Miyazaki Exhibit at the Seoul Arts Center

So, many of you have heard of Hayao Miyazaki, the world-wide renown Japanese director and animator for Studio Ghibli.  I am a huge fan of his and own many of his movies, though sadly my collection is incomplete.  I was teaching a newspaper class and one of the articles was about a Miyazaki exhibit at the Seoul Arts Center.  This exhibit had the original story boards for many of Miyazaki's movies.  Now I never go anywhere by myself but this actually made me go find the Seoul Arts Center on my own.  Shows you how much I wanted to see this exhibit. 

So, I printed off a map but it wasn't very good.  Luckily is didn't take me too long to find the Seoul Arts Center after exploring some back roads.  The art center was really crowded and the exhibit was on the second floor.  It was a little confusing as I still needed to buy a ticket but I found it eventually.  The ticket cost me 15,000 won (basically $15) and then I had to wait.  The Miyazaki exhibit was so popular that they had to have numbered tickets for entry.  So I had to wait an hour.  While I waited I took some pictures of the Miyazaki designs and pictures that they had outside the exhibit.  While I was waiting, someone dressed up as Noh Face from Spirited Away came out and people were taking pictures with him.

So, I was the next group to go but the Korean lady allowed me to go with the group before mine which was nice.  Sadly, I was not allowed to take pictures of the original story boards but I expected that.  The artwork was amazing and had notes written on them by Hayao Miyazaki himself.  Most were drawn by Miyazaki.  Some were really simple designs while others were so detailed that they made my eyes widen.  Remember that these are just the story boards and not the end products, so to put so much detail into the story boards just shows how much effort and skill Miyazaki puts into his animations.  Along with the original story boards, there were also short movie clips showing the final product next to the original story boards which was neat.  Also, there were some paintings from Ponyo next to the Ponyo story boards.  It was really cool seeing the pencil sketches next to the fully painted images of the same scene. There were story boards from many of his movies, including a few I hadn't even heard of before.

So there were 1300 original story boards which took a while to see them all but it was definitely worth the time.  There was also a room that was designed to make it feel like you were walking down the long corridor to Yubaba's office to sign a contract.  That was really cool though I almost walked into a mirror.  At the end of the exhibit was a place where people could draw there own Miyazaki characters and put them on the wall.  Though I didn't draw anything (because I could never do Miyazaki justice) but I did take some fun pictures of that room since I couldn't take any pictures of the original story boards. Then there was the gift shop where I could buy some replicas of the original story boards .... which of course I did (though some are for gifts and not for me ^.^).  And that was all there was to the Miyazaki Exhibit.  I found it exciting to actually see the original story boards that Hayao Miyazaki created.  I recommend anyone interested in Miyazaki or Japanese animation should definitely check out this exhibit at the Seoul Arts Center.

 

Summer Vacation First Half

 

So my original plans for summer vacation were to go to Japan with Megan and see parts of Japan that I hadn't seen before.  Sadly that got cancelled due to lack of people signing up, so instead I scheduled to get my wisdom teeth removed and Chris was nice enough to volunteer to go with me.  I also told Ashley, our newest coworker from Canada, that I would go exploring with her.  The first few days were spent helping Ashley get situated and I bought a few cheap gifts as souvenirs to send home.  I went to the post office and mailed a package home with things that I had received as gifts or things I had bought for people back home.  Now I just need to figure out what to do with all of it. 

 

On Monday, I was suppose to have my wisdom teeth removed.  Chris was going to go with me but there was some delay at the immigration office so she was running late so I ended up going by myself.  It worked out in the end because according to the Korean dentist, he saw no reason why my wisdom teeth needed to be removed.  He showed me the X-ray which was really cool to see.  He showed me that all of my wisdom teeth had grown in straight (except for the one that had moved forward and was a little sideways from when it replaced the back molar I had to have removed before) and that the bottom to were already erupted with no problems.  So basically all I got done was a teeth cleaning and Chris actually got back around the same time because her trip took four hours.  Poor Chris .... and she has to go back too. T.T  So what I expected to be a painful day ended up not too bad and it finally gave me a chance to read the family history stories my mom is writing.  They are great and if you ever get the chance, ask my mom to read some of them.  ^.^

Tuesday was an interesting day as well.  Ashley and I decided to explore Itaewon a bit and went sometime during the afternoon as I slept the morning away.  It's nice to be able to sleep in once in a while.  I bought a bunch of nicer souvenirs while in Itaewon, which means another trip to the post office, and got a beautiful fan that I love.  We also found the Canadian Bar that Elliot had mentioned to Ashley.  We had dinner there which was nice because I enjoyed some good teriyaki wings.  Though to get a good price on the wings, I had to buy a drink.  I could drink it, but I can't say I liked the Canadian Club with ginger ale.  But that doesn't surprise me. 

 

 

Surprisingly, we didn't get lost at all and I realize I know the train system better than I thought.  But then again, the path is very similar to where I would go when I visited Nathaniel.  So perhaps that is not so surprising, hehehe.  Sadly, I still did not see the hospital I was born in, mostly because I wasn't sure where to look.  We also had a random Korean guy come up to us on the train and call us handsome.  I think he was also trying to ask us where we were from and he shook me hand .... I was kind of creeped out by him.  Then some high school girls (I think) came up to us and asked us where we were from for a school assignment.  There were butterflies leading to the bathrooms.  It was an interesting and fun day.

Wednesday was a nice trip to the Gyeongbokgung Palace which I had only briefly seen before because it was closed by the time I got there.   The palace was huge and it took us a good two hours to walk around it.  I really liked the traditional architecture and wonder what the green, gold, and red colors mean.  Though we came too late for the tour, we did wander around for a while and saw many different things such as pottery, a throne room, a lake, etc.  Everything was beautiful.  There were a lot of animal statues around, too.  A group of Korean guys came up to us and asked if one of them could take a picture with us.  I felt a little bad for the guy as his friends put him up to it, but he was friendly enough and they took a picture with our cameras, too.  It was hot out, but not as hot as it could have been and we have been lucky so far to have little to no rain during our vacation.  Well, at least while we are out and about.

While visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace, we also visited the National Folk Museum and the National Palace Museum.  The National Folk Museum had a lot of different things and showed some of the history of Korea.  There was a nature room where if you sat on a specific spot on a bench you would hear different nature sounds.  The were also a lot of silk tapestries, too.  The National Palace Museum was very similar to the National Folk museum, but it focused more on what you might find in the imperial palaces, rather than the history of Korea.  Both museums were interesting, though sadly my pictures did not turn out too well as we were not allowed to use flash photograph ... meaning no light.  Another little amusing fact is while at the Folk Museum I dropped my ice cream .... why am I so clumsy. :P

 

 

 

Getting Out More .... Maybe ... and a Field Trip

It has been a while .... I keep forgetting to write this.  So I apologize for the lack of detail in this blog entry as I try to remember what has happened before my vacation started.  ^.^  So though I haven't done much adventuring, I have gone out more lately.  Though first I should mention that sadly my Japan trip was cancelled because not enough people signed up.  *Cries*  I also realized one day that a lot of my students live nearby.  I keep running into some of them while walking to the grocery store.  Anyway, what have I been doing lately and what interesting things have happened ....

I was walking home one day from work.  There were a lot of cars that day so I decided to take the tunnel route.  I was by myself as I tend to get off a little later than the others due to making phone calls.  So anyway, I enter the tunnel and it is its normal misty cold self.  Nice during the summer heat.  But, as I was walking, I realized I could hear a flute playing and it was really eerie music, too.  Now I watch a lot of anime and play a lot of video games, and when you are alone and suddenly hear eerie music that means you are about to die.  Of course, that isn't going to happen in real life but it was an amusing thought that came to mind as I searched for the source of the sound.  At the top of the stairs, on the other side of the tunnel was a Korean girl practicing.  She stopped and disappeared as soon as she saw me and I haven't heard the flute again sadly.  It was definitely an interesting experience. 

I also went to an amazing orchestra concert at Megan's church along with some of Megan's friends.  This church has a lot of foreigners because it is an English speaking church and Koreans as well.  The concert was held to raise money for the kids who were going on missions in different countries, though I don't remember which countries.  The orchestra was amazing and played not only religious pieces but also music from popular musicals such as Phantom of the Opera (which seems to be popular here in Korea as this is not the first time I have heard Phantom of the Opera at an orchestra concert in Korea).  Also, they had some special guests, a trumpet soloist and a lady who wore traditional Korean clothing (the Hanbuk).  The lady was playing a traditional Korean instrument that was long and had strings and looked like it had a mini drum at the bottom of it.  (I may be misremembering as I sadly did not get a picture as I did not want to cause any flashes or noise in the video they were recording.)  I do remember that I really enjoyed the unique sound that came from this traditional Korean instrument. 

Afterwards, we went next door at an art exhibit and saw some really interesting art.  The one that sticks out the most was the group of artwork that was made up of ripped up paper, glued into flowers, and painted.  This artwork stuck out because it looked so real but on closer inspection, it was ripped up construction paper.  Also, before the concert I went shopping with Megan.  It was really funny because Megan realized I seem to have a thing for black clothing.  While looking at shirts, I was picking up all the black ones and now Megan insists that I try to add some color into my wardrobe.  This was also the first time since coming to Korea that I bought clothing.  Since then I have bought a few dresses (O.O yes, I actually bought dresses). 
 

One day, I went to dinner with some of my coworkers and went shopping with them.  Normally I just go home and cook dinner but for once I went out.  What made this day memorable was Grace.  They went to a beauty store and were looking at various things and some nail polish caught my eye.  Now most of you know that I am not really the girly type but you could say nail polish is my weakness.  Grace sees me getting nail polish and says "If Jessica is getting something, I have to get something."  This made my day and definitely made me laugh.  I know that I have a fairly unfeminine outlook as I don't wear makeup and I don't dress up much but I didn't realize just how unfeminine I seem to others.  It always surprises me when I dress nicely and everyone is like, "Oh you look so nice.  Why don't you dress up more?"  Why do looks really matter anyway is my thought but that is one thing I will never understand.  I dress for comfortable and how I want and though I will follow whatever dress code my work gives me, I always feel that it is just too much effort most of the time to dress up.  Now cosplaying is another thing .... ^.^  That is worth the effort.  Hehehe.  Now is only I actually had the occasion to cosplay.  *Sniffle*  I want to go to Otakon.  T.T

Hmm, what else has happened....?  I ran into some of my students while shopping at Lotte Marte.  It was funny because I was just packing up my groceries and I hear someone yell, "Jessica Teacher!"  Before I even had time to turn around, two little girls fly into me and are hanging on my legs.  It was Sally and her sister Cheny, who I don't teach.  Both girls were hugging my legs and my first thought is if you are here with me then where are your parents.  So I ask them and they point to the escalator where I can see their mom waving at me and smiling.  At least I knew their parents knew where they were which made me relieved.  So we chatted for a minute while their mom and dad had a chance to catch up to them.  It was a cute experience. 

So then there was the staff party.  We ate at TGIF and that was nice cause I was able to eat the food there without any problem.  And the browning with ice cream .... YUM... ^.^  Anyway, the staff party was nice.  What amused me was when they all decided to do shots.  Now, I don't drink very often but I decided why not try one so I told them and everyone got really excited.  Now why me trying one Jaeger Bomb is so exciting is beyond me but I guess it had something to do with me doing something that was not normal and coming out of my shell a bit.  Now don't get me wrong, I only had the one drink.  I'm not really a drinker.  But it was interesting learning how to drink a shot and it wasn't too bad.  I liked it, not my favorite drink, but tasted better than a lot of other drinks I've tried.  After that, I had more browning and ice cream ^.^ and then I left early with Megan and Sarah before the others got too drunk.

Then came the Fourth of July.  Ironically, Canada Day was that week too so it was an interesting week.  Sadly, I did not get any fireworks but that is okay.  So for the 4th, the American teachers decided to put name tags of their state on their shirts for the day which was fun and silly.  I drew fireworks on my student's weekly reports and had them make red, white, and blue headbands.  I made one too and wore it to some of my later classes which really amused my students.  Then I had them make a little video that said "Happy Independence Day, Jessica Teacher's Mom and Dad."  It was really cute.   I ended up not going out to dinner with my coworkers due to working late making phone calls for the first group that went and I was too tired by the time the second group went to eat.  Oh well, but I hear they had fun with sparklers.  ^.^  *Curses the need for sleep.*

So I had another joint birthday party.  This time it was for Mellisa and Daniel.  The joint birthday parties are nice because it takes up less class time.  Though we did end up with a lot of fruit and two birthday cakes.  So it could have probably been coordinated a little better.  But that is okay.  The fruit definitely got eaten. ^.^  Though it did take a long time to take pictures because of the late arrival of a few things meant we had to start over.  We also had a field trip to the Samsung Transportation Museum.  Though I am not normally a car person, I enjoyed it as I got to see some interesting things and the kids really liked it as well.  I think my favorite part of the museum was seeing the replica of the car from the Back to the Future movies and the fact that this museum had the original car from the old Herbie movies.  The Herbie car was really rusty and beat up but it was really cool to see.

 

 

It Has Been A While

So a lot has happened as it has been a month since I last posted.  Sadly I haven't taken many pictures, and a few videos which seem to be impossible to upload.  *cries*  They are so adorable.  First, one of my afternoon kindergarteners, Hillary, is really good at whistling.  That is surprising in itself as most kids her age can't whistle at all and she can whistle songs well.  So I started whistling with her and suddenly she was trying to out whistle me.  It was really cute, especially since she kept getting more and more frustrated at the fast that I could whistle as well as she could.  Of course, I learned to whistle a lot later than she did, so I have to say it was quite impressive.

Next we had the Song Contest.  My class was really quiet in the beginning and trying to get them to dance was very difficult.  We were singing My Will by the Beatles.  My class did fairly well and though they were a little quiet sometimes, everyone could hear them and they did most of the dance moves.  We didn't win, but I was proud of them.  They are now excited about learning the song A Girl Worth Fighting For from Mulan.  Britney really likes the phrase 'lady killer.'  It is really amusing to watch them try to sing the song but I hope they learn it well in time for the next Song Contest as they are working very hard.  But it is a very long song and a lot of lines to remember so we will see what happens.

Hmm, what else has happened....  Right around Mother's Day, I became an aunt as my best friend, Brandy, had a little girl.  I spend a fortune on flowers to send to my mom, my dad who is in the hospital, and my best friend all in one week.  But it was totally worth it as everyone really seemed to like the flowers I gave them.  There was also a Street Fair that Megan and I ran into on one of our walks.  It had a lot of food vendors and some random sellers.  There was also a moon bounce and pirate ship for the kids.  It was the first time I ran into one of my students while away from school.  I think I ran into 3 different students.  The fair lasted two days but sadly the food was a disappointment.  I think it was around that time when I noticed a giant spider on the road and shreaked.  At least Megan didn't make fun of me .... I need to get over this fear of spiders ....

There was also this orange cat hanging around who was very friendly.  I gave him some chicken but when I tried to get it indoors it wasn't happy.  But that is okay as I always give him affection when I see him around.  Very friendly cat.  Also very dirty ....  I quit yoga due to the intensity and heat now that summer has started.  Also, it was kind of leaving bruises on my back that I didn't like, but at least I gave it a try.  Got a few new students which always makes things interesting.

Teacher's Day was interesting as a lot of students came in with presents for their teachers.  I was surprised by some of the things I got, though what surprised me the most was a bottle of white mascato.  As most of you know, I don't normally drink but white wines, especially mascatos I normally like.  I found it very ironic that the mother picked the one wine I happened to like, especially considering how picky I am. 

We had a birthday party for Amy and Clara, though none of the parents came.  After that was my second Open Class, this time with my new kindergarten.  I had thought it had gone bad because my students were nearly out of control in their excitement and I couldn't keep them on task.  But it seems the parents were really happy about it as their kids were excited to be in class and most of them were talking quite a bit which showed that they were learning English.  I'm just happy that everyone else was happy about it .... and for the fact that it is over.  ^.^

Picture Stolen From Chris

Otherwise, I had a LOTR marathon which was really amusing because literally the day after I watched the first extended movie, Chris and I went on a walk to go get burgers and I noticed this skating park.  It caught my attention because I haven't really seen many of them before, excpet in movies and when I looked out of the corner of my eye, one of the graffiti messages caught my eye.  It was an exact quote from the movie I had watched the night before in English.  "A wizard is never late.  Nor is he early.  He arrives precisely when he means to."  I really amused me.  We also saw some neat murals underneath on of the bridges.  Thankfully, Chris was nice enough to take some pictures for me.

Picture Stolen From Chris

Another amusing little story is that one of my afternoon kindergarteners, Sunwoo, brought in a musical top that lights up as it spins.  It also plays the very popular song Gangnam Style.  Which of course made my class start dancing.  I took a video of it, but John decided to be shy once the camera was out.  :(  Anyway, I tried to upload it but videos don't seem to like to be uploaded on my computer. 

Last news is probably that I am planning on going to Japan to see some of the areas I did not visit during my last trip.  I will be going with my friend, Megan, and I am super excited.  ^.^  I'm sure I am forgetting some things as it has been over a month since I last posted a blog.  So, hopefully I hit most of the fun or key details.