heart set on and boy they were good!

At the end of the night, after we have reserved enough for a subway ticket back to the airport, we spent the rest of our money. One of my favorite stores in America is Lush. Fresh, handmade cosmetics, soaps, lotions, massage bars, the list goes on. The first time we ever came across a Lush store was on our honeymoon. Maybe that's why I love it so much. I have fond memories. There is one particular product I like to buy there. Although I can live without it, I don't want to. I was going to stock up before we left for Korea but after visiting their website and learning that they had stores in Korea, I decided to get it here as I needed it. One weekend in Seoul, we stumbled upon the store without even searching, only to be disappointed. Something I paid $7 for in the U.S. was now $15- more than double. I just couldn't do it. I've been telling Taylor until he finally gave in and let me go to Lush that it is destiny that we go there. Since the first encounter with Lush in Korea, we have run into Lush stores in both Korea and Japan about 4 or 5 more times. This last time in Japan I finally won! Taylor caved in. Surprisingly, the price in Japan was far more reasonable than Korea, about $9 instead of $15. I can deal with a $2 increase in price. We just chalked it up to supply and demand and went along our happy way. At least I did.

We divided the remainder of the money- I spent mine on Lush and Taylor spent all of his on a few more boxes of Pockey at the airport. That pretty much summarizes our trip to Japan, minus the day in Nagasaki. Taylor will (hopefully) be blogging about that trip in a few days.

P.S.: flights to Korea aren't terribly expensive, you know? One of the teachers here got a round-trip flight from Seoul to LAX for $850. Just wanted to throw that out there. ;-)

We love you and miss you. Let us hear from you!

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

We've made it through the holiday season. It really didn't feel too much like Christmas this year. Thank you to all the friends and family that sent Christmas cards- that was a nice touch and reminder from home. We are actually still getting a few by mail. The last few weeks leading up to Christmas were spent watching lots of Christmas movies- Elf, Home Alone 1&2, Santa Clause 1&2, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original), A Charlie Brown Christmas.

When we woke up on Christmas morning, we opened up the stockings that my mom, aunt Cathy, and cousin Nicole had sent in the mail. I was so excited to find 4 jars of Penzeys Spices.
That has to be one of my favorite stores!

Around 10 AM we invited all the other American teachers over for breakfast. Taylor's gift from me was a griddle for him to make Toad in a Hole (aka Eggs in a Basket) and Pancakes. If you've never heard of Toad in a Hole, don't worry, I hadn't either until I married Taylor. I had my first one a few months into our first year of marriage. Just ask somebody from the south- they'll know. While we enjoyed breakfast, we watched A Christmas Story.We spent the day relaxing and watching Christmas movies. After A Christmas story was the new Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Die Hard. Later on that evening, we invited everyone back for a Christmas Dinner.
I made lemon-rosemary roasted chicken (borrowed an oven from one of the other teachers), my Great Grandma Kitty's creamed corn casserole, glazed carrots, and an apple crisp. A couple other people brought mashed potatoes, rolls, and pasta.
It was a fun night. After dinner, we played a few rounds of Catch Phrase, with It's a Wonderful Life in the background. It was quite animated at times.

One of the best/funniest parts of the night was when we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Anyone who knows the true story of Jesus' birth knows that he was not born in December. More than likely it was probably around April. I won't go into the whole story now but there is a reason we celebrate his birthday in December. Some families have a tradition of actually singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas- complete with a cake and candles and everything. Allan, one of the teachers, thought he was escaping that tradition this year. Apparently his mother and aunt force him to sing every year. Rachel (holding the cake), on the other hand, was genuinely excited and enthusiastic about this celebration.

I love the expression on her face in this picture, coupled with Allan's body language. When he saw the cake and realized this was really happening, he silently shook his head with disapproval. Haha. I hope his mother does not read this blog, because I will probably be getting him in trouble. Don't mess with Italian women!

Well, that was pretty much our Christmas. New Year's Eve is tomorrow. We are thinking about going to Seoul for Christmas. To all you people back in America, we will be ringing in the New Year far ahead of you. We'll let you know how 2011 is. :)

Here's a quick look into the past couple months of our lives.

Fall Semester- 83 minute class periods 5x/Week= almost twice as much teacher prep for each week than a normal semester.
This school decided to squeeze a whole year into 1 semester, so classes are longer, there's a lot more homework, and a lot less time to get everything done. Thank goodness that will be changing next year. We are moving to a full year schedule with 2 semesters.

Fall Semester was from August-December. I taught Debate and AP Psychology to Juniors and Seniors. Taylor taught World History to 9th grade and AP World History to Juniors and Seniors.

Originally we thought we would be teaching ESL when we moved here but we soon realized that we were teaching the same classes that are taught in the states, except we have the limitation of teaching to an entire class full of ESL learners. (ESL stands for English as a 2nd language).

The first semester of teaching was EXTREMELY busy, tiring, and stressful. But we made it. Our Fall Semester ended on Wednesday, December 22. We had December 23 and 24th off and back to school with a new semester beginning on Monday, January 27. We went skiing on December 23 and the 24th was Christmas Eve of course. Who wants to do any work on Christmas Eve? So we basically began the semester without any time to plan or prepare. For some of you reading, you might be saying "I only got 2 days off for Christmas." While that may be true, I think it is unheard of for teachers. We need time to plan!!!!!!

This winter semester will only last 7 weeks. Technically it is supposed to be the same number of class hours as a normal semester, which means that each class is approximately 2 1/2 hours long, and classes go from 8:20-4:30 every day for 7 weeks. I am teaching 9th grade English this semester and Taylor is teaching Government/Global Studies.

I hope this winter semester, as well as future semesters, will not be like our first semester here. Our workdays were on average 12 hours a day. We got to school at 7:40 and worked all the way until about 9:30 every night with a few breaks in between. That was a very typical night from August-December. Weekends were full of planning and preparing for the following week.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm complaining. This job is very very demanding but it is also very rewarding. I love connecting with these students and reaching them beyond just an educational level. Through the role of a teacher, we have been able to get involved more personally in a few of their lives. We only wish that we had more time to do so.

That's a little update on us. We're still very busy during this winter semester so this blog might not be updated for awhile. We love you and miss you all. Please pray for us. We need those prayers!

Love,
Ashley and Taylor

Merry Christmas, everyone.

(sorry it looks like the voices are off from the motions- maybe it's just appearing that way on my computer)

Although it's not the same, we are finding our own ways to celebrate the Christmas Season in Korea. My students are always asking to listen to music at the end of class. Lately I've been telling them "Ok, but only Christmas music." I had to record their little performance.

I've been thinking about the Christmas season lately. In one regard, it is nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of the season. I think most Americans have lost sight of the true meaning of Christmas. For me, I am realizing that it is not just a celebration of Christ's birth but a time of being with family. We will be missing that this year. I'm beginning to realize it's something I truly cherish. I think it is a little bit harder for me to be away at Christmas than Taylor. I have realized being married to him and just meeting so many other people in college and other places that I have a somewhat unique situation. I am so blessed to have both my mom's and dad's side of the family living in the same area. That means on holidays we get to see everyone! I never had the experience of most where you have to alternate holidays or just see 1 side of the family. I got to see everyone! Now that I am older, I realize how lucky I was. Christmas morning growing up was with our nuclear family. Then we'd go over to my mom's side for mid-day/lunch; then on to my dad's side for evening/dinner.

I am realizing now more than ever, it is not even about the presents. It's the joy of your family coming together and spending time together- this is essential for me (my love language is quality time). One of my favorite Christmas memories was when all of my aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents on my dad's side of the family picked a family in need to bless. I don't remember all the details because I was young but I do remember that my uncles did construction projects around their house, my aunts bought groceries and other items the kids needed and all of us stood outside their home and sang Christmas Carols.

I challenge you to not get caught up in the business of the season. Don't be consumed with buying presents for people. Presents do not equal love. Give your time this season- give words of affirmation. Money cannot buy happiness. If it did, rich people would never commit suicide or be so miserable. I've been inspired by something called the Advent Conspiracy. Check out this video on the "Advent Conspiracy" -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

here's their website for more information: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

For more info, read this article: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/no-more-stuff-give-experiences.html

Spend less and give more (relationally).

Taylor and I want to begin a new tradition of giving experiences, rather than stuff this holiday. Do you have any creative ideas of things to give family members? For us, it is easy. We can take a trip together or find cheap/free ways to spend quality time together. But what about sisters/brothers/moms/dad/extended family? How can we give the gift of time and experience?

How can you give the gift of time to others rather than wasting time buying a gift that might be useless in 10-20 years? I challenge you to build memories with loved ones, rather than just giving "stuff".







P.S. These are the pumpkin pies I made for Thanksgiving which turned out pretty well considering that I had to modify many of the ingredients.

Arigato, Japan

Ashley and I have officially been to Japan. Here was our travel schedule for Saturday and Sunday (December 4-5):

Saturday

7:30am leave Eumseong for Cheongju

9:30am take bus from Cheongju to Incheon Airport

11:30am arrive in Incheon and check in with Korean Air

1:30pm leave South Korea for Japan

2:30pm arrive in Fukuoka, Japan

Sunday

10:30am leave Japan for South Korea

Noon arrive in Incheon and do everything all over again (but in reverse)

So as you can tell we spent less than 24 hours in Japan. Due to certain visa restrictions we needed to leave the country. We are now back in home sweet Eumseong where we are busily decorating our Christmas tree while listening to Sufjan Christmas (as if there was any other way to celebrate the holidays). Actually, live update: Ashley has stopped putting up ornaments and is now in the other room listening to different Christmas music and sipping hot cocoa.

While our plane ticket and hotel stay were covered by the school we still had to pay for meals and transportation around the city. That would not seem like a big expense if we were in Thailand. Japan is expensive. I thought Korea was somewhat expensive and then I landed in Japan. I will say that Japan is a very easy place to navigate and the main issues to watch out for are people on bicycles almost hitting you on the sidewalk and of course they drive on the left side of the road.

Looking for bike storage?

The best way I can explain the expenses would be to use the conversion of Japanese Yen to USD. Korean Won is easy to convert to USD because 1,000 won is close to 1 dollar. But, when I gave them 70,000 won ($62) they gave me 4,000 yen (I did lose about $12 in the exchange at the airport which sucks). So 1,000 yen is about $12, just remember that.

We get to the subway and pay 500 yen to get to the hotel ($6) and in Korea the subway is $2 for two people in Seoul! After arriving at the hotel we took another subway to see another part of the city, 500 yen ($6). I bought a bottle of water for 250 yen ($3) and then we got on the wrong bus which cost us 350 yen ($4). Since we got on the wrong bus we needed to take another subway to find some food, 500 yen ($6). Found some street food where we sat down and had some amazing Japanese noodles, 1000 yen ($12). We were still a little hungry and so we went for some more noodles (just one bowl this time for 400 yen or $5). Got on the subway back to the hotel which was another 500 yen ($6) and we were done. We were not only tired, but out of money...and every money exchange place was closed and none of the ATM machines I found would take my card from Korea...that is when we thought we might not make it to the airport in the morning.

Subway leaving...

...Subway coming

Well, after walking all over the city, I realized that I was using the wrong bank card so I tried the bank card from Korea that said global on the front and go figure- it worked! The only problem was I had to take out a minimum of 10,000 yen ($120). At this point I did not care and just took the money out and converted the leftover amount at home. I had given Japan around $60 of my money and had not done much so why not keep going with it! We bought some pocky (10 times better than Pepero from korea), woke up and got some seasonal Starbucks drinks with a Mcdonalds breakfast and went back to the airport.

I hate to say that money was the reason I did not enjoy Japan very much, but that was a big reason. While we are paying off loans I am still pretty tight with cash especially when I think that my money is not being used for much (ie subway fees and three noodle bowls). I am happy for the experience however because while I never want to encourage people to make poor decisions with money, sometimes you have to not clamp down so hard on the expenses. It ruins the times you spend with the people you love when you are so focused on counting every penny (sorry Ashley). Go to Japan and spend away, you will be surprised that all your money is gone in an hour!

This man wanted to help us find some food (we think)

Flipping the noodles

McDonalds and Starbucks

After getting back to the hotel, we did watch a Japanese TV show involving teenagers racing robots that they built and it was pretty cool. In the morning I used the bidet in the hotel bathroom...is that too much to share?

A little Christmas in Japan

Just a vending machine right?

Oh thats right a vending machine with beer