10:26 PM GMT+9:00, February 27, 2004, Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean
I'm using Japan time because I'm still used to that time zone. It's not that important anyway. I've been kind of neglecting this blog for many reasons, but first and foremost is my laziness, as usual. However, another reason, and I think it's a good one, is that I've gotten used to life in Japan. Much like you take things for granted in your hometown, I take life in Japan for granted. I find myself more and more thinking of things in Japanese, as it more concisely describes certain situations better than English, which, as far as I know, having the largest set of words of any language, almost suffers from a glut of vocabulary. While it is nice to be able to use, shall we say, granulated vocabulary, there is something beautiful about the simplicity in other languages in comparison. Maybe I shouldn't say beautiful so much as something that piques my interest. It is an entirely different way of communicating, and it affects everything, from how you interact with people to the very culture that exists in the country.
In the morning, before my alarm clock went off, I had a dream, and it was in Japanese. I may have had one before that, but I had just come back from three days of skiing with people that I do aikido with. This is important because they are all Japanese, and don't really speak English well. Three straight days of pretty much only Japanese does many things, among them getting me used to using the language all the time and not just when necessary. Well, I suppose that means it's always necessary, but I think you get my meaning.
I really should keep posting, because I can feel my writing degrading. My word choice and the very flow of my writing has gotten worse, and I'm not sure I have the willpower to save it. I will always be able to write at a decent level, but I fear that my days of pounding out an essay at a moment's notice and still getting a decent grade on it are gone. This isn't a huge problem, since I don't have to write essays anymore, but there is something incredibly satisfying about writing a paragraph that just flows. I don't know how to describe it, but it's comparable to hitting the perfect carve on the slopes, or doing a jumpkick so well you feel like you're floating in the air. It's the kind of feeling you get from doing something so well that there's no doubt in anyone's mind about your level of skill. My level of satisfaction with my writing just now is not giving me that feeling.
Everything in Japan is so normal to me now, and nothing is strange or novel anymore.
12:53 AM GMT+9:00, February 28, 2004 or 7:53 AM PST, February 27, 2004, Somewhere over the Pacific, close to the California coastline
There's something uplifting about seeing the world from 30,000 feet up as the sun rises. I don't know what it is, but the sun shining has a strange sort of psychological effect, which is I guess why a such thing as SAD can exist. Being practically nocturnal as I am, the morning sun makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and when I do get to see it, I remember briefly how nice the world can look as it just wakes up. I always forget this, of course, being only human, but staring at the clouds from above and seeing the sun giving them a nice glow imparts a sense of wonder that I don't feel often.
I wonder why it is the sunshine has such an affect on people. Is it something hardwired into us after millions of years of evolution? Is it something we learn? It it at times like this that I almost understand why people go to religion. I so rarely feel the awe and wonder that I have at this moment at the vastness of this rock hurtling through space, with the full knowledge that the universe doesn't even know we exist. We are so tiny and insignificant that it is no wonder that people turn to religion to feel more important. But, in the end, that is just running away from the truth, and that is we don't matter. The important thing is to realize that it doesn't matter that we are less than tiny specks in the universe. It doesn't matter that we're just one grain of sand in the ocean that is the cosmos, or that we will not move worlds or change anything at all. We exist, and that should be good enough.
9:04 AM GMT-8:00 (PST), February 27, 2004, San Francisco, California, United States of America
Of course, we got here early, so no one is here to pick me up yet. It doesn't really matter, though, since I'm finally in a country where I can speak the language fluently, so I feel like I can do
anything. I suppose, in a way, that's true. You tend to take the fact that you can speak natively for granted, but it takes living in another country where you know you sound like a moron to really appreciate the fact that you can actually communicate.
On a sort-of-but-not-really related note, I haven't seen so many gaijin, or I guess I should say white people, in half a year. It's crazy. I look around and all I see is white people. I feel like I'm in a foreign country now, even though this is the land of my citizenship. I've never really had good friends who were white though, and I think it's because they simply do not understand what it's like to be a minority and to always be different. Different isn't necessarily bad, but everything from how I was raised to the values I hold are a function of culture, and that has very strong ties to the concept of race, even if it doesn't exist on a genetic level.
Because I don't have much time, I'm just going to talk about one thing that I saw in Korea, and that is the DMZ, or de-militarized zone. It was just amazing to me how the world's fifth largest army is massed mere hours from the largest city in South Korea, housing about a fourth of the country's population, roughly 10 million or so. Add to this the fact that the war is technically still not over, and North Korea continues to act accordingly, and it's a wonder people can go about their lives in such, shall we say, normalcy.
In 1968, North Korean special forces infiltrated Seoul and attacked a government building, killing a number of people. In 1976, American officers who were attempting to cut down a tree blocking their line of sight were killed by North Korean soldiers with the very axe that was intended for the tree. Let me repeat that for effect. They were
killed with an axe. And we didn't go to war. Which is good, but also surprising.
A North Korean defector claims that the military is digging tunnels (with political prisoners, no less, although this is true) towards Seoul, with the obvious intention of a first strike to cripple and capture the most important city in South Korea. They have found four tunnels so far, all dug at an angle and a direction concurrent with the claim that they are for Seoul. Interestingly, there are still (of course) conspiracy theories that the KCIA dug the tunnels themselves, but personally I don't doubt the belligerency of the North Korean government.
Enough artillery to level the entire city sits pointed at Seoul, but everyone goes about their business, going to work, drinking, eating massive amounts of meat (something I wish I could still do), going to clubs, school, parks, dates, and so on and so forth. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's certainly interesting.
9:36 PM GMT+9:00, February 16, 2004, Tokyo, Japan
Well, I'm back, again.
I'm greeted with the same cold temperatures and what may or may not be mild food poisoning. I'm going to make it a point not to eat seafood on airplanes anymore. That was the worst scallop I've ever eaten, and it's still fighting me. I'm going to win, dammit. I'm not going to let it make me puke, because then I've just wasted food.
Speaking of food, remember all that Atkin's diet bullshit? It's of course still going on, but there's apparently been a
new development. That's a link. It basically says that when Atkin died, he was quite overweight. So how effective is that diet exactly? I've always considered it to be bullshit, and studies return inconclusive results, but one thing remains sure. If you eat less and exercise more, you will lose weight. There is no quick fix, but if you stop eating those damn twinkies all day, you may not gain weight as quickly.
Korea was awesome, and everything was cheaper. It's kind of like a dirtier Tokyo, for half the price, and twice the quantity of food. Taxis here are so cheap it's ridiculous. A ride has a base price of less than $1.50, and I've taken rides that cost less than $4.00, which doesn't even hit the base price in Tokyo. The food, if you go to the right place, is amazing, and I made it a habit to massively overeat while I was there. Unfortunately, I cannot do that anymore without paying about four times the price here. I felt like I came home to Japan, which is interesting, but I still think it's too goddamn expensive here.
1:07 AM GMT+9:00, February 15, 2004, Seoul, South Korea
I was wrong earlier about the time change here in Seoul. It is actually in the same time zone as Tokyo. I could've sworn it wasn't, but whatever. In other news, I was hoping to see some friends here that I haven't seen in a while, and while I've had fun here, I haven't been able to see many people. That is to say, basically no one. One of them doesn't really speak English or Japanese, and only sort of speaks Chinese, and I don't speak Korean, and also only a bit of Chinese. I may call her tomorrow, or rather later today, with the help of a different friend that actually speaks English. Sort of.
In an hour, I'm going to go see a Korean movie that's actually playing with English subtitles, and I hope it'll be good. It's only the most expensive Korean movie ever, has (apparently) A-list stars, and is set during the Korean War, which is ripe ground for crazy patriotism and despair of the split of the country. So I expect much drama, much violence, and all around a good time.
Now I know perhaps 10 Korean words, and I know enough to be able to say sorry for whatever I or someone else has done, and then after a response that I won't understand, I know enough to say that I don't understand Korean. That's the extent of my Korean, but I think I could pick it up relatively quickly. Maybe. At least the grammar wouldn't be an issue.
8:59 PM GMT+8:00, February 11, 2004, Seoul, South Korea
Well will you look at that. I got to change my location again. This is a strange experience, and knowing how to speak basically no Korean means that life here is pretty rough. That is to say, you have to point and gesture a lot. No one here seems to speak any Japanese or English, which is a major problem in communication.
I don't have much time here, but I just wanted to tell everyone that I'm in Korea, and the food is great.
12:08 AM GMT+9:00, February 9, 2004, Tokyo, Japan
Ok, people, I think we all need to calm down.
Why? That's why. There's a link in there, in case you can't tell. Read it. Christ, people need to chill before they die of a heart attack. Maybe that would be a good thing, so they don't breed.
That was a joke, in case you were too uptight to figure that out.
1:29 AM GMT+9:00, February 5, 2004, Tokyo, Japan
Well, I'm back. Not that it matters, but I get to change my location.
So I have a few observations, but I don't know if I'll get them all. Now that I have more places to compare, I notice things that I couldn't have noticed before. For one thing, and I hate to say it, Taiwanese, and Chinese for that matter, have the worst sense of fashion I've ever seen. This is likely a function of coming from California, which I guess is pretty fashionable, and then Tokyo, which is probably the most fashionable place I've ever seen. When I realize how normal the rest of the world is, it boggles my mind.
I'm not even sure how to describe it. That people's lives can be so different is both obvious and ridiculous at the same time. My mind is too tired now to really elaborate, but I'll leave it at that for now, and see if I can pick up that thread later. We'll see. Good night everyone!
10:29 PM GMT+8:00, February 2, 2004, Sanxia, Taiwan
Six days is not very much time at all, but I'm going all over this break, so I guess I don't have much more time anyway. On the 11th, I'm heading off to Korea for the first time ever, and then going skiing in Nagano on the 22nd, and soon after that, I am flying back to the US for two weeks. I think I'm going to hate planes pretty soon. At least I'm making good use of my multiple re-entry permit that I paid 6000 yen for. Because of my short stay here, I won't be able to see everyone that I wanted to, but I suppose that's what happens. If I even see one person in Korea, I'd be pretty surprised, but even if I don't, that won't matter that much. I think it'll be cool to just wander around the city. Exploring is interesting on its own.
On a side note, I just paid roughly $45 US for four CDs, all Japanese in origin. They do say "made in Taiwan" in tiny lettering instead of "made in Japan," but that doesn't really matter. If you just take off the outside sleeve that they add, it looks exactly the same.
I must mention here, though, that I hate copy-protected CDs. I want to be able to rip my own goddamn CDs, and there's no two ways about that. Someone always manages to rip them anyway, but I don't want to go through the hassle. If I paid good money for my CDs, I expect to be able to listen to them in any way I so choose, whether it is with the actual CD, or through mp3s, or whatever. Why should I be punished for the actions of others? Christ, sometimes I hate business. I don't think it actually accomplishes anything either, since I know I can just download the albums anyway.
