Arrival
Konichi-PON! Haro-ha! Yao, from the land of my peoples.
The last few weeks were packed with holiday happenings, pre-vacation work wrap up, 4 little earthquakes, and general freak out as we prepared for our trip. The rush of events sort of made me lose sight of The Prize/s.
After politely fending off airplane seat conversation with some dude who wanted to marvel at how brave I was to live in "crime ridden Oakland," I finally began my entry into the decompression chamber. I heralded the event with an appropriately Japan Airlines beverage.
I'm now in tail-wagging excitement mode as I look forward to:
1. 3 weeks of Eat and Soak! The Travel Monkey and I are on a 3 week adventure to Tokyo, Seoul, Kwangju, Kyoto and Tadeshina. As with all endeavors, domestic or abroad, good eats are a key goal. Soaking in as many hot springs as possible will also be part of this mission. Our first day, we soaked mostly in the rainwater of a winter Tokyo storm, but it was a great reason to eat hot pot and soba:
2. Adventures with Miscellaineous! I'm so excited about seeing E-thec and visiting Korea for the first time. I realize it's mostly for my own amusement, but I picked up a phrase book yesterday. Japan is in the midst of a Korean craze. As all tourist and voyeuristic relationships between a former colonizer and occupied country are, it's simultaneously disturbing and intriguing for all its complexities. The upshot of the immediate task was that I was faced with an expansive selection of Learn Korean books. I bypassed the "Korean slang so you can watch dramas and sing!" series as well as the disturbing looking hot pink book with a woman in bra, boots and not much else on the cover. Staying on mission with my Eat and Soak Korean style mission, I chose the book with useful phrases such as "I would like some kalbi," and "My skin is delicate, please do not scrub too hard."
I'm going to try to post frequently, so come back and visit!