The One Where Kerk Did A Phenomenal Job Documenting Japan: Part 2

Where were we? Oh yes, Kyoto.

If you actually read museum signage, if the sight of a UNESCO marker makes your heart palpitate with excitement, if your travel partners mime strangulation as you recite pamphlets aloud, you should probably go to Kyoto.

Pagoda at Kiyomizu Temple. See what I mean?

Upon arrival at our hostel, Kyoto Cheapest Inn, we spotted an advertisement in the lobby for something named 'Chicago' and immediately set out to locate it!

Chicago! A funky thrift store the entire top floor of which was packed with used kimonos

Mans ended up buying a gorgeous cream-colored one.

Kyoto is probably most well known for the continuing geisha culture, but I don't think we saw any real geisha-- I get the feeling they don't hang around at tourist attractions. However, there were lots of people, both male and female, who were dressed in traditional clothing which contributed to the whole historic atmosphere.

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong.


But in case you begin to feel overwhelmed by Japan, there are always some familiar faces to ground you--

Drink something other than Boss coffee and you'll have to answer to Tommy Lee Jones.

Do you think Leo has any idea that he's advertising tires in Japan?


There are a mind blowing number of temples in Kyoto and we were worried about burning out (yes, my life in Asia is so rough. What, ANOTHER gorgeous, awe-inspiring, historically significant place? Didn't we just see one?) So we checked out Kiyomizu on Dani and Peter's recommendation.

 

Zenning out

'Holy Buddha Zen water' as it came to be known for the rest of the trip

The temple graveyard

Kyoto through the temple buildings

Caught in a rain shower on our way back down

Dinner our first night proved my father right once again-- no fancy, schmancy restaurant can compete with a family run hole-in-wall place. Tempura shitake mushrooms and eggplant...

...and kasu jiru, or sake lees soup with salmon. You may know that I fancy myself to be a bit of a soup connoisseur (I love soup. Also, jello and cottage cheese. I should hurry up and be 80 already). And I will say this one now ranks near the top-- we ordered several bowls, much to our server's amusement.


The next day we decided to truly assimilate and rented bikes from the hostel.

'Path of Philosophy,' where monks and scholars used to travel between the temples whilst thinking deep, mystical thoughts. I'm guessing really, I suppose they could have been thinking about lunch.

Ginkakuji Temple, otherwise known as Hagashiyama Jishoji, otherwise known as the Silver Pavilion. There's a Gold Pavilion on the other side of town, I was afraid to ask how many names it has. 

This temple is credited with the birth of Higashiyama (the beginnings of modern Japanese lifestyle) and you can see zen and modern cultures blending here- like how the sand pillar represents Mt. Fuji. Plus there's a phoenix on the roof.

After a lunch of real ramen, (which made me want to put freeze-dried ramen in a time-out to think about what it's done, holy crap I love soup!!) we hoofed it into what can only be described as the 'burbs of Kyoto, looking for Eiga-mura. Our map said several Japanese movies were filmed at this spot and we pictured a gorgeous background setting.

But...but this is Japan. Okay, fine. I can accept that not everything in Japan is picturesque but that does NOT mean I have to like it! We got distracted from pouting a few minutes later when we ran into one of our neighbors from Busan, "Is? Is that Ben? Wait, we're not in Korea right now. No, that's totally Ben!"

Kyoto was my favorite part of Japan, hands down. I should have predicted that, as I enjoy being battered about by history until I can't see straight. We said a fond farewell to the city and caught the bullet train to Tokyo for the last leg of our Japanese journey.

To be continued. Again.

The One Where Kerk Did A Phenomenal Job Documenting Japan

Every time I meet someone new in Korea, they usually ask if I speak any Korean; until recently, I always answered with a sheepish, "No...sorry." But then something happened that made me realize my vocabulary isn't so bad. After all, I know how to say yes/no, hello/goodbye, thank you and 'how much?' I can order water or beer, noodles or rice, beef or pork. Most importantly, I can ask where to find a bathroom. What made me suddenly appreciate how much Korean I speak? I went to Japan.

Whoa. Hey there, Japan.

Here's a strange thing I've learned about myself: when encountering an unknown language my brain defaults to any words I know in any language other than English. In Korea, I sometimes get the impulse to answer in my very poor Spanish. The same thing happened in Japan, I'd panic and blurt out Korean. During our first not-so-successful ordering attempt, Mans and I said in frustration, "I have no clue, I wish this menu was in Hangul!" "I know, then we could at least read it!" We looked at one another in surprise as we realized we'd wished for Hangul before we mentioned English. Did we really just express a longing to read Korean? Talk about a change in perspective!

We were able to take a trip because of Chuseok; often explained to Westerners as Korean Thanksgiving, people eat special food (albeit rice cakes, not turkey), visit with relatives and honor their ancestors. Since we had no family to visit, we headed to Osaka and couchsurfed with some English teachers who offered great advice about their city.

Yodo River in Osaka (yes, we kept calling it the Yoda). As I was taking this, a man on a bicycle wearing a hawaiian shirt stopped and said he was happy to spot us because never sees foreigners on the bridge. He introduced himself as Mark Fukuoka and then proceeded to tell us every bad English riddle he knows: "Whats the longest word English? Smiles- there's a mile between two S's. What's America's national flower? The CAR-nation."

We were standing next to this little shine and we had been wondering about it; Mark explained it was one of many small memorials around Japan for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I immediately felt guilty and I wasn't alone because in perfect unison Mans and I exclaimed, "Wow, I'm so sorry!" Mark looked genuinely confused, "Why?" he asked kindly. "You didn't do it, you were not born yet!" It was surprising how nice that was to hear.

Osaka is home to Tenjimbashisuji Sontengai (my spell-check hates me so much right now). It's the longest covered shopping street in the world and there we caught our first glimpses of Japanese arcade culture. Put yen into an a claw machine and you could go home with:

A LIVE puffer fish! Or...

...a Disney character who dropped acid and has reverted to cannibalism. Why, Minnie? Whyyyyyy?

Alternatively, put coins into a photo booth. Haven't you always wanted to be-

 in a banana? Wait, what the hell?

Or try your hand at Pachinko, a gambling game that appears to be slot machine meets pinball meets Aladdin's Castle (gambling for money is illegal so you win tokens exchangeable for goods). If you're not from a po'dunk town in the Midwest and don't know what Aladdin's Castle is, I feel really sorry for you.

Where does one park one's car at the world's largest covered shopping street? Trick question!

The bike culture in Japan is incredible, everyone's got one: grandmas, young moms (with a seat for the baby in front and one for the big sibling on back), businessmen in three piece suits. Major kudos to the Japanese for their efforts to combat global warming-- obesity too! We had a hard time adjusting to traveling on the left, but I came to understand why older Koreans can never seem to pick a side to walk on; in Korea, people drive and walk on the right, but during the Japanese occupation they had to do both on the left following Japan's laws. No wonder the elderly folk just plow straight down the middle.

The second day we took a day-trip to Nara by train. Nara was Japan's first capital way back in the day, it's full of temples, gardens, and places to nerd out over history. Fantastic.

Sika deer wander freely and are incredibly tame, as they've grown up being hand-fed by tourists.

The happy little Nara mascot, part Buddha, part sika deer.

Todai-ji Temple, the largest wooden structure in the world and houses an enormous bronze Buddha.

To give some perspective, the Buddha's ear is over 8 feet tall...

On our return we had trouble with the ticket machine and a Japanese man about our age helped us (we nicknamed him Kyo-- the middle name of my dear friend Ross). We ended up taking the train back with Kyo and he told us tons about Japanese history and the ever tempestuous Japan/Korea relations. He even said quietly, "Some of us are actually part Korean, we just don't talk about it." The same thing happens in Korea-- once during a conversation about a student I was told, "He's half Japanese, you know..." as if that might be an explanation for his poor performance in class.

Dontonbori, a hip downtown area in Osaka, for dinner. This was Japan from the movies, we walked up and down the street a number of times dazzled by neon.

As evening fell we wandered through side streets packed with bars that could seat around six people. We popped into one such place and that's when we met Shinhae and Mina...

We sat down next to them and when we proved willing to talk, they kept us there for hours. Their English was limited so we borrowed a marker from the bartender and wrote words and illustrations on napkins. Mina kept stroking my hair and whispered confidentially, "Extensions?" When we admitted that we had not yet tried takoyaki (octopus dumplings) Mina ran out, only to return minutes later with two heaping trays. She literally fed us, while holding a cupped hand under our chins indicating that we could spit them out if we didn't like it! Finally, we tried to head to the subway but Shinhae called a cab and they rode with us to direct the driver (even though they lived on the opposite side of the city). They refused to take any money and Shinhae shook our hands while Mina gave us huge hugs before they drove off.

The next day we awoke early to continue on our journey on to Kyoto. But that's a whole 'nother story.

To be continued...

If You Move To Asia

A friend of mine works with inner city youth and teaches them to use writing as an outlet for their frustrations. The following is a poem I wrote to help me laugh at the difficulties I often face in a country where I literally don't fit in sometimes.

If You Move to Asia

If you move to Asia

A hunchback you may be
Bend on down
Try not to frown
Especially when you clean



Brooms come to the knee
Sinks come to the thigh
Snore and more
On the floor
Where all your linens dry



Don't start me on the markets
Cart handles are so low
My back deflates
I'm not eight
Why did I have to grow?

Shoe shops are a nightmare

They never have my size

Not in feet

Not in mete

er, can you empathize?

Why are fish down there?
Why do grandmas stare?
They have long hair
I'm so bare
I don't fit in anywhere!


Their legs are in a pretzel
While they eat their food
Mine are long
And don't belong
Is standing up so rude?


I walk into the store,
They tell me "No large size"
I got fat
Just like that
Woe are Western thighs!



The cars here are so small
The subway seats tight-knit
I'm so pleased
I'm not obese
because I wouldn't fit



Am I five-foot seven?
Am I weighed in pounds?
Fahrenheit
Isn't right
And miles can't be found



WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME?
That I would become

a hunchedback
circus freak,
big-footed
Kpop geek,
floundering
everywhere,
too big for
underwear
too long-limbed
for the clothes
making me
a too-exposed-
DAUGHTER OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
LIVING IN A TIME-WARP ZONE


WHEN WILL I FEEL AT HOME?
(Must I buy a Samsung phone?)

I've been here almost a year
And now I'm setting free
The pressured thought
To find a lot of
Asian things to suit me

One Shot!

The title of this post is from a trip we took to the natural rock water slides in Meeryang, where the group organizer could hit the first rock in such a way that he could slide down all the subsequent rock slides in one shot. Everyone started yelling "one shot" whenever they wanted to encourage someone to slide the gauntlet:

I've posted over 500 pictures on Facebook since I've been in Korea, and that can be a little bit overwhelming when I want to look at a quick pictorial overview of my year here. So here it is, the beauty and dynamism of Korea in 50 pictures or less:

my shot!

Korea has technically outlawed corporal punishment in the schools, and my school is desperately trying to find new ways to deal with unruly students. One of the most common ways to punish them now deals with physical feats of strength, so here they are being forced to walk flat-footed while crouched down, pulling on their ears. After doing this for 10 minutes, I suppose I would also be deterred from wearing my uniform jacket inside out ever again.

Nowadays, it's common for me to walk down the hall and see a scene like this. These students were being punished for being late to class.

a traditional Korean meal

and a traditional Korean attempt to make Western food: here, Kelly is not too happy that they put her savory ham sandwich (which they call "sand" for short) on a blueberry bagel

A typical beach scene in August. Koreans REALLY hate the sun, which is why they're all hiding underneath these umbrellas

A traditional Korean/Asian dessert, "pot-bing-su" which is Chinese for 'ice red bean.' It's red beans (used in all their desserts here), ice, assorted fruit, and ice cream. I promise it's delicious!

Koreans LOVE nail design, and it's usually far more intricate than anything American women ever get.

You can buy books in vending machines in the subway!

Koreans are obsessed with beauty, so when I moved here I wasn't too worried about finding the face moisturizer that I use daily to protect my skin. The Korean words on the bottle sounded like "Hey-a-neese-euh" when I pronounced it, and it didn't sound English to me, so I figured it was some Korean word I didn't understand. All summer long I kept commenting to my friends that I had fewer freckles than usual, but I reasoned that perhaps the Korean sun wasn't as strong as Indiana sun. I really wish that someone had warned me that Korean women only use moisturizer that has whitening bleach in it, because that Hangeul on the bottle was actually trying to say "Why-te-neese-euh," or... WHITENESS.

Korean couples often wear matching T-shirts or socks to prove that they're together... but perhaps this is taking it a bit too far?

Korean rice cake. NOTHING like our rice cakes back home

Bakeries have been a recent fad here, and they go all out to compete with those countries that have several decades on them.

A traditional Korean market, where you can buy anything: beans, kimchi, hats, octopus, dried squid, high heels, lettuce, rice cakes, chopsticks, tupperware, etc.

Koreans don't like to carry around thick books, so it's normal to rip a book in half or into quarters, or tenths. My students often come to class with one unit ripped out of their textbook. So when an author like J.K.Rowling comes out with thick books that weigh several pounds, the publishing companies save the consumers the hassle of ripping apart their precious books and instead partition them ahead of time.

Here you can see the fourth book divided into four books

On this particular night, a bunch of us had gathered at a galbi buffet restaurant to bid our friend, Alexis, goodbye. At the next table over, we noticed some Korean guys having a birthday party for their friend. When they started singing "Happy Birthday" in English, we naturally joined in the chorus. They thought that was great, and so they proceeded to share their cake with us and take several pictures with us throughout the rest of the meal. After that, two men from another table came over and treated us to soju and beers. This kind of experience is not all that unnatural here =)

Dried squid, a favorite snack of Korean people, especially when accompanied by beer at a baseball game

Korean-style pizza. I think this one had popcorn shrimp, pineapple, honey mustard, soy sauce, sweet potato, coconut, and green peppers

A typical Korean shower/bathroom. There's no separate bathing area, just a toilet, a sink, a shower head and a drain. I actually prefer this kind of shower now, because I can easily clean my entire bathroom while cleaning myself!

Kimchi for Breakfast

When I was younger, one of my favorite books was entitled "Ice Cream for Breakfast." It told the story of a family who did everything backwards - they walked on the ceiling instead of the floor, they slept with their head at the foot of the bed (Pippi Longstocking style), and they ate ice cream for breakfast. I remember thinking how cool that family was and how I wanted to be different like them.

I of course had no capacity at age 7 to appreciate the social commentary that the author could have been making about defying the norms and challenging the status quo. Instead, the first time I moved out of my parents house I grabbed a bucket of ice cream from the dorm mini market and dug my spoon in it at 8am with a triumphant "Ha!" I might not have been nutritionally prepared to go to my 9am class, but I delighted in foregoing America's traditional breakfast options for my own interpretation of what breakfast could be.

Which was dumb. Outright stupid. What body would ever want its host to dump such crap in it first thing when it wakes up in the morning? And not just the day when I chose to eat ice cream, but all the days when I've forced cold carbohydrates or dairy into a digestive tract that hadn't woken up yet. I remember reading in my yoga journal last year that it's cruel to put anything cold into your body first thing in the morning, because the digestive tract hasn't warmed up yet and cold food makes it angry. Which makes perfect sense. My body does, after all, prefer a warm shower in the morning instead of a cold one.

I listened to my yoga journal for a month or so, preparing warm oatmeal in the morning as opposed to cold cereal. But one thing I couldn't get on board with was the suggestion that I should start eating vegetables for breakfast. I get it, I really do. When you first wake up in the morning, you need energy, and the best place to get that is from plants which produce their own energy.

But like almost every American I've ever known, we were raised to believe that you eat eggs, bacon, cereal, fruit, yogurt, toast and a whole bunch of other grains, fruits, dairy, and even dessert for the first meal of the day. So it was very difficult for me to force myself to ingest something green at such an early hour when I had been trained and conditioned to believe that you only eat green beans and broccoli for lunch or dinner.

Koreans, of course, think this is ridiculous (and rightfully so). They've been trained and conditioned to believe that the best way to start your day is not Folgers in a cup big enough to dunk your donut, but rather by ingesting something that on the previous day was receiving energy from the sun. So they eat greens, along with their staple of rice and kimchi. Energy + something to fill your stomach + something to aid your digestion first thing in the morning. It makes sense.

It also makes sense to eat the same types of food for all your meals. When did our culture begin thinking that we had to section off breakfast as this time of day when eat fewer or no vegetables? Why didn't the mantra "Momma always says, eat your vegetables" apply to the first meal of the day?

Kimchi sold in our market. Doesn't this look appetizing for breakfast?

I researched (and by that, I mean I wikipedia-ed) breakfast in different countries around the world, and it seems that vegetables are eaten for breakfast mainly in Asian countries, sometimes in African and Middle East countries. Other than that, people in Europe, Australia, and the Americas tend to eat meats, fruits and dairy. I wonder if this is in any way related to the rate of obesity? Or related to energy and productivity in the workplace? Koreans, after all, don't need caffeine in the morning in order to wake up. Coffee here consists of pouring a tube of instant coffee (coffee-looking crystals that have the flavor of coffee but not the caffeine, plus copious amounts of cream and sugar) into a tiny paper cup, mixing it with scalding hot water and taking it like a shot. They usually don't have this for breakfast, however, and instead drink it after their lunch or dinner as a dessert.



I wish I could say that all of this pondering has encouraged me to change my lifestyle and that I will pledge to eat kimchi for breakfast for the rest of my days, but in a year full of so many changes to my daily routine, perhaps maintaining a bit of comfort when I first wake up in the morning is okay.