Good Night South Korea, Good Morning Vietnam!

After my last blog we stayed in South Korea for 5 more days. We went to the war museum where I learned about the Korean war and how once again, America somehow managed to fuck things up when they thought they were helping. The museum was very impressive and must have been extremely expensive with hologram videos and moving sets, the only way I can describe it really is as if the Native American figures at the Museum of Natural History in NYC started fighting with ships and guns and sound effects and lights, and they were Korean, then thats what it was like. A great description, I know. Aside from that our stay in South Korea was very uneventful. Our friends at the hostel were fun, it was called Backpacker Friends, and everyone there really were friends of the owner. They all slept on the floor of the hostel. Every night they made food and drank a lot of beer and soju and laughed and watched funny you tube videos. For the first few days it was a lot of fun, but getting a good night sleep was out of the question. Our hostel room, which was a 10 person mixed dorm, also did not have a door. So that was frustrating. Overall not a bad experience though.

We traveled farther south and stayed in Gyeonju for 2 days. Gyeonju is advertized as "Beautiful Gyeonju" and we decided to go there to bask in its beauty among lakes (which we assumed would be frozen since it was winter, but possibly still beautiful) and the tombs which websites and pamphlets boasted about. I think that South Korea should win the photoshop award because in reality it should have just been called "Gyeonju" or something that means "dry and barren." Not only was the lake not frozen, it was non existent aside from a fence that at one time must have surrounded it. The tombs were merely large mounds of grass which you could walk around. We were able to enter one, which immediately stated, "everything you're looking at is fake," although in a nicer way. It was a bit disappointing, but at the same time I'm not really sure what I expected to see. Dead bodies? Graves? Bones? People excavating the site while I observed? I'm really not sure. We quickly hurried back to Seoul for our last night before our flight to Vietnam. We met up with Mimi's friend from home who took us to an Ugly Sweater Christmas party and we got to talk to a lot of people who are living in Korea, either teaching or because they are Korean American and have moved there from the states. The next day was our flight and we were waved goodbye by the only snow flurries we'll probably see the entire time we will we gone, which made us nostalgic, but equally excited to get to warm weather. Also, you dont have to take your shoes off in the Seoul airport at security which was awesome.

So after an easy 6 hour flight we arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam and there was a man standing with all the other cabbies holding up a big sign that read Margaret, which was wonderful, because we were not sure if the hotel remembered we were coming or not. Had we not been picked up we also never would have found our hostel which was off a main road, down a creepy alley and essentially locked up for the night. Once inside the hostel itself was very nice, and safe. The room was decent and we got our own bathroom which I never thought would become such a luxury.

Ho Chi Mihn is a ridiculous city, first because you have to cross the street against on coming traffic. In New York when you're crossing against the light and you see an openning you run as fast as you possibly can. In Ho Chi Mihn you cross slowly, one terrified step at a time while hundreds of motorcycles whip by you and busses and cars honk for you to get out of the way. Everytime we made it across the street I was shocked I hadn't died. Honking has taken on a new meaning in Vietnam. Again, in the states, honking is usually reserved for near accidents, someone who has fallen asleep at a light, trying to get a friend's attention, or picking up women, but in Ho Chi Mihn honking means "I'm behind you, please move." It works most of the time, but everyone is honking and no one knows if its really them who is being honked at and NO ONE slows down. If a bus honks at a biker it means, "I am here, you may get crushed." Scarier than crossing the street is being in a cab. There are no road laws. You can drive wherever there is space, even if that means on the opposite side of the road. There are very faint lines in the road that may once have suggested a lane, but they aren't used and driving into a round about is chaos. Our cab almost hit a biker and then finally as the biker drove off he just laughed and laughed and laughed. It was terrifiying.

Over all we discovered that should you take the general precautions Saigon is a fairly safe place, much like New York, and like New York, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time and look vulnerable it can become a not so safe place. The area we were staying in was known as the "Backpacker" area and there were a ton of travelers from all over. The bars stayed open late and all had western food like fries, blt, and burgers. After dinner you could sit right out on the street constantly warding off the children who come by to sell you everything from cigarettes, to lighters, to gum, to razors to hammocks. A quick shake of the hand though and they are gone. There are a lot of people walking around on the streets with facial and body mutation due to Agent Orange. Its sad and frightening at the same time and it took us a few days to get used to it. We met a lot of people at these bars and would talk to them for hours about traveling, and their experiences everywhere and occasionally we were given some helpful advice on what to see or what to do in places we have yet to go. The bars in other areas of Ho Chi Mihn were weird. There was a bar called Apocolypse Now, which really had nothing to do with the movie aside from the fact that it was in Vietnam. Apocolypse Now was a bar which had drinks and dancing, but most importantly, hookers. Hookers and old fat american men in tank tops who wanted to touch them. After one drink we had seen enough.

Our last day in Ho Chi Mihn we went to the War Remnants Museum which until recently was called the American War Crime Museum. We saw the things that they dont teach you in school. Its no wonde that people who were in the war never want to talk about it. The facts and the pictures irked every inch of my body and I just could not fathom how anyone could ever commit such horrific murders. I left the museum confused and upset and just completely questioning the human race in general. Of course the museum did not mention the terror that northern vietnam brought on the south, but all in all it seemed fairly unbaised, praising and recognizing the American soldiers who took a stand against the war and refused to fight. It makes me kind of sad that I never studied wars in general in high school or college, but I still think that reading about it only gets you so far, its really the visuals, plus being in each of these places and seeing not only the pictures of what happened, but how each of these countries managed to pull themselves together after devestating losses and still function as a nation in whatever way they could.

Now something more cheeful. For christmas we decided to take a vaction from traveling and stay at a resort 4 hours outside of Ho Chi Mihn in Phan Thiet. It is a simple, pretty resort, not over run by people and a perfect get away after a few days spent in the busy city. Even after everthing we had just seen it is nice to just be able to sit by the pool without having to think about our backpacks and passports and bed bugs. We are sleeping in the sheets for the first time on the whole trip. We usually use our sleeping bags even if the sheets look clean just in case. Just like everywhere rustic though, somethings seems weird at this resort. For instance, there are two places to eat, one indoor dining room and one outdoor, by the beach. THey have the same menu, and as we found out, the same kitchen. It takes about 45 minutes after you order your food for it to actually come, and it wont all come at once. Even if you ordered the exact same thing as another person at your table, your meals will probably be dropped off 5-10 minutes apart, along with something you didnt order and they misunderstood. They also have a very extensive drink menu, but they dont seem to know how to make any drinks. Its almost as if they openned up and said "shit, we don't have any staff, who wants to be a chef? who wants to be a waitress? bartender? you've never done any of those things? hmm...that's ok!" Its very strange. Like most resorts you can sign for your meal and pay at the end of your stay. It takes them 20-30 minutes to figure out and print out your bill and then they usually come to your room 5 hours later saying that they made a mistake or they printed something else wrong or forgot to charge us for something and we need to sign again. We checked and they aren't scamming us or over charging, but they just can't seem to get it right the first time. It's very bizare.

Christmas was quiet, aside from a white christmas tree in the center of the lobby and the christmas music playing at the pool it didnt really feel like christmas at all. Last night we were sitting out on our porch and noticed that a large group of Taiwanese had moved into the rooms next to us. We found out that that day they had bought 18 kilos, approximately 38 pounds of crabs, and had brought an electric pot with them and were boiling them right outside the hotel room. They were very generous with them and showed us how to take them apart and eat them. There were a few different kinds of crabs and I asked them what the difference was, and their response was "they look different but they are all delicious." And they were. After eating about 6 crabs we left to go to dinner and there were probably still about 40 crabs left. Before we left they each took turns taking pictures with us.

For dinner we decided to go to another beach to eat, being thouroughly fed up with the food and service at our resort. We had met a nice Swiss couple during the crab eating and the husband , 58, explained that his wife got sick after dinner and asked if he might join us. We said of course and right before we left we met two Finish guys in their 30s who just arrived at the hotel and we invited them to come along too. It was definitely and odd bunch, but made for a very funny dinner. And once again it was very nice to be able to wake up in a bed bigger than a twin, between sheets, and head for the pool. One more day in paradise and then off to Nha Trang! I hope everyone had a great christmas/ channukah!

Japan --> South Korea

A few more things about Japan before I move on to South Korea. If everyone is so worried about swine flu why isnt there soap in public restrooms? I did notice as we were on the train back to the airport that much fewer people were wearing masks. Is the epidemic over? Not that many people in South Korea wear face masks, and a lot more of them speak english which is nice. But I'm skipping ahead.

Our last night in Japan was spent in Tokyo. We met some Spanish guys at our hostel, Antonio, who was living in japan, and his brother Manuelo and his friend Huge who were visiting him for a few weeks. We went to a bar where Antonio's roommate worked and played a very frustrating game where you stack little wooden pieces which dont have flat bottoms and is nearly impossible. We then decided we wanted to go dancing so we took a 40 minute subway ride to Shibuya. We arrived at the club where they "shhh" you outside as to not disturb the neighbors and found out it was a 4000 yen (about 46 dollars) which included no drinks. We decided not to go there and went to another bar which ended us ripping us off with a bogus "table" charge for not being japanese. We then took a very expensive cab ride back to the hostel because the subways close at 12. A pretty good gig if you're a cab driving considering there were a TON ofpeople out after 12 and they all had to get home somehow. Aside from the let down and drain on my wallet it was a fun night and it was good to get out after a rough day.

Aside from being tired, our flight to South Korea couldn't have been easier. We had to go through all the same hassel you have to in the states, but once again, the japanese do it better. Lines are long but people know where to go, what to do when they get there and there is no fuss and really very little talking. We waited on line for our tickets and to check bags, went through security, went through exit immigration and all of that only took about 35 minutes. Tops. We didnt even see people take off their shoes to go through security they did it so fast and no one got stopped by the metal detector. The plane was huge and the flight was full but it only took 20 minutes tops to board. The one thing i didnt like was they forced me to wake up for a meal on a 2 hour flight, put my seat forward, and open it up. Not only was I not hungry but it was really my only time to nap. We got off the plane and immigration took about 5 minutes. We walked to baggage claim and my bag was right in front of me. It really just was a great flying experience and I dont detest it as much as I used to. Oh, also something huge, there were no obese people or babies on the flight so I didnt even have that anxious feeling pre-boarding.

However, once we got out of the airport things became a little weird. As we waited to board our bus from Incheon Airport to Seoul I attempted to ask the man assisting people onto the bus if we should put our huge backpacks under the bus. Instead of a "yes" or "no" I was given a very hard slap on the arm and then a very stern, nazi-like direction onto the bus. His arm and hand stayed stiff and pointing towards the bus door until i was on. When I looked out the window to glare at him I saw him screaming at an old woman and waving his arms in her face. I was very confused and disappointed with South Korea. It turns out though that was just one man who was having a horrible day and everyone in Seoul is very nice and helpful. Once again we have to start from scatch, figuring out the train system and learning how to say "thank you" "excuse me" and "hello" in another language, and one, I might add, which is much harder to understand than japanese, even when just trying a "repeat after me."

Last night we went to a chicken and beer restaurant which are apparently very popular in Seoul. You order large plates of assorted fried chicken, bones in or out which then are accompanies by huge pitchers of beer. This kind of restaurant is more popular than a typical bar which I think is just great because eating and drinking go so well together. It was very fun and we met Mimi's friend, Dobbs, who is teaching english here for a year. It was nice to talk to someone who wasnt a complete stranger.

We got back to the hostel around 12:45 am and there were a ton of people up in the common room drinking and watching funny you tube videos. I was exhausted so I went to bed which turned out to be hard to do over the screaming and laughing, but eventually happened.

Today we went to get our India Visas which did not work out. We thought being cute attractive girls who are living on a budget and leaving for a flight on sunday could sway the visa office into gving us our visas by friday the same way we were able to get out of leaving our passports at the Vietnamese consulate but apparently it doesn't matter who you are, there are no rush orders. Sooo hopefully we'll have more luck in Thailand! After our defeat we went to a pizza/pasta restaurant where I actually had some really excellent pasta, drank some soda with ice in it and promptly got sick. I guess we really can't drink the water!

Miscellaneous

So not so many exciting things have happened since my last blog. We redid the christmas lights and planted some sapplings. We also bonded with the kids a lot and I no longer see them as small crying animals, but as cute children, which is huge for me as most of you must know. They have names, Aochan and Daichan. We have been watching a lot of japanese anime movies, which I must admit, we love. Once we have seen them the first time with english subtitles I like watching them again with no subtitles to really get to see the animation and not focus so much on the words.



Because not much has happened Im going to take this opportunity to bring up some of the random things Ive noticed about japan.



1. Apparently in a home or hostel it is unacceptable to have a cold toilet seat. All of the toilets I have come across in these places have very high tech heated toilet seats. I think this is a great idea and expect to have one when I arrive back home (get on that mom)



2. Japan is very similar to the US but almost always one step ahead of us. For instance the bathtub will tell you when its almost full so you can go and turn it off. Another example that we stumbled across the other day by accident is that the vending machines dispense both cold and hot beverages! Hot coffee from a vending machine! Also, they have all in one washer/dryers and dish washers are very small! like bread baskets! The microwave can also toast and bake a cake.

3. We have learned that Japan comes out with different flavors of kit kats all the time. Not only are these flavors release for a limited time only, but they are released specifically for each region. For instance, people need to go to Kobe to find the Royal Milk Tea flavor, but then go to Osaka to get the Soy Sauce flavor. (not a typo) Its a really good marketing ploy and we are now on a mission to try every new flavor we find. Yes. Even the soy sauce flavor.

I always think of these random things when I:m walking around Japan and of course once I sit down I cant remember. i need to start writing things down.

Update: today we chopped down bamboo trees to use as poles in the garden. I sawed down about 150 trees. Im actually a pretty great lumber jack. Who knew? Aside from almost losing an eye (I actually thought I dented an eyeball when a huge branch went darting straight into my eye) it was actually a very rewarding day.

farm again, burn again

Apparently when you have a farm, you burn stuff. Luckily at this farm we only burned wood and paper, but you have to wonder, why do these people have so much random wood for burning? Our host brought 4 sweet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil and threw those in the fire as well and we ate them about 10 minutes later as we watched the fire dwindle. Being that it was just a wood fire we were able to sit near it and warm our hands and watch the sun set. it was actually very nice.

I skipped ahead though. We arrived at 2nd and last farm in Japan on tuesday. This farm is about 40 minutes outside of Kobe. We spent a night in Kobe before coming. It was nice, but super expensive and walking around it reminded us all of madison avenue, but in more of a square shape. We walked through china town and that was fun, but the only thing chinese about it were the decorations. We were almost 100% sure everyone working there and walking around was still japanese. We ended up getting lost in a weird shopping mall that eventually led us to the water which was nice and we sat on a bench and watched a dinner cruise pull in. It was very romantic.



Tuesday afternoon we left our hostel and headed to our farm. We arrived at the train station but when we called our host to say "we're here!" She said "so am I, I dont see you..." We were obviously at the wrong train station but luckily it was only a few minutes away. The family we are staying with are very nice, the mother Mariko, and her husband (but we never see him cause he:s at work along with her daughter and son) some cousins which we havent really met, and her daughter in law and her two kids, a girl age 4 and a boy age 6. They are pretty cute but my tolerance for children is always hanging by a thread, especially when they cry. Mimi and Ashley think they are the cutest things in the world so any attention from me that is lacking is easily made up by their questions of "so you really like carrots dont you??" or "hi! did you have a super fun day at school?" these children do not speak english so blank stares are the normal response. Ayako, the daughter, and Meoko, the daughter in law speak very good english and its nice talking to them. All of our meals are prepared for us which is really a very nice treat and they have all been excellent so far. We do the dishes after every meal and assume its a fair trade. Today we learned how to make tempura at lunch which was fun, but eating it was more fun.

Our jobs so far have constisted of: putting up christmas lights, which made the nice looking office in the front of a house look like a cheap motel and the amount of twinkling lights could have given anyone a seizure. Not our best work. 2nd was harvesting potatoes and planting onions, the first real farming work weve done since being in Japan, and 3rd, which happened this morning, was vacuuming...the ceiling. It was raining so Mariko decided we shouldnt work outside. We essentially held a ladder and watched her sprint up the top with a hand held vacuum, stand on the beams of the high ceiling, and vacuum. She made Mimi stand on a table and hold the end of the vacuum up because she was the tallest. It was pretty weird, but an easy day to say the least. Then Mariko went out to teach a caligraphy class and told us to spend the rest of the day thinking of something we could make out of wood that will add to her garden. So we thought about it and walked around and still havent come up with anythin great. Our lack of carpentry skills is definitely taking a toll on what we think we could possibly do with some scrap wood, but I:m sure we:ll think of something great! As weird as it is to just invite yourself into someone elses home and life, it is nice to be around a family and out of a city. Time for dinner! Till next time