Korea

Dammit! For a country that is only an hour away on the plane it sure took us forever to get here the other day! About 8 hours all told! It was insane! Adelaide aeroport maybe kind of rural and undeveloped by international standards but thank god it's only 15 or less minutes from the city!

In Seoul now - spent yesterday sightseeing with another woman from America that I met rather randomly who is here with someone else presenting for the conference. The weather has been very wet here but today has seemed ot cleared up somewhat - however, as it is my mum's day for her presentation at 2pm I felt that I should stick around to be some sort of presence at her workshop - just her for an hour and half - and despite the conference language being English most people are not native English speakers . . .I've had some funny exchanges with some of the Korean students who are volunteering here - nice kids - pity we can hardly communicate!

I find that in comparison to the Japanese Koreans care little for personal space - I've been bumped into a ridiculous number of times! Had lunch out yesterday and it was so spicy that I cried!!! I also asked for the tofu dish comfirming it was vego but it came with little clam things in it . . . great pickles that accompanied it though - I think I could definitely get to like it - but ohhh so hot!

The loss of langauge ability freaked me out a whole lot when I first arrived - I've finally got to a point in Japan where signs and the language are familiar and understandable, in the main. I got here and was suddenly reduced to incomprehension once more and I felt useless! I hadn't realised how empowering it feels to become competent at new skills and languages! Korean does seem a very intriguing language - similar to Japan they originally used Chinese and later one of the Emperors - in the 1400s, I think - decided that an easier script needed to be constructed for the lower classes so they could become literate without the years of study required to master Chinese characters (and damn! I know how long that takes!). At many of the palaces they still have signs and everything in Chinese - to emphasise the whole hi-browness of the nobles and royalty . . . it's really interesting - would be even more informative if I actually had some prior knowledge to it all so that I could hang the new pieces of information onto a pre-existing framework. As it is, the National Folk Museum was really interesting (packed with people though) but a little complicated and disjointed without prior knowledge.

I got over the whole language thing though once I could adopt the whole tourist mentality - equipped with maps and some money I didn't really need to be able to communicate all that much. I even got quite a number of opportunities, when buying a copy of things, to use my Japanese! That was fun and funny. I startled one lady by understanding her comments about my necklace to a Japanese girl and speaking back to them in Japanese - ha ha Japan and Korea - I win! So I did have really nice time yesterday - very touristy I suppose but fun none-the-less! Nice to feel the pressure that I should be trying to do everything in a second language . . .

It is weird that Japanese does now seem to me sound quite fluid - I wonder if it always did - It is also a great thrill to hear it in amongst the incomprehensibilty of Korean - it's amazing to me how comfortable it feels and how much I understand. Have enjoyed chatting to some of the Japanese delegates of the conference. Apparently there are about 140 here! Was considering going to some of the papers that are about Japan . . . we'll see - soon they are having a special Korean lunch thing - a massive 1000 person feeding bowl of Bibimbab . . . wonder how that will be . . .

Have met a few of the new students for this semester - two Arizonians and Alex from Wollongong . . . school starts back next week - I wonder how this term will go - I'm doing 20 points worth of classes this time and last semester 16 pts felt like too much! But I didn't want to drop anything and I thought maybe my increased language would allow me to cope . . we'll see!

Imperial Palace, Kyoto

Imperial Palace, Kyoto
Originally uploaded by Yukata Me.

Whilst I like my fancy new computer the absence of Japanese on it is really starting to peeve me!

Anyway, as I was planning to say - 'Muryou' is my favourite word! Free, baby! As was this little excursion to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto! Admittedly it was so darn hot I thought I might pass out and I found it very hard to make out the guides English (on my second trip here I decided that it wasn't just me and that she had some kind of speech impediment - now I can rest easy knowing that it's not my ear drums that have finally succumbed and split, but someone else's failing body at fault! yay!)

Some of the best things we did in Kyoto were the free things - the places that weren't the top of the tourist's priority list. Such as Kiyomizu (Pure Water temple) famous as it is, which lost something due to the swarming masses.

Whilst the old shugan's Kyoto residence, Nijo-jo, was probably more fascinating for the fact your enter and walk around in it - squeaking across the reknowned 'Nightingale' floorboards - the Imperial Palace was interesting to wander through to get a sense of the scope of the lifestyle of the elite in Japan of the past - amazing when you compare it to the clean though hovel-like one-room places you can see about (Shitamachi Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo) that are typical examples of the dwellings of the plebs.

They had all different styles of architecture there - I particularly loved the colours and design of this gate . . . like a lolly but better as you don't have to eat it!

Lantern Floating In Hiroshima, August 6th

Lantern Floating In Hiroshima August 6th
Originally uploaded by Yukata Me.

A sight that we almost missed that caused not a little amount of tension in the ranks.
This is probably only of those unearthly moments that needs to be experienced in the flesh. It was an ethereal experience and there's little that one (this one, at least) can say to adequately communicate the mood of the evening.

Far warmer than balmy, this typical Hiroshima summer night was a very calm one as people serenely wandered the streets late in to the night. It's truly hard to comprehend this city's history given its current facade. They do a good job of their commemorative events. Though one cannot hope to understand the horror of the bombing fully it seems important that such occasions give us recourse for a little reflection. The simple beauty and eloquence of the lanterns on the inky river lined by people joining so collarboratively and all-embracingly in rememberance, made you glad to be alive in the world, despite its juxtaposition with the terrible event of which it served to remind us.

It was extra special to be able to savour such an occasion with a loved one. Just another of life's reminders that we can't take anything or anyone for granted. (I'm so glad you could be here for that!)

T'was the season

My 24th
Originally uploaded by Yukata Me.

With the advant of my new super computer from the most cliched of places - Akihabara - I am now wired up to the teeth and capable of uploading photos for the first time in a long time! So here is an oldie of my birthday party.
Strange how different people cope with different situations. Birthdays were always something of a difficulty for me because so often I would look forward to them so much that they were inevitably a disappointment. I have some great memories of the parties I had as a child and my parents always went to a lot of effort. I also clearly remember the occasions when things would just end in tears.
Long ago I decided to take matters into my own hands and have organised things myself to best prevent such instances. I think that from my haphazard and wonderful 21st onwards, somehow due to a change in attitude, I always had a brilliant time.

Regardless my 24th in Japan, so far from my stalwart friends and family could have been a slightly bitter and lonely one had it not been for my great friends here . . . It's unlikely that most of them will ever read this, but regardless I'd like to say a late though heart-felt thank you to all who made my day so special. It will certainly be one that stays with me a long time.

Special thanks to Maki and Keiko for the great food; Karl for the well-executed Tanuki with excessively large balls; Jules for helping me with most everything and even wearing those bunny ears from the pass-the-parcel that we made together! Evan for endless enthusiam and girl-chasing entertainment. Ashley for Totoro who graces my room and for making such an effort when it was a pain to get home. O-san for being so competitive about Musical Chairs or the "Isu tori geimu". Everyone else who was hilarious fun.

I also can't forget my fantabulous friendlies in A-town who went to the expense and effort of ringing me on the night to chat for the first time in about 4 months. It was a joy to hear your voices again, even if you were on Gouger St without me. Oh! The hankering for some good vegies!

Tomorrow I head for Korea! Will this travelling ever cease ?
Most certainly - Next Monday I have to be back at Uni at 9am - ick!

My Pegasus - Bump of Chicken

Right on Japan! The funniest t-shirt I have seen in Japan so far . . . and what is Bump of Chicken ??????? Stay tuned for the answer in our next exciting episode . . .

It's been a long time in between substantial posts and this one won't be one either!

I'm really starting to feel the post 5 weeks of near non-stop travel, but it's nice to back 'home' in Hiroshima again for little bit.
I feel I have a different impression of the country and that my language skills and confidence have improved with extensive traversal of the country. Not that you'd know it from my linguistic attempts today - I've been rather woeful because my brain feels so luggish.

I've been to some amazing places on my travels and hope to post about them posthumously but now I suppose I should away to continue my organisational business . . .

My trip to supreme brief . . .

Kyoto with Jules
Kansai to meet the boy-o
Kyoto again
Himeji on the way back to Hiroshima for a week - A-tom bomb memorial service

Okayama with a sidetrip to Kurashiki
A tour de force train day to Kanazawa
Niigata - brilliant izayaka food and 'koala-chan'
Aomori - a bit of a hole with hoons on bikes on the main drag and a interesting taxi ride
Ferry to Hokkaido
Hakodate - melons, crabs and squid everywhere
Sapporo
Asahidake Onsen - where we climbed a mountain and stayed in super-plush accommodation and I got terrified by the prospect of meeting a bear in the forest.
Tomakomai
Overnight ferry back to Honshu

Shinkansen to Tokyo (where we spent a lot of time in Ueno, I bought a laptop in Akihabara and met up with Bonnie which was crazy fun)
Matsumoto for more castle action
Kyoto with a daytrip to Nara

Then we headed to Osaka for farewells and arrivals . . .
I lost my travel partner to the siren call of PhDness and gained a mother.

To Koyasan - a mountain town full of temples where you can stay and eat fantastic vegetarian food.
Change of plans saw us back in Kyoto early with a day for Nara again and a day and a half for Kyoto - exhausting.
Himeji Castle again and Okayama for the next night after trouble finding accommodation.
Kurashiki for famous art museum and then back to Hiroshima for a festival near Miyajima, satying with a friend whose family run a pottery shop.
Afternoon jaunt to Miyajima.

Today is an organisational day in Hiroshima before we head out for 5 days travel prior to a 6 day trip to Seoul.

Then it's straight back to school the next day . . .

It's a hard-knock life for us!