So right before our vacation we had a little Chuseok event at school. The students dressed up in their hanbuk and we made songpyon (not sure how to spell) in class. Of course all the kids in their hanbuk were just adorable and of course they wanted to play with teacher's camera, so I thankfully have some pictures with me in them. ^.^ Yay! Anyway, I also bought a little hanbuk to send home for my niece. It was a fun day and then vacation started soon after.
So I finally got to return to Japan but it meant getting up really early in the morning to catch the bus to the airport. And I mean like 4 am. And of course, like may people, I have trouble going to sleep when I am excited or have a big event coming up so that started my 5 day trip of little sleep. But at least it was fun. Anyway, I packed everything into a backpack that I borrowed (as mine was too small) and just took that and my purse as a carry-on. I only forgot my towel which wasn't too bad considering I wasn't sure what to bring as I had never stayed at a hostel before. Sadly, we had to stand on the bus because it was crowded but that is ok. We got through airport security ridiculously fast as the place seemed deserted when we arrived and we had a least a good two hours of waiting for the plane. Ashley fell asleep at this part as, unlike me, she got no sleep at all. The plane ride was uneventful. And they served us some beef dish which they called breakfast.
Now, I only brought the equivalent of $300 with me which of course was too little. I had to withdraw another $200 and ended up only having like 50 cents by the end of my trip. I seem to like to buy presents for people too much. ^.^ Oh well. I figure as long as they enjoy the gifts, I don't mind spending the money. Besides, on vacation, you shouldn't have to worry about money too much. Though I knew Japan was going to be expensive, it was a lot more expensive then I remembered it, especially the transportation. But maybe that is just because I've lived in Korea for a year now.
Anyway, so we get through customs and all that and need to find our way to the hostel. Now, I used to be pretty good with Japanese maps but as I had rarely used the JR Line, it took me a day to get used to the maps and we ended up taking the more expensive train to get to our hostel which was in Nishi-Kawaguchi. We made it safely, though the sign to the hostel could have been better positioned to make it more noticeable. At this point, we arrived pretty late and were unable to meet with Ashley's old students. Another girl arrived right after us and had some communication issues so I ended up translated between Matsuko (another teacher from Korea) and the hostel worker. I'm actually surprised just how much Japanese I was able to use and retain despite not speaking the language for over a year and a half. Also, a lot of the people staying at the hostel were other teachers from Korea on Chuseok break as well.
After inviting Kyle and Matsuko who were also staying at the hostel, we went to Asakusa where we explored some shops and stuff. As most of us were pretty hungry by that point, we stopped at a tonkatsu place for dinner. It wasn't too bad though I have had better. It was kind of greasy. The Japanese men from the other table found us amusing as I was trying to explain how much each of the different Japanese coins were worth. After that we continued to explore where we ended up in a temple area. It was really pretty at night and of course my camera hates dark pictures. But it was still really cool to see and we could see the Sky Tree Tower from where we were.
So, the Sky Tree Tower was finished a little after I left Japan a year and a half ago if I have my facts straight. I hadn't gone to Asakusa or the Sky Tree Tower during my previous stay in Japan so it was nice to have some new experience. Because the tower looked so close, we decided to walk. Not that it was a long walk, but it was much longer than we expected and we had to cross two rivers and a lot of back streets to get there using only the tower itself as our guild. But we safely got there and it was HUGE! I mean it hurt my neck to look up at it but still it was really cool. We decided not to go up the tower, most because of money as it was $20 for the lower part and $30 to go to the top. Though my reason wasn't so much as money as a fear of heights and no desire to push myself.
After that we had some ice cream and decided to head back to the hostel where we met even more awesome people. It was someone's last night and a bunch of people ended up going to karaoke, so I ended up tagging along with them. I was quite surprised that I went as these were all people I had just met that day (considering Ashley decided to hang around the hostel instead). But still, it was a lot of fun and some of them were really good singers. I sang a mix of songs which the others seemed to enjoy. The girl from Poland was an especially good singer. Anyway, it was a lot of fun despite the broken glass (someone bumped into it and no one got hurt thankfully). After that we returned to the hostel and I finally went to bed as it was 3 or 4 in the morning and we were getting up around 6 to go to Tokyo Disneyland the next day.
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