Bye to Nagoya, a brief visit to Seoul, and back around to Tokyo.
November 1-22, 2024
You are all such patient readers!!! As I had suspected, it became more difficult to write weekly, and that process has led to this current post you are reading to be published probably near the end of November? Hopefully I finish it by then, haha. In any case, I am not going to date every day, because it is frankly too much to write on and that feels like a headache in the making.
Many of the days during the program I was in were jam packed full of going over some powerpoints, that had not been updated for our group because they had a plethora of different country targets and teachers on them, but were still useful in gaining new teaching skills. Many of those days were followed with group work, making lesson plans and concepts according to different teaching concepts for the TESOL course: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. My group, consisting of me and an Irishman named James, taught a group of 3-6 year olds in an in person practicum (twice). We based it on fairy tale characters… which honestly was my idea and basically performed as a glorified excuse for me to make 8 or so drawings. We also ended up making paper crowns for the small, small, very energetic children. As my mom always says, I will find any excuse to make just about any thing I work on an art project. Plus, it always pays off. The kids really liked the crowns, and they liked us as well which was very important.
The first lesson we taught the kids kept calling the fairy on screen me, which was very flattering… and was to be expected of children who are small and like misbehaving. I am pretty sure all they learned was the word giant, as they found the picture I made of one very amusing. The next lesson went better for James, though he kept insisting I also did good. The first class was mainly girls, and the second boys. There was one girl in the second class who uppercut me 3 times because she liked me, and was too shy for anything else. I only found this out when the Japanese teacher who I worked with told me, and the whole thing really caught me off guard.
The group of students I was with for those 4 weeks shrank down one person, as they dropped the course, and we all ended up becoming close. Or, rather, as friendly as 9 people from completely different backgrounds can be. I am still very grateful to have been surrounded by kindness.
After a full day of classes, almost every single night either we all went out to do something, people watched movies, or I went on a solo-journey/to meet a friend outside of the class.
During these three or so weeks, I went to a club for the first time and surprisingly enjoyed it (though it will probably be a once in a while thing, I certainly could not go weekly or even monthly). I traveled to a whole other city, Osaka to be exact, and wandered around aimlessly, with no real goal in mind. I will have to go back to see more sometime in the future when I have a weekend off. I went to a Seto, an indoor bathhouse, which was so relaxing and such an incredible experience. I made a friend at a vintage/upcycle shop near Osu shopping street, Nao Chan. I will attach some pictures below and describe my days a little more, though with more time it becomes harder to give or write these updates because so much has happened. Just know I am well, and these large updates are the same information for everyone. It is hard to keep up when I am a day ahead of nearly everyone I know.
The above photos were from the day of the second class observation, where we were watching a group of older students. The first time I had observed the youngest group. We had a few hours in between, and I thought I would kill the afternoon by going to a cat cafe. As I reflected and said goodbye to the US in the first entry of this diary like blog, I said I was going to miss my cat a whole bunch. And this remains true, and I am not exaggerating as I say this next part, but every time I think of my cat I begin to tear up. I thought the cats would be much friendlier, but as cats usually are, they all avoided me unless I had a food. It was still nice, and very cute. I discovered the pokemon center was closeby, so I went there shortly after.
A new peer named nick took us to the aquarium, and shortly after I went to get dinner with my friend Nao who I may or may not have mentioned in the last post. She works in a vintage/upcycling shop in the Osu shopping district in Sakae. We went to an American food place, which I found equally funny and endearing. And honestly, it included food from Mexico too! It was just talking about the continent. I will say, though had them both quite infrequently, I find myself missing Mexican food and a good mac and cheese.
This day I was really wanting some Udon. It was getting colder outside, and I was begging to develop a little cold. I went and got myself some of the warm soupy goodness in Osu and went looking around the streets. While I walked back to my shared apartment, I saw an outdoor idol concert (they are not famous, just a small group with dedicated fans).
On a later date, at the end of the week on Friday, my older friends convinced me to go to the club. I had earplugs, and they assisted in me having a pretty good time! I cannot say that I will share all the experiences I had, but I will say I was sober for a vast majority of the night and therefore was the one responsible for getting me and Esther and Taylor (seen very much sleeping in the third photo) a Taxi to home. It was a fun night, and although going to the club is certainly not something I would go out my way to do weekly or even monthly, I am not against going every blue moon.
But I still much prefer a quiet night in with a movie and some snacks.
The day after clubbing and getting home at around 5 am, I went to Osaka for the remainder of the Saturday I was awake during, and until Sunday afternoon. I will be honest, I probably have to go back as I did not do much besides wander and look, but it was a friendly and cute city. There is a cool neighborhood there about fashion I want to spend some time in, even though it is not going to be like Harajuku or anything. I love people watching, so that really was the best part of this weekend besides seeing the new sights and walking around the touristy parts of the neighborhood.
Above is a train station fit check on November 11, 2024, for purikura with Nao later in the night (as seen below).
I had plans with Nao during the last week of classes. Since she lives in Nagoya, and I Tokyo, we knew it would be harder to hang out but we would make some plans to see each other in either Nagoya or Tokyo, or somewhere in between. She is such a sweet friend, and we talked about so much this night. I have another essay I wrote for the class that I probably will publish on this substack as a little dedication to her. I am so lucky to have met her!
We did jeopardy for the TESOL exam we were to have the day after. I was not feeling vert good this day and barely had a voice, but we won first place in a neck to neck battle. The chocolates in the picture are really wonderful.
Above is a video from November 12, 2024, of me being serenaded while feeling bad from a cold, by Taylor, Esther, and Kolt. They appear in that order from left to right. They left after this to go to a bar, I think. I was sick, I don’t remember much.
I went to a Seto, or an indoor bathhouse. And yes, everyone was in their birthday suit, including myself. Honestly, it was one of my favorite experiences so far in Japan. Not only was it relaxing, warm, and good for my stuffy nose…. but they also had a really good food court where I got a Sakedon (Salmon rice bowl). My hair was also very curly afterwards, and I felt really wonderful this day.
My TESOL graduating class!
My certificate, and the fact I was awarded stand out teacher by my classmates. So kind!
This was my last day in Nagoya, and I quickly had to travel to Seoul. I needed to get my work visa as I got my Certificate of Eligibility far too late in the United States to do it there. So, 5 day trip to another new country to face some more new experiences.
South Korea, or just Seoul, was jarring. Culturally, it felt more like home. It was also certainly less clean than Japan, as I counted some trash around the place I was staying in as opposed to Japans nothing! I also had such a nightmare traveling experience, almost missing my flight in Tokyo to Seoul as I had to travel from Nagoya to Tokyo, do my signing for my sharehouse, then head over to Seoul. Needless to say, I was very, very tired… and even busier. I managed to get to the airport 20 minutes before my flight was ending boarding and made the flight right in time. I am thankful for how efficient Japanese airports are.
Just walking around Hongdae, the area of Seoul I was staying in, after dropping off my passport and finally getting some sleep.
I told myself I was going to get a facial in Korea, so I did. It was awesome, and very relaxing. The woman giving me the facial was surprised with how tense I was in my upper back and neck… credit that to my old chest and years of slouching over to do anything (mostly to look at my phone).
A cafe in Seoul. Apparently Korea has a huge cafe culture! This place was so lovely and the cake I had (earl gray) was so yummy. I love good coffee and baked goods. Maybe if all else goes wrong I will go to culinary school and open a cafe… I am (mainly) joking. But I love a good coffee and writing session. That is mainly what I did this day.
The Naruto Museum. Don’t tell my brother, I did end up getting him something here. I couldn’t not, it was something we watched together as kids. And, this was for the 20th anniversary of the anime!
Me, Taylor, and Kolt at a different cafe…. I got a persimmon shaved ice that I shared with Taylor. He got a rice cake croissant and Kolt got a full meal! It looked good so I got it the next day. Taylor and Kolt left this night, and we went and got a dinner later on that was so wonderful. Marinated Pork Trotters is what they got, and not being a huge fan of pork, I got a fishcake soup bowl. I will dream of how warm and filling it was.
I walked around Seoul for ages this night, and did not end up going to bed until 6 am… oops! It is really safe here to do that kind of thing. It reminds me of being in Grinnell… if Grinnell was a city and not at all like Grinnell.
Last “full” day in Seoul. I went back to the cafe and got myself a late lunch of a full plate, as well as a wonderful cappuccino. I started writing this post, and headed over to the international area of Seoul with one of my classmates and got Korean BBQ. We got two sets of beef ribs, and they were so well marinated. I do not eat much meat alone, and honestly would always go for something vegetarian or pescetarian, but it is nice to be able to eat meals with people just about anywhere while I am here. They stay happy, and I get to try many new things.
An early morning of waking up at 4:30 am, I left Seoul in a rush! My flight left at 7:50, and boarding ended at 7:30… but unfortunately for me I was not able to arrive at the airport until 6:40 and just barely made it through security. I had to skip that whole line in the second photo, and another line following it. Very lucky to have had some adults who spoke English advocate for me, and help me push through many security lines to get to the front. Unfortunately, in this process I lost another roll of film. I am very annoyed at that as it had many cool photos from Seoul… but I still have the camera and that is enough for a year supply of film photos.
Off I was to live in Tokyo! Getting home I was so tired, and basically slept through the day after my sheets and arrived and I went out to buy a pillow and blanket…
The area I am staying in is lovely, its very quaint and almost no one speaks english. Thats good, however. I want to start speaking Japanese more and have more language under my belt, and having more small interactions will certainly help with that! I just need to set away some time to study a little every day. I took a walk through the neighborhood after doing some small tasks, like getting my esim card with a Japanese number. These past few days have been dedicated to unpacking, and slowly getting to know my area and Tokyo. I know how to get home without using my phone, so that is huge! When I am more settled, more awake, and finally have a real schedule, you will all get the update about how I am feeling and the descriptive writing I love and you deserve. For now, I hope this fills the hole that my absence from writing has left.
Love you all!
Ali, Alicia, Leeshee, Babydoll, or however you refer to me as.