My visit today to one of the world’s most militarized zones included a Disneyland-like ride down into the earth, a luncheon in a touristy restaurant with a view of miles of barbed wire fencing and a soundtrack featuring Janet Jackson singing Nasty, and a little Korean boy whose aunties thought nothing of letting him bring — and incessantly use — a toy space gun that made loud machine gun sounds as we drove through checkpoint after checkpoint of armed guards.
The demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea is both a chilling reminder of the region’s tensions and a somewhat chintzy tourist attraction.
Month: May 2003
Missed The Earthquake, There Will Be No Invasion This Week, And There Is No SARS in Korea
I missed the earthquake by just a few hours. For the past couple weeks, I’ve been imagining I feel low-level earthquakes, though as far as I could tell there were never actual quakes. This happened several times, and has had me expecting a good shake before I left Japan. But my flight left too early.
I’m in Seoul now. On the agenda for tomorrow is a visit to the border with North Korea, including a tour of one of the underground tunnels built by the North for use in an invasion of the South.
One more thing, for those who might worry — there are no SARS cases in South Korea (I can’t count the number of times I had to explain this to Japanese friends when I told them of my travel plans).
Three Weeks Of Travel
Monday morning I hit the road. I’ll be traveling for three weeks, mostly in Japan with a quick trip over to South Korea.
05/26 — 05/30 : in Seoul, South Korea
05/30 — 05/30 : Arai, Japan, to see the Kodo drummers
05/31 — 06/02 : back to Sado Island
06/03 — 06/07 : in Okinawa, beach vacation!
06/08 — 06/12 : in Tokyo and surrounding areas
Antipixel Captures The Radish Dance
Jeremy’s coverage of the giant radish dance is a must-see.
Boom
There’s nothing like riding your bike on a hot day with a backpack crammed full of explosives.
Picked up enough fireworks earlier today for plenty of fun by the riverside tonight. I have no idea what I bought, but the two big bags look like they’re made for Pyro Barbie.
Streets Of Danger
I wrote this entry a while back, but never posted it because I’ve tried to stay away from making sweeping generalizations about people and culture during my stay in Japan.
But then during a bike ride through town today, my feelings on this issue were only further confirmed. So, here it is…
I realized the other day that I’ve become accustomed to the near-miss while riding my bicycle. The frequent brushes with death no longer faze me while trying to get from point A to point B on the streets — it’s all just part of the trip. It’s like riding through a giant video game, with mad cars and crazy bikers popping out with dizzying regularity.
During my first few months in Japan, I wasn’t so at ease with the game. I was slightly appalled at the erratic and dangerous driving I’d often see here in Nagano. Pedestrians, bicyclists and cars often seemed just a hair away from catastrophe.
Many drivers in Japan seem to drive with an air of confusion and surprise, as if they’re constantly taken aback when they encounter anything out of the ordinary. This leads to cars roaring out of alleys with no thought that pedestrians or bikes might suddenly cross their path, drivers who seem confused to find pedestrians in crosswalks, maneuvers that make no sense at all, and agonizingly-long disentanglements when two cars find themselves facing each other in a street big enough for only one car.
But the most amazing thing is that I’ve never seen an actual accident. Just more close calls than I can ever begin to recount.
Let me step out on a limb and make some generalizations, comparing road experiences here and in the U.S. It’s not that drivers in the U.S. are particularly skilled or safe. I’d say that drivers in the U.S. are intentionally unsafe. There’s anger, rage and aggression behind the wheel in America. Here in Japan, my take is that many drivers are unintentionally dangerous.
Which is worse? I can’t quite say.
Revenue Stamp For Re-Entry Permit
I went to the local immigration office this morning to get my re-entry permit, required with my visa if I leave the country and plan to return.
The office was staffed by your run-of-the-mill, grumpy, low-level bureaucrats. No additional information is given unless specifically asked for, including the fact that you have to pay for the permit with a special revenue stamp (seen above) that must be purchased at a building across the street — a major thoroughfare with no convenient crosswalks, meaning a game of live Frogger is necessary.
It was refreshing to see some diversity at the immigration office. There was a huge family from China, some Brazilians, and assorted other foreigners, creating a buzz of languages other than Japanese. Although Tokyo has a decent mix of people, finding ethnic diversity in the outlying areas of Japan is largely limited to the handful of Thai, Filipino and Russian bar hostesses and to the western English teachers. A melting pot it’s not. I’m looking forward to getting back to a more multi-cultural society. And I’m so looking forward to a break from the sticking-out-like-a-sore-thumb syndrome.
Ready To Go Roaming
My internet connection gets switched off this Sunday, as I leave my apartment here in Nagano for three weeks of travel before I head back to Seattle.
Despite the fact that my phone forces me to change each and every character I type from uppercase to lowercase, making an already tedious method of text entry almost unbearable, I plan to post occasional (short) entries during those three weeks of travel (thanks to Kevin Cameron’s Mobloging For Other People).
So, I’ve been sitting here trying to think of an appropriate icon or tag line for use with entries posted from my mobile. But then I realized that labeling the entries as such is really more of a “gee-whiz” reaction to new technology. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how the entry is posted.
However, if you’re interested, entries during the next few weeks that are only one or two sentences are likely posted from my mobile. Either that or I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. A longer entry probably means I’ve found an internet cafe.
Gym Freaks
My gym has a campaign going (“campaigns” are big in Japan — big marketing pushes to get people to buy something). The artwork in one of the campaign brochures features an array of freakishly developed humanoids exercising, relaxing and socializing at the gym. Workout trends change so quickly. When did the rack become a popular exercise machine?
Thanks For The Memories
Wednesday was my last day of teaching English in Japan. And I couldn’t have spent the evening with a better group of people.