Kyoto monkies

After my trip to Korea, things were still so crazy! I got back Tuesday night, Wednesday had work, a business trip to the capital of my prefecture, Tsu, for a seminar planning meeting, a writers` meeting in the afternoon, and taught my adult English class in the evening. Thursday I had work all day and taught my church class in the evening. Friday work all day and in the evening cooking like crazy until midnight for the Thanksgiving party on Saturday! Saturday I went to akame taki forty-eight waterfalls with my friend Kayoko. First, I took these pictures Friday at work at a park near the school where I often walk at lunch break:









And here are some pictures of the waterfalls with fall colors:












In the evening, I got to church at 6:45 for the 7:00 Thanksgiving party. I made five pies (one of which burned so I have to eat it myself, oh darn), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. Took me six hours to make it all! Unfortunately, only nine people showed up including myself despite many of my students and foreign friends saying they would, and Japanese people are not terribly fond of American cooking. I ended up eating stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans for the next week. Well, at least my peach, pineapple, and sweet potato pies went over well, and I didn`t have to cook from Saturday to Friday!

After eating, my friends Ashley and Mathew performed and taught some Irish dances. They told us some of the stories behind the dances too, how they “hold history in their feet.” I was planning on doing a little Thanksgiving skit and talking about God`s ultimate gift to us, Jesus, but the only non-Christian Japanese had to leave early. But everyone had a really good time.

The next morning, Sunday, was my student Miwa`s baptism. That was really exciting for the church, especially for me, and nearly everyone cried as she gave her testimony. The service lasted almost all day.

The following Saturday, I left Nabari at 6:40 so Kayoko and I could take our long-awaited trip to Arashiyama in Kyoto. We`d been planning to go a month ago, but I`d been sick with bronchitis for two weeks, and we both had other plans for the next two weekends. I arrived at Arashiyama for the first 9:07 “Sagano romantic train,” but Kayoko was running a little late, so I checked out the train and music museum. Here`s the chandelier and old-style trains in the main hall:



Kayoko arrived about half an hour later so we took the 10:07 old-fashioned scenic train, which turned out to be much better (less crowded). Here`s a view of the river from the train:



And an empty river valley:



We got to Torokko Kameoka Station around 10:40, to the bus, and were just in time to catch the 11:15 boat down the Hozu River. The water was low, making for a slow, pleasant two-hour ride with only a few rapids. The Japanese screamed each time, but compared to the rapids I rode in Colorado, that was nothing, not even class one. There were three men piloting the Japanese old-style wooden boat, one at the rudder, one with a pole, and another with an oar. They told funny stories the whole way, most of which I didn`t understand, and the forests of maple trees were past their prime, but it was still beautiful.

Here`s a bridge:



And the scenic train going past. They wanted us to wave and look like we were having a really good time so the people on the train would want to buy the boat tickets. Of course, who needs to pretend when you actually are having fun?



Near the end of the boat trip, a floating store came alongside us to sell hot sake and other Japanese winter foods. Kayoko and I shared some oden, or Japanese boiled hotpot foods: egg, fish, devil’s tongue, and tofu.

We landed near the famous Togetsukyo Bridge where there are lots of traditional shops selling everything from fans to silk purses and giving out free samples of Kyoto sweets (rice cake with chocolate was my favorite), and salty seaweed tea. For lunch we enjoyed some of the specialty street foods: rice flour buns stuffed with sukiyaki and strawberry/Oreo gelato. Here`s a view from Togetsukyo Bridge:



Then we climbed up a mountain for the local treasure, Arashiyama monkey park. I hardly expected the leaves on the mountain to be so beautiful, or for the monkeys to be roaming free. There were about 130 of them, them pamphlet said. I learned why you should never stare a wild monkey in the eyes. I tried to take one`s picture, and he ran at me!

“Did you see that?” I asked Kayoko. “That monkey charged me!”

“Really?” she asked. “How much? He`s got a cute face, so if he`s a smart monkey he should have charged you five dollars for a picture. Or better, he should have charged you in yen, because it`s stronger than the dollar now.”

We both got a good laugh at of that one. That`s one reason I like Kayoko. She`s one of my few Japanese friends who is fluent enough to make and understand English puns.

And here's some of the beautiful leaves:



At the top, there was an indoor place with a fence where you could feed the monkeys. We asked the attendant what there favorite food was, and she said it changed everyday, but today it was peanuts. So we bought some peanuts and took turns feeding them.

Here`s me:



Here`s Kayoko:



One monkey just sat there with its arms outstretched the whole time, apparently board by the whole arrangement:



There were lots of baby monkeys. They looked really cold and were constantly hugging and cuddling with each other.



And here`s a video of them cuddling:



There were also great views of the leaves and the city of Kyoto from the top of the mountain:



After the monkey park, we walked to Tenryuji Temple, a World Cultural Heritage site, famous for its landscape garden. It`s a gorgeous temple and well worth the trip, but there are some things that the staff are careful not to tell tourists that would be beneficial to know beforehand. The garden tour gate comes first, but it`s not worth the 500 yen. The garden is beautiful, to be sure, but a little further up the hill there`s the temple tour for only 100 yen, and you can see most of the garden clearly from the inside of the temple. We made the mistake of buying the garden tour first and then the temple tour, going out to see the bamboo grove and trying to get back in when we realized we`d gone the wrong way. They wouldn`t let us. Fortunately, Kayoko argued with them long enough until they finally gave in and let us back inside. How ridiculous! If you pay for a ticket and accidentally leave, why should you have to pay again to get back inside? Such are Japanese temples. Also there`s a painting of a dragon you can see for 600 yen. One painting for 600 yen, when you can see a replica of it for free outside? Neither of us did that. What a rip off.

Here`s a picture of the garden:



And Kyoko and me in front of the garden. I include this picture to show my mother than I am not “turning Japanese.” She insists every time she sees me that I look more Japanese. The Japanese certainly don’t think so. You can see very distinctly in this picture that Kayoko is very pretty but I don’t look anything like her:



Here's the garden leaves up close:



Here is a very famous picture composition, the garden seen through the sliding doors of the temple. You often find this style in advertisements:



And last, the “inner shrine” of the temple, depicting one of the ancient Emperors.



The Temple was built in his honor, proving the close, if not inseparable, connection between Buddhism and Shinto in Japanese culture. You often find Shinto gods (such as the Emperor) worshiped in Buddhist temples, and Buddhist art in Shinto shrines. Most Japanese people who call themselves religious adhere to both, even though they contain many contradictions of each other. Very few actually read the Shinto and Buddhist texts.

We left the temple about 5:00 to visit the famous bamboo grove behind it. This was the best picture I managed to get in the strange light, with a rickshaw in the background:



About that time it was getting dark. Kyoto is famous for its various “koyo illuminations” or lighting up of the fall leaves. If you ever get a chance to go in November or early December, it’s one of the best sights in Japan. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so mystical and magical. Words can’t really describe it. I’ll just have to show you the pictures:







Unfortunately, the pictures aren’t nearly as beautiful of as the real thing. It made me think of the Balara forest in my books, a place of gold and silver leaves, of enchantment and seduction where one can easily get lost and never wish to be found.

For dinner we ate the fried street food, then I headed back to Nabari and got home around 10:00. What a day; we did so much! And the next day was the big revival at church!

It was a little disappointing; we had spent months planning and publicizing. The famous guest speaker Arthur Hollands drove his motorcycle all the way down from Tokyo, and a local news station even came. But only twenty people showed up. And ten of those were church members. Poor Pastor Toshi and Kumi had been expecting 100! A lot of people who said they would come didn’t, like at least five of my students. The first session lasted from 10:30 to 12:30, then we had lunch until 2:00. There were so many sandwiches and so much soup left over! They must have spent a lot of money on it. The second session lasted from 2:00 to 5:00. I think some people were really moved. Reverend Hollands must have been funny, because a lot of people were laughing. I couldn’t really understand, because the woman who graciously interprets for me most Sundays had a fever and had to go home after lunch, and even for the first part she had a hard time because he spoke so quickly. My host mother from Komono came. I’m not sure whether she got anything or not. She seemed in an awfully big hurry to leave the church and kept asking when it would be over. Maybe five hours is a bit long for non-believers to sit through, even if it’s broken up into two sessions. I say this not as a criticism, but as a future note for those who might be planning this sort of event. Two sessions is a good idea I think, because people can leave after lunch if they want, but maybe each one should only last an hour. Perhaps combining the sessions with worship is not so effective for non-believers. But I think the believers got a lot out of it.

Prayer requests for this week: Prayer that the revival will have many positive, unforeseen consequences. Also prayer for my students, particularly some who have stopped coming to my Thursday night class. Also prayer for the Pakistan mission trip I’m planning for March. Things seem to be coming together, but I still have a lot of preparation and difficult decisions to make. Speaking of difficult decisions, I have to decide whether to renew my contract in Japan by February 4th. What a tough choice! I love Japan, but I really miss home and two years feels about right. Perhaps it’s time to move on. There’s also the issue of publishing my books, which seems hard to do from here, with most traditional publishers and agents preferring to work only with domestic clients (that’s what they keep telling me, anyway). Hopefully my visit home for Christmas will help me decide.

Until next time, keep praying and keep loving, no matter what the cost,

L. J. Popp

Sunday morning, Casey and I woke early to see the two most famous ancient palaces in Seoul, Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung. We got to the first at 9:30, and again it was a matter of simply not knowing. We had just missed the first English tour, and the next wasn`t until 11:30, and you couldn`t see the secret garden, the most famous part of the palace, without one.

“Well,” I said, “there`s supposed to be a folk village or cultural center around here. Let`s check that out.”

So we wandered for the next hour trying to find it, and when we finally did, it was nothing but a bunch of plaques in Korean depicting now non-existent buildings. And honestly, they all looked exactly like old Japanese houses.

“What, no performances, no displays of real ancient relics, nothing authentically Korean?” I asked.

Casey explained that most of South Korea`s unique cultural assets were destroyed during World War II, and those left over were demolished during the revolution, and most of the ancient artifacts and buildings that remain are in the Chinese/Japanese occupation styles. Pretty sad.

Here was one traditional wood shop along the road:



By then we didn`t have time for anything else, so we just went back to the palace. The gift shop had a few traditional items on display, like these dolls:



They are wearing the traditional female Hanbok, a lot like a European dress except without the corset. Very smart. I`ve worn one before, and they`re quite comfortable.

I`m reminded of the time my dad came home from the Airforce Reserves after spending some time in Korea. I was about four years old and he brought us all presents. Mine was a little white doll with blond curls and long blond eyelashes. I remember feeling very disapointed and telling him so, because I wanted a Korean doll. He told me that this was the doll all the little girls in Korea played with. At the time I didn`t believe him, but now I understand. Just like me, they wanted to play with the doll that looked different, not the same. Unfortunately, it goes a little deeper for them, but I`ll talk about that in a later post.

I also bought some traditional Korean rice cake sweets, but sadly they were not as good as the sticky, gooey Japanese versions I`m used to. If there`s one thing the Japanese do right when it comes to food, it`s sweets. It`s the tea culture! The best sweets in the world are from England, Scotland, France, India, Japan, China, and Tailand (though this last probably has more to do with the fresh coconut than tea).

We finally got on the tour, and that was amazing. Originally completed in 1412, Changdeokgung palace served as the primary residence of the Joseon Dynasty and seat of government until 1872, and the last Emperor died there in 1926. Unfortunately, most of it was destroyed in various Japanese invasions and fires, but large portions have been rebuilt. Here`s me standing in front of Donhwamun Gate, the main entrance to the palace grounds. You can see Chinese characters at the top. Even though Hangul, the unique Korean script of twenty-six letters, had already been invented by the great Emperor Sejong as a means of educating the common people, it was not yet in wide use, and was generally looked down upon by the nobles:



All the doorways and passages in the front part, used only by the officials, were very low. You had to stoop to get through them. This was to remind the nobles that they had to pay proper respect to the emperor. They have the same structures and reasoning in Japan`s Imperial palaces. The major difference is that in Japan, hardly anything is painted, let alone decorated. You`d hardly know you were in a castle or palace if not for the sign. That`s due to ancient Japan`s minimalist/ultra simplistic take on Buddhism. (And one reason why they destroyed anything fancy in their conquered territories; they thought it really gaudy and bad taste.) Don`t go to Japan expecting to see gorgeous sculpted buildings with lots of gold and artistry. Go to China, or better, India for that.

This is Injeongjeon Hall, where major ceremonies took place. I think it`s the most beautiful of all the buildings I saw in Korea:



Take a closer look at the slanted roof:



And an even closer look at the beautiful designs on the eaves. Very reminiscent of Chinese style. In fact, I would almost call it a miniature, less decorated version of the summer palace in Beijing.



Further in we saw this room, though I forget what it was called. Perhaps Huijeongdang Hall, official residence and office of the emperor. Anyway, it`s got a throne in the middle:



That about sums it up for the palace. After that, we went on a tour of the secret garden, so named because it was originally meant only for the royal family. At this point, I should probably note that the English tours were not mostly made up of Americans, Canadians, British and such. The vast majority looked to be other Asians who simply didn`t speak Korean: Indian, Chinese, even a few Japanese. These later mostly tagged behind with their own interpreter. Actually, I kept running into Japanese tourists all day; they seemed to follow us wherever we went, and I even played translator a few times between English (which the Koreans appear to generally be superior at) and Japanese. It`s interesting how English has become such an international language, since nearly every country teaches it as a second language now. I can get a job anywhere! I hung out with the Japanese for awhile, and I noticed their interpreter didn`t appear to be listening to the English at all. She was always one step ahead, as if she had memorized the facts beforehand, and really emphasized what I like to call “Japanese points,” things that the rest of the world doesn`t find too interesting, but the Japanese go bonkers over. Stuff like, “this glass window used to be made out of colored waxed paper. It was very cool in the summer time.” Yeah, and freezing in the winter, I bet. Why do the Japanese think paper is such a great insulator anyway? Most cultures have had the common sense to move on to things far superior to rice paper.

During the secret garden tour, we met a girl from Malaysia with very good English (like a native speaker), and she chatted with us throughout the tour. It`s quite fortunate we ran into her, because she was headed for Japan to live for a long time and didn`t know anything about the country or language. I gave her a crash course and some resources. You never know who you`ll meet in places like that. It`s a small world…in a really big way.

Here`s some pictures of the garden. A pretty path:



Casey and me in front of the koi pavilion:



The pavilion ceiling, notice the dragon:



And the old library (at the back of the picture). It used to hold all the books and government offices, but after only a few years it was too small so they had to build another one in the main palace area. They say the little gate leading to the old library/offices has a fish on it, to remind the Emperor and nobles that just like a fish without water, a lord can not rule without the support of his people.



All the red leaves you see are Japanese maples. I`ve only seen small ones in the U.S, but these were tall as oaks! Of course, they`re much older, perhaps by a good 400 years.

After the tour, we stopped in for lunch with the Malaysian girl at a Korean hot pot restaurant. I got to say, Korean hot pots are really lacking in comparison to the Chinese and Japanese hot pots. It`s just rice and chili pepper. I`m sure there was more stuff in there, but that`s all I could taste. If you don`t like your food on fire, be sure to ask for it mild. But the chijimi (pancakes with kimchi) were amazing!

We dawdled for a short Irish (of all things) concert near the restaurant, then headed on for Gyeongbokgung palace a couples miles away, the biggest and grandest of the five Seoul palaces. You can`t do it justice in two hours. You probably need a whole day. For starters, it`s got the Korean National Folk museum, which one could easily spend half a day in. We had about an hour. But what we saw was really amazing. We were just in time for the changing of the guards. Here they are:



Here`s a picture of the most famous building, Gyeonghoeru, used for special social events like feasts during the Joseon dynasty. I call it the “floating palace.” Though you can get there via a bridge, it was closed off to tourists:



There were twelve statues in front of the museum depicting the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. Here`s me beside mine, the tiger, obviously a modern statue.



I don`t think there is anything special or truthful about them anymore than the Greek zodiacs, though one of the first lessons in my Japanese/English textbook that I have to use is “what`s your sign” and teaches them about the Greek zodiac. It took me awhile to explain to the teachers that this was completely pointless information that the kids will NEVER use. Hardly anyone in America even knows their “sign.” So I just skipped that lesson and opted for a Christmas one instead. But on a side note, this is my year, the year of the tiger, the white tiger, to be exact. That`s particularly special for Korea, because their national animal is the white tiger. Why? Beats me. They certainly aren`t native to Korea.

The museum was very interesting too, with information in English about Korean history, art, and culture. Again, nearly everything was a replica, since so much was destroyed during the wars. No pictures allowed, of course.

After the museum, we headed for Yoido Full Gospel Church, the largest church in the world with 750,000 members and five services every Sunday. It took us about two hours to get there, but upon arrival we discovered that English interpretation stopped all together at 2:00. There wasn`t a single English interpreter in the whole church, not even one who could sit next to us and whisper in our ears like they do at my church in Japan. And apparently the service started at 7:00, not 7:30 as the website said. We sat beside another terribly confused and misinformed foreigner for about fifteen minutes, then left. Casey`s Korean is pure survival phrases, so she couldn`t understand any better than I. We did manage to get an English bulletin from an earlier service, and it looked like the format was exactly the same as my Presbyterian church back in the states, though this was Assemblies of God.

I also got a sermon outline, and that was perhaps the most discouraging of all. It confirmed the fears spoken by my Japanese pastor that this might be a “health and wealth gospel” church, meaning that they claim that if you love Jesus, you will be showered with financial and physical blessings. The outline stated such terrible falsehoods as “people in poor countries praise God less” (anyone who`s ever been to an African or South American church knows this is simply not so; they tend to praise God MORE because they have fewer distractions), and that Jesus promises to bless us materially as well as spiritually, and that material blessings are a sign of God`s favor. While these things are sometimes true, they are not part of the “Christian package.” If anything, Jesus called us to a life of suffering, of giving sacrificially, and a deep, trusting faith that compels us to praise God even in the worst of times. Jesus was homeless, after all, and many of his disciples did and still do suffer greatly for their faith. It was a huge disappointment to see that the largest church in the world had only attracted so many people because of lies that trample on the true message of Jesus Christ.

I`m tempted to say that ruined the whole trip, as it was my main reason for going to Korea in the first place. But I think that in itself would be a foolish oversimplification. The night wasn`t over, and Casey and I went to 63 building, one of the tallest high rises in Asia. We got a view of all Seoul lit up, including the Han river, and saw a special art exhibit displaying much of Picasso’s pottery and print art. I`m definitely not a Picasso fan, but it`s nice to be able to say I`ve seen some of his original pieces. We also saw the aquarium, which offered a few species of fish I had never seen before, and the ever cute penguins. But I shall save my adorable animal pictures for tomorrow, because on Monday I went to Everland! That turned out to be a much, much better day, the highlight of the entire trip.

Korean trip Part III: Everland!

And finally, on Monday, I got to go to Everland amusement park, the second biggest reason I went to Korea, but definitely the best! Casey had to go to work in the afternoon, so I had to get there by myself. But the Seoul subway system is pretty straight forward and Casey gave me excellent directions, so I made my two transfers without getting lost, though it took a good deal longer than I expected, almost three hours.

I did have a slight snag with the taxi from Casey`s apartment to the station, however. I had written down the Korean exactly as Casey spelled it, but when I told the driver, no matter how slowly or how many times I said it, he couldn’t understand me! I told him in English and he still didn’t understand. I finally showed him the paper with the English written on it, and he nodded, said exactly what I had said, and drove me to the station. I had thought Casey was joking when she said Korean is in the world`s top five hardest languages to speak. It`s not tonal like Chinese, but apparently they have a lot of homophones and words that sound similar. Korean sounds like a cross between Chinese and Japanese, but I don`t think it`s related to either one, especially not Japanese, which falls in it`s only completely separate language group that isn`t related to any other languages outside Japan. There are a few words they share, especially numbers, and loan words taken from English, but that’s about it. Also, while Japanese and Korean both have levels of honor which change how you speak to certain people, in Japanese these are pretty straight forward, simply changing how the verb is conjugated or adding an honorific “o”, “go”, or “sama” onto the beginning or end of nouns and names. In Korean, apparently it changes the entire word. For example, when I was in taikwando, I learned “comapsoupnida” which means “thank you.” However, that`s the highest politeness level, what you would use with your master. You would not say this to a friend, or even an elder, superior in your company, or customer. The form used most often is “comsamnida.” So the stuff in the middle changes. Also, I counted for a Korean in what I learned in taikwando. They laughed and told me I was all wrong. My pronunciation was so off they couldn`t understand a word. That`s what you get from learning Korean from an American.

At the bus stop, I asked if I was at the right place for the bus to Everland, and two Malaysian girls with excellent English told me yes, and we talked the whole bus ride there. I think one of the greatest pleasures in traveling is that you meet people from all over the world and get to hear about their countries. They told me all about the jungles, and I would like very much to visit there one day!

I got to Everland about 11:30, about an hour and a half later than I had hoped for, but just in time for the Christmas parade! The dancing and music was rather silly, but the floats and costumes were gorgeous! Here`s the ice float:



Everywhere I went, I was asked, “Why are you in Korea?” always with a bit of shock or sarcasm. I said I was here on vacation and they were even more surprised, like “why would you want to come to Korea for vacation?” Casey was right, Koreans are pretty humble about their country, except sporting events. You know how there are posters of Tiger Woods all over American airports? They have pictures of their World/Olympic ice skating champion, Kim Yu-Na. They would then ask me what country I was from and what state, but when I said I lived in Japan, they became pretty quiet, and ended the conversation with a quick, “you should come teach in Korea,” before dashing away. It`s almost identical to the reactions I got to that statement in China. (Though at least I didn`t hear anyone hissing “I hate the Japanese.”) Even before Casey said anything about it that night, I could pretty easily tell that even the Korean young people don`t seem to like Japan very much. I also noticed that while Japan is really big on personal space and boundaries (except for in subways, trains, and at festivals), the rest of Asia seems to have no such concept. One young man got so close and in my face as he excitedly drilled me on my reasons for coming to his country that I thought he might run me over. But the girls seem to be more shy and Japanesish.

One set of these I met on the amazon rapid ride, all giggles and broken English with Korean mixed in. (It`s funny how every country seems to think that if they simply speak slower and louder, you will understand their language. Contrary to popular opinion, this is not an American invention.) Also, all amusement park rides across the world seem to be basically the same. After that, I headed for the Zootopia section, the real reason I went to Everland.

First I took the safari. I love safaris! I went on a real one in Africa, and I`ve got to say, the ones in zoos are usually more interesting, as you`re actually guaranteed to see all the animals. (However, you are not likely to be charged by an elephant in a zoo. That was quite an exciting experience, but probably not one I`d like to repeat.) Here`s some pictures of the animals from the tram. Bear:



Tiger:



And the whole reason I set my heart on Everland back in February when I had my passport fiasco and had to cancel the trip: the white tigers! Granted, it would have been much more fun and interesting to see them in the February snow, but probably a lot more cold too. As it was, the weather was simply gorgeous and the temperature perfect. Here they are:



Near the safari was an Africa building, but I doubt all the animals were from Africa. (the caiman for example). This zoo was much more about “fun zones” than it was about being ecologically accurate. I don`t care; give me happy, active animals in a slightly unnatural environment over sleeping ones alongside detailed signs on habitat any day. I can always look up that stuff later. There I saw this fellow, a rather mellow iguana:



What`s he been smoking? Whatever it is, it must be illegal to make him that happy.

And I got to feed the birds. Here they are eating from my palm:



After that, there was a cute little animal show. I couldn`t understand a word, but it was pretty straight forward. Hook wanted to steal Christmas and Peter Pan had to stop him with the help of his (actually her) animal buddies. After that, I spent the majority of the time in the “monkey`s paradise.” Ha, I remember when we were kids and my brothers and I used to pretend we had a “monkey`s paradise.” Well, this was a real one, the best of the best, because every single exhibit had babies!



Here's a baby on the mama's back!



Check out this little baboon. He`s not so cute, in fact, he looks exactly like a goblin:



Now I know where the Japanese got all their goblin stories! I don`t think they have baboons, but they have tailless monkeys that look very similar.

At around four I checked out the baby/exotic animal area (I purposely saved it for last, knowing that if I went there first I would stay there they whole time and not see anything else). Here`s some interesting little guys, I don`t know what they are; I`ve never seen them in America, but they have them in China and Japan. I`d never seen so many before. They were quite active; listen to the chirps they make:



This video`s especially for my mom, some kangaroos, including a baby, jumping!



A video of lion cubs playing:



And my favorite picture of all, the baby lion:



Isn`t it sooooo cute? And check out this fennec fox, playing with a gibbon`s tail:



If I actually had any talent or skill at photography, I might do this for a living.

The zoo closed at 5:00 (they had to kick me out at 5:15), I rode another ride, and was just in time for the Christmas village light up at 6:00, which included a little song and dance show. Here`s before:



And here`s after:



On the way, I met a couple from Singapore. I heard them speaking English and I immediately started following them, as they seemed to know where they were going. Singaporians are such nice, beautiful people. Ever met an Asian with a British accent? That`s the way they normally talk. (Makes sense; they were a British colony.) I think it would be way overly simplifying them and the rest of the world to say they are “Western,” but they certainly have a “Western flavor” about them, which is somehow refreshing when you`re drowning in foreignness. I`ve met seven of them now, which is quite something since there`s only about 4 million of them all together. I suppose that`s about equal to meeting a New Zealander, and I`ve met a good many of them now.

As for the show we watched together, the Everland characters were such rip offs of Disney characters, right down to their poses. But then, every “new age” theme park is a rip off of either Disney Land or Universal Studios, only with a zoo. As long as the shows themselves and the animals are different, I`m happy.

I walked around looking at all the lights for awhile, then at 6:30 saw the “moonlight parade.” And that`s when my camera ran out of batteries. Oh, well. I`ll be going to Universal Studios in a few weeks and they have a “starlight parade,” which is similar.

I rode the carousel, then just walked around the park, especially in “Asop`s garden,” a fairytale garden with characters, ornaments, and stories spoken aloud in Korean based on Asop`s fables, until it was time for the 7:30 light show. That was spectacular! Lasers, music, and fireworks, all with a Christmas theme! Then I hightailed it to the bus stop to catch (what I thought) was the last bus at 8:00. I panicked a little when I realized I misread the sign and there was no 8:00 bus, but fortunately, there was an 8:15 bus, so I could meet Casey at the station at 10:00 (the way back was much shorter for some reason). What a great time! I could have easily spent two days there, especially with the indoor water park that I didn`t go in at all.

That night, we did some late night souvenir shopping, but it wasn`t what I`d hoped for. Seoul is famous for it`s super cheap (though very expensive in other countries) high-end brands. I was hoping to cheaply replace some of my worn out winter clothes and buy some traditional crafts for next year`s Christmas presents for family and friends, but we were far from the good clothing stores and the traditional ones closed at traditional hours. So I settled for a new pair of velvet gloves with foe fur (only $2.00) and a few trinkets for friends.

The shop owner asked me where I was from, and with Casey translating/his broken English skills, I told him America, and he seemed rather pleased. Curious, I added that my father was stationed in Korea for awhile as part of the Air Force reserves, and he seemed even more pleased. “Thanks for protecting us from those rotten Northerners” seemed to be the general direction of his thoughts, which is what I usually get from Koreans when I tell them about my dad`s service time. There appears to be a generally positive attitude toward American troops among Koreans, and I saw a lot of Koreans in American military uniform randomly walking around, or maybe their uniform simply resembles ours. But then I told him I was living in Japan. He was quiet for a moment, then started grumbling. The only word I understood was “bad.” Casey got us out of there pretty quick.

“Most Koreans, especially older folks, really hate the Japanese,” she explained. “They did terrible things during the war. You know, that`s why Korea`s lost most of its cultural assets, even its cultural identity. You want to see authentic Korean culture, you`ve got to go out in the country.” I think I`ve talked in the past about how nonchalant Japan is about their war crimes. There`s a group of old Korean “comfort women” (sex slaves) who protest in front of the Japanese Imperial palace every Saturday and still haven’t gotten their basic citizenship rights (remember, no one can become a Japanese citizen unless they are Japanese by ethnicity or married to an ethnic Japanese), let alone an apology. I`ve speculated in the past that if Japan had paid war reparations to China and Korea after the war, neither China nor North Korea would have become communist. But that`s not entirely fair either. Japan was in no condition at the time to pay reparations to restore Asia the way America did with Europe. Though it wouldn’t hurt them to apologize and try to improve relations now. They are the richest country in Asia. They still maintain a superiority complex. When I told my co-workers I was going to Korea, the first thing they said was to expect lots of dirt, to be careful of the meat because they eat all kinds of strange things like dog (they don`t) and not to drink the water. Kind of sounds like what we tell people before going to Mexico, as if it and everyone living there had the plague or something. (Of course it`s important not to drink the water, but if that`s the first thing that pops in our head and out of our mouth when we think of a foreign country, we probably need to change our attitude.)

That brings me to my next point. Prejudice in Asia. I often hear Americans say that America is the most prejudice, bigoted country in the world. Most of them have never left America. Prejudice is a world-wide disease, my friends. Because America likes to group people by race rather than country (probably because we`re an immigrant nation, but that`s no excuse), we consider prejudice to be based on race. By that narrow definition, yes, you could say that no prejudice exists in Asia. I have never seen anyone talked bad about on account that they were white or black or any other race. Even Casey, who is African American, said that she never experienced any negative treatment on account of her skin color, though she does get stared at a lot. If anything, Asians show favoritism toward the Caucasian appearance. Besides all the skin whitener sold in stores, I was appalled at the number of advertisements I saw for plastic surgery, mostly for eyes, nose, breasts, and backside. A girl could go in and get a whole new body for a few hundred dollars. Korea is “famous” (or infamous) for having the cheapest and highest quality plastic surgery in the world. Apparently it`s a very common graduation present, and girls from all over Asia come to get it done. That would explain the number of girls I see with big eyes. They look a little too big, as if they weren’t designed for their faces. People are so blasé about it too. Anyone I ask about it here says, “Why not? It`s your body. You can do what you want with it.” I think it`s horrible. Not only does it imply some kind of ethnic superiority, but is the girl satisfied when she gets her “new face?” Usually not. Insecurity adds to insecurity. What about natural beauty? Apparently it`s not good enough anymore. People prefer a “fake” or “manufactured” look to the real, genuine thing. Most importantly, it shows an over-obsession with appearance. People should spend more time molding their inside than their outside. You`ll just loose your looks in twenty years anyway. Any parent who pays for their daughter to get plastic surgery is basically saying, “sorry honey, you ain`t good enough. And don`t expect to make it on character or brains, either.”

This is very telling. I would argue that Asians, when they hate, tend to hate other Asians. On a basis of country, not race. They don`t really harbor the same kind of hate toward other races because they fall in the completely “outsider” or “other” category that is in this and many other cases considered inscrutable. Not that they don`t pass judgment on non-Asians in small things, but as a whole, they seem unwilling to judge a race of people different from their own. In this, yes, they have risen far above some styles of Western prejudice. But hate is still hate, and to say it simply doesn`t exist because it`s not directed at you is a rather narrow, selfish view.

Of course, I`ve just oversimplified things myself by using the term “Asians” as if such prejudice applied to all of them. Of course it`s a country by country issue. Nor do I mean to imply in the least that all Chinese hate Japanese or all Japanese look down on Pilipinas and Koreans either. Most seem to go through their lives with a peaceful “live and let live” attitude. It`s also not nearly as violent as you see in other parts of the world with lynching and such. That hardly ever happens. But you often find riots in China against Japan, or North Korea “accidentally” sinking one of Japan`s ships, or the Japanese press giving some rather strong threats for a nation without a military. Hatred in Eastern Asia is characterized by a kind of subtlety that simmers and randomly explodes. Like what just happened between North and South Korea.

Exactly two hours after I landed back in Nagoya, North Korea dropped bombs on a civilian island in South Korea. If there are any two countries in East Asia that hate each other with a killing passion, it`s those two. This was the first attack on civilians since the “end” of the Korean war, which technically never ended, because South Korea never signed the cease fire. I don`t have the time or knowledge to go into that situation fully, but suffice it to say it`s been all over the news in every Asian country, each of them scrambling to figure out what to do if “the big one” came. (As if Japan could do anything. All their prancing and posing is rather humorous for the standpoint that they have no military.) But it appears as if things will settle again to a simmering almost boil. The heir apparent of the North`s dictatorship is just showing off before he takes over for Daddy, I think. They`d have to be brainless to pick a war against the world`s superpowers, since both the U.S. and U.N. side with South Korea. If they`re looking for help from China, they won`t find it. China relies too heavily on South Korea for it`s economy, which is too unstable world-wide right now for China to betray any benefactors so quickly. They might as well go Imperial style and fall on the same sword that they used for the backstabbing.

Such is the state of East Asian politics according to L. J. Popp. How they really are might be a totally different story.

I was planning on going to the zoo or orchid garden in Nagaya when I got back, but I was so exhausted (from not going to bed until 1:00am and getting up at 4:00am to catch my 9:30 flight), that I just went home and crashed at 6:00 and woke super early the next morning to unpack and be ready for work. All in all I think it was a good trip, but two and a half days wasn`t enough! Seven days, like China, would have been ideal. I needed two days for the palaces, two days for Everland, one days for all the folk village and mountain, one day for church and the stuff in that area, and one day for shopping and just walking around, getting to know the city. By the time I was comfortable, starting to figure things out, and really enjoying myself, I had to leave! Oh, well. Next time!