Herb Hillz

So, sooo much fun!  It was Tarzan meets the Swiss Family Robinson*.  A short trip out of Busan and Keith, Michael and I were in Daegu meeting up with Zac and getting ready to start our weekend (11/25-27) of fun and adventure!

A weekend of fun and adventure that included: swinging, climbing, scaling ropes and bridges supended up in the air amongst the trees!  It was thrilling!!  And slightly pee-your-pants-scary at times.

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We had been told that the second, most difficult course was just that - difficult - and we'd be wise to choose a lower course.  However, if you're above the age of 11 you have no choice but to do the second, most difficult!  The King Kong course!  (blue line on map)

King Kong had 16 stations (not counting the 2 story rope ladder you have to climb to get into position) that took you around the entire park, doing every form of aerial stunt possible within the limits of safety laws.  

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And it was fantastic.  The only negative bit was choosing to go at the end of November, during the onset of winter - trying to grip ropes and secure your safety harness proved to be a difficult operation with numb fingers. 

Come spring, I'll be back there!! Flying through the trees on the Tarzan course!!

 

*I never read either of those books, but I saw Disney's Tarzan! so hopefully they are apporiate references to cite.

My Little Blue Book

I knew coming to Korea that I would need to renew my passport.  After 10 (fun, exciting) years together it was due to expire in February.  So I did the needed research to figure out the process and procedures I would have to follow in order to get a new book.

All was easy enough.  Print the form, fill it out, slap a picture on it, include a check and post.  Done.  The only troubles were with the sending step.  Send it how?  The US Embassy in Seoul required that you post your materials by courier.  They kindly supply you with two courier services on their website.  However, these courier services don't have offices in Busan and they definitely don't come to Yeongdo.  

Not a problem.  I will call the Embassy and speak with a representative in the Passport department and see if I am able to post my application by regular mail.  

Should have been easy.  Should have gone something like this:

>>Ring, Ring<<  "Yes, my I speak to the passport department please?" ... "Thank you" ... "Yes, I have a question about mailing my passport" ... "Thank you, that is great news, I will post it by regular mail.  Have a great day" ... >>click<<

Expect it went nothing like that.  Because the American Citizen Services site is full of lies and useless, incorrect information that makes actually being able to reach a person at the Embassy more difficult than any act Houdini ever performed.  

I only needed a new passport to go on vacation in winter.  I only needed a new passport in order to renew my visa to work another year in Korea.  I only needed my passport to return home at some point!!  I NEED A PASSPORT.  

 

After a bit of calling around, we were able to reach a guy who worked for one of the courier companies and was willing to come to Yeongdo, get my passport, and take it off to Seoul.  Expect he was coming to Yeongdo on his own accord, after work hours and was going to take my passport, check and personal information for some amount of money (undetermined at this point) and to be return at some unknown date in the future and even more unknown was if my parcel would even reach the Embassy!!  

I was a bit worried.  But I needed a new passport.  So I sent it off with him.  Here you are random man, take this and be on your way!

Weeks went by and I thought little of it.  Best to keep it out of mind and not stew over what I could no longer control.  

 

But it came back!!  Both books!!  Old and new!!  

Come this winter I'll be off to Malaysia and Thailand getting stamps and visas in my new (ugly) little blue book!

Fluids Needed

Pee.

Blood.

They're the top requirements needed to stay in Korea.   Please pee in a cup and roll up your sleeve so that we may collect some of your fluids to test if you are a good and decent human being and have not done any bad deeds while living in Asia and traveling around.

Ok. I can pee in a cup.  Easy enough.  I don't mind needles.  Go ahead and stab me.

But I do mind having to do it all twice.  It's a bit of a fail, a slight inconvience and creates alarming panic in my Co-Teacher that is bewildering and not too enjoyable.

"Meagan! We must go! We have 10mins to get to the hospital to redo your medicial or else...."

"Or else what?!"

Oh dear!

But we made it.  I peed.  I read an eye chart.  I was weighed.  I had my chest measured (still small).  I listened for the beeps.  I had my blood pressure checked.  I did it all for a second time.

Why?  Because I was given the Korean medical the first time I went to the hospital.  Umm... Do I look Korean to you?!  Fools!

I will allow that it was a manic time - foreigners and Koreans were streaming in to have their fluids checked to be declared fit to teach another year.  But... really!!?!  How!!! did you mistake me for a Korean?!  When you spoke to me in Korean did I respond with ease and skill?  Did my small frame and height confuse you?  No, I think not!  Fools.

But what really made it all frustrating was that the foreigner test was the exact same as the Korean test except that foreigners get tested for HIV and drugs.

Why don't the Koreans get tested for that as well?  Aren't they also human and capable of doing all the same things.  No!  No, because they are Koreans and Koreans do not do drugs!! and they do not get HIV.   Those are Western things and therefore only Westerns can get them.

Or so that's how it was explained to me in the chaos of my second medical.

Despite the mess, I proved fit to stay and teach another year.  No funny business here ^^

Time to Sign

Well I did it.  I renewed.

It was nothing fancy.  No formal gathering of the school's top heads.  No trace of celebration.  Definitely no 'congratulations', 'so excited', 'looking forward to it'...

Just: "Time to sign".

My co-teacher walked up, put the contract in front of me, said "time to sign" and walked away.

At this point, it is a bit foolish on my part to have expected any sort of emotional presentation.  That sort of silly thing just doesn't occur here.  So me, a foreigner, choosing to stay another year - at the same school - why would that cause even a smile from those with whom I work?!  (I would hope that at the very least a smile did cross their faces, but since I physically saw none, I'm going to use that angle in this post to give it more of a dramatic flair.  Please allow this "artistic" exgraggeration! ^^)

 

However, a presentation of emotions did occur - on my part.  

And it was panic.  Lots of it.  Pure fear.  Coupled with shaky hands and difficulty breathing.  

This document, those pages, each line and every word was binding me to another year.  Another year at the same school, with the same shifty schedules and endlessly changing sets of information... Why?!  Why re-sign?!

Because the first year has been so good!?  Oh no! No, no, no!!!  The first semester was hell!  The adjustment was a bit difficult, at times co-teaching was an absolute, unwinnable challenge and the children - God love them - really can be monsters.

But... I do love it.  I love the children.  I like teaching.  I like acting for them and making them see the lesson and gain an understanding of both the lesson's topic and the language.  And this second semester has been a dream!

But even with things going so well lately, I'm still a bit panicked for next year.  

When people left in August at the change of contracts, I did not handle it well.  And come this February, half - HALF!!!!! - of the people that came in with me have choosen not to stay on another year.  

That's a lot of change.  That's a lot to lose.  

In addition to people leaving, I'll be leaving the comfort of teaching science.  Throughout this entire first year I have not taught once from the English textbook.  Not a lesson.  And now it is the content of my entire upcoming academic year.  Clearly no reason to panic here.  I'm well prepared.  Bring it on Korea!  eeeeee :-/

 

I will be fine though.  It will be a great year.  No doubt full of ups and downs.  But...   'Congratulations' to me!  'I'm so excited' for me!  I really am looking forward to it!

They Don't have Turkeys in Korea

For the second time in my life, I've not been home for Thanksgiving. 

In 2008 I had Thanksgiving in London, with James and Haith at Wagamama, around the corner from the London Eye. 

And this year, 2011, I was in Korea.

Really, Thanksgiving at home is just a big, BIG meal, that my family eats in our formal dining room.  It used to be a little bit more - traveling to see family, all the relatives getting together - but then people got older, people left, planning a date got complicated by multiple schedules and activities, and soon it was just the Reddings stuffing themselves with turkey and Waldorf at home.  

Not a bad way to spend the day though.  

And not a bad tradition to extend to friends in Korea who do not know the joys of over-eating on Thanksgiving!!

On November 19th, the 1st Annual SK Thanksgiving Potluck Extravaganza was held!  20 people gathered together in a Korean-sized apartment, eating tasty treats and dishes they made to share (that's what potluck means for those that don't know).

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The food, drinks and evening were a great substitute for not being at home.  And a great start to hopefully a lasting tradition here.

Millionaire... in won

More like half a millionaire.  

Thanks to some extra classes I was teaching for my school and the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education. 

For my school:

I was asked to teach a "training course" for the teachers using a pre-made, online, 'Screen English' course. 

Do I never learn!?  Wasn't I forced to use a pre-made, online course during my summer English camps?  Weren't the programs terrible and 85% in Korean?!  Didn't the program crash or refuse to work half the time?!  Yes!!!!! Yessss!!!!!!  That was me!  That happened to me.  So silly.

So why would I agree to use another program just like it again?!  Why?  Because the Vice Principal asked me, and really you can't/don't/shouldn't say no to the VP.  So I agreed to use it.  Like a fool.

Perhaps this program will be different.  It is a "Screen English" course.  We get to watch English movies.  

Silly me, again!!  They're some of the WORST movies I've ever had the misfortune of watching!

And of course!!! the questions, analysis, and breakdown are all in Korean.  What is an English course without 85% of it being in Korean?!  

But it was ok.  I made my own worksheets, scrapped the program (although a bit limited by the VP and the teacher's willingness to talk) and made it work... kind of.

It was kind of like volleyball, after a certain point the teachers just wanted it to be over.  :-/

For the BMOE:

These classes were very different!  In this course, Korean teachers (non-English teachers) signed up to improve their English skills.  I was told - not a lot.  Do task work.  WTF is task work?!  So again I just made stuff up.

I used facts I got off the internet to have the teachers practice exchanging information.  I used tongue twisters to have the teachers practice confidence building.  I used articles to have the teachers practice general discussion skills.  But beyond getting the topics and materials, I didn't have to do a lot.  The class took what I gave them and went with it.  

They were so involved, so willing to try and participate it was amazing!!

And I got a free kimbap roll everyday!!  Superfantastic!!

Having Some Work Done

Asia lovessss plastic surgery.  Loves it!

So why not have some done when you visit?!

Me, I'm all for plastic surgery.  Trim it down.  Pump it up.  Do what you like.  

So I thought I'd have some done too... There's always room for improvement.

One quick call (by my Co-teacher) and I was scheduled at Ryn to have some changes made (on 11/4).

So long underarm hair!  What's the point of you anyways!?!

Zap! Zap! Zap!! (stings like a *$&*!!!*$%()#%) and 10 minutes later I'm only 4 appointments away from being hairless! (although I don't think it will take all 5 appointments.  I haven't had to shave once, since the first procedure!)

Did I mention the best part?!  It only cost 50,000won.  I love Asia's love for plastic surgery! 

Not So Wise

At some point I had noticed that I could feel a little hole in my gum, near my back left molar.

I thought it was a bit strange, but when I asked Jill what her mouth felt like when she had her wisdom teeth came in she said nothing about a hole.  So I left it.

But I didn't really leave it, my tongue kept playing with it.  So finally I used the flashlight app on my phone and had a look.

A tooth!!  I saw a tooth!

A quick visit (10/5) to Friend Dental Clinic, a full cranium x-ray and sure enough!  Wisdom teeth.

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I'd like to say that I'm not a vain person, but I have endured a significant amount of pain, anguish and procedures for my teeth.  So I wasn't about to have that all ruined by one little tooth forcing its way in.

Get it out! and take its friends!

However, it turned out to be a solo party.  The Dentist would only take the one out, stating that the others hadn't come in enough to be removed - if I wanted them out, I'd have to have it done at the hospital.  A bit intense.. so I'll just stick to one for now! Thanks.

Wednesday (11/2) I was back in the chair, with a doughnut shaped towel draped over my face as the Dentist went to work, pulling, cutting, drilling and finally freeing my wisdom tooth.

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How much?!  I know you're curious!  18,900won.  That's less than $20!!  Insane!!

Happy as a clam I was.  Or was until the numbing agent wore off. 

Oh my god my face hurt!  Hurt so much I asked, no begged! for pain meds, and readily dropped my pants to get two shots in the butt!

This relief was only temporary though.  Soon the meds from the shots wore off and I was again in pain from the stitches holding my gum together.  Back to the doctors hoping for another shot I went! 

Sadly the second time got me pills.  Damn you Dr. Gao and your modern practice.  2 packs a day of who-knows-what and I was able to forget about the pain again.

The stitches were only in for one week.  Thank goooooddnesssss.  They were the worst part!!

Koreans might be small, delicate looking people, but they sure as hell aren't gentle!  Twice - TWICE!!!!! - I had to physical push the dental assistant's hands and tools out of my mouth due to the overwhelming pain she was causing me (11/9).  Then when it was all done, as I collected my bag, eyes glazed over with tears she asked me if I was all right.  Am I all right?!   Nooooo!!!

But now it's all good.  The hole is slowly closing and I'll think extra hard before having the other three out!

Light Up The Sky and Go Out Naked

The Busan International Firework Festival (another festival!) kicked off on Saturday (10/22) down on Gwangalli Beach

You couldn't even see the sand, the beach was so crowded.  But the locals had good reason for coming down - the opening show was fantastic!  

Different countries competed; showing off an eleborate display of lights and music synced up together to make the night dance as the sky burned bright.

Thankfully, I watched from the 18th floor of Mallory's beach-front apartment.

Friends, drinks, and fireworks - great night!

Amazing_Firework!_The_best_you'll_ever_see!_That_was_crazy_-_YouTube9.flv
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And only just one short week later it was time for the grand finale and Halloween (10/29)!

 

October had me dressing up a lot.  First I went punk for Global Gathering.

Then as a Time Warp dancer for a Rocky Horror Picture Show themed birthday party.

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So for Halloween I had to go bigger.  But what's bigger than punk and a 70's cult classic?

Pretty much nothing!

So I wore nothing!

I went out in my birthday suit!!

Waygooks Will Do Anything

What other, normal, way to spend an early Saturday afternoon (10/15) than running around the city, performing tasks and tricks in an attempt to win a scavanger hunt?!

No other way, I say.  Sure, I was a little hesitant at first - a scavanger hunt? doing who knows what? on a Saturday afternoon?... perhaps I'll pass.

But I didn't.  I joined in, sans a costume, and laid tracks with my teammates throughout the eastern corner of Busan.

Tasks ranged from easy (take a picture in the ocean - no biggies we live on the sea) to difficult (find an ajushi to give one of your teammates a piggie back ride - luckily for us, we found an older gentleman who had been on the soju all morning and gladly let our teammate hop right on!).

The biggest difficulties were actually finding or being willing to do all the tasks (have one of your teammates eat a cup of bongdaege (silkwarm larva) not happening!!).

But we weren't going to let these tasks keep us out of the race!  Instead, we capitalized on creativity and art of recreating! ^^

No card ninja in sight?  No problem!  Stand next to a scooter and have a Korean man throw random business cards (that you collected from the stores nearby) at you!

No accessorized dog in sight?  No problem!  Go to Eva's and put your teammate's scarf on her dog!

Check. Check. Check.  Knocking off tasks left and right!

We didn't manage to do all the tasks listed, there were around 40 of them, but we did manage to win 2nd place!  And a free keg of beer!!

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Vlog

Here's a look at what Global Gathering (10/8) was like.

2011_Global_Gathering_Korea_Highlights_Video_(Directors_CUT)_-_YouTube4.flv
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Did you see me in the videos?! ^^

Hide Your Face

Korea has festivals for everything!  I promise you, this is NO exaggeration.

To name a few festivals, there are the: Cherry Blossom Festival, Bull Fighting Festival, Lantern Festival, Harvest Moon Festival, National Folk Art Festival, and there are still many more festivals!!  Like I said, a festival for everything!!

So why wouldn't there be a Maskdance Festival?!

A small cultural gathering in Andong (2 hours away from Busan by bus) celebrating and showcasing the many nations that have/use (not really clear on this point) masks.

At first the festival (10/2) seemed a little like a hodge-podge event, but once we got seated and saw some of the performances it was spectacular.

Thailand performed...

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along with the Phillippines...

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Israel...

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and Taiwan...

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All exhibited beautiful, mesmerizing dances that gave an interesting insight into their cultures.

The best performance by far was from the all male dance troupe from the Phillippines.

Everyone who's traveled to Manilla says it's the slums... they say don't go there!  But I would go, instantly, if I could see these man dance again!! 

It was beautiful.  Strong.  Graceful.  Moving.  It drove every emotion through you - their movements, their power washed over the crowd.  It was a bit exotic at times, but it was amazing.  You were captivated with no hope of escape.

What wasn't amazing, was the performance from Israel.

An all female group, directed by an... I don't even know the adjective!

It was awful!  It was absurd and not even in an artsy way.  It was absolute garbage.

If I were in that ballet company and the director told me to dance around in a black one-piece, wearing 20 feet of stretch aluminum air-duct piping I'd think he'd gone mad.  But for some reason, unknown to me, these girls did it.  And it was bad!!!

Thankfully, we ended the day with a little arts and crafts.  Perfect ending to a culturally, interesting day.

Twenty-older

I turned twenty-older in Korea (9/30) and it was a great night but poo getting older.

It's not that I'm "old" or that I'm even feeling "older", it's just the number.  It had to go up.  It had to change.  

25.  Twenty-FIVE.  That sounded so great.  "How old are you"... "I'm 25!"... "Oh, you're only 25."

I'd say it with an exclamation mark!  It seemed exciting, proud, happy, fun... it seemed ok.

And now... 26.  Six?  Ugh that just seems like fffffffffffff - what are you doing.

Period. No exclamation mark. No question mark. Just a period.  

What are you doing.

26. Period.

Statement.  Remark.  Fact.

But!  No one answers that on their birthday!!  So I did what anyone mourning their youth would do.

I got wasted by midnight, blacked out by two.  

Happy Birthday to me.

Do You Speak Korean?

The answer is still 아니오 (anio).

Despite my best efforts (ok, I am using that expression very loosely) to learn the language, I'm still incapable of saying more than a few words or minor phrases.

A list of what I do know:

• How much is it?


• Left, right, straight


• I don't know.


• Are you ok? / It's ok. / I'm ok.


• Discount, please.


• Numbers (on a good day)


• some body parts / some clothes


• Have you eaten (breakfast, lunch, dinner)? / What did you eat? 


• I like it. / I don't like it.


• It's delicious. 


• Yes / No / Thank you.


• family members


• the alphabet


• how to order food (kind of, definitely Konglish)


• and a few more odds and ends

The reason that list is even half as long as it is, is because I started going to Korean language classes after Chuseok (9/15).  

I joined for two reason - mainly to learn the language (I am living here, I am planning to stay another year, and I'd sure look like a bit of a fool if I learned nothing) and to do something productive, not just be a waste outside of school.

So when I heard about lessons, and free lessons, I was all in!  

I go twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) and meet with my tutor, Lee Hyun Jeong - or if you prefer you can call her Cherry!

Our progress is slow.  All due to me.  She's a fantastic tutor, but my ears seem to be deaf and my brain is dumb to languages, especially ones so different to English.

Even though my abilities are an obstacle, I like going to K class.  I'll keep going - hoping to improve one day - because they're good fun.  Cherry, my language partner, Adam, and I are all friends; we sit there chatting in English (more than we attempt to learn/practice any Korean... oops!).  It's a great time!  

Maybe one day I'll just magically speak Korean with the ease and skill of a native... or maybe I'll just continue to smile and nod. ^^

 

Have a try at Korean! Go to Talk To Me In Korean.

Be Warned

This is going to be my Superbowl of info-mercials - except it's my blog and not a football game, but hopefully you get the reference - million dollar, 30 second slots, to deliver all the information you missed / I was... not! lazy!

The word there is definitely not lazy!  I've been at it like mad this semester.  On overdrive with lesson planning, teaching, teaching extra classes (in and out of my own school) and keeping up with a social life that makes a sorority calendar look second rate! (I know!! I used to plan them!)

So don't blink. Don't go to the bathroom.

These next few entries are going to cover a lot of the field and bring you into the endzone and up to date.

 

Ewww I just did a football comparison... and I really dislike football.

From Destruction to Peace

Our last stop in Japan was Hiroshima.  

Dave did some number crunching with the train times and we had it perfectly figured out so that we could fit a few hours in at Hiroshima before having to catch the last ferry back to Busan.  

It wasn't a lot of time.  Definitely not enough.  But it was a good amount of time to see and feel the destruction that the bomb caused, and still recognize a sense of peace and zen that has since regrown over the land.  

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was curious (due to the manner in which some information was presented), effective (in showing the crippling effects the bomb had on the people and land) and emotional.  Whatever side you take on dropping the bomb you can't walk through that museum and see the clothes that children were wearing when the bomb exploded - that tore through material and flesh - without some somber, sickening, saddness arising inside you.  In a flash they were lost.  In an instant they had nothing.  Burned and melted because of war.  It's upsetting.

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The area surrounding the museum had a feeling of calm.  The  A-Bomb Dome, Children's Peace Monument, the Flame of Peace and the Memorial Cenotaph was full of locals chatting, having lunch, taking a break from the heat; as if a bomb was never dropped there.   

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It was nice to see, and despite the limited time we had there, I'm thankful I was able to walk through those memories.

 

I Can't Say Amazing Enough

Kyoto was a great first Japanese destination.  It's a fabulous city!  So fabulous, that we spent most of Sunday (9/11) exploring further into its culture and sights.  However, because we spent most of Sunday in Kyoto and had another 2+ hour train ride ahead of us, we were going to have to explore Toyko at speeds similar to the Shinkansen due to our limited time in Japan.  Not too much of a bother!  We had a plan!

Shannon planned out the sights and stops in Kyoto, and I was responsible for Tokyo.  Noooo problem that it's the biggest city in the world.  I can handle that, nooooo sweat. :-l  

I used a few minutes of the train ride to map out a general idea of how to attack the city.  The first order of business had us dropping off our luggage, grabbing a quick shower or whatever we needed to clean up at the hotel - yes, that's right, I said HOTEL! with huge, glorious beds, room service, and a private bathroom equipped with shower and tub.  All the perks!!  It even had the extra charm of requiring us to pass through a secruity check point everytime we wanted to enter the building.  That's what you get when you stay at a fancy military hotel! -  Then it was back out on the streets and rails making our way into Shibuya for some dinner and a walk around Shibuya Crossing.

My plan was to get there, have a look around the intersection, lit up so bright you'd have to squint, watch girls (and boys) walk by dressed-up in all their flair and glamour, and find a sushi-go-round restaurant for dinner.  

The plan was a half-fail.

The intersection was not lit up.  In fact it was so unlit that it was nearly dark.  I'd guess this had to do with all the recent disasters Japan had suffered.  Throughout the country various techniques were being employeed to conserver engery and save money (I'm not sure you would see that in America.  I don't think that the land of capitalism would allow billboards to NYC to go dark so that the country could save.  Not if it meant they'd lose Xmillion/billion in potential ad-driven revenue.  That's something to be appauled Japan), but we were able to have a stroll through the area nonetheless and even got to ask a group of punk, pierced, androgenous girls where we could find a sushi place.  

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They directed us just up the road a bit to a diner that left the imagination questioning, but the stomach so, sooo happy.  I LOVE sushi, but haven't had any in nearly 7 months.  It was absolutely amazing to have it again.  And the real stuff.  So fantastic!!

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After dinner we went for another little walk around the area, but decided to make it an early night since the following morning Shannon and I were planning to get up at 5am to head over to Ryogoku to try and see Sumo wrestlers or (even better) get tickets to see the tournament!

This plan was another half-fail.  

I did get up at 5am, but instead of going anywhere I just called the front desk to ask them what they knew about getting Sumo tickets.  However, they were unhelpful, merely instructed me to call back at 7am, when the tourism agent would be at her desk.  7!!  Two hours later!!  We could miss seeing fat men bumping into each other by waiting another two hours!!!!  But I was tired.  Shannon wasn't even up.  Getting up then meant taking the metro out to Ryogoku to maybe/maybe not get tickets and then being out all day... so... we stayed in bed.  We'd risk it.  Plus sleeping is so incredibly nice to do, why miss some of it for fat me?!  

Luckily we didn't have to miss either.  We were able to sleep in a little more and still manage to secure seats to the Sumo tournament that day.  Which, Japan, I do have to fault you here.  Ticket sales had closed the week before, and nowhere was I finding an alturnative means to purchase some.  I was getting a bit scared.  All I wanted out of Japan was to see fat men wrestle!  And all the research I did led me to believe that the only chance I'd have to see fat men was if I got up with the sun and went peering through windows like the neighborhood peeping Tom!  When in fact!!  You didn't have to be Tom at all.  No need to stress that ticket weren't available online, because all the tickets you could want were still on sale at the ticket office!  Brilliant!  I'll take one!  Charge some yen to my credit card and I was in!  See you at 4 fat men!

Tickets successfully obtained we left Ryogoku and headed to Asakusa to see Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa-Jinja Shrine.  Again, Asia posts no information about what you're seeing or why you should be seeing it.  But the Temple and Shrine were gorgeous.  People were packed in there making offerings, sending out prayers, waving incense over their body and generally just being spiritual.  Shannon and I had a go with the fortune sticks, which was an interest experience.  You were suppose to "politely" shake the box contain the sticks while praying for your wish (my wish - to find direction in life), a stick with a number would fall out and you would use that stick to locate the drawer containing your fortune.  So I did as instructed, shook politely while wishing for direction and stick #74 fell out.

No. 74 BAD FORTUNE

You should know that there may be some bad people like a snake or tiger (coincidentally a tiger is my favorite animal, IDK what that means for Shinto prophecies and me lining up, but...) that hurt you.  The chinese letter, two tails for one bull means to loose everything.  When the people get pleasure, there happened to be some interference by others, which is obstacle for peace union of the people.  The upper and the lower do not meet so well, means a family being out of joint.

*Your request will not be granted.  *The sick patient is hopeless.  *The lost article will not be found.  *The person you wait for will not come.  *Building a new house and removal are both bad.  *Marriage of any kind, to start a trip and new employment are all bad.

Alright!  Awesome.  Good news.  Great stuff.  WTFFFFFF?!?!!!

I tried it again.  The second time two sticks fell out.  What's this!?  Another bad fortune and a good fortune.  FML.  I choose to keep my original bad fortune though, and tied the other two to the stand for the monks to collect later.  Things can only get better from bad, right?  There's no below bad, at least not with these fortune papers!  So here's to some bad stuff coming, and then the good!  Thanks Senso-ji!

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From there we metroed over to Otemachi to have a walk past the Imperial Palace.  I say walk past because it was closed.  We got to snap some photos outside, have a little lunch and then carried on to the Meiji Shrine.  Unfortunately, we didn't know what we were seeing at Meiji, so we didn't actually get to see the the majority of it.  We saw the torii gates, 40 ft high made from 1,700-yr-old Taiwanese cypress trees, but we didn't reach the Shrine.  I'm going to blame this on half lack of signs and half lack of knowledge.  Rats!

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But it was ok, because it was SUMO time!!  Back on the metro and we were handing our tickets over and finding our seats to enjoy fat men wrestling!!  It was awesome!!  AND!!! for once!!! we were giving LOADS of information!!  Scorecards, etiquette guides, background information.  We had it all!!  We were finally seeing something that we could understand - for the most part.  It was cool to see, I don't really get the appeal of sumo as a sport, but definitely still cool!  For a few hours, in 4 minute intervals, we watched these huge men squat, touch the ground, stand up, smack their bellies, throw salt, squat, touch, stand up...  Then FIGHT!  Highlight of my trip!

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With just a few hours left in Tokyo, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Dave and head over to Roppongi for dinner and then move on to Shinkuju for drinks and people watching.  We never made it to Shinkuju though.  Dinner was a night ender.

We had done really well on this trip and had only eaten Japanese, so for our last meal for went for Japanese again!  Shannon had mentioned that she'd like to go to a nice restaurant and have a "dining experience".  So I had a look through my guidebook and found Inakaya - "The style here is robatayaki, a dining experience that segues into pure theater" (Fodor's).  The price markers indicated that it'd be a little pricey, but it was our last meal and exactly what we were looking for.  

And it was incredible!  Everything I ate was beyond delicious!  Asparagus - amazing.  Acorns - amazing.  Shrimp the size of fish - amazing.  Ugly red fish with bug eyes - amazing.  By far, by leaps and bounds and worlds and oceans, the best meal I've EVER had!!  And to top things off, at the end of the meal they handed us a photo album containing pictures of all sorts of celebrities who had eaten there: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Keri Russell, Ejiah Wood, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, AND!!! SARAH JESSICA PARKER!! Amazing!!!  Such an amazing restaurant.  

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Then they handed us the bill.  Not amazing.  It was like they took back the meal and my stomach.  55,400 yen.  That's $720.00!  Seven HUNDRED and twenty dollars!  For a meal!!!  For. A. Meal?!  FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!

Forget drinks.  That ended the night!  I couldn't even speak for a few minutes!  $720!!!  Never in my life!!  To recover from the shock we had a little walk towards Tokyo Tower and then stopped at an Irish pub for have a drink.  $720!!!!!  That's just so nuts!!  We didn't go to Shinkuju, instead we went to Family Mart, got a few cheap drinks and headed back to the hotel to unwind and wrap up the trip.

It was such a great trip!!  I had to do some wiki reading and guidebook referencing to learn about what I saw, but it was great trip.  Good to get away (again).