Welcome to Japan

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Japan Rail Pass- check! Train and boat tickets- check! Passport- check! Most importantly, waking up at 5:00AM after three hours of sleep and a night of partying on a Seoul Friday night- check!

For my week of summer vacation I spontaneously decided to check out Japan. As a result of working 13 hour days at our school due to summer intensive periods (this is when Korean kids get vacation from their regular school, which means they have more time to attend additional classes at private institutions like the one I work for) I was unable to do much preparation for this trip. All I had were the necessities to get to Japan and still lacked ferry return tickets due to communication barriers (all websites were in Japanese). Having no definite way of returning to Korea set up yet, I have to admit this had me a bit nervous upon departure.

Catching a train to Busan (Korea's southern most port city) and taking The Beetle Hydrofoil (a high speed boat that hovers above the water at about 80 km/hr) to Hakata, Japan seemed like the most appealing modes of transport to arrive to my destination. After a Friday night of partying in Seoul and three hours of sleep, I caught the first train on the Seoul subway at 5:30 and made it to Seoul Station in time to jump on my train to Busan. Upon arrival in Busan, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders when I was able to successfully purchase return tickets in order to make it in time for work the following week. Luckily all went smoothly from there on out and I made it to Hakata after enjoying a beautiful sunset (see pictures) over the south sea and a very smooth hydrofoil ride to my my entry point in Japan.

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