Travel!

I will eventually do a post about leaving Korea but that involves pictures and videos so first you will get this:

I am in Istanbul! I arrived safely thanks to many anonymous people who helped me on my way. This has to be one of the most beautiful and enchanting cities in the world. Every other second I see something that has been there for over a thousand years. The numerous mosques – while similar in construction to each other – are each impressive in their own right. My hostel in right next to the Hagia Sofia or Aya Sofia which is absolutely magnificent. Right now, I am very glad I came.

I arrived at Beijing international airport in high spirits. Though I remembered my last trip through this particular slice of hell, in which I spent about three hours running, hell for leather, carrying a very expensive and heavy set of bells and following Marion, our long-legged - and possibly possesed - chior instructor, as he ran from one end of the place to another. I blamed the craziness on the disorganization of our tour guides, or Marion himself, but really there is no way to make this airport go any smoother. I was determined to have a smooth run of it, but things started going wrong immediately. I was walking away from the gate when I saw a sign for 'international transfers' going the other way. This did not make me happy. Then it turned out I was over thinking it and I was going the right way in the first place.

The main problem is that this airport is set up differently from all the others I've seen in the past. You have to go through immigration with everyone else even if you are going to transfer and thus never set foot outside the airport. This doesn't seem like a good security scheme to me as I could have walked out of the airport at any time and disappeared into China without a visa. Maybe they just don't care? But if they don't care, I certainly do, because I thought I had gone the wrong way and done something incredibly stupid up until the moment I had my boarding pass in my hand.

After talking to several rude people behind desks and two very nice ladies in shiny shiny gold pants suits, I finally found the international departures (which was behind another immigration booth) and got through to where I could check into my flight. A combination of getting turned around and something weird about my reservation had served to make me late and practically hyperventilating. The lady at the check-in counter didn't help, because she had just finished turning away two people who had similar irregularities in their bookings as mine, telling them basically 'I'm sorry there's nothing I can do'. She took forever to look at my papers and one problem after another seemed to come up. No, Cairo was not my final destination anymore, No, neither was Dubai, yes, my bags are only checked to Dubai but I am perfectly capable of re-checking them. She told me I had already been issued a boarding pass which was most definitally not true, and she kept on asking me what happened to my flight to Cairo as if the answer wasn't obvious.

I finally calmed down when I got in front of my gate at which point it dawned on me that I may actually make this flight.

Dubai was a whole different story. I'm sure my experience might have been less pleasant if I had arrived at a decent hour. But I landed in Dubai around 5am and the place was pretty deserted. Despite the two hours it took me to get through the immigration line (not an exaggeration) I kind of like Dubai International. When I stepped outside the weather was amazing, warm with a cool breeze. I kept on thinking in my head – what is this sensation in my limbs? I'm not wearing three layers and yet I'm... warm? It was only then that it really hit me – I am so not in Seoul anymore. The palm trees were a big tip off as well.

The UAE (United Arab Emarites, which is the country Dubai is in for those of you unfamiliar) is as lackadaisical in its approach to immigration as china seems to be despite the two hour wait in the line. I could have left the airport at any time and disappeared into the countryside never to be seen again. Of course, this could be some kind of deliberate loophole the likes of which are exploited for human trafficking purposes. Undocumented workers could easily find their way in and have no legal recourse to get themselves out.

Anyway, oppertunities for organized crime aside, the airport was very peaceful, a nice break from Beijing and Incheon.

The flight from Beijing to the UAE was one of the best I ever had because I slept through most of it. Normally, I am incapable of sleeping in moving vehicles. Unlike my brother, who has the unholy ability to fall asleep during a five minute car ride, I must stay awake for the entirety of a 13 hour flight.

But this time, I had a plan. I was going to try sleep medication. Most of the time, I don't like to take any kind of medication if I'm not sick. It takes a lot of nagging, usually, to get me to take an advil even when I have a migraine. So my departure from this earlier ethos was a big deal. I had tried it before when I came back from China the first time but I didn't have good results as I had the beginnings of a fever and I took it when everyone was still awake and talking. It just served to make me loopy and slightly delusional. This time I was smarter, waiting until I was ready to sleep to take it and bringing an eyemask. It was honestly one of the most enjoyable flights I've ever been on due to the fact that I spent a large portion of it unconcious.

I managed to take a shower in Dubai – all their bathrooms have shower stalls. A fact I would have loved to know before I checked all of my shampoo – but had to put my old grotty clothes back on which kind of deafeated the purpose of the whole excersize.

I arrived in Istanbul with few mishaps and, despite Ataturk International's complete lack of direction concerning the recovering of your baggage, I finally managed to get all my stuff (all 30 kilos of it) and connect with the person who was supposed to pick me up at the Airport.

As we drove into the city, I couldn't help but marvel at all the ruins that everyday life seemed to flow around. There were clearly modern buildings built on top of an ancient Roman-era wall. In that way it reminds me of Cusco because of how there are so many ruins just scattered throughout the city that the people barely take notice anymore. There are spray-painted tags right next to some Roman graffitti.

When I got to the hostel, I checked in and sent some emails. I had planned to take a shower and a long nap when Natalie, my roommate came in. The first thing she asked me after she established who I was was 'what are you doing in here?' In her mind there was no greater sin then spending any time in Istanbul in your hostel. She came here from Russia with only a purse full of clothes and an iron will. She took me to see the sunset over the river from a tower that was built byEmperor Justinian and overlooks most of Istanbul. I got some really spectacular pictures.

Then she took me into the nightlife heart of downtown where there were hundreds of people walking the streets. It was about the time she started talking about night clubs that I had to say 'uncle!'. I had been traveling for two days straight, had been in three countries, on three planes, and marched over countless distances with my large amount of luggage in tow. I needed sleep. But I didn't want to cramp her style, so I told her I could figure out my way home by myself, which was almost true.

I managed to figure out the trams which involved three different lines. At one point I had to transfer via this underground shuttle and the guy kept on yelling at me 'Get off at the first stop?' which I finally figured out was his way of helping me. He was not, in fact, asking me a question but giving me instructions.

There was a little confusion because my hostel is right next to the Hagia Sofia. But I hadn't learned to recognize it yet and so I couldn't remember which one was the Hagia Sofia and which one was the Blue Mosque. Finally I got so close to the one I thought was the Hagia Sofia, only to find it had blue domes (which had been harder to see from farther away, especially at night). But I found my way eventually and crashed in our room, waking conveniently at 4am when Natalie rolled in.

Now, it's 7am and time to go out in search of that flighty temptress adventure! And also kebabs. I think the last time I ate was in Dubai...

Japan Part Three - The End

Saturday, we first went to these famous gardens that are in Takamatsu – apparently Kings and Emperors from all over the world have been donating plants to this place for hundreds of years. It was a beautiful place and the lotus’ were in bloom. Since they only bloom for five days a year I was very lucky to have the right timing. We fed the turtles and the fish who were so used to being fed that the fish allowed themselves to be pet and the turtles would climb all over you. One of the turtles got hold of my finger but it didn’t hurt so much as it was cute. There were these strange, flat, needle-nosed, turtles there that I remember seeing at the Snake Park in Nairobi. I was so thrilled to see them in the wild (well, semi-wild) because I always wondered where they came from.

For lunch we met up with Grandma who had insisted on taking us out to lunch before I left. We talked about the differences between Korea and Japan – mostly that Korean people are much more touchy-feely and Japanese people have serious personal space issues. And the fact that the food in Korea is much spicier.

After lunch, we went to a kimono store and I tried on a yukata – it’s like a summer kimono and is less expensive than the full kimono is. I was pretty torn about buying one. I mean I always regretted not buying a nice silk sari when I was in India but those ran about 30 dollars and were easier to put on. Yukatas and kimonos require at least two people and unless they are put on in a special way, look terrible. I’m still debating and right now I’m leaning towards paying the $150 or so to get it. They are pretty neat.

The night was devoted to Erin taking her black belt test, which she passed with flying colors. She was so happy and I was happy for her because I knew what it felt like to get a new belt. It could only have been multiplied by the fact that it was a black belt.

Sunday, my final morning in Japan, was spent buying presents for my co-workers – I think I mentioned how they cornered me and demanded that I bring them back Milk Tea. They were so appreciative when I gave the tea to them today I was glad I remembered. For my last meal in Japan we had ramen – of course, I couldn’t leave Japan without having ramen – and sometime during the course of the meal, my plane left without me.

That’s right. I missed my flight back to Seoul because I hadn’t checked the time the night before. Spare me the ‘you should have checked’ lectures. Already got it twice. Or a billion times if you count the number of times I’ve given it to myself. Either way we arrived at the airport at 12:45pm thinking my flight left at 2:00pm when really it had already left at 12:25PM.

The women at the counter were very nice and understanding. They were doing everything they could to get me out of the country. At first they were like ‘oh, well we can just put you on the next flight’ and I was like ‘great, when is that?’. and they were like: ‘Wednesday’. Since I had to be at work on Monday that was no good.

They said they had a flight in the next prefecture over but it was for $600. It would have killed me to pay the much for a one hour flight. Finally, the lady held up her finger and disappeared into the back saying that she would make some phone calls. I had just started wondering what kind of phone calls she was making when she came back and said she got some of the money I spent on my flight that I missed to apply to the flight in the next prefecture over. So, if we hurried, I would only have to pay the difference (which was still like $400) to get on the flight. Since it was the best offer I was going to get we dashed into a taxi ($40), got two bus tickets to the next prefecture over ($80), got a taxi from that station to that airport ($20) and got to the airport where the people from Asiana airlines were waiting for us. The whole time this song was playing in my head.

We got there about 30 min before my flight was supposed to take off. The ladies at the Asiana counter flagged us down and took care of everything as fast as possible. I ended up only paying $30 for the flight which was the only good thing about this whole endeavor. Security and immigration put together only took about 15min and I was on the plane with about a minute to spare.

So, if you even have to travel through East Asia, choose Asiana because they will bend over backwards to get you where you want to be. In fact, that should be their new slogan.

pictures will come soon.

Going to Korea, brb.

After many scheduling shenanigans I finally have a definite plan of action once I get to Korea. And I didn't even have to cancel my non-refundable one-way ticket. I'm staying in a hotel for a couple days until my apartment can be made ready for me.

The last two days have been ridiculously stressful for me to the point where I am actually looking forward to a 14 hour plane flight where I have no last minute thing I have to do. I didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of people I meant to, but thats how I roll, apparently.

My next post will be made from Seoul!

Really Annoying

I am off to a rocky start, it appears, in boss-employee relations. This last week started out with my contact at the recruitment agency, Lucy, telling me she had a plane ticket for me. Which was great despite the fact that it was 20+ hours of travel time. I've had worse.

But! She emailed back a couple hours later and said, actually, can you get your own ticket? Which worked just fine for me because the ticket she got me had me arriving on Monday, March 1st, and I would have to start teaching Tuesday. Not an ideal situation, to say the least. So, I found my own ticket for what I thought was a steal that got there the Friday before the 1st and sent her a confirmation saying that I was all set. This way, I figured, I would have time to figure out at least where everything was before I had to start working.

Then! Lucy emailed me and said the principal of the school I was to work for, the person who will ultimately pay for my ticket, said the non-refundable ticket I had purchased was too much money and could I please cancel it and find another?

We are currently battling it out in a kind of bi-continent, passive aggressive, wait-until-the-other-person-is-asleep-and-drop-an-email-bomb, phone-tag event that should really be an Olympic sport. Worst comes to worst I'm responsible for the difference between the two tickets which is just $100 so it not really that big a deal. Just really annoying.