Konichiwa, bitches!

Fukuoka was awesome! Awesome and really, really expensive!

I spent my first day there getting my visa sorted out and then totally crashing out in my hotel room and sleeping for 12 hours. Woops! I did eat some amazing sushi and walked around the downtown area for a while. My hotel was really cool, though. It was modeled after a tea house and looked very traditional and Japanese. I had a single and I felt like I was in the middle of Memoirs of a Geisha or something.

My second day, I was up and about all over town. I went to the big park in the middle of the city and looked at pretty gardens. I took a hike up to the ruins of the Fukuoka castle, then walked downtown to do some shopping. I ate tons of sushi and ramen. That night, I went to the area with the street food stalls and had some great ramen and a nice big glass of warm sake.

My last day there, I finished up shopping and walked around the downtown area I hadn't hit up yet. My trip ended on a less than great note when I threw a temper tantrum at the airport because they tried to take away my Bumble&Bumble curl creme, but hell...you can't get that in Korea! My hair needs all the help it can get.

The Fukuoka pictures can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63860&l=e237e&id=854760437

General updates:
-I have a new housemate. Jennefer has left and I have a subletter until Linda Fung (!!!) gets here in February. Cannot wait for that to happen!

-I play a game with my students called "sleeping bear," where they pretend to be hibernating and can't wake up (it's saved my sanity on several occasions!). Ashley took the game to heart and when she "woke up" today, she bit my arm really hard because bears are hungry when they wake up.

-We won 2nd place at the local pub quiz this week!!! I'm way too happy about this.


-Claude hates halloween...here's some pictures from that wonderful holiday
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=65625&l=358a3&id=854760437

-I'm writing this from a cafe where I've been sitting for about two hours, trying to download season 1 of the UK Office and drinking glass after glass of wine. The dude totally knows I'm using all his bandwidth!

Japan!

I leave on Thursday for Fukuoka, Japan to do a visa run and I am ridiculously excited about.

This is my first trip in Asia outside of Korea. I feel pretty proud of myself for how much travel I've done within the country but now...broader horizons! I feel like once I break the seal, I can do some more weekend trips around the area.

I'm staying at a very traditional place my first night and then Friday I'll be at a hostel that caters to younger people. It should be a lot of fun and I can't wait! Gah!