Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Miyajima

Today, I returned from almost a week in Japan, and it was a much needed break from the craziness of working in a middle school! I almost missed my flight this morning because I had the time wrong, and I made it to the gate as boarding was starting. I'm tired as I work my night shift tonight, but it was one of the best weeks I've had in quite a while. I'll summarize some of what I wrote in my journal below.

2/21/15, Tokyo
Tokyo has been a lot of fun with MJ and Ice. We visited the fish market, saw Harajuku street, ate lots of sashimi, and in general just kind of wandered the city. It's been nice having some companionship, but I'm looking forward to the days alone to clear my head and recharge. Last night, I hung out in the hotel bar when we got back and had some long-awaited Blanton's bourbon and bought a box of Cuban cigars. It was a great treat for myself, but not so much for my wallet.

2/22/15, Hiroshima
What a surreal day. The photos of charred bodies and shadows of people literally vaporized into thin air were too much to handle. Photos of fat dripping off of people's fingers as they melted and blood boiling up under the skin of people unfortunate enough to survive for only a few hours or days after the explosion. Radiation still killing people decades later. I wonder if the rest of the world thinks Truman is a war criminal. I'm sure the Japanese do. How could they not? I am certainly thinking that right now. Not to say that Japan didn't do their own messed up stuff in World War II, but I've never seen anything quite like this. Just complete and utter disregard for other humans. It's so sad that it's been reduced to a number, and more so how insane that number is. It was striking to see all the photos of the dead at the exhibit. It was 150,000 people instantly dying, but it was 150,000 individuals. They had mothers, fathers, siblings. They had friends. They played games and liked music. It's so sad to think of all they could have been, but instead we wiped out a whole city (two really) of civilians, and tried to claim it was justified. I think this day has been pretty life-changing.

2/23/15, Miyajima
I'd seen photos of the floating torii before, but I didn't know it was accessible from Hiroshima. Thankful I found out! I went with Alexis, a traveling Italian, Seamus, an Irishman, and a Korean girl whose name I butchered all day. You'd think after half a year living here, I would have pronunciation down for names. She was kind about it though, and she appreciated that I knew any Korean at all. That's one of the things I love about staying in hostels. It's a blast to meet random people and bop around with them. We climbed Mt. Misen and had a really cool view of the coast from the island. It was a tough hike, but well worth it. Then we took the cable car down and enjoyed a small dinner. I had a weird moment in the Miyajima train station today. It was like a split second where it hit me how lucky I am and how unreal it was that I was in Hiroshima. Everyone learns about it, but how many people are fortunate enough to go? I felt sure of myself, which felt good. It was like a weird butterfly in my stomach that came and went quickly.

2/24/15, Tokyo
I had the same feeling today where I realized how ridiculous it was that I was walking the streets of Tokyo amidst beautiful temples and cherry trees. I passed on going up in the SkyTree because it was so expensive. It was too early to see cherry blossoms, but I saw the buds, so I guess that counts for something, right? It occurred to me that I've developed Asian eating habits as I slurped my noodles with freight train volume and ferocity tonight. I'll have to reign that in if I ever want to eat Chinese food in the States around other humans. I really like the symbol of paper cranes from the exhibit at Hiroshima. The Sadako Sasaki story is pretty cool. Maybe a paper crane tattoo? Back to work tomorrow. Going to be a ridiculously long day, and back to workplace drama and all of that jazz. Only a short while 'til spring break!

It was an incredible trip! Pictures are up on Facebook. Thanks for reading.

Monday, February 9, 2015

고생 끝에 낙이 온다

고생 끝에 낙이 온다

"After troubles comes happiness," or that's the extent of it, I suppose. It's been a rough few weeks since Christmas break with the boys, to say the least. It really felt like things spiraled out of control, and the boys showed me how capable they are of trying my patience. Changes have been made, and it seems like as far as the job, things are on the upswing. I like that proverb a lot, and it seems like that's kind of been the theme for me for a while now.

Suffice to say, I'm happy. The island is still freezing, much to my dismay, but I'm still in the same personal groove I found when I got back to Korea. I get off campus often to read and write, and I'm trying to enjoy the beauty of the island. I'm going to Japan in about a week, and I just booked a trip to Nepal for May. All is well here.

I've been having a lot of Skype and FaceTime sessions, and I've got a few pen pals at this point. The contact with home has been really nice, and I feel missed, which is really uplifting to feel. I miss everyone a lot, too, wholeheartedly, and talking to people from home really makes my days. Time is going by more quickly than ever, and I'm certain it will only continue to go by faster.

I'm certain now that I'll miss it here when I'm gone. Despite all previous admissions, due to some administrative difficulties, it's beginning to look like my tenure in Korea will end in June. That's not to say I've made a decision, but it's most likely that I won't be back. It's kind of out of my control, but I'm really not all that sad. On to something different. It's crazy the change that's occurred in my brain in a short few months. Not knowing isn't nearly as terrifying as it was coming out of college. I don't wonder every day and let it nag at me constantly. I'm working to figure out what I'm going to be doing in the coming year, but that's just it. It's not going to go any faster or be any more efficient if I'm constantly worrying about it.

Baseball season is drawing near, and I'm as excited as ever. Pitchers and catchers report in 10 days. I'm already dreaming of being home and having a hot dog at the ballpark. I'm going to have to force myself to watch the games delayed and get out when the weather starts to get nice! Getting my boys out to play some baseball on the weekends should start happening. I hope the Cardinals have an open spot at Spring Training come 2016. I'll be ready.

I can already feel the time dwindling. It won't be long before I'm on a plane to Japan, to the DMZ, to Nepal, and finally home. It's a lot of activity for a few months, but I've never lacked in the scheduling department. I wonder when my body will catch up with my desire to keep doing things. My knee already slows me down a bit, but I figure I can keep doing twenty hour itineraries for flights at least until I'm 75 right? Especially with advanced medical technology. I guess we'll see.

That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading, as always.