Well. I finally did it. I've just visited and returned from Fukuoka, Japan. I was terrified it wasn't going to happen and I would end up hiding out in Daegu for Chuseok(Korean Thanksgiving, only they celebrate for 5 days). I even had to visit the immigration office to change my visa status(I wanted to be able to come back). I know, curses are for pussies and losers, but I went out of my way not to talk about my plans for Chuseok. Every time I say, "Hey maybe I should go to Japan this weekend," it ends up falling through for some reason or another.

No more.

Su-Jin and I spent four glorious days in Fukuoka.

Funniest moment: The Japanese assumed Su-Jin was Japanese. Everyone tried to speak Japanese to her. Welcome to my world.

Cutest moment: Su-Jin and I had to stand in the same line for immigration. We were BOTH foreigners for a weekend.

Most annoying moment: Getting lost in downtown Fukuoka. Fukuoka is very clean, but not very well laid out. We had a terrible time finding restaurants. We did find a KILLER Indian restaurant on the first night. Awesome nan.

Scariest moment: Traveling on the ferry in choppy water. I was convinced we were going to capsize.

Frustrating moment: I picked a large, expensive hotel because usually the staff at large, expensive hotels speaks English. Not the case at the JAL Sea Hawk Resort. No one could speak English. No one. You know what this means. Kate failed Japan. I hold my sister accountable for this. You were their teacher, it's YOUR fault that Japan's English sucks. Also, Fukuoka people have terrible accents. For some reason they speak through their noses. Pinch your nose and say "Sumimasen." That is what a Fukuoka person sounds like. The location was actually kind of cool. We were right next to the beach, the massive baseball stadium and HawksTown mall. Nice area, but a little boring at night.

Also, for some reason they included the internet for free on the TV in every room. The only problem was that the remote was impossible to use. Thanks, but no thanks.

We did find a five or six story comic book store. That was a lot of fun, but little to no English.

That's really what struck me the most about Fukuoka. No one could speak English. Daegu is MUCH better for foreigners than Fukuoka. I remember Tokyo having many employees willing to try English. Seoul is even better for English. For some reason, Fukuoka just doesn't have any. I couldn't imagine being a person who didn't speak Japanese or English in Fukuoka. You couldn't do anything. I think Daegu even has more foreigners than Fukuoka. Strange.

The trip was about what I expected. I had fun. Su-Jin had fun. I think we both needed a break from Korea, but I'm happy to be back in colorful Daegu. I found myself missing my job and my coworkers more than anything. That's strange to type.

Best j0ke of the weekend goes to me. No one spoke Korean, so we had the bright idea to smile and say bad words in Korean. We didn't do it, but it would crack up both Su-Jin and I.

Worst piece of bad news. Glico has stopped making Pretz in honey butter flavor. The replaced honey butter with soy turd flavor. I was crushed....until I found bacon flavored ramen.


Fukuoka City grade: C
Hotel grade: D, nice room, expensive restaurants and a large non-English speaking staff.
Shopping grade: A plus. We found everything we wanted. I didn't buy any cool toys or anything, most were WAAAAAY out of my price range.
Restaurant grade: C, good restaurants, but everything closed too damn early. I'm used to eating dinner at midnight in Korea. Restaurants were closing around 10 o'clock in Japan.
Overall vacation grade: B, it was nice to take a break and relax for a few days.