My Last Days in Korea

I was cleaning up my apartment for the next scholar (because I'm awesome and don't want to leave people with a dirty place), and I came across some material that I made towards the beginning of the semester for my students.  Fairly poor material I might add. At least compared with the type of scaffolding that I am able to put together now.  This was the beginning of my flash back of my time in Korea.  After this, and looking through my previous blogs, I can't believe how much I've grown since being here: teaching skills, personal skills, and eating skills.

So here's to Korea, and what I did for my final week.

By far, the most difficult part was saying goodbye to my staff and students.  Even though I'd like to tell myself I will see them again someday, we all know that isn't the case.  But for the moment it held back some tears.

Kids falling asleep on me.

Some kids in agonizing pain, knowing that I may be gone forever.

I think I left the biggest impact on my sixth graders. They know my point.

And outside of school, I have made some of the best friends and had some of the greatest times of my life.  I'm happy to say that I didn't hold back any on my final weeks here. 

Saw the Big O in Yeosu.

Saw another really crowded beach at the Boryeong Mudfestival.

Saw some great musicians play at a club in Gangnam.

I got to see The xx, Vampire Weekend, The Cure, and more at the Ansan Valley Rock Festival! :D

And what better way is there to end it than with fireworks at the Pohang Firework Fest? 

So now I'm sitting here in a hotel room waiting for my departure.  I'm packed. I'm ready to go, but I don't want to go. Thank you to my friends and family back home for not holding me back from the best experience of my life and I'll see you soon.  But I'd like to especially thank all of the people I've met in Korea: friends, staff, students, bus drivers, restaurant workers, and other random Koreans who helped when then didn't need to help.  

Korea...peace out.  See you again. 

A Weekend in Japan: Day 1

The awesome thing about this job is that you get a ton of time to travel.  Towards the end of June I was upset with myself that I hadn't taken the opportunity to explore more of Asia.  So, thanks to Peach Airlines, on July 5th I flew to Japan.

The only downside to this entire trip was that I only had about 2 days.  Land on Friday. Fly back on Sunday.

I landed at Kansai International Airport in Osaka and immediately bought a 3 day rail pass and headed for Kyoto.  By the time I was on the train it was already 12:15pm and all of the temples close in Arashiyama (my destination) at 5pm, so I was rushing.

Once I got to Kyoto, I transfered trains and headed to the old town of Arashiyama (in the far west corner of Kyoto).  I don't know why I chose to go here, but I'm really glad I did.  Arrived around 1:15.

Arashiyama:

Famous bridge.

This bamboo forest was so awesome.

This is the first temple that I visited.  Really beautiful.  Famous for it's beauty and moss covered ground. 

The next temple I visited was sooooo far away considering the size of the town.  And it was up the mountain.  I was definitely dehydrated and sweating by the time I arrived, but I got there at 4:45! :D 15 minutes before closing. Clutch.  My journey there was through this awesome part of town.

And the final stretch!

You'll notice it's completely empty.  I felt so lost, but it was really peaceful. I don't think the tourists wanted to walk this much to see an old temple, but I think they're cool. 

Here's the temple. Contains over 1,200 stone statues. Each one was hand made and they are all different.  

Just for size comparison..

After this I headed back to the train station.  My hostel was in downtown Kyoto and I'd be staying their for the night.  But Arashiyama... magnificent.

Kyoto:

So like I said, my hostel was in Kyoto so I headed back there to check in and go somewhere for dinner.  Ahhh the oldest city in Japan.  

I was exhausted, so I ate, had some drinks and went to bed since I had to get up early on Saturday to continue exploring.  

Raw Mackerel 

Veggie Udon

Japanese food is the best...