Japan

In late January I went to Japan to see my friend Yoko and unwind for a few days after the end of the semester. Although we know each other through mutual friends in NY (she's married to an American and lives there), we stayed in Osaka, where her family lives. We took day trips to Kyoto and Nara. There's a great deer park in Nara so, of course, I had to take these pictures of them.

There was a young man from Quebec at the museum cafe the day Yoko and I went to Nara. He took these pictures of us.

Some highlights and observations:

My first evening there we went to a tofu specialty restaurant. There were 15 courses, all tofu-based!

People drive on the left side of the road. Bicyclists use the sidewalk, but not motorcyclists (as in Korea).

I found myself mentally comparing Japan to Korea, rather than to the US. Yoko has never been to Korea, and I felt like an ambassador from a country closer to her home than NY is to Chicago.

People really do say "Ah, so."

The trains and train stations are quieter than Korea. In fact, the whole place seemed calmer, though I wasn't in Toyko. There were "Don Quixote" cartoon figures on the sides of the train cars.

Although there were a lot of young women dressed up in high heels and make-up, just like in Korea, there were also a lot more punk fashions.

Family Mart is ubiquitous, just like in Korea.

I felt more lost than in Korea because I couldn't read any signs at all. But I felt more secure because I was with Yoko the whole time so it didn't matter.

There's a cartoon duo named Gaspard et Lisa, which is very popular in Japan but I've never seen them in Korea or the States. It's kind of a Hello Kitty phenomenon, but less tacky. I was so taken with them that we went to a department store in Osaka specifically to find Gaspard et Lisa merchandise and I bought over $50 worth of cutesy notebooks, a pencil case, a business card case, cosmetic bags, several story books, and more stuff I'm not even remembering. It was kind of an exercise in narcissism, but I had a great time (see photo!). I've been reading the story books to the kids I tutor and they love them., especially because one of the books tells the story of Lisa flying to New York.

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/gaspard/


The toilets are even more high-tech than in Korea.

I bought little stationery gifts for the kids I tutor. Yoko said several times that Korean people don't like the Japanese (there was that nasty business about the annexation of Korea by Japan in the early 1900s and all the awful things that were done then), so I felt I had to be cautious and not buy anything that was "too Japanese." Probably over cautiousness on my part, but better to err in that direction....

The day I returned to Korea, it felt comfortable to be saying "anyonghasayo" and "kamsehamneda" (hello, thank you) again.

The airport limo driver and baggage handler bowed before leaving. During the drive back to Suwon, the music on the bus included Home on the Range, Di Me Cuando, the theme from the movie Exodus, and Hava Nagila (yes, really). Another surreal moment here on the peninsula.