Japan is Korea’s hip grandchild. Not in age but in attitude. I have truly fallen in love with the country. Not because of anything worldly in particular but because juxtaposed with the similar country I have been inhabiting Japan seems so fresh, vibrant, and full of possibilities.
The attitude of the Japanese is open and seems to embrace individuality. Young boys and girls walk around in large, perfectly set, stylized hair. It is like watching an 80’s punk rock band stroll the streets. To be fair, not every young person is this way. On any given Japanese street one can find Bohemian hippies, preppy cuties, studious nerds, and alas the style challenged~It is all here! Because of which, we (Westerners) are also not stared at… we are different they are OVER it!
The Japanese seem to love their rice and noodles proven by the colorful assortment of sushi and seaweed wrapped products at any local convenience store. The difference is that they have also made a space to represent us, Westerners, a huge aisle of a ridiculous amount of pastries. Tom, the English friend whom we stayed with, told us that he was once asked what he would grab for lunch, “sushi or bread?” Ohhh we are a bunch of cream puffs are we not???
The cities themselves give me an overwhelming European feel. First of all, they drive on the other side of the road. There are some imported European cars, VWs and Audis, but the majority of vehicles are Japanese box style smart cars. In addition, there are the flash movie style street cars but unfortunately I did not witness a race. Besides driving, the number one way to get around seems to be one’s bicycle. Please don’t visualize a mountain bike folks, instead, think of a 60’s style thin wheeled bike topped off with a little arm for one’s parasol umbrella (sun safe people!). There is something romantic about a cute girl in a flowing long skirt, beenie hat, on a pink bike cycling to....I can only imagine meet her boyfriend whose gorgeous hair out does her own ten fold.
The attitude of the people can only be described as a quiet respectable demeanor. The speech is phonetically two syllabic. One may expect this to be choppy, but instead it is actual spoken in a soft clear way. It is so different to Korean in that there are no whinces or whines as the people are taught to with strain emotion. Being a passionate person, I find this a little sad but it does make the spoken language something serene and peaceful. On that note, the language is probably the most difficult to learn as there are 4 alphabets one of which (the Chinese) has something like over 2 million characters!!!! I am speechless.
The physical surroundings are also gorgeous. Japan boasts an amazing amount of varied vegetation. This country gets ridiculously hot so palm trees and bamboo abound… but also sees the likes of snow so most trees are a crazy spin off of an evergreen tree. Think of an Asian version of a Christmas tree – thinner, a little shorter (but not always) with a crazy hair cut that grows in all directions (wow! leave no stereotyped unturned). These trees grow on beautiful rolling hills that are kissed by the fluffiest white clouds one has ever seen hanging out on the pitch blue canvas that is the sky. Mirroring the sky is the sea that surrounds and hugs the islands that make up Japan.
The natural beauty is not lost in the human creations of Japan. Time is spent tiling beautiful triangular shaped rooftops. The cities do have high rises but each is different and compliments the different styles of the people. There are countless independent small boutiques, coffee shops, and restaurants—that depending on their owner offers flavours from high art to back alley graffiti or caviar to hot dogs.
Japan was definitely a must see for me and I feel so fortunate that I was able to compare this rich country with Korea. Thanks Universe! (more writing will follow to explain what we actually did and saw... for now enjoy the pictures)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
A Sea Away- Seeing Korea from the Island
For me I know I need to distance myself from something in order to get perspective. I get really caught up in the happenings of whatever it may be and in order to see reality I need to step away and do some comparisons to other things I know.
Japan was that for me in the perspective of the country I have been living. I do love Korea and it will always hold a special place in my heart but as Tom put it “It isn’t really a place someone (a foreigner), really believes they will settle forever.” For me Tom’s sentiments completely resonate with me but I know are not true for everyone. Why is this?
I believe it is the attitude I feel from the Korean people. Korea has been conquered so many times that it has fought a long time to make an identity and a history for itself. Tom reminded me that Koreans originally stem from Mongolian people that moved into the peninsula and then as China invaded they were subsequently pushed back, thus becoming the Korean people we now know. Interestingly though, Korea seems to try to ignore this fact. They really promote the idea that they are the “purest blood” in the world. In the southern peninsula those from the Silla tribe claim to be the “purest blood’ because they were so isolated and didn’t mix with other bloods. Being of Canadian decent, a country full of ‘mutts’ it seems a little humorous that this is a point that derives pride. Similarly, this is the way it seems with most things in Korea. The Korean people really try to hold on to their ‘own’ for matters of pride and are fearful of letting anything else in. Foreigners are truly aliens that are stared at or not given the time of day, in cross-cultural relationships the non-Korean partner really gets a rough deal and the Korean partner receives shame from the people. To be fair, this is of course making a blanket statement and there are many exceptions but it is my general feeling. I think that taking pride in your own culture is beautiful and that opting to not adopt every western trend is admirable but I do wish there was more of an acceptance to difference.
I do also believe that in time this too will change. Korea has become a rich nation (11th I believe in the world) only within the last 50 years. I liked the way Tom put it, he said something along the lines “Inflation has caused Korea to be what it is. They used to all be poor farmers and now they have become rich. Look around the city and you can see this, (speaking of Seoul) you have shiny buildings and then back alley ways of small falling apart homes. What happens when you give a ‘redneck’ money?---he goes out and buys a flashy house (Seoul’s buildings), a nice car, and a shiny suit (he he). This is what has happened with Korea.” This may sound arrogant and that is not the message I or he is trying to get across but there is some truth to it. These things will take a while to change within Korea and I believe an open accepting idea to foreigners will come with them.
Japan was that for me in the perspective of the country I have been living. I do love Korea and it will always hold a special place in my heart but as Tom put it “It isn’t really a place someone (a foreigner), really believes they will settle forever.” For me Tom’s sentiments completely resonate with me but I know are not true for everyone. Why is this?
I believe it is the attitude I feel from the Korean people. Korea has been conquered so many times that it has fought a long time to make an identity and a history for itself. Tom reminded me that Koreans originally stem from Mongolian people that moved into the peninsula and then as China invaded they were subsequently pushed back, thus becoming the Korean people we now know. Interestingly though, Korea seems to try to ignore this fact. They really promote the idea that they are the “purest blood” in the world. In the southern peninsula those from the Silla tribe claim to be the “purest blood’ because they were so isolated and didn’t mix with other bloods. Being of Canadian decent, a country full of ‘mutts’ it seems a little humorous that this is a point that derives pride. Similarly, this is the way it seems with most things in Korea. The Korean people really try to hold on to their ‘own’ for matters of pride and are fearful of letting anything else in. Foreigners are truly aliens that are stared at or not given the time of day, in cross-cultural relationships the non-Korean partner really gets a rough deal and the Korean partner receives shame from the people. To be fair, this is of course making a blanket statement and there are many exceptions but it is my general feeling. I think that taking pride in your own culture is beautiful and that opting to not adopt every western trend is admirable but I do wish there was more of an acceptance to difference.
I do also believe that in time this too will change. Korea has become a rich nation (11th I believe in the world) only within the last 50 years. I liked the way Tom put it, he said something along the lines “Inflation has caused Korea to be what it is. They used to all be poor farmers and now they have become rich. Look around the city and you can see this, (speaking of Seoul) you have shiny buildings and then back alley ways of small falling apart homes. What happens when you give a ‘redneck’ money?---he goes out and buys a flashy house (Seoul’s buildings), a nice car, and a shiny suit (he he). This is what has happened with Korea.” This may sound arrogant and that is not the message I or he is trying to get across but there is some truth to it. These things will take a while to change within Korea and I believe an open accepting idea to foreigners will come with them.
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