The Japanese

Hello again,

I made it back from Japan, which is a bit of a miracle, considering I wasn't sure I was going to make it in the first place. Let me set the stage:

a) Two nights before I had planned to go I got a sore throat, to much yelling at children I suppose, so Dr. Dueck subscribed a lot of water to himself, thinking water can solve a lot of things, hopefully a sore throat is one of them

b) Getting up the next day it was still sore, so I knew it was going to be a long one. I continued to drink the water, but as my classes continued, I got worse and worse. Minute by minute I just felt I was getting weaker and weaker. And as the afternoon went on, I gained a headache, which slowly grew as I continued to get weaker. Let me just say, when I mean weak, I simply mean I am losing energy, I am not getting frail to the point that my bones can snap, if you follow me. So with the loss of energy also comes the losing of patience.....................fortunately this wasn't an issue on this day, lucky kids!!!!!

c) So after a few subtle complaints to the boss, he let me go 1/2 hour early from school, not a big deal anyway, as I wasn't teaching. It was a special activity/school promotion day.

d) So I hopped on the bus, ready to fall over and sleep at anytime, but being forced to stay awake in an effort to maintain my balance on a bus, driving in traffic, with a stickshift! Not a smooth ride.

e) I made it home at 6:00 p.m and was prepared to sleep until 5:00 a.m., when I would have to get up and pack so that I could catch a bus to get to the airport about 2 hours away for a 10:00 flight. However I slept for about 40 mins, but was still tired, so in an effort to get back to sleep, I stayed in bed for another two hours, didn't work. Was wide awake and still lacked energy, so I went for my canned peaches, then got some fresh air and came back to the apartment.

f) I was now awake, but the throat was sore and the head was still pulsing, so I packed up, cleaned the apartment etc. And hit the sack around 11. The only thing was that I wouldn't actually sleep, but would toss and turn enough so that every hour I would look at the clock and it would have only moved 5 minutes. Am I the only one this has happened to?............................. It was terrible. I gave up. At 4:00 a.m. that morning I got up, sent some emails, had my Fruit Loops (they got 'em out here) and was out the door at 5:30. I was not looking forward to traveling in this tired and ill condition, but it had to be done, there was potential for this to be a long trip.

g) This all was on top of my lack of confidence as to how to get on this bus and get to the airport only compounded the problem. There was no bus schedule, just a sign that said the airport bus comes by every 20 minutes or so. In Canada, 5:30 is not necessarily a peak travel time, I was thinking this could actually be 1 hour or so. Anxiety added to my lack of sleep didn't turn out to be pleasant. Fortunately the bus came and I slept for a "solid" 10 minutes, enough to get me on the plane to sleep.

h) Turns out I didn't sleep on the plane, just watched Hotel Rwanda (PS - great movie). I got more and more nervous about how I was going to make it through the day........until I met a guy on the same visa run as I was on. He offered me some "No Sleep Gum". This provided to be a mental thing more than anything else, "no way I can sleep now, I have no sleep gum".

i) (I'll cut to the chase as my computer battery is dying on me) Needless to say, I made it through the day, and as it went on I started to feel better and better, I don't know how this was the case, adrenaline I suppose courtesy of the awe that I was actually in Japan. It would turn out to be OK, I made it through the day, and had a great sleep at the Capulse Hotel (see the pics)

This has been the story of my last few days. I can't believe I made it through them. No doubt it was the grace and mercy of the Lord. From what others have been telling me, most foreigners get sick within their first few weeks out here, so I suppose this was just my turn.

Battery is almost out, must be gone, I haven't even read over what I have written. The pictures will tell you more about my trip in Japan. "see" you next week

Kev

A Personal Note

I am still in shock that I am actually in Asia. I have been busy working, figuring out where the grocery stores are, where to put my garbage (still don't know), and how life simply works over here, that I have not had a chance to be discouraged about anything and simply find everything all too funny.

Lets take for example, my recent two day visa run to Japan (I had to go because prior to coming to Korea, there was not enough time to apply for a visa from Canada [need about 4 weeks], so I had to skip over to Japan where I could get it done in 2 hours with the right paper work). I found it all to funny that I was in Japan that most of my time walking around I had a huge grin on my face, mostly to contain that laughter and irony that I had found in actually being in Japan. A place I had never had a desire to be. I wish I could have seen myself, "a grinning idiot."

Needless to say, this had been the nature of my time in Asia, a constant asking, "why the heck am I here." This is something I find great humor in but also joy, as I know how great it is to follow the Lord in obedience. So I look forward to letting you know more about that when I do

Therefore, as much as I can share stories on my blog to let you know of my stay, I hope to also share with you the condition of my spirit, when appropriate. To some of you reading this it may mean a lot or simply nothing, you know who you are, as to me, this blog is a journal, to share more than just stories, experiences thoughts and feelings, but a chance to hear how I have seen the spirit of the Lord work in Asia so that it may be an encouragement to you.

So when the times come (I don't know when or how often), I hope to share with you personal experiences that are beyond the humorous, but vivid example's of the greatness of God for his glory.

May my thoughts and experiences bring you joy, laughter, encouragement and a realization of how wonderful our God is, as I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3: 17-19).

Grace and Peace
Kev

Castle Moat

Castle Moat
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

They actually exist! But once you get through the moat, the gold tiger awaits. It was supposed to intimidate if my memory serves me correctly.

Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

This was a magnificant castle originally built by a Japanesse ruler Hideyoshi Toyotomi, after it was contructed and destructed several times. This continued after he built it, but he is creditied with it's main and original construction efforts

On top of Osaka

On top of Osaka
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

On top of the Umeda Sky Building. This was a great view of an active city, full of lights, unfortunatly pictures can't do it justice. I also realized how expensive Japan really is on the cab over, definantly not as cheap as Korea!

Umeda Sky Building

Umeda Sky Building
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Hold two pens up two inches apart. Now imagine they are 40 story towers. This escalator goes from one tower to the next from floor 37-40, with nothing below!

Shin-Kabukiza Theater

Shin-Kabukiza Theater
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Built in late 16c, this is simply an impresseive looking theater in the area of Osaka I was in.

Dotombori

Dotombori
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

This was the district of Osaka my hotel was, I would compare it to Robson/Granville Street combo. Entertainment and shopping, with a lot more lights!

The Capsule

The Capsule
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

A bed, TV, Radio and thats about it. Definitely a Japanesse experience.

Capsule Hotel in Osaka

Capsule Hotel in Osaka
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

My "room" was half way down the hall on the floor of the left side

My hood

My hood
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

This is where I live

M's game in Korea

M's game in Korea
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

I can still get the Mariners games in Korea! They're up 3-0 on the Mets, plus i'm sure you wanted to see my apartment, don't worry, your all on the wall!

One week down..............___________to go

Welp, I finally feel normal. As the jet leg subsided over the past week, I still felt tired and exhausted, as I was doing a little bit of everything to get settled in, I finally had a weekend to just rest. This included the joy of sleeping in and cleaning the apartment as I listened to some tunes. Just what I had needed, as the week had brought a certain amount of chaos itself.

Example 1 - After shadowing the outgoing teacher for a few days, I have finally begun to teach. I am teaching 2 kindergarten classes and a bunch of elementary and middle school classes. The kindergarten classes get breaks to go to the bathroom every class, which is great as it kills time and also gives me a break from the constant call of "Kevin teacher.........aauauuauuauuaa". This is usually accompanied by a pointing pencil to the work they should be doing, with a confused look on their faces. During one bathroom break I was lining the kids up, a process that can take a few minutes with Johnny budging and Sally hitting, when I made eye contact with little Betty. She had the biggest puppy dog look with clenched legs. She had to go to the bathroom, fair enough. Not a really a big deal, we were lining up to go anyway. So my attention left her as I went to control a few of the boys in the group. It had appeared that I had downplayed the urgency with which precious little Betty was attempting to portray. As I glanced back over to her, I noticed a small puddle that seemed to be growing from the leak in the rotting roof. But that didn't make sense, the roof isn't rotting, it's actually in great condi.........................it was precious little Betty, who's look of urgency had turned to what I think may have been a little self pity as the puddle had grown, and all traces of its origin led to her! And there was nothing that I was prepared to do about this. I knew at that moment that I was going to play "dumb westerner" and get the school secretary's over to deal with this. I wanted no part in it, not only that, I just simply and honestly do not know what to do with a young child who wet her pants. That will happened later in life............I hope

That event really steals the thunder of anything else that I did, which brought me closer to exhaustion. The most common difficulty is communicating, which can be particularity frustrating at restaurants, where there are certain things I want to be sure to avoid. I'm picky, I'll admit that, but when you see a tank of squid, bottom feeding fish and an array of other ugly things at some of the local restaurants, I have trouble mentally overcoming these obstacles in order to eat some Korean dishes. Which often leads to me to the street vendors which are cheap and good, so I don't complain.

Anyway, this week should be full of more adventures. I'm off to Osaka, Japan on Friday and return Saturday. I'll be spending the night at the Capsule Hotel (the name really says it all), which should be quite an experience. I'll let you know all about it when I get back, I'm looking forward to it.

I love hearing from you all, whether it be your comments...........welp, some of them............or emails. Look forward to hearing more

Kev

Some Pic's from Korea

www.flickr.com More of kevdu's photos

Dazed and Confussed

Well, I was at Briercrest a few months ago, Vancouver a few days ago, now I feel at home in KOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA. And I don't know what happened to me Well, I do know, I sat on a plane for 11 hours and the result was jetlag, which I couldn't beat no matter how hard I tried, one of those things you just have to ride out. It came with a loss of appetite, little sleep, a few dizzy spells and a complete sense of cluelessness. Which would have brought me a weekend of pain and suffering, if it weren't for Andrea and Rob (friends from vancouver) who let me follow them around like a dog dragging behind his owner and essentailly feeling like dead weight. Forunatly they had the same feeling when they first arrived so they were sympathetic and were good sports. They were able to show me around and help me get aquinted with the city, the food, the lifestyle and everything else that comes with arriving in a differant part of the world with the mindset of knowing you will be here for a while...........1 year to be exact! My first 24 hours in the country consisted of going to a jimjilbong, which is a Korean bathhouse. This included massive sauna's which you and about 100 others can lay in comfotably, all at various temperatures, as well as a bathhouse (skip to the next set of dots if you don't like hearing things straight forward)..........................which was a bunch of naked men (women have there own area) sitting in pools. The nudity was quite blatant and very un-western to say the least....................................... It was quite a first experience. Not sure when I will be back there. Thanks though Rob and Andrea. (I hope sarcasm can be implied online, but somehow I have my doubts). That night I got about 4 hours of sleep, not sure if that was a result of what I had just been to, or the jet lag, but it wasn't pleasant waking up at 7am wide awake. The rest of the weekend consisted of walking through Seoul and getting aquanted with the city, which is huge = tired legs which is not what a jet lagged body needs i'm sure, at least this one didn't. So that night I got a great sleep to say the least and as a result, feel like I am settled in. Sunday consisted of getting my first cellular phone, (not sure if I should be excited about that), church (in English), and a Korean pro soccer game at the World Cup Stadium. Which was included wild yelling or cheering, (I would lean towards yelling) at the opposing team's fans across the stadium. Anyway, the game ended in a tie, there were no fights (which I think are customary in parts of Europe and South America) and all went well. So here I am now, in Seoul, for a year, and my first impressions are great. I think I will enjoy it here. I hope to have pictures up when my apartment gets internet access, as I am actually supposed to be working now, so I had better go. Feel free to leave comments or send me an email when you get a chance. Be back in a week, as I plan to update the blog every weekend or so Brother Kev PS - If any of you who have BA's want to teach over here, send me an email.