Trip to Busan - Golden Week 2016

This year for Golden Week I went to Korea again. I was a little worried in light of the tense situation with North Korea. Extra worrying was the Party Congress that North Korea was gearing up for... In the previous week there were 2 (failed) missile launches. I was worried they were going to launch an attack in honour of their special day, but nothing happened. Luckily, I was going to Busan this time, not Seoul. Seoul is directly south and an obvious target for North Korea, whereas Busan is in the south of Korea. 

This trip was hastily put together and came after my rather shocking news, so it has been a bit of a distraction for me. However, my thoughts often turned to that shock and the possibility of impending surgery. I keep telling myself that it isn't necessary and that the MRI will be negative for any damage. Two days after I get home I have a doctor's appointment where more will be decided. Here's hoping no surgery!

Anyway, back to the trip! I left Tuesday afternoon and arrived at around 8:30 pm in Busan at Gimhae International Airport. The day was very windy and I was warned by the airline that we might get sent back to Narita if the winds were too strong. My friend was supposed to arrive much earlier, but her flight was delayed and she ended up arriving only slightly earlier than me. The flight was smooth and I watched half of "The Revenant" on the plane. I guess I'll watch the other half on the way back. We were served a small meal (!) of beef and rice. It was good (except for the rice...). After we met up, we tried to find our way to the guesthouse... It was no easy feat because everything was in Korean (surprise, surprise). We got on a bus and then I thought I saw the characters for our stop, and we got off, much too early. Oh well. We found our way and had a rather long walk to the hotel. At least it helped me get my bearings. The guesthouse is called Yusun Guesthouse. The owner is really nice and it's very cheap! For 5 nights it cost me ¥6500. It's of course not very clean and fresh looking, but it works. 

On the second day, we wandered around our guesthouse area. There is nothing around it. There is one tiny convenience store and then everything else is industrial, meat-related or building related. We eventually found a cafe (which are ubiquitous everywhere but our area, apparently...) and had some much needed coffee. After that we walked around more and found a busy shopping area and traditional market. The market was huge and it mostly sold meat, fish, and vegetables and fruit. It was very interesting to walk around. After the market we decided to look for food. It's very difficult in a non-touristy place because everything is in Korean. We found a restaurant with pictures and pointed to what we wanted. It was a one pot kind cooking kind of place, like hotpot. 

My friend and our hotpot stew dish. It had lots of greens and then stewed beef bones with meat on them. It was good but soooo filling. 

After lunch we went to find the folk fishing museum and were able to find it just as it was closing :( With nothing else to do, we went shopping a little instead and found a Starbucks and had very expensive coffee. A tall cappuccino was about $5 (or 4600 won). Crazy! After that we made our way back to the guesthouse. 

This was displayed at Starbucks, where there was an impressive lack of sugar. Only white, brown, and liquid sugar were available...

The next day we went to the Busan Museum and Cultural Centre. At the cultural centre there was an exhibition of calligraphy. I remember finding a similar thing in Seoul. Here are some of my favourites: 

After the exhibition we went to the museum. We passed by the U.N. Memorial Cemetery, the only one of its kind in the world. Buried/interred there are the graves of the U.N. Soldiers who fought to keep Korea free during the Korean War. I think there are 2200 graves there. 

 U.N. Memorial monument.

UN memorial cemetery.

Playing on Korean park exercise equipment.

Trying to mold myself to the glop of public art.

After the museum (I didn't take pictures inside), we went for lunch, we had bibimbap, a popular Korean dish that mixes vegetables, beef, a raw egg and rice in a hot bowl. It was okay, luckily I gave most of my rice to my friend, so it was more enjoyable. 

After lunch we had a cultural experience and partook in a traditional Korean tea ceremony. It was similar to Japan, but also different. 

I'm making tea in the traditional way!

The set up and the sweets. 

Perfectly lined up. 

Interestingly enough, the tea ceremony explanation had to be done in Korean and Japanese. We were the only two non Koreans there, but they couldn't do it in English, so we got it in Japanese. It was nice to hear and speak Japanese. Everytime I wanted to speak to Koreans, only Japanese would come out, as if it were a reflex. It was strange.

The cursory freeze shot in front of the museum.

I can jump sooo high (not- talented photographer)!

This was for Glen.

After tea ceremony we went to oncheonjang, an area at the base of the mountains with lots of hot springs. We went to the Onsen in Korea and it was good but also alarming. In Japanese onsens, there are many rules and I expected the same of Korean ones, but I was wrong. People were washing themselves by the pools, sitting on the floor and grooming themselves, swimming in the Onsen, and putting their heads underwater. All of these are no-nos in Japan. The Japanese Onsen experience is much quieter, politer and calmer. 

This is a colourful monument to the onjeong well, which supplied Onsen water for a bathhouse almost 400 years ago. They say the water was hot enough to hardboil an egg back then.

This was a motel (I'm pretty sure it was a love hotel, and the place was full of em) with a very interesting inscription on it: "have you ever slept in the motel 'dream' that kills you" 

I'm not sure what to make of that... 

That concludes the write up for the first half of my Busan trip. There's more to come!

Animal Café Culture in Japan

Japan is rife with cuteness. We all know it. We can’t deny it. We all want it. That’s why people flock to animal cafes in Japan, which are also becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the world. Japan, I’m pretty sure, is the birthplace of the cat café and the subsequent various animal cafes that came later. This makes sense; People living in big cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka are living in tiny little boxes of apartments and have no space for pets. Let alone time. Let alone money. Therefore, it’s a clever idea to have a place where people can pay to pet animals for 30 minutes to an hour and then go home. All the benefits of a pet and none of the responsibility or costs associated.

Pets are particularly expensive in Japan. If you go to a pet shop, you can look at all the cute little puppies and kittens; just don’t look at the price. A little French bull dog will cost you 500,000 yen, or $5,000. That cute calico kitten? 300,000 yen. Say you suck it up and pay the price for your desired pet. Then you have to get the finest food, electrolyte water for those hot summer months, pee pads, butt wipes, fancy collars, clothes, grooming, nail cutting, stroller, bed, etc. Then you have to pay a pet damage deposit for your pet (2 months’ rent? 100,000 – 200,000 yen). When you go on vacation or a business trip, who will take care of the pet? No one, so you have to use a pet hotel. I don’t know how much they cost, but they probably aren’t cheap. So as you can see, why buy a pet if you can just go to a café? It’s much cheaper and easier.

These days, animal cafes are not limited to cats. There are cafes for owls, hedgehogs, goats, dogs, rabbits, monkeys, penguins, reptiles, parrots, hawks, falcons, finches and other small birds, lizards, snakes and goldfish. I’m sure there are more that I haven’t listed. If you go to one of these cafes, the general flow is pay for the amount of time you want in the café, look at the animals, pet the animals, buy a drink and food, eat and drink, buy food or outfits for the animals, feed them or dress them, leave. Of course the order of business changes for each café. In some cafes, like owl cafes, you are not allowed to touch the animals. However, in cat cafes, you can touch them all you want.

Remember when I said everyone was flocking to these cafes? Well, I’m not. I just can’t accept this notion of animal cafes. It feels wrong, predatory, unsanitary, and bad for the animals. There are some cafes where the welfare of the animals comes first, and perhaps they are rescue animals, but for the overwhelming majority, I’m sure this is not the case. Japan already has a big problem with stray cats and rabbits. Some islands are overrun with them. Yet, rather than find a solution to all these feral animals, animal cafes profit off their animals like a zoo, but with less regulation. That being said, with the explosion of animal café popularity, the government is trying to regulate the industry, but it seems it is mostly just regulating the hours of operation of these cafes.

Another problem I have with these cafes is that they are using wild animals: birds, predators, owls, penguins, reptiles, monkeys, etc. These are not domesticated animals like cats and dogs. They should not be cooped up and put on display in a café. The environment for these animals is troubling. At least in zoos, habitats are made to be realistic, but in animal cafes, it is far from their natural habitat. Since you are allowed to touch the animals (not in all cases), travelling to multiple cafes and touching multiple animals is risky for the health of the patron, as well as the health of the animals. Diseases can be spread from café to café, from animal to person to animal, and from animal to person. This is a big public safety concern, especially in a densely populated metropolis like Tokyo.

I am completely against animal cafes, the concept makes me very uncomfortable. I do however recognise the benefit that interaction with these animals can have on busy, stressed people. Pets are wonderful; they reduce stress and make people happy. But these animals are not pets. These cafes take attention from the real problems that Japan has with animals. If anything, they add to the problem of stray animals in Japan because fewer animals are rescued or adopted, and perhaps more are abandoned as a result of split second decisions to buy a cat (influenced by visiting a cat café) and then regretting the decision later, when there is no time or money to take care of the cat or it turns out to be jerk.

If animal cafes are going to exist, they must have a greater purpose. They must work for the animals. They must work towards solving Japan’s nasty abandoned pet problem and educate their customers about animal issues, proper treatment and care of animals, and they must advocate for adoption of animals and creation of shelters, rather than purchasing “new” pets from the pet mills. Pet mills are another huge problem in Japan that will probably never be addressed. *sigh*

I don’t mean to rant (well actually… yes I do), but I just can’t support animal cafes, especially those toting animals like penguins, owls, or reptiles and keeping them in inappropriate habitats.

In Japan, anything can be turned into a café. Why? It’s weird. 

Floor Horsemen - Aichi edition - Oct. 25, 2015

On October 25, 2015, an event called Floor Horsemen - Back to Van City, held in Kariya City, Aichi prefecture. This event originated in Vancouver, and it was created and organized by some friends. Since there are a lot of dancers that come from Japan to Vancouver, they decided to bring the event to Japan. One of the creators even came to Japan to help put it on. 

I have seen the pictures of the previous events in Vancouver, both of which occurred while I was in Japan, and I really wanted to go. When I found out that there would be an event in Japan, I knew I had to go. Unfortunately, the timing was not so convenient, but I made it work.

I took a night bus to Nagoya. It left Saitama shintoshin station at 11:45 pm on Saturday evening and arrived at 4:45 am Sunday morning. The night bus was loud and uncomfortable, so I didn't get much sleep. 

This is the bus I took. 

Upon arrival, it was dark, cold and windy and too early to do much. I found a combini (convenience store) and bought a coffee. Then I walked around debating whether to check into a hotel for a few hours. In the end, I found Denny's and ate a bit of breakfast and drank a lot of coffee. I left around 6 am. From there, I decided to explore the city. I walked to Nagoya Castle. 

One of the iconic buildings around Nagoya station.

On my way to the castle I found a shrine upon a roof. 

Then I found a larger shrine, the walls were original, but the main buildings had been rebuilt. It was closed.

This is a shrine at a historic bridge. 

I can't remember what the bridge was called. It led away from a covered market area.

My first glimpse of Nagoya Castle. It was about 3 or 4 km from the station, so it took a while to get there.

A closer shot, and the best shot. I couldn't get into the castle because... You guessed it, it was closed. 

A statue near the castle. Don't remember who he is.

Castle walls and a former moat?

Let's play a game, how many cats can you find? There were so many stray cats in Nagoya!

A part of the castle!

This is one of the original gates for the castle. I believe this is the east gate.

I found a little shrine to the fire goddess for protection against fires. 

The main shrine building and its requisite torii.

A little altar at the end of the Torii gates. 

This is Nagoya station. It has two towers. It's a nice place. At this time it was around 8 am. Still early. No shops open, just convenience stores.

After visiting the castle, I went to Starbucks for more coffee. 

After Starbucks, I wandered around the city centre a little more. I liked this building.

I went shopping, and found this motor bike. It was only ¥10,000,000.

Eventually I left Nagoya for Kariya, where the event was to be held. I arrived a bit early, so I walked around the city, but there isn't much around there. 

The event was held at a music lounge called Birdland. It was a very cool little place, filled with all sorts of interesting collectibles. The event had a very relaxed and fun vibe, and the dance floor was open for most of the event. There was a live DJ and several exhibitions. Rather than try and explain it, you can watch a recap of the event put together by the creator.

https://vimeo.com/145017201

After the event I had to get home and go to work the next day. I took the train back to Nagoya station and caught the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

It was a wonderful one day trip on almost no sleep. I'm really glad I got to experience floor horsemen in Japan.

Welcome Party

On Friday October 23, we had a welcome party for the new ALT and a surprise birthday party for one of the English teachers. The party was held at a restaurant called Danpo (暖歩), which means warm walk. The food was really good, and it was Japanese style (washoku 和食). Naturally, it was all you can drink as well. I don't think I've been to a party (飲み会 or 宴会) in Japan that didn't have all you can drink. 

There were many courses of food, this is the salmon egg and marscapone canapé. Before this we had, baked tofu. Note that it is decorated with momiji, or Japanese maple. Since it is autumn, the maple leaves will change colour, so they are popular fall imagery and decorations.

 This is a Yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) and tofu soup. It was very yummy.

Before this dish, we had sashimi. This is an assortment of grilled things. On the left there is tsukune, or chicken balls, and the thing with the holes in it is lotus root (renkon, れんこん). In the middle is sawara, a Japanese white fish (it is apparently Spanish Mackerel). On the right is grilled kabocha, or Japanese pumpkin. I love Japanese pumpkin so much. It's so good. They are green on the outside and orange inside. The plate was decorated with more momiji leaves and sweet potato cut into maple leaf shapes. After this course, there was pickles, miso soup, and rice. There is always soooo much food at these events. 

There was dessert included with the meal, it was pumpkin pudding, persimmon slices, and carrot cake (not in the way we know it though). However since it was one teacher's birthday, I ordered a cake. This is it. We surprised him with it at the end. 

It says "emoringo kun".

The birthday boy.

That night was kind of freaky, because a man with a knife was seen around the city. At school, there were a lot of police. A warning was issued to watch out for a man in a black suit and helmet carrying a knife. Apparently there wasn't any danger though, he had tried to rob a convenience store but ran away when the staff called the police. When we first heard about it, we thought it might be a crazy guy stabbing random people... But I don't think anyone was hurt.

Updates

What have I been doing recently? Just the usual... Baking, playing futsal, teaching English and continuing my mastery of the Japanese medical system.

On thanksgiving weekend, I baked an apple tarte with the usual ladies. It was a perfect project for that weekend, as it was thanksgiving. Apples are now in season, but it doesn't make them any more affordable. I miss Canadian apples!

The recipe was a little strange in that it called for panko, which means bread crumbs, and it was topped with apricot jelly. Japanese recipes do weird things. For the tarte, we made a crust, and then layered it with fresh bread crumbs, then we layered apples on top of that. The apples were mixed with sugar and cinnamon, which gave the tarte a nice flavour. The finishing touch was raisins, and then it was baked. After baking, the apples were brushed with apricot jelly. It was delicious.

In Japan we also have the Monday off, just like in Canada, except that holiday is called 体育の日, or physical education day. So on thanksgiving Monday I tried to bake a flour-less pumpkin loaf, but it was more pumpkin mush than anything. It was perfectly tasty, but it just didn't look good. Good thing I don't care about how food looks!

The next weekend, I had my third league game with my futsal team. I was unsure whether I'd be able to play, but I could! However, I played goal for half the game. It was a throwback to my youth! I like playing, but it sure is stressful! Luckily, I had a shut out. I played the second half on the field, and I didn't manage to score, but I did set up goals. We won that game 9-1.

Guess which one is me... I didn't realize how much of a giant I am! Ugh!

This is our team meeting before the game. I don't think our uniforms could be any uglier...

Of course, I'm still doing my usual thing, teaching. This month was a little fun in that I got to meet future students and give them a sample class. Every year, junior high students interested in the foreign language department at school come and learn about it. They listen to speeches by students in the program, as well as our exchange students and then they get to try two sample classes. One of those is with me. The other class is an online listening and learning program. In my class, we made hand turkeys, since it was thanksgiving, and the students made up an introduction for their hand turkey. Then they wrote what they were grateful  for, again, in honour of thanksgiving. The students seemed to enjoy it, which is good, because pressure is high for that day. The teachers and principals are always anxious, because if the day doesn't go well, then not many students will apply for the program and the school will be ranked lower.

Also, last week a former exchange student visited from Sweden. She came to see her class, but it was a surprise, so I had to help organize it. The students were all really surprised, and it was a wonderful reunion for them :)

And of course, I continue to see the doctor every two weeks regarding my herniated disc. Both the doctor and the physio say my pain is not a result of the hernia. Whatever. The pain has significantly improved and I can play sports without too much discomfort, so I'm happy. I'm perfectly happy to stop this nonsense and get over this part of the year... All bad things seem to happen from August to December... Every year. It's quite an incredible coincidence, or not.