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Between Japan Visa Run # 1 and #2, all that really happened was that I became a teacher. I have gotten more and more used to my role as the classroom leader and now, I am loving it.
So, I went to school one Monday and was told that I'd be heading to Japan on Thursday morning. The school had received the visa issuance number that I needed to obtain the proper work visa and since I had been illegal for almost a month, the news was a relief. Apparently the Tongyeong school had a brand new English teacher who would come and teach my classes, as opposed to him having any actual training. This worked well for me, because I figured I had to at least be a better teacher than him with approximately 2 1/2 weeks under my belt up against his zero experience...hopefully this would make my students appreciate me. Can't hurt to hope! So Wednesday afternoon I let my older students know that they would have a substitute for the next couple days and I'd see them on Monday. I also found out that I was taking a 10am ferry from Busan, so a taxi would pick me up at 6am to make sure I got there by 9am. Once again...3 hours allotted for a 2 hour drive. So unnecesary!
6am came far to early! The taxi was waiting downstairs for me when I headed out and the driver only asked me a few questions, but could tell I was too tired to be social. We drove for about 10 minutes, when all of a sudden he pulled over. I had been half sleeping against the window and sat up quickly to see what was up. He turned around, pointed to the back window and said, "pillow. blanket." There was a blanket and pillow and I was so happy to see them! I thanked him, cozied up and when I woke I was in Busan! Now that's my kind of 6am taxi ride. The driver escorted me upstairs in the international ferry terminal where I was to wait for a travel agent, who would meet me to take care of my ticket. It's really nice being completely taken care of in these matters...it would be easy enough to figure it out myself, but I don't think I'll mention my capabilities to my director. I'm quite content with the ease of things when they do it for me and I don't much mind being left completely in the dark until the last possible second; it alleviates the worry.
9:15am rolls around and the travel agent spots me easily..I am the only white person in a crowd of middle-aged Korean women all sporting similar bright pink and purple track suits with the popular brand name outdoor store's logo: Kolon Sport. They all have top of the line hiking shoes, backpacks, walking sticks and hats/visors. When Koreans do something, they do it right. He rescued me from their swarm and hurriedly dragged me to the ticketing counter. He took my passport and 11,000 Won departure fee then promptly returned with my ticket, a Fukuoka map, already filled out departure cards and receipt. A job well done, he flashed a smile, shook my hand unnaturally (as it is for Koreans who are accustomed to bowing, but I always appreciate the gesture) and left me standing there oh so prepared.
So, with nothing to worry about, I plopped myself back down and relaxed until my 10am departure time. I boarded the ferry, got all situated and sat down only to feel the slight sway of the boat, which luckily would not bother me this time around as I'd remembered to take the motion sickness medicine. The ferry is the best place to nap, so the ride once again passed quickly. Also, having been there only 2 weeks earlier, the flow of exchanging money, catching a bus into town and getting to my hotel was very breezy. I had dropped my stuff at the hotel in no time and knew I needed to make my way to the Korean Consulate right away. It was a Thursday and the plan was to drop my passport off in the allotted hours of 1:30p-3:30p (it was around 1:30/1:40 by the time I got to the hotel) and pick it up on Friday, as the Consulate would be closed for the weekend and I was already booked on a ferry back for Saturday. So, I had no time to waste, and made my way back to Hakata Station to take the subway to the Tojinmachi stop, where I would walk for approximately 10 minutes to the Korean Consulate. I had written down directions that told me to walk straight for 5 mins, turn right and walk straight for another 5 mins, then look for the Korean flag. Very detailed..
Luckily, I had no problem finding the consulate and walked in to see four foreigners sitting around a table waiting. I asked them what the procedure was and a British girl, Laura, gave me the run down. I filled out my form and turned it in with my passport and a 5,600 yen fee in under 10 minutes, then sat down with the other foreigners to find out what they were waiting around for. I was also happy to sit and rest before heading back out. Besides Laura, there were two Canadians, Ivan and Jessica, and one American guy, Charles, from Florida, who had a thick Southern accent. So, the Southern Floridian was talking loudly and proudly about politics and the way things are supposed to be, while everyone else sat around staring at/listening to him. I got into a bit of a side conversation with the Laura and she told me that they were all waiting for Jessica's passport, as there was some sort of problem with it. I'd heard enough of Charles' chatter, so I decided to head back out as it was a beautiful day and I wanted to explore. They invited me to meet up for dinner later, because Charles was planning on tasting the famously dangerous blowfish sashimi and wanted company for the adventure. They all (other than the American dude) seemed like good people and I decided I'd enjoy their company more than the company of my tiny hotel room.
I got lost looking for the hotel where we'd planned to meet at 8pm and got there around 8:30pm. They were nowhere to be found in the hotel lobby, since I was so late, so hoping that they were in the restaurant downstairs, I made my way in. I took my shoes off at the door and walked in to see that it was a restaurant made up of many separate little rooms so each party has privacy for their meal. This took out the option of looking around for them, so I asked the host if he could speak English. When he responded with a blank stare, I opted for charades. First I pointed to my skin, then around the restaurant, and asked, "more?" He gave me a couple quick, "Hi! Hi!" (yes in Japanese) then led me to a room. As he pulled back the sliding door, I was just waiting to see a group of white people I'd never seen before in my life, and was trying to prepare myself for the awkwardness that would undoubtedly ensue, but luckily for me, it was my group! We drank sake and watched the guys eat blowfish, then headed out into the Canal City area of Fukuoka to explore and hopefully find a place to drink. We found a few places, but most were either super expensive or turned out to be the type of place were a Japanese woman sits with you and pours your drinks and you tip her and they tend to only sell high end bottles of liquor there...nothing we were looking for or could afford!
Before too long, we wandered into an alley and down some stairs, where I peeked my head into a small establishment that looked less interested in their apperances than their menu...I thought this place looked cool. A few of my fellow foreigners looked a little sketched out by the place, but I assured them (hoping I'd be right) that these little 'hole in the wall' types are always the best places! There was one employee and he was a big, round man with a hearty laugh and all they served was okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake of sorts, they they layer seafood and veggies into. It can be really good with the right mixture of ingredients. I told my group what the food was and as most of them had never tried it, we went for it. We all got beers and okonomiyaki and it turned into both a good, cheap place to drink and a cultural experience, which was awesome. I was glad my knowledge of Japan was able to come in handy, from having traveled there last year. We had a fun night out and before it was time for the subways to close we made our way back to Hakata Station and went our separate ways. It was so nice to have some people to spend the evening with instead of being stuck in the hotel alone.
The next day I woke up early for breakfast in the hotel, then headed out to the consulate to pick up my visa. It was an easy trek this time around, having just done it the day before. When I walked in to pick it up, I ran into another foreigner who was dropping his visa off. We passed with a quick, 'yes we're both foreigners' nod, and a hello. My passport was ready and waiting with my proper visa stamped in it, which was such a relief. I tucked it safely in my bag, then sat outside in the sun looking at my map, deciding what to do for the rest of this beautiful day.
I headed back to the Tojinmachi subway and took it to the Ohori Koen stop, then took a short walk to Ohori Park. It is a huge and beautiful park in central Fukuoka that has a giant pond lined with trees and filled with plenty of Koi. I found a spot to sit and soak up the sun, while watching the Koi feed in the seaweed. In the distance I could see blooming mountains and I couldn't believe I was in the middle of a city. I looked around to notice many Cherry Blossom trees on the verge of blooming and realized that this is the second year in a row that I am in Japan in early/mid-March, this time just a mere week before the famous Cherry Blossom Festivals. Bummer!
After relaxing in the park for quite a while, I walked through the Japanese Gardens and past the Fukuoka Castle Ruins. I'd been walking for hours by this point, so I decided to give in to my Americanism and take a coffee break at a local Starbucks, when I made my way back into town. And on a side note, having worked at Starbucks for a couple of years, it's always interesting to visit them in the different countries I visit. After my coffee break I took a long walk around town, window shopping and people watching. Before too long it was time to make my way back to Hakata Station to drop off my belongings and grab some food. When I arrived at Hakata, I got a bit turned around and somehow ended up shopping in the subway station stores. I found a cute pair of jean shorts and when I brought them to the counter, the girl made sure to point out that they were a size LL, which I assured her was okay, purchased them and left, scorning Japanese women and their tiny bodies under my breath. As I was crossing the street to my hotel, I saw a familiar face walking by. It was the other foreigner I'd seen at the consulate earlier that day; he stopped to introduce himself. His name is Aaron and he's from Canada. We decided to check out the city and grab food together later that night.
The evening rolled around and I met up with Aaron. We made our way to Canal City, an area known for good shopping and good eats in Fukuoka. There were lots of young people mingling around the main shopping mall area, but we headed away from it to look for some good Japanese food in one of the little street-side restaurants. Before we knew it, we were wandering through a red light district of sorts, with streets lined in whore houses. We were reading whore house sign names and giggling while trying to find our way out of this district, when an old, drunk Japanese man approached me, mumbled something, then stared at me, one eyebrow raised, waiting for my response. I can only imagine the look on my face, before I simply turned and walked away. There are apparently a lot of Russian prostitutes in this part of the world, so my fair skin and blonde hair unjustly categorizes me pretty quickly.
We eventually found a spot to grab some reasonably priced food and it turned out to be really good! Aaron got a pork cutlet dish and I had a pork hot pot with udon noodles, then we split a plate of sashimi. Delicious! After dinner we headed out to find a place for drinks. This is something that tends to be particularly difficult in Asian cultures, as they do not drink without eating. So, it's hard to find a place to just have beers, without being expected to buy food as well. For this reason, we ended up in this weird little street tent, that has clear 'walls' and a makeshift bar. We sat at one of the four tall tables with bar stools surrounding them and had a beer. It was overpriced (especially for the lack of decor!) and super smoky. So after one drink we were on the search again.
We headed back to Hakata Station and turned right out of the station, the opposite direction of our hotels (which, as it ended up, were across the street from each other)...here, we found the best place ever!! The whole menu had items priced at 600 yen (about $6.50) and under AND it was a picture menu! This is key in Japan. It was like a tapas of sorts, so we ordered periodically throughout the night. But, we started with the 380 yen large (and it was large) hot sake and a few different kinds of sashimi. By the end of the night, we'd gone through two shitake mushroom and tofu hot pots, five plates of sashimi and a few (no need to be exact here) large hot sakes. Aaron and I talked up a storm and had a blast.
Visa Run # 2 turned out to be quite the success due to the fact that I was well rested this time around and I actually got my visa taken care of this time. The only downfall...I didn't bring my camera. Now, proper visa in hand, it's time to head back to Korea and stay this time, so I can finally figure out what that country is all about!
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Mama
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Kailie, What a great blog! It is so descriptive that I felt like I was right there with you, maybe we can refer back to it while in Fukuoka to stay away from the red light district (one of those with Nana is enough) LOL....and to find a nice little tapas place to eat. Another great entry that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Love you baby, and counting down the days. XOXOXO