Jeff's School

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We wanted to share a new video with all of you since it has been a long time since our last post.  In this video Jeff films his walk to school and his experiences at school with his students.  This is a long film (25 minutes), so if you want to skip Jeff's walk to school you can fastforward to the 13 minute mark where Jeff gives a tour of his school.

Our Epic Trip to Japan

Trip to Tokyo

We had a great time in Japan as we were blessed with amazing food, scenery, friends, and learning opportunities. We were in Japan for nine days but like most vacations it went by too fast. Thankfully, Alexa’s mother was going to meet us in Korea when we returned which gave us something great to look forward too. A week before we left to Japan we learned that the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms everyday; however, thanks to the Grace of God we had blue skies everyday except for the day that we returned back to Korea (and a ten minute pour when we were in Disneyland). We also got a little nervous because Alexa got really sick the morning that we left to head to Tokyo. She could hardly leave our apartment to get on the Metro to head to the train that would bring us to Seoul. When we arrived to Tokyo, she laid in bed the rest of the evening in hope that it was just a little 24 hour stomach flu or something. Thankfully, she felt better the next day and the rest of the trip was wonderful from there on out.  In this blog, I will break down our Japan trip by the different days as a way to help me organize my thoughts with the activities that we did.

Sunday July 29th 

We left our Daegu apartment at 6:00 am to catch the subway to Dong-Daegu so that we could take the KTX train to Seoul which is only a two hour ride on the fast train. Once we got to Seoul we had to transfer to the AREX train that took us to Incheon (which was another 53 minute train ride) so that we could catch our flight to Tokyo. I had to carry all of our luggage as Alexa was extremely sick for the entire 12 hour journey from Daegu to Tokyo. We arrived to Asakusa, Tokyo before we realized that we had no directions from the subway station to our hotel. Tokyo is the largest city in the world and it only took us five minutes to find our hotel with no map or internet. Amazingly enough, throughout the entire trip, Alexa and I did not get lost once as we adventured out through the entire city of Tokyo. Tokyo’s transportation can seem confusing as it consists of a subway system and train system that coincide with each other for transfers to an infinite amount of locations. However, Alexa and I both found the transportation rather easy which gave us confidence that we can travel through any city throughout the world. Anyway, Alexa laid in bed once we got to the hotel as we were praying that she would be healed so that we could enjoy the rest of our trip. God most definitely answered our prayers as Alexa felt much better the next morning and throughout the trip.

Monday July 30th

Monday morning we went to the Senso-Ji temple which is right down the street from our hotel. It is the oldest and most famous temple in all of Tokyo which is still used as a Buddhist sanctuary. People say that the temple is a glimpse of Kyoto which was the capital until 1868 when it moved to Tokyo. All in honesty, Alexa and I did not care too much for the temple as it was uneasy watching people worship a false idol and giving money to it. We took a few pictures and headed out as we were both anxious to go up into the Tokyo Sky Tree which lingered over us by 634 meters.

The Tokyo Sky Tree is the tallest tower in the world (as of May 2012). The tower was also a few blocks from our hotel which we had a great view of from our 9th story bedroom window. The tower is 634 meters (1902 feet) tall which gives an uneasy feeling when gazing down from the top. Alexa and I both felt like the tower was shaking when a gust of wind went by which almost made me sick at first (Alexa had no problem with it). To make things even more interesting, there was a glass floor on the top observation deck so that you could look straight down on the city. Somehow, Alexa got me to lay down on it so that she could take my picture with the city below. Put into perspective, the space needle is 184 meters (552 feet) which is nearly four times smaller than the Tokyo Sky Tree. The view was incredible as pictures will definitely not do any justice whatsoever. We could literally see the entire city of Tokyo and a glimpse of Mt. Fuji hidden between some clouds off in the distance. Tokyo really is a beautiful city as it has man made canals that go throughout for easy transportation of people and cargo. I must say though, once we came down it was nice to have the earth under my feet again as I felt much more stable and at ease.

It's a LONG ways down!

 The rest of the day we walked around Asakusa which is only one of twenty three districts in Tokyo; however, we wanted to get a good feeling of our surroundings and see things that were within the district that we were staying in. We were both excited because we knew that we would be spending the next two days at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. We are both Disney fanatics and one is never too old to visit Mickey Mouse and the Kingdom of Dreams.

Tuesday July 31st

We woke up around 7:00 am and caught the subway a few blocks from our hotel which we took to transfer to the train that brought us to Disneyland. It took about 45 minutes from our hotel to get to the Disneyland Park since both the subway and trains have many stops; however, if one was to take a direct route with no stops it would take no longer than 25 minutes. Alexa and I were both extremely excited when the train dropped us off right in front of the Disneyland entrance gate. We walked through the gate and were immediately invited by the Disney band that was playing in the middle of the street (main street USA). The Disney Park was very similar to the original in California as it had all the same attractions, just a different layout. At first we were disappointed because they did not have the Indiana Jones ride, but we later figured out that the ride was in the other park Disney Sea which we went to the next day. Alexa enjoyed the castle as it was much bigger than the one in California. The castle in Tokyo is Cinderella’s castle as the one in California is for Sleeping Beauty. We truly had an amazing time as the weather was great and we waited in line no longer than 30 minutes. We were also treated like celebrities as at one moment a bunch of Japanese students were asking for our autographs. We literally signed autographs for five minutes as other people were watching us trying to figure out if we were celebrities or not. Who would have known that being a fluent English speaker would bring such opportunities in foreign countries?

We saw many shows throughout the day, in between eating great food and riding traditional Disney rides. At night we watched the Electric parade and then ate dinner at the Blue Bayou which is the restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We have both always wanted to eat at this restaurant; and therefore, we figured we would just do it. Afterward we went on Splash Mountain before heading back to the hotel to get a good night sleep. We were pretty exhausted from all the walking but were excited to go to DisneySea the next day which is much different than any other Disney Park that exists. We arrived to our hotel at about 11:30 pm and fell right to sleep after taking a bath that seemed luxurious since we have no tub here in Korea.

In Cinderella's Castle

At the Blue Bayou Restaraunt

Wednesday August 1st

 We woke up at about 8:00 am which was about an hour later than the previous morning. We were both excited to go to DisneySea but were also still pretty tired from the day before. We arrived to the Disney Park at about 9:15 am and then had to take the Disney monorail to the Disney Sea entrance which is on the opposite side of the Disneyland Park. Alexa and I were both astonished when we entered into DisneySea as it was a very beautiful setup. The entire first part of DisneySea has a European theme that makes you feel as if you were in Venice Italy. It was very peaceful with Italian food, Italian music, Italian buildings, gondolas, etc. We were both very impressed and immediately fell in love with DisneySea. The first thing that we did in DisneySea was walk to the Indian Jones ride to get a fast pass so that we did not have to stand in line. Then we walked through Arabian Land to go to Little Mermaid Land. Alexa was stoked that the Little Mermaid had its own little theme park since that is her favorite Disney movie. I will admit that Little Mermaid Land was extremely cool as it had pretty good rides and shows.


 

After Little Mermaid Land we went to a show that was held in the middle of the park which is all water. The show consisted of getting sprayed which we were not aware of, and therefore, we got soaked which was rather nice because it was blazing hot and we dried up within minutes. After the show we went on the Indiana Jones ride which was different than the USA version because this one focused on the new movie, “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.” However, you’re still in the jeep with similar surroundings, just some different obstacles to overcome. The park is so massive that it took us forever to feel like we’d seen everything. At night we saw the Fantasmic show which is one of my favorite shows. The show in Tokyo is a little different than the one in California but bigger and better. It has to be one of the best shows that I had ever seen in my life. After the show we went on the Tower of Terror before leaving the park at around 11:00 pm. We could have definitely spent another day at DisneySea as there was much to see; however; we were also excited to start adventuring out into Tokyo and Yokohama for the remainder of the trip.

Thursday August 2nd

In Shinjuku

We decided to sleep in a little as we got out of bed around 10:00 am. It felt good to sleep in as we had walked numerous amounts of miles with no stop for the past three days. We decided to go to Shinjuku which is the entertainment capital of Tokyo. We went into some arcades but not for long as it smelled like smoke which was making us both kind of sick. Therefore, we walked around through Shinjuku so that we could see everything that it had to offer. The most interesting section of Shinjuku had buildings full of slot machines that are called Pachinko. Gambling is illegal in Japan; however, companies found a loop hole that allows Japanese to gamble. The Japanese go to play Pachinko and instead of winning money they win little Pachinko tokens. They can then go across the street and exchange their Pachinko tokens for money. The building that they exchange their tokens in is often owned by the same person as the slot machines; however, if the exchange is not in the same building then it’s technically legal by law. We did not participate but we were astonished how the government would allow for obvious gambling when it’s clearly illegal. We later found out that most laws in Japan are not enforced and are rather a guide to follow.

In Harajuku

After Shinjuku, we took the subway to Harajuku which is one of the shopping capitals in Tokyo. We enjoyed looking at all the shopping areas; however, the only thing that we bought was a berry Crêpe that Alexa and I shared. Japan in general is known for having Crêpe’s everywhere; and therefore, we felt like it was a must to try. It was delicious but we did not find the need to eat more since we also have them everywhere in Korea. We just about walked around the entire main block of Harajuku before we both were getting tired and decided to head back to Asakusa to go to bed and get ready for our trip to Yokohama the next day.  

 Friday August 3rd

The Cosmo Clock ferris wheel

We got up around 8:00 am got some breakfast at the McDonalds right across the street from us so that we could get an early start on our journey to Yokohama. Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan and is known for their famous farris wheel that was built for the 1989 World Fair. The farris wheel is named the Cosmo Clock as it serves as the largest clock in the world. It was also originally the largest farris wheel in the world until the one in Osaka was built which is also in Japan. Yokohama is along the coast, which makes the farris wheel ride an amazing experience as the view is unlike any other view. Alexa and I have also previously talked about going to Yokohama and riding the farris wheel for three years; and therefore, it was really cool to actually do it. Afterwards we walked along the water to the other side of Yokohama where we went on a tour of Nippon Maru which is a ship that was built in 1930. This ship went across the Pacific to Seattle 127 times and was the only ship to survive World War II. The ship had a first class section that was designed for celebrities and royalty. Charlie Chaplin had a room that he often used which was really cool to see as it was specifically designed for him.

The Hikawa Maru

Entrance to Chinatown

After the tour we went to China Town which is the cleanest China Town I have ever been to. Granted I’ve only been to two others (Seattle and San Francisco) but none the less it was clean and safe. After China Town we went and sit on a bench by the water at sunset and stared from a distance at the farris wheel that was completely lit up and always changing colors. We literally sat for over an hour as we gazed over the water toward the farris wheel. It was very relaxing and will serve as a memory that neither of us will ever forget.

The beautiful Yokohama waterfront

The "statue" of Hachi

As we got on the train to head back to Tokyo, we decided to stop in a district called Shibuya because it has the busiest intersection in the world. Again, pictures cannot do justice on how busy this intersection is when people start crossing the street. Alexa and I walked across the street a few times and were just amazed how populated the cross walk gets when the light turns green. Shibuya is also well known for the movie Hachi: A Dog’s Tale starring Richard Gere. It’s about a dog that goes to the subway station everyday for nine years expecting to see his owner who passed away. The movie is based on a true story at the subway station in Shibuya which was cool to see. We then went back to our hotel and fell fast asleep after a long and very eventful day.

Saturday August 4th

At the Hama Rikyu Garden

We woke up around 9:00am and headed to the famous Tjuskiji Fish Market which is supposedly the largest fish market in the world. However, Alexa and I were not very impressed with it, as we did not see any fish, and prefer the fish market in Seattle at Pike’s Place. We did find an amazing Japanese restaurant in Tjuskiji that made the journey well worth it. Also, the market was close to the Hama Rikyu Garden that we both really wanted to see. The garden was remodeled on the site of a Shogun family residence during the 1600s and was re-constructed in 1946 as a way to preserve history to the public while enjoying nature in the middle of the city. The garden literally is surrounded by city as it reminds me of a small Central Park in New York City. The garden was definitely worth going too, even though Alexa got a few mosquito bites that thankfully did not swell up. She is allergic to mosquitos and by the Grace of God she did not have any kind of reaction to these bites.

After the Garden we went to Tokyo Station and saw the Imperial Palace. I learned that Japan still has an Emperor but has as much power as Queen Elizabeth in England (which is hardly any). The Emperor is the son of Hirohito who was the Emperor during World War II. His son still lives in that Imperial Palace that Hirohito lived in and will sometimes come outside to greet people in the mornings.

In front of the Imperial Palace

After the Palace, Alexa and I walked around Tokyo station and decided that we would sit and rest for awhile. We decided to go see the Dark Knight Rises; which was our second time seeing it. We saw it in Korea a week prior to going to Japan; and therefore, we have seen the same movie in both Korea and Japan. We actually saw it again last night with Alexa’s mom which means we have seen it three times now. An amazing movie that is worth seeing three times as it concludes one of the best trilogies ever made. After the movie we headed back to our hotel and got a good rest.

Sunday August 5th

View of the Asahi Brewery

We decided to take it easy this day as we had been going like crazy the previous days. We both enjoy doing a lot as a good vacation is full of learning, seeing, and I guess some rest. Therefore, we ate at the famous Asahi brewery in Asakusa, tried some different Japanese foods, got a melon slurpie from 7/11, and walked around different souvenir shops. It was a great day full of rest, little sight seeing, and enjoying each others company. The next day was our last as we had to fly out of Tokyo at 6:00pm to head back to Seoul. However, we were also excited because we were going to meet up with a friend Yuka, who we met at Central when she did study abroad for a year.

 Monday August 6th

We met up with our friend Yuka at Starbucks and got to hang out for a few hours. She lives in Guma which is about an hour and a half northwest of Tokyo, so we were glad that she was able to come and meet up with us in the city. It was good to see her again as it has been like 4.5 years since I’ve seen her. Alexa saw her three years ago when she came to Tokyo for a mission trip. We are hoping that she can come visit us in Korea so that we can show her around our neck of the woods.
We then caught a train to the Incheon Airport and left for Seoul where we stayed a night in a hostel since we were going to pick up Alexa’s mom at the airport the next day. The hostel was nasty and neither of us slept very well because of the horrible smells; which makes it the last time we will ever stay in that specific hostel.

Tuesday August 7th

Jeff was having fun.

Alexa and I went to the Korean War Museum which was much bigger than expected. I absolutely loved it and could easily go back again. We were rather in a hurry to get through it as we were ready to go back to the hostel to grab our stuff so that we could meet Alexa’s mom at the airport.
We picked up Alexa’s mom at the airport and then took a train to Seoul station, then took a different train to Daegu, and then took the metro to our apartment. We were all exhausted when we got back to our apartment and all three slept very well. Alexa’s mom will be with us for the next week and we are extremely excited at the opportunity to hang out and show her different areas within Korea. Last night we showed her downtown Daegu, this Saturday we will show her Busan, and then Monday we will show her Seoul. It will be a good time and we all very excited.

At the Korean War Memorial

Yeosu Expo - The World Fair 2012

This weekend Alexa and I went to the World Fair which is held in Yeosu, South Korea. Before coming to Korea, I had no clue that the World Fair was going to be here. I found out in April when I was reading about the 50^th Anniversary of Seattle’s World Fair back in 1962. Therefore, we were both really excited to go; however, it took us over a month to finally go because of the complications of getting there. From Daegu, there is no direct route to get to Yeosu. Therefore, we had to take a bus to a town called Suncheon and stay in a hostel there overnight. Then the next morning we had to take a taxi to the train station so that we could catch the 7:50 shuttle train that left for Yeosu. Then that night we would have to take the shuttle back to the Suncheon train station, take a taxi to the bus station, and walk back to the hostel. It sounded tiring (AND IT WAS) and that is why it took us a month before deciding to go. However, the World Fair was well worth it and we are both extremely glad that we went.

Entrance to the Expo

Our favorite part of the Exposition is that they had over one hundred countries participating. The different countries set up pavilions so that people can come and try different foods, learn about new inventions, and learn what that country is doing to implement production of resources by using marine (ocean) supplies. After all, the theme of the World Fair is how to save our oceans and how to use the ocean’s resources to create new resources. It was interesting going to the United States pavilion as it was one of the biggest pavilions at the World Fair. The line was long as most people were excited to see America’s oceans and beaches on a video that was created for the fair. The video started with Hillary Clinton talking about working with Korea and then had Obama talking about the importance of using alternative sources. As the only Americans in the pavilion, I think we both felt extremely patriotic and wanted to do a chant when finished (Don’t worry, we did not do a chant). 

My favorite pavilion had a demonstration on how Korea is going to try using seaweed algae to not only create resources such as plastic but also things like automobiles, medicine, and fabric for clothes. Korea already has the resources to use seaweed algae to create these products and is now trying to get other countries to get on board. The resources are completely biodegradable which will help prevent pollution on land and in the oceans. I liked the pavilion not only because they had a sample car that was made from seaweed algae but also because they were extremely informative on how the process works. The vehicle looked pretty sweet as it portrays the type of vehicles that we will see much further in the future.

Alexa and I were also very fortunate that we brought our umbrellas as we went during monsoon season. When it rains it pours! We knew that it was going to rain before hand; however, it did not rain the entire time. When it did rain though, you did not want to be outside. My umbrella felt like it was going to break due to the nasty monsoon. At the same time, it was a blessing because the fair was not completely packed due to the weather. Our friend went a few weeks before us and she said that she had to wait for two hours just to see a pavilion. Alexa and I only had to wait a few times as we mostly just got to walk right into most of the pavilions.

Oh, and yes, we got to eat amazing fair food! We took advantage of the food as we ate churros, sausages, curry, gelato, and had partaken in an international buffet. The buffet was rather refreshing as it had foods that we had only desired such as fresh fruits, desserts, and other foods that we took for granted in America.

The best decision that we made at the fair was to not wait for the O-show which is the trademark for the World Fair. Most of the Koreans gathered around this outside arena and waited up to three hours for this show that started at 21:00 hours (9:00pm). Thankfully we did not wait for the show because it was literally only five minutes long and we could see it from where we were standing in the park. Most of the show involved things in the air such as fireworks, and therefore, we had the satisfaction of seeing the show without waiting. Overall, the World Fair was an amazing experience and we are extremely excited that we had the opportunity to enjoy it.

Busan Sand Festival

We had an amazing time in Busan as the weather was in the upper 70s and the beach was not swarmed with people. This is rare because Hyundai beach is known as one of the most crowded beaches in the entire world. It is the famous picture that shows a swarm of umbrellas overlapping each other that virtually hides any bit of sand that the beach has. From some satellite photos of the beach, all you can see is umbrellas that go from one side of the landscape to the other. However, we got to enjoy the beach fully as it was relatively peaceful and not packed. 

It was amazing that the beach was not over packed considering it was the annual sand festival. The sand festival consisted of professional sand artists from all over the world that would come a week early to prepare some kind of sculpture in the sand. This year, some artist broke the world record for the most detailed sculpture ever (or something like that). The sculpture was a Korean temple that was placed on a mountainside that had steps going up from all four sides. 

One of the last things we did in Busan was go to the aquarium.  It's the largest aquarium in South Korea and from what we've been told, the best; even better than the one at the Yeosu Expo supposedly. It was a pretty cool aquarium but we probably went at the worst time possible, during sand festival, because it was jam-packed full of people. Either way though we still enjoyed it and our favorite thing was walking through the glass tunnel where you can see sharks and manta rays swimming above you.

The train ride from Daegu to Busan is only an hour and thirty minutes. However, taking the subway system from the train station to the beach takes another 45 minutes, which seems to drag on. Alexa and I have quite the collection of subway cards now as we have had to get them to ride the subways for Seoul, Busan, and our own Daegu. We will soon have a subway card for Tokyo which I am sure will be three times as expensive since that seems to be the trend with everything there.

Alexa and I stayed in a hostel that was just a few streets away from the beach. Like most hostels, it was cheap; however the accommodations were excellent. The hostel had a complementary breakfast in the morning, nice sitting area with a big screen television, and plenty of restroom space that was separated for men and women. The hostel room had eight bunk beds which we shared with our 12 friends that went to Busan with us. It was only our second hostel experience but so far the hostels in Korea are far better than I envisioned a hostel being like.

Our first trip to Seoul

At th Gyeongbokgung Palace

We just got back from an amazing three day weekend in Seoul. Seoul is an extremely massive city that populates 42,000 people per square mile. The city has 25 different regions which contains of thirteen different lines on the subway. However, to our surprise, we found it pretty easy to get around. It can be a little overwhelming when you have to transfer to four different subway lines to get to your destination, but it is relatively easy. This gave us confidence that we will have no problems with the subway lines in Tokyo when we go there this summer. 

Breakfast at one of our new fav. places, One Tree Hill.

Enjoying coffee with Sunhee and Jason

We enjoyed our time in Seoul so much that we did not want to return to our current residence in Daegu. In Seoul, we got to meet up with two very good friends, Sunhee and Jason, who have lived in Seoul there whole lives. They both went to Central Washington University for a year to study English, which is how we met them. Actually, Sunhee and Jason met at the University as well and now they are married. While they were in Washington I showed them around, and in return, this weekend they showed us around Seoul. We also went to Seoul with eight of our very good friends and all shared a hostel within the city. We sure are going to miss them all when they leave in August.

In Seoul, we went to a dog café, which is a café that allows domesticated dogs to rome around while customers enjoy their drinks. Some of these dogs are brought in by the customers and others are owned by the café store. All in all, there were about 40 different kinds of dogs while we were there. Alexa found a special little friend that would not leave her lap and was sad when we had to go. This dog reminded Alexa of her dog back home, Gus, which helped relieve her of doggie withdrawals that she was having. My two favorite dogs were the golden retriever and the massive husky that tended to keep me company while we were there.

At the Bau House dog cafe

Alexa also got to enjoy some shopping as they have many western stores such as Forever 21, H&M, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc. However, Alexa did not get to shop as long as she wanted because of other time commitments. Therefore, we will probably go back to Seoul a few times, not only for the shopping, but to do all the things that we had on our list but were unable to do. A few of those include going to an old Japanese prison, Korean War museum, and the DMZ (De Militarized Zone).

            During our stay we saw some ancient palaces, went up to Namsung Tower (One of the tallest towers in the world), enjoyed lunch and coffee with our Seoul Native friends, enjoyed celebrating Jen’s birthday, went to a dog café, found our new favorite café (One Tree Hill), learned the subway system, enjoyed an art festival, ate Taco Bell and Subway in the same day, and booked our summer trip to Tokyo. Overall, it was an amazing weekend and we are looking forward to next weekend as we are going to Busan for the sand festival!

Namsung Tower