A Week Later.... Reflections

Since I have been back I have been trying to figure out why it is so hard to summarize the experience of this trip for people who ask me how it was. Most of the time people are interested, but only have a few minutes to listen to my babbling. It is good to have a sentence or two that summarizes the experience. For some reason this time I cannot come up with one.

This week I have had a good friend who listened to me for longer than a few minutes and I was able to put into words what was different about this trip. What bothered me was that I did not feel the need or desire to learn the basic words (hello, excuse me, thank you) in Japanese or Korean. I also had a few times when I just wanted "normal" food. One day I made Steve search with me for food I recognized and we bought an apple, string cheese and crackers to eat! I actually had McDonalds in Japan and really enjoyed cooking a home meal in Hawaii. Usually I am glad not to ever cook while traveling.

I think that the main thing is that I felt so foreign, like I did not belong there. I was the wrong color and the wrong size. It didn't matter if I didn't learn the language or like the food somehow. 

Also, I think that European food is more similar to ours and so it is an easier transition. Japanese food has a different taste that is unique. I have heard the word umami to describe what I think it might be (Wikipedia says, "Since umami has its own receptors rather than arising out of a combination of the traditionally recognized taste receptors, scientists now consider umami to be a distinct taste."). Korean food included things like chicken feet and textures that I was not used to. Philippino food often came with bones and had more of a fish flavor or fish broth for soup. Each evening when it came time for dinner I had to try to figure out where to eat and that got tiring. Don't get me wrong, there were delicious things and food that I enjoyed, but in general I felt wary. 

The final issue is being a tourist. I don't like the kind of traveling where I am a tourist, even though I always really am. I like being in one place for a while rather than just seeing the sights in a place while racing on to the next place. Going to three (four?) very different places in 5 weeks made it impossible to be more than someone just passing through and made just seeing the sights the main thing to do. As I write this I realize it is not totally true. In each country we were in there were people we knew that showed us places out of the ordinary and gave us insights.

So, all of that is to say that I do not want to discourage anyone to visit this part of the world or any other. It was not my favorite, but I have totally expanded my understanding of the world. When Philippines, Japan, or Korea is in the news I feel much more connected to what I read. Geography of that area has taken on meaning and I am fascinated by history there also.  Those are great reasons to travel.

COUNTDOWN to Blastoff

I usually do a daily countdown starting 10 days before I leave. Today is Friday and I leave next Thursday, June 23, so it is really only 6 days until I go!


In preparation for going I have been watching South Korean TV programs and reading South Korean authors. The first book I finished totally was 
The Uncharted PathAn AutobiographyBy Yi, Myŏng-bak 
Yi Myong-bak was born poor, but worked hard and started in a low position at Hyundai and advanced to be the President of the country. The picture of Korea that he describes is fascinating because of the HUGE progress it has made in such a short time. 

I have also been watching a TV show called "Tomorrow's Cantabile". It is interesting to realize that many people in other countries have a picture of the United States which comes from American Television. So, I don't want to be too quick to come to any conclusions, but it is interesting to notice the differences.I have learned some vocabulary (an-yung=hello, ne=yes) and observed a few things about life there. People bow to greet and also to say good bye. The shows are what one website called "squeaky-clean". It is fun to watch a show that doesn't leave you feeling like you have to have hot sex every day to be normal. I think it is also helping me not to lump all Koreans together as looking the same. My eyes are getting practice in seeing people differently.
It seems that Korean Dramas are quite popular, so you may want to check them out by searching for Korean Dramas on Netflix or just in Google. There is also something about Korean Dramas being made from Mangas. I have a lot to learn.
I have ignored the Philippines and Japan in my preparation... maybe I will see what I can learn about the Philippines before we leave.

ANTICIPATION

In a short time I will be heading to Manila, Philippines! My trip is from June 23 to July 28.  I want to share that trip with everyone, so I am practicing blogging and starting my blog now. 

Right now I am in California and yesterday I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge!  I learned all kinds of things about the bridge, but one thought really struck me.

In the late 1920s people started talking about putting a bridge between San Francisco and Marin County. At the time the only way to travel from the city to the northern part of California was to drive a LONG way around the bay OR to take a ferry. Some people wanted a bridge so that there was an easier way to get across and others said that taking a ferry was good enough. Those who thought the ferry was good enough argued that it would be too expensive to build the bridge.

Now, it seems like a no-brainer. Of course the bridge is there. It would be crazy to cut the city off from the north that way. I know that I don't ever think about the cost of building the bridge, although I do resent the way tolls keep going up for maintenance.

It reminds me of light rail today. It seems WAY too expensive and impractical to build light rail. Aren't cars good enough?  We like driving our own cars everywhere. I wonder if 50 years from now there will be light rail and our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be amazed that there was any controversy!

I will be posting text, videos and still photos here!  I hope you will check it out regularly.