Category: Hiking & Travel

Caveat: in praise of pedestrianism

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea

Yesterday, I took the bus out to see my new town for the first time.  The little town of Hongnong-eup (-eup just means "town"), in Yeonggwang-gun (-gun means "county"), on the northwest corner of Jeollanam-do (-do means "province").  I was intending to meet with my fellow "foreign teacher" who is working at the same school that I will be;  however, she ended up having a last minute errand to run, so I was left on my own at the bus station of Hongnong.  I walked the length of the town in about 10 minutes.  And then I was back at the bus station, with nothing to do.

So… I did what I always seem to do, when at a loss as to what to do.  I took a long, long walk.   I think I walked about 10 km.  I walked south of Hongnong, through the rice fields, and ended up at a place called "백제불교문화최초도래지" which roughly translates as "Baekje Buddhist culture first arrival place" – it is the spot in the Korean peninsula where Buddhism first "arrived," probably in the 500's or early 600's CE.

The location has the feel of something like a cross between a national monument and a Buddhist theme park, with flower gardens, trails over and around the mountain, lots of statues, chanting from speakers mounted on lamp-posts, gift shops, temples, etc.   It was, in any event, very interesting.  I had forgotten to take my good camera with me, but I snapped a few photos with my old cellphone (which I carry around for it's pretty-good electronic dictionary function).  I'm having some trouble downloading those photos, now, but when I do, I'll add them here.

I then walked into the town of 법성 (beopseong), an industrious-seeming little fishing port on the inlet in the coast, there (geomorphically, a "ria," or submerged river valley, I believe).   I saw at least ten thousand stores selling "gulbi" which is the local species of croaker fish, very popular to sell to the tourists, apparently.

By this time, it was getting toward 7 PM, so I decided to just come back to Gwangju, since I'm not so into wandering around randomly once the sun sets.   I found the Beopseong bus terminal and got on the next Gwanju bus, and I felt very efficient and knowledgeable when I was able to walk out of the bus terminal and immediately climb onto the correct bus number (1187) that would take me back to the east side of the city to the mountain where my hotel is located.  I got back by 9:30 or so, I think.

I really love just walking around places.  You get such an "honest" feel for how the place is.  You see all of its aspects.  You don't truly know a town, until you've walked down each of its connecting roads at least as far as the next town.   When living in big cities, I often wander for long stretches on public transportation.  But in rural areas, such as will be my new home, the best thing is to wander on foot.

I plan to do a lot of that, over the coming year.  I'm off to a great start.

Caveat: Orientation is disorienting

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

I am participating in a rather in-depth, week-long orientation and training program related to my new job. This is very disorienting – because I never had so much as an hour of orientation or training at any of my three previous jobs in Korea.

Some of the “cultural content” it is a bit redundant or boring, for someone who’s already been here a few years. But other bits are amazingly useful, and I find myself thinking, “gee, it would have been nice to have known that, say, 3 years ago.”

Overall, I think this will be good. Plus, the hotel where this is taking place is the poshest place I’ve stayed at in a long time – possibly since I had the Oracle 8i/9i certification at that resort in Pennsylvania in 2004.

Here’s a picture from my hotel balcony, looking west-southwest over Gwangju, as the sun is coming up behind the mountain behind me.

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Caveat: Zen pep rally of robots; Confucian riot of saints

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

I like to invent little metaphors that sound like good names for rock bands.

Yesterday, walking around Gwangju, I ran across some monuments to the Gwangju democracy movement of 1980. Although the movement failed against the dictatorship of that time, it was a significant turning point in the evolution of South Korean politics.

I began to reflect on South Korea’s “protest culture.” A lot of people view this as a sort of political immaturity (even, or especially, South Koreans themselves), but I have a rather different take on it. Firstly, this “protest culture” is as innate and important to modern South Korean democracy as, say, a town hall meeting is to New England democracy. Secondly, however, I think the fact that people in this country feel free to begin a rally or protest at the drop of a hat actually makes South Korean politics a bit more genuinely responsive and, well, “democratic” than a superficial systemic analysis might suggest.  So rather than seeing it as a blemish on the South Korean polity, I see the protest culture as a sort of enhancement, if an imperfect one.

But it seems odd, doesn’t it, that a country still so steeped in Confucian culture and values would adopt protests and riots as a (more or less) legitimate means of political expression?  Thus I stumbled on the idea of a “Confucian riot.” Which sounds cool, and is maybe less oxymoronic than you’d think. And I was contrasting the idea, in my mind, with Japan. Japan doesn’t have the same kind of protest culture as South Korea – not at all. Perhaps, lacking a recent historical experience with in-your-face dictatorship (i.e. at least not since WWII, and arguably even before that), Japan never developed the need.  Japan is a more consensual polity, whether truly democratic or not. More like a “pep rally” than a riot.  And so I stumbled on the contrasting idea of a “zen pep rally.”

I’m just thinking about these things. This is not a polished thesis or even intended to be a well-structured argument. More like a suggestion for two contrasting metaphors for two intimately related but profoundly distinct societies.

Here is a picture of a monument to the “518” movement (the Gwangju uprising of 1980), in front of the central high school. And some other monuments I noticed, not far away.

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Caveat: 이가방이 무거워요…

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / 한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean)

I have arrived in Gwangju.
Everyone knows I struggle with memorizing vocabulary.  “Heavy” is a word that I’ve looked up the Korean equivalent for at least 15 or 20 times, and it never has managed to stick with me.  But, as of today, I think I can confidently say I’ve got it well and truly stuck in my brain, finally.
Context is everything, in language learning.  I have some very heavy luggage, today, as I tote my most important worldly possessions down to Gwangju.  Hefting the bag into the taxi, and again, getting help from the assistant at the bus terminal, I had occasion to hear and use “무거워요” (mu-geo-weo-yo = it’s heavy).  And now I know that I know that word.
Travel costs are so reasonable, in Korea, after having been in Japan.  The bus ticket, express “special” (우등) from Suwon to Gwangju was only 21,000 won.  That’s less that 20 bucks, to take me basically across the whole country, north to south.  Admittedly, that “across-the-country” bus trip was exactly 3 hours and 5 minutes long.  Once out of metro Seoul, the expressways are wide, well-engineered and convenient.
I don’t remember when I was last in Gwangju.  I do know I haven’t ever spent much time here – it’s Korea’s 4th or 5th largest metropolis (depending on whom you ask), but possibly it’s the country’s least “international” of the major cities.  Regardless, it’s an important city for the history of modern democratic South Korea, and it’s pretty successful, as cities go, from what I’ve read.
I’m going to look around a bit.  More later.

Caveat: “주둥이 함부로 놀리지 마라”

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea

“Don’t move your muzzle randomly” – this is what my friend Seung-bae said, as we stood in front of a Buddhist temple, discussing the issue of hypocrisy and religion. We had driven up the first part of a mountain called 광교산, past the Suwon reservoir, and at the end of the road near the base of the actual mountain, there was a temple, as is typical.

When he said this, he wasn’t criticizing me – he was teaching me an aphorism, which he is very good at.

Here’s a picture of the temple.
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Here’s a picture of the view out over Suwon, as it got dark.
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Here, we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall for makkoli (rice beer) and egg/vegetable pancakes with some radish kimchi on the side.
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Here’s a picture of a truly bogus chicken joint.
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Caveat: 6 hours, door to door

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel

From my guesthouse in Fukuoka to my guesthouse in Suwon, it took almost exactly 6 hours – of which only an hour and 15 minutes were in the air.  I didn't have to pick coming back to the same guesthouse in Suwon, but I left a bunch of luggage here, and it's familiar. 

I took the subway from the guesthouse in Fukuoka, near Nakasukawabata station, to the airport.  I checked in, and waited around a lot.  I flew.  I landed in Seoul at 10:15, but by the time I got out front at the airport, it was just past 10:40, and the last direct airport bus for Suwon had left.  Minor argh.

Rather than spend an exhorbitant amount on a taxi, I got a little bit clever:  I took a bus #6020 which took me to Gyo-dae-yeok (University of Education Station), and from there I waited for the midnight (last run) of the #3000 bus that dropped me on my doorstep here in Suwon.  It was much more reasonable in price, but a bit lengthy in ride-time.

Well, I'm here now.  I'll post more tomorrow.  It's very late, and I'm waiting for my friend to check me in…

Caveat: Where to stay in Kyushu

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

I feel like I got pretty lucky with my lodging in Kyushu, in the three places where I found good guesthouses: Kagoshima, Fukuoka, and Nagasaki.

The place to stay in Kagoshima is called Nakazono Ryokan. The place to stay in Nagasaki is called Fujiwara Ryokan – that place is awesome.

But the least expensive place I stayed was also the most convenient. In Fukuoka I stayed at Kaine Guesthouse. For 2500 yen a night (that’s 25~30 bucks, but that’s a steal by Japanese standards) I could sleep in a dorm with a futon fairly comfortably (except for the night there was the loud snoring guy). Very centrally located, I walked most anywhere I needed or wanted to go, but the subway can take you to the airport, trainstation, or Korean consulate easily.

The most important thing – the people are very friendly, and helpful. They were like a little support group as I agonized over not getting my visa number for so long.

Here’s a picture of me with staff member Mizue.

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And here’s a picture out front, with two other guys who worked there.

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Caveat: Old Temples and Blossoming Trees

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

I walked around a lot on Sunday, and took some pictures. Yesterday, it was raining pretty steadily, so I didn’t take as many pictures, and I didn’t walk around as much. Here are a few random pictures from Sunday; I found a temple called Sofukuji in the Northeastern part of the city, and some of the alleyways around it were very interesting too. The last picture is from west of downtown, near the old Fukuoka castle.

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Caveat: The Fukuoka Visa Run

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel

So here, for posterity, I will record my own, personal experience of the slightly infamous Fukuoka "visa run."  There are plenty of online references to this type of experience, as it is nearly universal among Westerners trying to work out long-term livelihoods in Korea to have to make a "visa run" to Japan at some point or another.  I have googled and utilized bits of information from various summaries of other people's experiences over the last several weeks.

My own "visa run" experience was nearly unique, in one respect:  I opted to wait for my authorization number while in Japan, rather than in Korea.  This was an issue of timing – it just so happened that my tourist visa in Korea ran out just as I submitted my application.  Since I didn't see the logic in coming to Japan to "reset" my tourist visa, and then return to Korea only to have to go back to Japan 2 weeks later to get the E2 visa, I decided to just wait in Japan.  This was not a big deal.

My angst and suffering during the waiting period (which is well documented in previous posts) was rooted in my own insecurities, and not in the fact that the waiting was taking place in Japan rather than in Korea (or elsewhere, for that matter).  And now, I feel that I have a sort of "home base" in Japan – I feel very comfortable in the city of Fukuoka;  I know where things are, I know how to get around, etc.  In retrospect, however, I must admit that it would have cost me less to make a "double trip" to Fukuoka, rather than sit in Japan waiting.  The cost of everything in Japan is quite high, compared to Korea:   food, lodging, transportation, etc.

So starting Friday, I had a more typical "visa run" experience.  I got my authorization number via email early Saturday morning.  This morning (Monday), I went to the Korean consulate.  The Korean consulate in Fukuoka is extremely easy to get to:  about a 5 minute walk north of the Toojinmachi subway station (which is on the same "Orange Line" that stops at the airport and at the main Hakata Railroad Station where the shinkansen stop).   I have been using my "SUICA" card to ride the Fukuoka subway, which is the stored-value e-money card that I'd bought in Tokyo last September.  But I think the ride from downtown (Tenjin) runs about 200 yen.  The consulate is basically "across the street" from the Yahoo! Dome (a sports stadium) and the Hawks Town Mall – so if you follow the horizon to those landmarks, you can't get lost.    

Unlike what I'd been told by my recruiter, I did not need copies of my passport, I did not need sealed original university transcripts, I did not need copies of my criminal background check, I did not need copies of anything at all.   The magic authorization number was really all they needed.  That, and a single passport-size photo, and, of course, I surrendered my passport.  I filled out a mini application but that seemed almost a mere formality.

The one piece of information that I did not have that they asked for was a name, address and phone number of my new employer – but, because the woman behind the counter was kind and efficient, she was actually able to retrieve that online using my authorization number, too.  Still, for those using this summary as a reference, I recommend you have that information handy. 

Certainly just because I didn't need any of that additional paperwork doesn't imply that one should show up at the consulate unprepared.  Jared's number one bureaucracy rule:  always carry lots of copies of everything.  I had brought along a copy of my contract and a photocopy of my old Korean "alien card," too – but I noticed the woman behind the counter pulled that information off her computer and filled it into an "office use only" blank on my mini-application.  Unlike what I read in all the various online accounts of the "visa run," I didn't hold any kind of "blue authorization form" from Korean immigration.  So don't worry, I guess, if you don't have that document – just make sure you have an authorization number that they can put into their computer.

Oh, and, of course, I paid a 4500 yen fee.  It must be in Japanese currency – won or dollars are not acceptable.  I'd been worrying that maybe, like in the US, there would be some problem with paying in cash (in the US, many agencies, including consulates of foreign countries, rarely accept cash, and require check or money order).  But paying in cash was fine.

As mentioned, the woman behind the counter was extremely courteous, efficient, and kind.  I can't say the same for the guard at the front gate – he was a bitter gate-gnome with a grudge against everyone (he was unkind to the people in front of me in the little line that developed, too).   I wondered if he might ask me the airborne velocity of an African swallow.  But once past that hurdle, it all went quite smoothly.

Tomorrow morning, I will pick my passport with it's shiny new E2 visa stuck into it, and then I can return to Korea.  I'll have to go to the airport and rearrange my return ticket, but that shouldn't be a problem (although there might be a fee involved).  By the end of the week, I'll be in my new job.  I'm excited, and nervous.

Caveat: きつねうどん

Banalities & Journaling / Food & Drink / Hiking & Travel

I had kitsune udon for dinner last night and it was incredibly delicious.  It’s a type of udon (thick wheat noodles) served with broth and fried tofu (called 油揚げ=aburaage).  I think I must have had it a long time ago, but I didn’t remember what it was.  Now I think I will have to remember it and try making it sometime, or some creative derivative.
I keep flirting with vegetarianism, as many people know.  And the last few months, especially, I’ve been feeling really negative about meat, except perhaps seafood.  I’m not sure what’s driving it.  Partly, it’s health – I really think eating a lot of meat must be unhealthy.  The last few times I’ve had beef or pork, I’ve had an upset stomach for days afterward.
Also, there are all the articles I’ve read explaining that consuming meat (especially beef) has a carbon footprint as large as, if not larger than, driving cars, for example (under an average American’s diet, anyway).
Finally, I just seem to find a well-cooked and balanced vegetarian meal quite delicious.  So maybe it’s just a matter of personal aesthetics.
I’m unlikely to take the leap to a full-blown vegetarian commitment, as it’s not really my character.  I almost always eat what people suggest or put in front of me when I’m dining with others, both out of cultural deference and because I like trying new things.  But I will continue to explore vegetarian and vegan cuisine when given the option.

Caveat: Mechanical Grace

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

I spent at least an hour yesterday watching a backhoe operator on a barge in the river.  He was dredging sand off the bottom of the river, and putting into a floating receptacle of some kind.   The backhoe was sitting on a floating platform, a simple barge, that also had a little hut and some anchoring devices of some kind that would sink down into the bed of the river.

It was interesting to me because he was operating the backhoe so gracefully. He would use the shovel end of the backhoe to push his barge around in the water, pushing off of another barge, off the side embankment of the river, and mostly pushing around on the bottom of the river. It was like watching a child navigating an inflatable swimming-pool-toy in a shallow pool.  Or maybe like watching a guy operating one of those gondolas in Venice. But it was all scaled up to involve this large machinery.

I wish I had had my video camera with me, to capture the movements, but here’s a picture of the machine, as he uses the shovel to push his barge backwards.

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Caveat: Best Crow Ever

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

I climbed up the ACROS building’s rooftop gardens, today. Here is a crow that lives near there.

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Still, I’ve heard nothing from my new job (which is to say, I’m still waiting for my visa).  Sigh.  I’m so bad at waiting. I’m not even enjoying this vacation. Vacations are only fun, when you’re escaping from something, perhaps. I’ve nothing to escape from, only something to wait for. So… no fun.

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Caveat: The Mall Builders

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life is a Dream / My Photos / Philosophy & Cultural Criticism

Fukuoka feels like a big city, after southern Kyushu, but it’s still pretty compact. It’s not like Seoul or Tokyo, and I walked around a major portion of the “downtown” yesterday, mostly the Tenjin and Hakata areas.

I ended up in a big, futuristic mall called Canal City. I’ll add a picture later. Funny how malls everywhere are the same. I always remember when I ended up in a mall in Temuco, Chile, and I was wandering around, thinking, “Wow, this is a mall in Temuco, Chile, but it feels just like any other mall.”

I once had a brainstorm about the nature of our global civilization – what characteristics of our cities and cultures would be most salient to an anthropologist in the far future, or from a different planet? And I decided that those hypothetical anthropologists would realize one of the unifying elements was the existence of malls.

That means their name for us would be: “The Mall Builders.” Which is a name that sounds suitably ominous and monumental for a global civilization reduced to dust by the ravages of time.

[Canal City Mall, Fukuoka]

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Caveat: Under some volcano

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

Here are some pictures from yesterday’s long walk, in no particular order.

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This is a long road, and the observation center that I was headed for.

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This is some flowers along the road.

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This is my shadow – a self-portrait.

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This is a blossoming tree in an industrial lot.

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This is a Mitsubishi van that had some plants growing inside of it.

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This is some re-bar that I saw, looking very sculpturesque.

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These are some boats at low tide.

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This is a cat in an alleyway in Kagoshima.

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Caveat: Walking / Cars and Convenience Stores

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel

Yesterday, I took the ferry back over to the volcano island (Sakurajima) and ended up taking a rather spontaneous extremely long walk.  It was about 17 km.  I went up to a place that`s like an observatory, about halfway up the side of the volcano, and back down.  It wasn`t really a "trail hike," since it was mostly alongside the highway going up there and a different highway coming back down.  And some of the landscape, being a recently erupting volcano, was a bit desolate, although not devoid of nature, for all that.  I took some pictures, which I`ll try to add later.

I really like long walks like that.  I should do them more often.  Not really hiking… just walking.  I always feel like some pilgrim, or an ancient tribal person making some kind of initiation journey.  I watch the small changes in landscape, and observe how our civilization organizes itself around cars and convenience stores.  Yes, even Japan`s version of our civilization is organized around cars and convenience stores.  At least in largely rural areas. 

Caveat: Being Still

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

I feel guilty not traveling around, not being a tourist.

But I have been telling myself, since I only have a few days left before my alleged visa appears and I become suddenly overwhelmingly employed in my new job in Korea, I should just relax. So today, I decided to just simply stop moving, and exist. I’ve found a ryokan that is relatively comfortable and convenient, and if not the cheapest it’s at least reasonable (well, by Japanese standards). And I like Kagoshima OK… it’s something different than Fukuoka.

I read for a while. I studied my Korean, and also put in about an hour trying re-memorize my forgotten kana. I experimented with copying the “Korean-written-in-kana” from my Korean-Japanese phrasebook. That was entertaining, and served two purposes. I drank coffee in a coffee joint in the Tenmonkan (Kagoshima`s downtown area). I ate cup ramen for dinner.

Here’s a picture of my the little alleyway where my ryokan is. And another picture I took during a long walk today (about 6 km?).

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One final note, quoted verbatim from a sign I saw just now:

Keep out of new flu. Please, wipe your hands on an alcoholic towel.

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Caveat: The Japanese Aesthetic

Hiking & Travel / My Photos

I confess that I love the Japanese aesthetic. It’s my favorite design philosophy, in architecture, in the way gardens and spaces are arranged, in the visual impact of two-dimensional images. I spent part of yesterday taking way too many pictures. I don’t normally take a lot of pictures, but I kept trying to capture “postcard” images. I’m not sure how I did, but some of the pictures below seem like I did not-too-badly.
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Caveat: Kagoshima

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life is a Dream

I arrived in Kagoshima, checked into the guesthouse I`d made a reservation at, and went exploring.  There`s a volcano across the bay… somewhat active.  I walked around a little bit in the town that`s on the volcano island, but decided not to try to go up it – I was feeling tired, and you`re not allowed all the way to the top in any event, for safety reasons.  I took some pictures, which I`ll post later, since I`m on a public computer at the moment. 

Last night I slept longer than I have in a long time.  I guess I was tired – I`ve been feeling like I haven`t been getting enough sleep, lately, but unlike my normal self, I haven`t been simply sleeping more.  I had a lot of dreams last night.  Some were like being in a Korean drama – I`m still watching those, I carry around downloaded copies on my computer that I can watch in the evening or suchlike.  And the dream I woke up from was really strange…

I had several children, with me, and I was traveling in Japan.  The traveling in Japan part makes sense, of course, but why were these children with me?  Everything was perfectly natural, in the dream.  I had the kids with me for some logical reason – were they my kids?   There were 2 or 3 kids, in the dream.   The youngest was maybe 4, the oldest was 9 or 10.  I suppose this is an outcome of being an elementary teacher?  The last scene, before waking up, was where we were trying to get on board a bus to somewhere, and the youngest child had lost her hat, not paying attention, and we were going to miss the bus.  She was crying.  I efficiently chased after and scooped up the hat, and attached it to her head, picked her up carefully and jumped onto the bus with the others following.  It was a happy scene in the dream, not scary or unpleasant at all.  It was a kind of aimless domesticity, floating across my current landscape.  But weirdly vivid, the way dreams sometimes are.

Caveat: Sakurajima

Hiking & Travel / My Photos

Here are some pictures from my wandering around yesterday, to the volcano (Sakurajima) and around Kagoshima.

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The following is a “play volcano” that I saw in a school yard only a few kilometers from the real volcano. Funny.

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There is a lot of fine black ash or sand on everything. Here`s some piled on the sidewalk.

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[this is a back-post, completed 2010-03-31 18:00 JST]
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Caveat: Absolute must-have information

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Language & Linguistics / My Photos

I bought a book yesterday. It’s a Japanese phrase book – for Korean speakers. I figured that would be a way to help me get around in Japan, without dropping the ball on the Korean Language thing.

pictureAnyway, it’s pretty handy, and if I want to know how to say something, I have to first figure out what the Korean means before I can jump on the Japanese phrase I might need – although at least some of the vocabulary is provided with English glosses, too.

On page 75, I found the most important information. Namely, I need to know about オタク (otaku). ‘Cept… I already knew that word. Plus, if you’ll notice, the Korean is the same. Actually, the only time I’ve heard Koreans using that word is with reference to specifically Japanese cultural phenomenon.

Walking around, I saw more cherry blossoms. I guess I picked the right time to come hang out in Kyushu. Here’s a view at the intersection half a block north from the little guesthouse I’m staying at.

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Caveat: Easy Japan

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos / Philosophy & Cultural Criticism / 한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean)

I won’t say that I like Japan more than Korea. But in a lot of ways, I find Japan easier to like than Korea. I spent a long time yesterday trying to figure out why that is. It might be something as simple as the fact that the Japanese character includes a level of cultural self-confidence that is comforting after constantly coping with the myriad minor insecurities embedded in contemporary South Korean cultural discourse: the petty nationalisms, the linguistic deference … these things are mostly absent in my interactions with random Japanese and in my observations of cultural output, here.

Maybe if I spent more time in Japan, these perceptions would become more nuanced. But superficial impressions count for a lot. Still, there remain many reasons why I’m sticking with Korea, despite my fascination with (and liking for) Japan.

A picture.

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Caveat: Public Art

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

I love public art. Probably, that’s one reason I like walking around Ilsan. And Fukuoka was interesting, this morning, too. Here are some pictures of public art (and/or interesting architecture).

Walking around Ilsan, near Baekma area:

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Here is something tucked next to a building walking out the east end of the mall called “WesternDom” in Ilsan, on the way to Madu Station:

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Here is a picture I took this morning, here in Fukuoka, Japan. It’s a digital clock that changes to show the time. But the pixels are made of little fountain spouts. So it’s an altogether new take on the “water clock” idea:

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Here is a weird frog-creature-arch-thing in the Tenjin area (downtown) of Fukuoka:

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Here is the somewhat famous ACROS cultural center in Fukuoka, with its rooftop gardens:

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For contrast, some blossoming cherry trees along the river:

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Lastly, some palm trees in the median of a major street near Hakata Station:

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Caveat: Japanese? No hablo…

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Language & Linguistics

Somehow, since I was here last September, I forgot what little Japanese I used to know.  I think it's part of having been so deeply immersed in learning Korean over the last several months.   So in that sense, it's a good sign.  But it's frustrating to be in Japan and functioning at an even lower level than I was 6 months ago.

Ah well.  Win some, lose some.  I'll go exploring in Fukuoka again tomorrow.

More later.

Caveat: (re-)making history

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

Korea has a lot of history. And contemporary Korea loves exploring, studying and re-enacting their history. Just take a look at the sorts of dramas popular on TV, for example – there’re always several historical dramas running. Those aren’t the sort I enjoy, mostly because the language is stilted and harder to understand (which makes sense, since they’re trying to capture the more formal Korean of centuries past). Also, I don’t always think those sorts of dramas are particularly faithful to the historical “facts.” But anyway…

Yesterday I went with some of my Suwon friends to see some re-enactors at the Hwaseong palace. These were guys with swords and pikes and other things, doing martial arts displays of various kinds. Half choreography, half hapkido / geondo (= japanese kendo), etc. Here are some pictures.

In the first two, the guy was using a big pikelike-thing to hack up some bundles of straw. The last picture is me with some re-enactors, along with two kids I’ve gotten to know, who are the Chinese tea-maker’s children: a brother and sister named Dong-jun and Dong-hui (it’s very common for siblings to share a syllable that way, in their name).

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Caveat: Pop Architecture

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

Modern Korean pop architecture is fun to look at sometimes. I think any country where there is a strong capitalist, advertising-driven culture, you will find architecture that is kitschy, often tasteless, over-the-top, etc. Some of the more interesting buildings tend to be the ubiquitous “wedding halls” as well as churches. Here are some pictures I’ve taken recently.

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Caveat: Have you ever peed in a soccer ball?

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

I know that’s a strange title to a blog post, but I couldn’t resist.   I was taking a long walk the other day, and saw Suwon’s “World Cup Stadium” out on the east side of town.   There’s a park around the stadium, and in the park, there are soccer-ball-themed public restrooms.  I just had to make use of the facilities, just to be able to say I’d done it.

Here are pictures – you can see the boy-girl icon on the giant soccer ball, that tells you there are public restrooms inside.
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Here’s a view of the stadium from a pedestrian overpass.
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Below is a picture of the northeast gate of the Suwon city walls – where they’ve punched a hole under the wall for (or reconstructed it over) a major street.

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Caveat: 금산사…

Banalities & Journaling / Buddhism & Zen / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

I went on a “templestay” tour to Geumsansa over the weekend.  Here are some pictures.
Here is the main entrance to the provincial park that hosts the temple, down by the parking lot:
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This is a turtle statue near the entrance to the temple complex:
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Here is a view of the main stupa (left, over a 1000 years old, though repeatedly rebuilt) and big old main temple (right, 400 years old, currently being restored due to arson by some right-wing Christian group):
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Architectural detail on the structure housing the old drum, bell, and gong:
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A cool painting on the side of a side-building:
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The entranceway to a small temple dedicated to Chijang Boddhisattva (I think), with the statues visible inside (this is where I did my 108 prostrations, see farther down):
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A view of the main temple courtyard looking back toward the entrance building (a modern building but in the traditional style), and the gong structure off to the right:
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The ancient stupa that is the core of the temple site (i.e. the oldest part, dating in one form or another to at least the 500’s AD):
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A cool statue I saw (well-armed, indeed):
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The men’s dorm where I slept Saturday night (bathrooms are around back – this is a modern building built to look traditional, but women’s dorm out of sight to the right is quite old and traditional, with a fire-burning ondol heating system) :
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Walking from the dorm area across the stream to the side gate into the main temple courtyard:
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A waterfall that I found while wandering around a ways up the stream beyond the dorm area:
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These beads below represent my 108 bows (or prostrations) to the Chijang Boddhisattva. I really did this – it was quite tiring, and yet an old woman came into the temple, about the time I was working on bow number 50 or so, and she did 108 of her own, and finished and had left when I had gotten to my own number 70! I will keep these beads as a souvenir, because each one represents a bow that I actually did:
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This is the charismatic monk who led the templestay guests around and led us in meditation, etc. He was very friendly, positive, and interesting (despite having an incoherent interpreter):
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Caveat: Circumperambulation

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea / My Photos

My friend Peter came down from Ilsan today and we took a long walk around Suwon, which is where I’m staying for now – just be somewhere interesting and different, if not terribly well-located vis-a-vis the Seoul metropolitan area.

Suwon has old city walls around about 80% of it’s old-city perimeter, but it’s otherwise a rather stark, industrial city. Together the old fortress elements combined with its proletarian character make it seem vaguely European.

Peter and I walked a full circle along the top of the wall.  Here is a view of the weird, gothic-industrial church to be found just southeast of the old city wall.

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Here is a picture of a bird.

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Here is a picture of Buddha, perched against the mountainside in the western part of the walled-in old city.

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Caveat: It’s OK

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / Life in Korea

I was having dinner with my friend Peter out in Ilsan last night.  We went to the Hoa Binh (Vietnamese Pho seen through a Korean lens, roughly) at La Festa.  Talking about various things, I was feeling very patient with my current limbo. 

After eating I showed Peter the convenient 하이마트 (Hi-Mart) supermarket that's almost literaly across from his building, that he didn't know was there.  I used to shop there when walking back home from work, because it was right on the way and not out of the way like the other supermarkets I knew about. 

Peter and I parted ways, and I was walking to Juyeop station to take the subway back into Mapo-gu when I spontaneously decided to ride a bus instead.  I stood on the bus-stop island and waited for a bus to go by that had in its destination list a location not too far from where my guesthouse is (near Hapjeong).  I ended up hopping on a Number 72 bound for Sinchon.  Not super close, but I knew how to get from Sinchon to Hapjeong easily — it's only 2 stops away on the circle line and I've walked it before, too.

I felt very pleased and competent to be able to just get on a bus, at 9 pm on bitterly cold winter night (-13 C), in this vast, alien metropolis.  Meaning… it's not so alien to me. I know my way around.

It was a local route, and zigzagged through Ilsan, then Hwajeong, then Susaek.  It was about 50 minutes.  I listened to my mp3 player and gazed out the window.  Life is good.

Sinchon is Seoul's Greenwich Village, basically. Trendy, tons of shopping and nightclubs, a bohemian and university neighborhood.  I like walking through there, although it's so "youth oriented" that I sometimes get melancholy.

I took the circle line (green line #2) back to Hapjeong.   I'm craving tteokbokki really bad – it's great comfort food when it's cold — but I didn't see any places selling it on the walk back to the guesthouse.  Hmm, maybe tomorrow.

Caveat: Jetlag Zombie Fun

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel

Of course, it always happens.  But sometimes it's worse than others… I think it has to do with time of day at departure and arrival, as well as number of time zones, etc.  When I went back to the US, it didn't seem so bad.  It's really bad, this time.  But… at least this time, I don't have to be working or doing anything… I deliberately gave myself a wide open schedule for this return.  So basically yesterday I tried my best to stay awake and do stuff, but by 6 pm I was out.  And that meant that at 2 am, I was up.  But not really doing anything productive.  Hmm… we'll see how this goes.

I tried really hard to go back to sleep, just figuring the extra sleep couldn't hurt in trying to reset the internal clock, but I almost immediately awoke from a terrible, vivid nightmare.  I haven't had a scary dream in a long time, and this one was interesting in one respect:  I was having a car accident on a snowy road, while driving my truck.  Interesting because the dream activated some anxieties that are always there, in winter driving, but apparently they chose not to manifest until I'd safely abandoned my truck in the US and returned to Korea.  I was driving down a steep hill, like the Ramsey Street one in St Paul, maybe.  Lot's of snow and ice.  The car in front of me started spinning, and I stepped on the brakes only to realize I had zero traction, too.  I went over a cliff in my little truck.  

Anyway, that was the end of trying to sleep more.

I'm not in the mood to write.  I'm trying to get into the mode of studying my Korean again… but that's feeling desperate and difficult, at the moment.

More later.

Caveat: All that snow, just for me?

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel

Probably not.  But I have spent 3 winters in greater Seoul over my lifetime, and I've never seen it covered in beautiful snow like it is now.  I'm so glad I came back to this.  And… it's still at least marginally warmer than Minnesota, although a difficult adjustment after running the vehicle's airconditioner yesterday while driving on the 605 in LA.

Which to say, I have safely arrived in Seoul.  Uneventful flight, Korean Airlines is predictably fabulous to fly with.  I don't have a phone yet, but I'm going to look into that, today.

So, here I am!  What's next?  Uh… better start working on that job-thing, eh?

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