Visa run to Fukuoka

Aht...here it is. The update that's been a long time coming. C'mon, it's only been a week or so since I made this trip. Yeah, I've been quite lazy lately when it comes to updating this thing. It's not like I really have anything else to do, but man it's a chore forcing myself to sit down and do it.

So last Thursday and Friday, October 19-20, I was off to the "Land of the Rising Sun" (a.k.a Japan, Nippon, Nihon) to get an E-2 working visa. I was supposed to have gotten it done ages ago but the owner of my school got curious and opened the sealed transcripts when I sent them to her from Japan in August, which basically voided them in the eyes of immigration here. For those of you who don't know, I went to Silliman University in the Philippines and so it took a while to get another copy sent out here.

Fukuoka is closer to Seoul, South Korea than to Tokyo, Japan. It's only a three hour boat ride from Busan port where I was leaving from. I was offered a ride to Busan by my boss and it was decided her husband would take me Thursday morning and pick me up Friday afternoon. This is how I was greeted at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday while waiting for the boss' husband to pick me up for the 2 hour drive to Busan.


It was unusually foggy that morning and continued to be pretty much all day...even in Japan. It cleared up a bit, but as you can see in this shot from the boat while leaving Busan harbor...not by much.


Here are a few random shots that I took during my stay.

A brief intro to the photos:
School children on what looked to be some sort of field trip. Funny how when Japanese travel in groups..be it children, adults, or seniors...they have these guides as leaders waving flags so no one gets lost. These kids looked to be in either Jr. High or High school. Notice the kid in white flashing the peace/victory sign. I'm not too sure exactly when this became the norm but you will see it in pretty much every photo taken of Japanese.




These are shots I took while walking around town. In Japan, and korea for that matter, it's amazing the number of people you see walking or riding bicycles. I guess that explains why their life spans are much longer than the average westerner's. The first is of some of the beautiful quite interesting architecture. I think it must be a restaurant of some sort (seafood perhaps) with the boat coming out of the building.


The second is a home-grown beauty...only one of many in Japan. The sense of fashion in Japan is top-notch. Even people who's looks are average somehow manage to look either really cool/hip or beautiful by choosing great outfits. I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else that I travelled to.


The subway system in Japan is a marvel in itself. Japanese trains are best known for their punctuality, cleanliness, and the fact that horny old men (and occasionally public officials) like to either grope or expose themselves to women on them. BBC story on the topic. In the event that a train is actually late, which rarely happens, the attendents will give out pieces of paper to riders explaining that the train was late. This is done to prove the fact to your boss in case you were late for work, missed a meeting etc.. as the boss wouldn't believe you otherwise.


Seeing a car that even remotely resembles an American gas guzzling muscle car in Japan is definitely a rarity, especially since gas is about $6.00 / gallon. I was surprised to see this car pass by after I dropped off my papers at the Korean embassy. I wish I could have gotten the camera out quicker as the two "gentlemen" in the car were sporting the huge 50's styles hair quite commonly associated with wanna-be gangsters. Btw, any ideas what that is hanging out of the back?


The last two shot I took from the Fukuoka tower. I believe it's the tower used by NHK, one of the major TV broadcasters. There is an observation deck near the top and it's pretty close to the beach. I snapped this resort or restaurant which actually goes out on the water. The second one is just me showing off my 12X zoom on my Canon S2 IS. Look close enough at the first shot and you'll see a white speck to the right of the resort along the beach...then up close in the second shot. That's not infringing on their privacy...is it? ;D

Well, that was my trip. It was really nice to be back in a country were I can speak the language. I stopped many times and asked directions from friendly passer-byes and had no problems. That is somethng I could never have done here in Korea as I haven't been able to learn the language. I think when I first got here from Japan and realized that I was now back to zero in terms of language skills, I just wasn't motivated to study yet another language. Needless to say, I do alot of gesturing and have actually become quite good at it.

Stay tuned for updates including my HUGE apartment and my new scooter.