The wonders of Airsoft and understanding the Restrictions.

As a military enthusiast, I had been deeply involved in the study and understanding of both military methodology and tactics, and a student of firearms and equipment used by modern militaries since the First World War; well, perhaps not THAT deep, its a cool subject matter and I enjoy following games, books and even the news on such things even if they aren't too appealing and might become something more in today's changing world.  Despite what the new's says, I still enjoy a good bout of wargames with friends or running around a paintball field and blasting with like-minded people, but here, in South Korea, things are a little different.

 Originally, I wanted to bring over my Paintball gear, having only recently been involved with Paintball back home, I was hoping to take my new interest with me, as Paintball is not only fun, but a very active and endurance testing sport. I had searched the interwebs and found a few places in Korea that do have fields and read a number of bits of information that tell you how to involve yourself, get your gear sent over, and enjoy the awesome sport of Paintball. That was the plan...however, plans change, and nothing originally thought of may survive what reality throws at you.

No sooner had I considered the possibility of shipping Paintball Markers when I had began to figure the actual cost of doing such a sport would be. How much would it cost to ship a marker over, let alone where could I get the CO2 needed for it, the bigger problem was the fact that it was illigal to even OWN CO2 for civilian use, so that instantly shot the Paintball idea down before I could even start to think about it, however, not all was lost. I decided to step back and involve myself in a sport that Anime has shown me to be quite popular in Japan and Korea; Airsoft.

Airsoft, like Paintball, is a military-simulated (MiLSim) game with similar principles; running around and blasting your opponent while trying to keep your team/flag/base defended. Airsoft differ's heavily from Paintball on the main factor of WHAT you use. While Paintball's are near ball-bearing size balls of paint, Airsoft uses small plastic BB's around 6mm in size, and while you might carry large pods to store 500 or so paintballs on a person at a time, BB's can be stored in the several hundreds to almost thousands in Magazines, Ammo Drums and Box Mags, not only that, but without needing a large hopper for those paintballs and instead using the original magazine design, it takes away the hardship of carrying large stores of ammo in unconventional belts and vest holsters and free's up your sights to mount more customization all over your firearm. The only real similarity is that Markers and "Blasters" (Airsoft term for their weapons) are often the same type of weapons; the latter having more Military-esq styles while the former is a mixture of military and sci-fi-looking "Speed Ball" Markers, and that's were things start to change. With Airsoft, you can worry a lot less about messing your good clothing or needing heavy protection despite the BB's travelling almost almost 50-150 PSI more than a Paintball Marker, they don't hurt nearly as much as a Paintball hitting you.  (Paintball often plays at 150-250 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) while Airsoft plays at 300~ PSI). Remember I mentioned how CO2 is illegal, well, most airsoft gun use electricity from batteries, which are quite easy to get and martian, so you can have a lot more fun with a lot less risk involved with CO2, and since Airsoft balls fly a lot faster, using electrical charges for your blaster means you can place a battery inside the firearm, negating any bulky outcrops from the CO2 tank.

Recently, I had stumbled upon certain forum known as Airsoft Korea and found a slew of information on Airsoft meets and classifieds. After some searching, I found a meet to be rather close to where I live last Sunday, I decided to check it out at Yangjae field at Maebong line.3. After a near hour long trip, and a slight confusion with bus and taxi getting to the spot, I met up with the dude I had spoken to, Lim, or as he was known on the forum, Picky.

Picky was donning a Woodland camo scheme, a pretty sharp looking gentlemen as he lead me down a path and then up and around a small farm hovel to a wooded area where several other guys were hanging around. It felt like a small militia had gathered for fire-drills as everyone was wearing Modern Kaki Desert Camo fatigues and such.

This is my gun
Their are many like it
But this one is mine.
(temporary of course)

It was quite an experience to see such a heavy military interest bread into these guys, but considering there is a mandatory Military Enlistment at the age of 19 for all South Korean males. It makes some sense considering the countries history and location, but that's not the subject of this blog. Anyway, having arrived and quite excited to begin, I was amazed at what Picky had in store for me in terms of equipment. Shooting glasses (lab goggles to say the least), a combat vest for magazines, and the 'piece de resistance'; an MP5 that looks like one and feels a LOT lighter. The ammunition was plentiful as well, not only easier to carry it was, but 6mm BB's are quite tiny and don't really weigh too much either. You can carry quite a lot of them easily and hold them for much longer than any paint-projectile; definitely a lot easier than paintball.

Blaster's aside, the group had a rather large collection of varying Airsoft-arms, notice a common theme? Many of them are American types (with a few exceptions of German and Belgium) and many are well tended and often debated over by others; big boys love their toys right?


Once we got ourselves sorted, had a few snacks and drinks, we made our way into the brush. Sadly, due to the nature of the game and the speed it goes, I didn't really take many photos, but I can safely say that for anyone who had shunned away from paintball, Airsoft is a whole new ball game.

The balls for one are tiny little pellets, for those who have worked with BB, you'd be in familiar territory, the pint size pellets may fly faster than paintball, but they hardly hurt, and I can say that from experience as I fought one round without a sweater and was nailed in the arm by several shots; it felt less painful than even a mosquito bite, easy to walk off and with little fuss. Suffice to say, Airsoft seemed to play a very positive fiddle n my mind, and after a few hours of gaming (from like 10-1230) I had been engrossed so much to the fun of it that I wanted to do it again...and again... and again. I was fortunate that Picky had said they meet every Sunday in the same place at the same time, now its only a matter of hammering down a bus route to get there that ills my pure blissful adventure to the wonderful world of airsoft battling.

Until next time readers, stay happy and healthy, the weekend awaits!

Traffic and banking is all for the children.

Perhaps an odd moment to take time to overview something I've been experience since I arrived in South Korea, but I've noticed traffic here to be quite...different than from back home on a number of occasions. Though people seem to want to get from point A to point B just as quickly as those back home, the difference is, people seem to be a bit more cautious, if not slightly reserve compared to North American drivers. For the most part, honking seems to be just that, honking; it means little more then a 'hey, what you doing' and everyone seems to abide by it without much of a fuss. Another thing that surprises me is how focused everyone is while driving. Sure, you get people not really paying attention and a quick honk gets them, but the many near misses I've seen of potential accidents proves just how careful and attentive drives are here. That being said, Buses's seem to be the exception.

In the words of a friend, Buses Don't give an F, literally, they don't. I've seen buses blitz through red lights, make wide turns before the light changes, and just general not show much consideration towards the other drives on the road. Perhaps its a cultural thing, buses carrying people and being these lumbering behemoths of metal are easily able to impose their superior strength to other drivers and vehicles on the road, demanding their respect abet forcefully on those around them. It also helps the buses themselves aren't as large as North American types so they can get away with a few cut corners and violent movements.

Bikers too, those who ride on motor-scooters to do delivers, which is another major thing in South Korea, don't often abide either, but it takes a different kind of crazy to be willing to drive something like that through the streets of Seoul. Cyclists are far and few, keeping to the bike paths here and there, so it makes me feel better knowing they don't want to mess around in such dangers as the traffic grid in South Korea.

I also found that accidents are very, very rare. Though I mentioned near-misses before, the likelyhood of an accident seems apparent daily, but people seem quite capable and focused to dodging one another near the last second. However, even with the best of luck and skill they show, there are accidents. A few days ago, when the first rainy day, I was coming home from work and noticed a few people standing at the corner with police officers. Looking into the street, I saw this:

Smallest tow-truck ever!

For the first time since I got here, I was able to see an aftermath of an accident; and this wasn't just a fender bender either. Most notably, the tow truck here is a lot smaller than I expected it to see, considering most people buy luxury cars here (though SUV's aren't common here, so I guess it works.)

I noticed the police talking to the drivers of the cars, probably getting the info on the crash as I crossed the street to get to where I had to go, snapping two shots of the cars themselves and could see the                                                                    damage was present; not extensive, but present.

its only a scratch

 The second thing I found interesting was how they mark out an accident, they draw lines where the cars were after the crash, why? I'm not too sure, perhaps it's to help with insurance, but whatever the case, it's still cool.

Marking the scene of the crime...

That's just one other thing about Korea I noticed, you don't often see accidents or crime for that matter, but when it happens, even if it's not a serious issue, it's taken quite seriously. It goes in tandem with my Embassy trip to get my Alien Registration (ARC) card, which I have received and now carry around with me.

I've also recently came across another major issue Expacts must deal with, banking, and preparing your international banking for your job (to be paid) and just in general to have.
Going to the bank sounded rather simple, and quite welcoming to English speaking teachers (as most of the clerks seem to be very good at it) when spoken about with my fellow foreign teachers.

All banks run the same method for providing accounts for foreigners, some better than others, it depends on what people say. I personally went with KEB as most of my co-teacher use it and spoke well of its services, and considering there is one only a few blocks away, I decided to go with it.

Once you decide which bank, there are a few things you will need. First, and most important is your ARC, that is always going to be a must-have with any sort of financial (or phone) operation. You will also need your phone number and address (I didn't know mine, but the clerk lady who helped me was able to bring it up once I gave her my ARC, which is pretty cool, but also a bit unsettling how they can access it like that.)

You can go for a saving account, which for KEB is known as a 'Rainbow' bank account, since many banks deal with foreigners, they often know what you need. Another major thing that is a good thing to do is to have a remittance account, which is a 'add-on' to the basic account you'll pick up. This requires a few other components to access it, but I'll get to it later. For now, lets deal with your primary account.
Once you sort out the details, they will ask if you'd want a debit card or not, go with it, it's a good idea. Lastly there is also the choice of how much you wish to transfer daily. They have a pretty high number of their limit, but considering my pay and such, I think 5,000,000 Won (5,000) would be sufficient.)

The Remittance account (or Easy One as KEB calls it) is what you require to transfer money to your Canadian/American/British bank account back home. You will need your Bank Address, City and Country, The bank IBAN (International Banking Number, which is located on the upper section of your bank statements (can be seen on the online version of it too if you have one), BIC number (next to the IBAN number) your account number to transfer the money to, and a your passport. Once that's all done, your accounts should be connected within a few days and you'll be able to transfer money over, for a fee of course. I hear they also have online banking, but I hear it can get a tad complicated so I think I'll just stick to managing it through their ATM's which apparently can do EVERYTHING from withdraw and deposit to transfer money and pay bills, wicked!

My week of teaching has also been full of great experiences, especially since we had the first field trip. The Kindy kids and teachers went to a play park known as Cocomongo Eco Park; a small amusement park-like place without the roller coasters. It was quaint, probably no bigger than a small apartment store, packed with fun child-oriented activities such as play-gyms, go-karts, slides, inner tube's and interior play parks with matted floors and walls, just like the old days of Kids Zone back home when it was around.
I enjoyed my time there, being with my class, having them go around the play area and enjoying themselves was a pretty good feeling to have and an awesome experience to share. I know that sort of thing helps kids bond with their teacher, especially if he's willing to be the monster in a game of chase, RAWR!

The only regret I have is allowing my kids to clamber over me, I was not a happy camper during school which we had to go back to in the afternoon (did I mention I still had to teach a full class load till 6? Not fun when you're both tired and sore.)
Either way, the experience was rewarding and I don't regret going one bit

Pro tip, those characters are all based off food!

I look forward to teaching these kids, to nurtrue and care for them and instruct them on the proper ways of the English Language. They are smart, creative, active and very curious, all nuttyness as children aside, their wonderful, and I cannot wait to see where I can lead them and what they will show me.

The Subways of Seoul and Hobby Interest.

Seoul has probably one of the most diverse and expansive subway system's I've ever seen, coming close in line with Tokyo and even New York and Boston. It certainly shows just how small Toronto's subway is for a city that can establish such a long range of locations and easy access through subways with minimal difficulty transferring between lines. 

Today I had decided to check out a number of shops to buy stuff for my modeling gear. Due to some issues with gluing, I need to locate a glue-remover to try and repair the damage done to the figure, and after hopping to blogs of other Expats, I found a few locations to try.

The first is E-mart, a large scale and quite common super-market that sort of follows suit with Wal-Mart or Target in terms of sheer quantity and diversity of materials and produce they sell. Having went to the one very close to me at Jukjeon Station (only a few stops away) I found they had a massive assortment of things, but couldn't find the exact thing I needed. I did however walk away with a nice vacuum, a thermos and a few other nick knacks I've needed for my apartment, but still no glue remover.

The second place I tried is JoyHobby, a hobby store a bit of a ways away at Shindorim Station, having found it on this helpful forum post, I decided to check it out, though I knew it would take some time considering it would be a two hour trip there and back. So after making a Tuna, seaweed and egg yoke sandwich, I was off.

So they run on Windows too?

The trip started from Yapta, taking me down the Yellow (Bundang) Line all the way to the Green Line at Seolleung Transfer station, and from there a straight shot to Sindorim. It wasn't too bad actually the subway ride was smooth, playing some music and majon on my phone as I watched the world of Seoul pass me by. I noticed a few dilapidated buildings on the way, old town-houses long since abandoned, broken windows and exposed insides. I was quite curious, but not too willing to make a detour to a place I had no clue about. Soon enough, I arrived at the station, and making my way through the exit as stated on the website, I found myself staring down the long hallway to to the Techno Mart; the awesomeness had yet to be seen as I walked down the rather prestine stone hallway towards the double doors of the shopping mall.

As you can see, this place is quite packed, and by the looks of it, quite new, if not very ritzy in its design; statues of famous sculpures line the left side of the hallway, dotting a small fountain as water jetted from small lamp-lit holes. I had almost seemed to enter some fantasy world...and then I saw the mall itself.

Electronic CENTRAL!

I don't think I've ever seen so many electronic shops and vendors in my life; it was like I stepped into a whole other district, another side of Korea and quite potentially the coolest place I've seen, but that was just the icing on the cake, the real fun was three floors up, at a little store called Joy Hobby.

The first signs I was nearing my destination was the faint smell of plastic glue, perhaps it was just me, but I swore I caught a wiff of it on the way up before I was met by rows and rows of displays...all housing various models, figures, and then some.

As you can see, this was not any ordinary hobby story, this place was DEEP into it. Yesterday (Friday) I had went to a Forgeiner Bar known as Travelers bar, getting into a conversation about the comics and models scene in Korea, and apparently, its huge.

This of course makes all the more reason when I see rows and rows of figures posed for display. I guess you can say I'm fascinated by these figures, a lot of detail, dedication and patience goes into crafting them, the benefit however of most Japanese/Korean (though most tend to be Japanese) figures and model kits is they often don't require glue and are 'snap-together' models, hence like Gunpla or Gundam Models, it just varies on the complexity of the pieces, the detail and size of the model as well as how many bells and whistles it has, and don't get me started on how massive THAT sort of figure building is, its a following in on itself.

Man figures awaited me, from Gundam  to modern and Second World War fighting vehicles. A few lesser known animes even had their shine as I found several armoured core figures, even purchasing my own from Armoured Core 4. I tend to like the designs of that series a lot more and will have much fun building them in the coming weeks.

 Suffice to say, I spent a good hour there, a trip taking the same amount of time was definitely worth it, and I could easily see myself wanting to return and check out what else the store has. Oh, and as for the glue remover, I was fortunate to find a very good epoxy remover with similar use for getting rid of Loctite, and loctite-like glues off of models.

So, with my day of shopping done, I leave you with probably the biggest model I ever seen, and rightly so, this was something the German Army had built in World War 2, Bloody Artillery train (not actual name.)

The coming week will be my third here in South Korea, I am ready once more to go head long into the breach and teach kids English, many new skills have been learned and are still being perfect, but with my comfort of this new place rising steadily, I can safely say I will be fine here.

Stay tuned readers!

Through the Breach - First Week COMPLETE!

    Well, its come and gone, the first real trials of my being here in South Korea and for the first time in a very long time, I can safely say I'm beat. The first week of teaching has shown me quite a few things I still need to learn and perfect to truly get the best of my abilities crafted into becoming the super best teacher than I can be. Most of my class are pretty easy, the real trick however is just managing the time and organizing assignments, can get quite overwhelming considering some classes have tests far and few while others often have tests almost every other day! Test's aren't easy, teaching English requires a mix of sternness of with a hint of joy and entertainment. As one of my teachers put it, "Enterdication", the mixture of Entertainment and Education. Oddly quirky to hear, but a good mentality of what the teachers at my Hogwan want to do. I've heard many horror stories, but I can safely say that my school is one that puts the kids first and wants them to succeed.Now, with a week done, there is much I've got to consider to adjusting my own paper work, from class schedules to how to handle the students, all of which will continue to be developed and crafted to the best possible style of handling a classroom.


Perhaps by fate, or more of a reward for my hard work, I had been told earlier that my Recruiter from SeoulESL wanted to meet this weekend. We were going to a park near Yeouinaru Station, a rather pretty place to be, despite being yellow grassed and littered with sleeping Cherry Blossom trees. According to Nicky, the park and street nearby will look beautiful during the spring, so I have to make a chance to go and see it, perhaps even Bicycle out there as it has a bicycle lane going through the park itself. 

An hour ride through the subway later and I ended up at the park, a nice little place, having picked up a throw blanket for 10 bucks in a shop, I was ready to sit out in the slight bitter cold of the Saturday mid-day. Sadly, I don't have many pictures of the park itself, suffice to say, nothing like hanging with a bunch of Canadian, American and British men and women who like to strike up conversations on news, drugs, and insanity shenanigans that have always been fun to be a part of. Everyone there seemed nice, shared some drinks, some food, and got quite plastered on the traditional drink, Soju, a rice brew like Sake, but a little milder, to have a good time.

It didn't end there though, a little later, we went out to a FISH market.


As you can figure, with fish being a major import and export of Korea, there were quite the selection of fishy delights for all kinds, from shrimp and prawns to live fish and squid, everything for everyone and quite a nice bit too. We enjoyed a nice spread of food in a nearby restaurant that caters to people who buy from the fish market, and were given even more Soju and fish, and after a fun and exciting evening, I settled myself and went on home.

Now, another thing I really like about Korea is how open and friendly the natives are. On my trip back, being as drunk as I was, I had dozed off on the subway heading back to the line I needed to transfer to. When I woke up, I realized I had passed my station, ending up on Ogeum Station when I needed to get to Suseo, but reading the partial English map, found it to not be that far away. So a quick skip and jump and I lept off the train. Climbing the stairs brought me to a bit of a conundrum, there were TWO Sets of stairs going down, and though I was looking around, a Korean Native came over and asked me if I was lost. I showed him on my map where I had to go and he pointed me in the right direction there after.

Thanks Korea Man!

Again, the kindness of Korea's is second to none and I for one am glad someone took the time to help me out. Once I got home, I hit the sack, and now, with Sunday coming to a close, its on to my second week of class!

Subtle hurdles for living in a Foreign country.

So, I've settled into my residence for a few days now by the time I'm writing this, and I can safely say that I've spent at least 2-300 bucks (300,000 won) on items for the residence I'm living in. No offense to the prior tenant, but he didn't leave me with much to work with. Despite a few culinary bits, plates, pots, pans and the assorted utensils, I was more or less left with the clothing on my back, and the mass of supplies I brought with me; no worries on that part, I CAME PREPARED! I had enough clothing, bed sheets, toiletries and slippers to last (slippers are another big thing as you always wear them in your home.)

Setting my apartment wasn't easy to be honest, I had no clue how to manage a few major things; number one was the lack of hot water when I tried to take a shower the following morning of moving in. It wasn't pleasant, but there was little I could do as my internet wasn't access able (yeah, wasn't told the pass code and forgot my wire cable at home thinking I didn't need it.) I've come to realize however that many places such as malls and a few coffee shops will have unhindered free-wifi. The misconception of 'free wifi' here is that you need to log into it with your ID card which I did not have. (i'll get to that later) but thanks to some hard searching, I found that the major shopping mall near my apartment and a waffle shop have free public wifi. I was able to send a picture to my Recuriter who was more than happy to provide me with the proper method of accessing hot water.

Yeah, let me touch on that real quick; my internet wasn't accessible at the moment, I had no clue what the pass code was and it wasn't something I could get easily. I hadn't been told by the last tenant and due to the weekend being the time I settled in, the Director was unable to reach me as I also didn't have a working phone. Fortunatly, I've been able to go to the local stores nearby and purchase a 10 meter wire for the network, but its poor quality compared to the wireless functionality, but its all I got to work with until I figure out the pass code.

Anyway, after some tinkering and a few conversations with my recruiter, I got the idea on how to work my water system. Apparently, this little gizmo manages not just your hot water, but the heating of the apartment. Unlike Canada, Korea uses floor heating with hot water pumped from the systems into pipe work beneath the floor. This adds a very comfortable level of warmth, but at the same time lacks the air quality and enveloping warmth of a Heating/AC system like you find elsewhere.. and this causes some serious problems.

Especially since I didn't expect was the mold.

Mold...EVERYWHERE!
Apparently, due to the humidity and the way most Korean homes are designed with heating through their flooring, they lack the same quality air control that North American homes have, in this response, two things radically different tend to happen. 1: people will clean with windows wide open, even in the winter, for better airflow, and 2: mold will ALWAYS grow, no matter how new the building is. There are methods to reduce it, keeping your room/home heated and the exhaust/AC you have running always. Its a bit of a nuisance on energy but it saves for dealing with Mold in the long run. I am fortunate to say that my school is providing a cleaning team to come in this Saturday and clean up the mess and mold, so hopefully for the year I won't have to deal with it.

That said, there is one last thing I want to talk about; Alien ID. I mentioned it before that it was something I needed to get, and let me say its quite important having it. Both Korean Citizens and Foreign residence need to possess an ID card of sorts, almost like a drivers license, but this allows you to connect to the internet in public places, use the hospital, and of course get a bank account, which is why its important that you get it for the school.
I went to get it today, and found that it was quite the hectic experience, so let me play out what people should do so when they go they can figure things out.

First and foremost, you need to have done a Medical check IN KOREA prior, this is important as they send you a sealed envlope with your information. You then need the recommendations from your school (which say you work there) as well as provide an application form which the school gets for you. A pass-port style picture (the one's I mentioned in my earlier post) come into play here as your recruiter will send them to you. Lastly, you need a PHOTOCOPY and the ACTUAL copy of your passport, but you can get that at the Immigration office in Seoul.

When you arrive, the first thing I was told to do was take a ticket number from the Alien Registration section of the ticket giving machine. This is very important as the numbers go up VERY fast. We had run into a guy who had number 07, while I had number 92, so you can see its a very long wait and is always crowded with people, especially since the place opens at 9am and I got there at 915. Once you have your ticket, you have to pay for the ID. This costs at least 30,000 Won (30 bucks for pick up) or 36, 000 Won (36 bucks For Delivery). Once you have the rec pit for the payment, you take it, your photocopies and everything else to the main room where, if you're lucky, your number will come up.
Once it does, after a rather long wait, it only takes a few moments to hand over the paper work, passport, photocopy of passport, receipt of payment, medical check (Mind you, in a SEALED envelope) and of course your application. Once that's done, a two week waiting period meets you and of course, a finger-print scan and then you're done!

Sounds easy? Perhaps, but in reality it isn't. Pictures weren't on my mind when I was there, but its not as complex as people might think; just long lines, no real help, and a rather annoying sense of urgency.

Either way, we got it done, and now, after my third day is done, I plan to sleep.

Night!

Settling in to Bundang and Orientation

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Tomorrow I begin my full fledged career as a teacher and cast away my happy-free life. Much has come to pass since my beginnings in this type of field, dating back to the first time I decided to become a teacher. Its hard to really explain how I feel, nervous, excited, its a mixture, and I know that this experience, from start to finish, will be a very helpful and beneficial one.

For those who've still followed me, this is certainly a big leap for me, even after going through the motions and prep-work, I'm still filled with butterflies in my gut to what's going to unfold here in the next couple of weeks. However, this didn't just happen right off the bat, much had gone on in the prior week to settle myself with the school I will be teaching at.

To start off, its called Trinity Junior School, a small academy or Hogwan located in Bundang, near Yapta station just south of Seoul. Its a quaint establishment with 5 native Korean teachers and 5 Foreign teachers. It holds several modest size classrooms, a gym, a small library, a teachers room and a kitchen, there are also bathrooms for the children as well as a reception desk and back office for the administration. The school primarily teaches Kinder level students, but also supports Elementary level from within TJS's own system (Kinder who remain and graduate to Elementary Level within the school) as well as outside students from Public Elementary Schools who wish to study English. The school itself provides a very comfortable environment for them to learn and work with English, and with many resources, projects and activities from them to partake in, they can truly practice the skill. I believe one of my co-workers noted that we're doing a major favor for these children, several years down the line, they will be so fluent in English, they will do drastic things for their family and their economy. English in itself isn't a hard language, there are difficulties in grammar and phonics as well as spelling, but it's slowly becoming commonly accepted, and is considered a very Business Oriented language, which is why so many counties demand their students to learn it.

I feel I'm doing a very good thing for these kids, and I look forward to becoming someone important and influential in their lives. I will do my utmost to care and educate them and try to find as many creative ways possible to do so.

Until next time, keep reading!

Japan and its Temples

From the time I write this, I am currently settling into my personal residence in Budang near Yapta station in South Korea, just a short subway ride South of Seoul. I had much to think about from the time I posted my blog on my first day in Japan till now, partly because I've been so busy with going out and seeing the countries we've traveled to, because think about it, do you want to sit behind a computer or explore new surroundings?

Suffice to say, things were quite interesting, aside from diving into the Ancient Japanese culture of temple worship and such, I found a rather interesting connection between the people and their faith. This sort of thing has been going on for many many years since the early 600's to the waring states era to modern times. To see that entire parks and plots of land cared and conserved for these temples, let alone the attendance is shocking.

Meijin Shrine Entrance

We went to Meiji Shrine for our first temple visit, one of the important temples to the Emperor and still considered sacred even to this day. Massive gates welcome you into the area, wandering through the beautiful greenery of the park surrounding the temple, you can always forget you're in the city when you walk through the calmness and serenity of these parks, eventually making your way to the temple grounds themselves deep inside (past a bathroom or two at least).

Love that bamboo

Before you enter a temple however, and this seems to be common throught Japan's numerious temple sites. Purification of your hands and mouth is a must, and these little fountains come loaded with small spoons to pour water onto your hands and to drink before you enter the temple grounds. Bear in mind, photography in parts of the temple grounds were prohibited, so I didn't get a lot of pictures of the actual temple, but did get the courtyard and a few other things to show you.

These wooden plaques, known as Ema; tablets for prayers of gratitude and have wishes  people ask from the deities of the temple and park to come true. Its pretty cool. We wished all the best for our friends and family.


As we wound our way around the courtyard, we were able to witness two impressive events; one was the withdraw of the monks and priests of the temple after their services, and a wedding ceremony, just a few interesting things to see that you don't often do back home.

Its traditional stuff like this that make the trip and culture far more interesting than anything seen before. I know precession for weddings and such are quite formal and sometimes a little more reserved, but you watch a bride and groom in garb perhaps a little less flaunt than what we'd see back home, a few close associates, shrine maidens and monks walking the newly weds (and parents I think) through a courtyard with a parasol, its kinda mystical, if not far more magical to watch and witness.

 One last thing to note, and I found this to be one of the coolest, apparently, each temple has their own stash of wine and sake for special occasions, and when I mean stash, I mean STASH! I was mind blown by how many barrels of the stuff they had lining the park exit, and the decorative barrels for the sake really drew my attention. You just don't see that kind of thing back home...man...Japan is pretty darn cool!
 

I can safely say the entire trip to Japan was well worth, and though this blog is more towards my teaching experience in South Korea, I can still place a few good words to a trade mark location I've been dying to go to for a very long time.