Blue-eyed Seoul

December was a busy month for me. Besides writing blog posts charged with toilet humor and tacky political jokes, I was participating in the Holiday Season. While I don't want to dwell on it for too long, I want to share my feelings on Christmas 2013. It was, in one word, different. This was the first Christmas away from my family, and it was quite the learning experience.

I'll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams...

While trying to keep up with the Spirit of Holiday Cheer, I decided that I would host a White Elephant Christmas/ dinner party, and for those of you who know me, you know all too well that tacos is a Jimmy Regular: They're affordable, they can go a long way, though not quite as far as spaghetti, and I've made them so many times that I don't need the recipe. Besides, it's always good to make something you're comfortable with when throwing a dinner party. The last thing a host needs is to be second guessing whether the entree is going to be a hit or a flop. To make a long story short, and to get on to the main topic of this post, the party was a hit, and I enjoyed my guests' company. It made Christmas seem a lot less lonely.

Holly, Cassandra, and Huz Aan in my industrial-looking kitchen...

After Christmas, I was off to Seoul, South Korea. Denny-sama, a former JET who is a close family friend of my friend Emily, offered to put me up for a few days and show me a good time in Seoul. He's an educator at a local university, and has been living in Seoul for quite some time. I went into the vacation knowing I would have a good time, but I didn't realize just how much of an adventure it would be:

My journey started on December 28th, bright and early. The goal was to get from my house in the highlands of Nagano to the busy metropolis of Osaka. I had a flight out of KIX at 6PM, and needed to be at the airport by 4. I had no train tickets to get there, just a bunch of yen, and the hope that I wouldn't be stuck in a standing room only train car for the duration of my trek to the airport.  I caught a cab from my house to 塩尻駅, and hopped on an express train headed for Nagoya. This first leg set the tone of my entire journey to Seoul. It was quiet. It was snowy. It was serene. 

After the two hour express train ride to Nagoya, I then hopped on a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) from Nagoya to Osaka. The Shink covered the distance in less than an hour, putting me in downtown Osaka at about 10AM. Seeing as it would take about 45 minutes from downtown to the airport, that gave me roughly four hours to burn before I had to be anywhere. I decided that it would be interesting to do some urban exploration.

Above: Exploring the新世界 ward in Osaka

At about two, I decided that it was time to start moseying towards the train station to get to the airport. Now, if there's one thing I like more than a city with a good rail transit system, it's a city with a good rail transit system that links directly to one or more of its airports without me having to fork over money for a taxi. With this being Japan and all, I wasn't disappointed. It was painless hopping on a train from the heart of downtown to Kanku, the nickname for Kansai International Airport.

The airport is on a man-made island in the middle of Osaka Bay.
I thought that was pretty interesting. 

Airport security was overwhelmingly easy- I didn't have to remove my hoodie, beanie, metal "seatbelt" belt, or shoes! I felt like I was living in "Pre 9-11 America." It made me happy that getting through security was such a breeze, but it made me sad at the same time. I began to reflect on the harsh reality of where we are as a country and the tough, but necessary measures that must be taken to board an airplane.

On  a lighter note, the realness of air travel back home kicked in. Its form: budget airlines. In The States we have Spirit. Japan has Peach. Based out of Kansai International, Peach Airlines is the first Japanese budget airline to do international travel. Trust me, you get what you pay for. I flew Spirit last summer when I went to Disney World, and the experience I had with Peach was about the same: cramped seats with bare minimum cabin service. Even the terminal and jetway, or lack thereof, were indicative of the low fares. I have to admit, though: It was pretty cool walking to the plane on the tarmac. I felt like I was straight out of the 1950s.

It's blurry because I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures...

When I arrived at Incheon, my host for the week was waiting for me outside of customs. He seemed ready and eager to receive guests, and I immediately felt the "Southern Hospitality;" It was nice being with a fellow Texan. Mr. Denny took me to his apartment where I'd be staying: right in the heart of downtown. His apartment was only a few blocks away from the U.S. Embassy and the President of South Korea's house. Needless to say, if things get rough, he'd be able to make it to the U.S. Embassy within five minutes on foot. If things got really rough, you know, like in the form of an invasion from an unnamed country to the north, well...

View from Denny-sama's apartment at night.

While I was there, I had a chance to get a private tour of Gwanghwamun. This is Seoul's biggest palace square, and it backs up against the president's house. I don't have much to compare it to from home, but I would imagine that if we had an emperor or a king instead of a president, the white house would look something like this.

Main entrance: recently refurbished

Inside the palace walls

Colorful throne room

Me with my lunar new year animal

...She's' slipping. 

 The most interesting thing about my historical tour was the tour guide himself. His "American" name is Mark, and his Korean name is unpronounceable. He's a grad student in the field of Asian studies, and he wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind. Anytime we would pass an official tour, he would listen to what the guide was saying, in Korean of course, and would translate for Denny and me. Most of the time, Mark said the spiel was pretty accurate, but every once in a while, he would go on a long rant about why what they were saying was not true. Many people find things like this annoying, but I totally get where he was coming from. It reminds me of when I go to amusement park with a group of people, and someone says something along the lines of "This roller coaster flew off the tracks last year, and that's why it's closed." I know it's incorrect, they probably know they're just repeating some rumor they heard too, but they have no idea that there's one amongst the group, me, who can smell the bullshit from a mile away. The tough decision is to either "free park" it, or call them out on it. Whereas I usually let things like this slide, Mark was the total opposite. While he didn't interrupt the paid tour group, he was adamant about letting us know how he felt about the fabricated stories. The language was peppered with expletives too. The English ones.

Mark the tour guide and the D.G.

Of course I had a few different ethnic Korean dishes while I was there. I ate kimchi with virtually every meal, and it was amazing, but the highlight meal was when I went out with Denny-sama and his colleagues and students. It was not Asian fare, but rather food from the motherland: Texas. Seoul had an On the Border. For those of you who don't know, On the Border is a chain restaurant that serves up various Tex-Mex dishes, ranging from tacos to fajitas to chimichangas. All they friends. When I lived in Texas, I wanted nothing to do with OTB. I found their food mediocre at best, but when one lives in Asia, the Tex-Mex desert, one must learn to be a man and eat their words. Oh, I ate my words alright, and I ate the hell out of a combination plate that night too. One crispy beef taco and two cheese enchiladas with a side of rice and beans. It had that "Overly processed, loaded with preservatives, tastes just like it does 7000 miles away" feel. I couldn't have been more satisfied.

Nom nom nom...

Look at all those dirty glasses...