The Eye of Patrick

Hello,

So the first real day of Korea was the 29th as we were able to have a full nites rest and a chance to explore korea. I was allergic to the smoke in the room so I was awaken by the sore feeling in my throat. Rather then lay in bed and think how death would be much more fun then the smell of smoke i decided to go out in to the streets of korea and explore while i waited for the others to wake up. It is strange how things look different in the morning then they do when you arrive at night. The night before I was dark and quiet, but now it was full of people moving in and about their daily business. The place our hostel was located was an university area, i think within 15 minutes walk you could find the campuses of 3 differnet schools. So as i walked around there was many people who were off to school, many young people.

The first sign I saw was one for a Canadian college that decided to open a branch in Korea to teach english. It was my first time seeing my country name written in hangol the language of korea.

As I walked around I thought it was best that I return to the hostel so that I could regroup with the people that I was going to out and explore the local area. For some reason we were lucky to select a hostel that was located within 10 minute walk of one of the palaces.

The name of it was Changgyeonggung Palace, according to the Seoul Tourism website:

Changgyeonggung Palace was originally built by King Sejong as a
residence for his father, Taejong, and was called Suganggung Palace. It
was renovated and enlarged in 1483 by King Seongjong to be used as a
residence for three dowager queens, at which time the name was changed
to Changgyeonggung. It was also called Donggung, or East Palace along
with Changdeokgung, which stood on the other side of the wall. (These
two palaces played complementary roles.)

This was the entrance to the palace.

The only problem with visiting the palace was that it was in late in March so that everything was still suffering from winter, the plants and grass had not grown back yet. But even though, the beauty of the area was able to shine through. We decided to set a lesiurely pace to walk the area. The handouts they gave us were really not of much use as they did not give to much information on the palace. So i was sadly unable to learn to much about the history of the palace we visited.

As we went into the palace more we ended up on Myeongjeongmun Gate, the guide book did not say much about it, just that it was rebuilt many times. The last being in 1989, during Japanese occupation of Korea they decided to destory this palace. Also they changed the name of the palace in Korean from Palace to that of a Park and decided to build other things around it to diminsh the view of the korean royal family.

Here is a cool shot of my friend Mike taking a picture of us taking a picture of him behind the myeongjeongmun.

Here is the photo of the main entrance, I like this picture a lot as it shows the meeting of Old and the new. The office buildings in the back symbolize the progress Korea has made in such a short time, while the palace is a symbol of the past and all the hardwork that gave way for the modern Korea.

Here are some more pictures of the palace.

This picture below is another 3 people that were part of my travel crew. They are Mike on the left, Josh in the middle and Jimmy on the right. If it were not for the 3 of them I probably would not have set foot on the shores of Korea as i would get to scared hehe. So i was happy that I went to Korea with them. I really like this photo for some reason, they just look so cool in the photo.

While we were walking around the park, we noticed some people playing a game, being the curious Gaijan we are we decided to get in and investigate. As we were watching them we were amazed at how vocal and animated they got regarding the game and then when it was all over they were so happy again. This reminded me of Brazil, where people could be screaming at each other but then go back to being friends so easily.

Here is another of my travelmates, Aisha, she was the only girl on the trip, which made her then one of the guys hehe… she is tired in this picture as we had done a lot of walking that day and she had sat down to take a rest.

The place we went was a large palace so it also had a secret garden, but with our trusty map and the signed that directions, the secret garden was not so a secret after all.

There was also a garden there.

I will end here, so i can have a update, and i will update more soon.

So for my spring break I decided to go to South Korea and see a country that i have long to visit, but never imagined I would get the chance to visit. I love korean food so much, that I was looking forward to it from the day I hatched the plan. So March 21st we setout to Kansai Airport. This was a adventure in itself as we asked our Okasan if she could help us to call, but then we realized we were suppose to call ourselves, we had just failed to read the sign. But when we called, or when I called they started to speak way to fast Japanese that I was unable to understand it. So I handed my cellphone to Okasan and we were finally on our way. It took roughly 1h 30 minutes to get to the airport from Hirakata. Osaka airport is an airport that was built in the middle of a body of water. But when they were building it, they did not do a good job and as a result it has begun to sink, not enough that it will be a probably at the moment, but a problem in the future. Also a problem is that it cost so much to build it that the landing fees are so expensive, so as a result if they have to fix it the airport will become even more expensive.

We checked in and everything was fine, and our flight to Korea was fairly uneventful, they served food and such on the plane, and there was no movies. But then we arrived in Seoul, Inchion airport and our journey was about to begin.

I was very tired from getting ready for Korea that i failed to realize when we were suppose to get off the bus on our way to our hostel. So we accidently went two more stops over then we should, and as a result we were lost in seoul with no direction to go, so some kind Seoul people decided to help us, but the problem was that they were drunk. So we had this middle aged Korean man who was trying to help us, but the problem was that he only spoke korean. That was find as long as there was younger korean male who could translate him. He told us, that the old man had a son, and he wanted us to meet him. Which was nice and everything, but he was highly drunk so we did not know how much truth there was to it. Plus the fact that when we got into a taxi he held the taxi up for 5 minutes while he did something… so the taxi driver was getting mad at us, and we could not say anything to him. So then we finally get to the place near the hostel and he calls our hostel. Which was ok, but the fact was that it was 1 am and we felt bad, and so the lady comes outside to bring us in, but he keeps on blabbering to her and she says he is crazy and many other things in English, which was funny… finally she was able to get him away, and we made our way to the hostel. The hostel was cheap, i think it was only 11 dollars a nite, but it smelled like smoke, which is horrible as i am allergic to tobbaco smoke, so i had difficulty sleeping. But it was cheap and I was finally in korea.

Look forward to day 2 of Korea

So… i arrived in Seoul two days ago. We left hirakata on the 22nd for our trip to korea. I must say i was filled with excitement and worry about it, as it i was my first trip abroad with other people who were not my friend.

When we tried to leave sem house, we ordered a taxi but the first company was unable to come becuase the rain was making them busy. So we had to call another company and they came a few minutes later, but it costed us like 1600 yen, which is a huge sum of money considering taking a bus is only 220. But you live and you learn. After that we went and started taking trains upon trains to get to the airport. The last train we had to take was interesting as it was one of those decoupling trains, like for the first part of the journey it was connected to another train. But as we neared the airport it seperated and the two trains went different ways hehe… i was very amused by that hehe…

Then we went

So on March 5th 2005 I woke up at 5 in the morning to make it to Osaka so i could catch the shinkansen to Hiroshima. This would be my second trip to this infamous city, as I had gone before when my father was here. But I decided to go again on this trip as I was told that there would be a speech given by a survivor of the hiroshima atomic bomb blast, plus the fact that the school would drastically subsidize my train ticket made it even more better. Just waking up so early was a tough thing hehe

So after getting on the train at hirakata and making it down to Kyobashi, i started to worry as I realized to get to the station i needed to get to, shin-Osaka, i had to make another change on the Jr Loop line. But when i planned out how to get there I did not realize that. So after a short moment of fear of thinking about not making it onto the train i arrived at shin-Osaka, to find a place empty of Gaidai Students, so i begun to search the area to see if i could track down anyone in the area. After a couple walks up and down the station i was able to locate a red head girl in my class, the reason i mention her hair colour is that it is so easy to see her. She then directed me to the meeting place.

We were waiting for:

And while we were waiting one of my crazy roommates named Laura decided to make some funny pictures of her self, so i snapped some too.

With the arrival of the Shinkasen, we started the train ride to hiroshima, while on the train one of the people i was sitting with taught me how to make paper cranes.

That was the first paper crane that I had made in over 10 years, well since atleast 2nd or 3rd grade hehe…. but it turned out pretty well, and it got me hooked on making more and more. This was good as it helped to keep me busy until we arrived in Hiroshima, which did not seem like to long of a time as i was so busy having fun.

Once we got to hiroshima we split up into smaller groups as we did not need to go to the main meeting place as the speech was not until 1. So me and a group of friends decided to go for a walk around Hiroshima and see the local As a result of Hiroshima being destroyed with an atomic bomb is that everything in the city seems brand new. The streets are wide like Canadian streets, then those narrow streets you find in Hirakata.

While we were walking we stumbled on a mopad that had been thrown into the water, it proved for some interesting photo shots.

We decided to take a long walk around Hiroshima to get a greater understanding of the area and what it had to offer. As we were walking towards the Peace Museum (the place of our meeting) we saw a castle. We were unsure of whether this was hiroshima castle as the person with the map said it wasn’t. But then we never did see any other castles along the way, so I assume it was the castle. The time we got there was just perfect as it was the perfect light to catch a reflection in the water of the castle.

Then me and my friend decided to break away from the group and head on towards the Atom Bomb Dome as the time of the meeting was slowly approaching. As I walked towards the Atomic Bomb Dome I was filled with a feeling of bewilderment as I tried to take in all the stuff that happen. It was kind of surreal to stand there and look around and see a city, a normal city with cars going to and from and buildings with busy workers doing there job and then think that on this day 50 years ago roughly the city had an atomic bomb that was dropped on it and everything was more or less destroyed. I do not know that was an amazing feeling I thought.

The place that the Americans had decided to drop the atomic bomb was a T shaped bridge as they believe this would be the easiest target to see from the air. The interesting thing is that after the bomb was dropped the bridge more or less remained intact and was able to be used for many years after the war as a functional bridge until it was replaced as a result of use.

Then we decided to go and get some food as we were starving as none of us had a proper meal since we got to Hiroshima. We went for a walk down one of those narrow traditional japanese steets and end up on a Ramen Shop and decided to stop there and get some food. I was not in the mood for some Ramen so I decided to get two orders of Gyoza as i love that stuff. But I think the Ramen shop staff felt sorry for me because they gave me a free rice and soup. I felt very lucky haha…. so i had a good bowl of rice and soup and my lovely Gyoza.

After filling our tummies with good food we decided to return to the Atomic bomb Dome, and look at one of the few remaining builds left from when the bomb was dropped.

This lead us to the Atomic bomb bell, or a bell that was designed to be rung so that the sounds of peace could heard around the world.

I really like this one:

Then we went to the peace memorial museum:

This was were we would hear the speech from an atomic bomb survivor. As we were sitting down i remembered to turn off my flash as we were told that it could bother her, as she sometimes gets flash backs to world War II and the bombing. The speech got under way and she then went through an explanation on what happen that day the bomb was dropped. She said she was on her way to work. The military government had decided that certain buildings would be destroyed to prevent the spread of fire. This was becuse the Allies were fire bombing Japan. So many youth were used to help remove the buildings. But as she was walking to school, she heard a plane fly overhead. But most people in Hiroshima were used to that, as they thought may be they were on their way to bomb Osaka or Tokyo. Hiroshima had not been bombed before because the USA wanted virgin bombing targets to measure the bomb blast damange, so Hiroshima was left untouched.

But then the Bomb hit and she was forced to the ground, her next memory was her waking up and her mother removing her from the rubble. She then walked around hiroshima and saw the destruction that had been created. She saw buildings everywhere that were now rubble. The thing that hit me the most was the image of the rivers. She saw bodies all over the rivers, just floating there. One of her friends was thirsty and she went to the river and drank some of the water. But all the water was radoactive and then she died right in front of our speaker. She said she almost drank the water too, that was just amazing imaginry. I could not imagine what she saw, and i do not think you could, unless you were there. She then talked about how she was given a chance to come to America as one of the young japanese ladies spent to america to get medical attention. She then thought may be the reason she was selected was because she could be cured. This made her upset as she realized she was a poltical tool.

After her speech was done, we were able to get a picture with her.

Then we decided to go to the musuem and see the exhbits.

When I was a grade schooler, we read a book about a Japanese girl who had lived in hiroshima. But as she grew up after the blast, she came down with lukumia and was put into a hospital. To pass her time and a sense of hope she decided to make a 1000 paper cranes as she believed if she made 1000 then her wish of getting better would be granted. She made some everyday, some big and some small. As time passed she got sicker and sicker, then she got to sick to make them and she died. But other people would wake more for her and send them. This was only a story, until i went to the museum and saw the paper cranes. I was so touched by this.

Then we decided to rush to Miyajima and take some pictures of the wonderful tori they have there.

Then we decided to end it all with a wonderful meal of Hiroshimayaki, which is like okonomiyaki, but hiroshima style.

Hope you enjoy my post and please leave a comment,

Patrick

So I had one of those busy weekends, and I was not expecting it either. It started Friday during Japanese class when I was talking with my friend and classmate Phil about what he was doing that day and he said he was going to go to Kyoto to see a pottery fair and do some stuff in Kyoto and I thought I would tag along and see Kyoto. It is a town that is only 45 minutes away from me but I do not normally visit it as I go to Osaka mostly to do stuff. But hopefully I will be able to make more trips to there in the future.

So we met at 1 pm in front of our rez to begin our journey. We biked to Makino and decided to catch the train to Kyoto, but just as we were about to we realized that the sub-express stopped at every stop to Kyoto and that would take us a long time. So we decided to go to Hirakata and take the express train to Kyoto. That was a good idea as we got to Hirakata an Express train rolled into the terminal and we hopped on and rode the train to the end of the line in Kyoto. Phil had a small idea of how to get there, but he thought it would be best that we hitch a bus. But we were unsure of the direction of the place so when we got on the bus I decided to take a chance and ask the bus driver whether this bus went to the temple or not, that was were the flea market was being held. I asked him in Japanese and he replied no this one did not go there, but to go to the other side and take that bus. It was moments like that which made me feel happy that I am learning Japanese, I may not be multilingual like some, but even then a little Japanese goes a long way.

We then switched buses and were on our way, it was a long bus ride and during that bus ride I questioned whether we had or had not passed the place as my mind was tired and I worried during my periods of eyes being closed that somehow. But just as I was starting to worry we saw a place with a bunch of tents and decided that most likely that is where a flea-market would be held. So we got off and begun our flea market experience.

While we were walking around I saw little stuff, which I would like to buy later, like for the longest time I have been trying to see stuff that I would like to buy for my friends but I have been unable to do that. Either it was too expensive or it was too tacky, but at the flea market they had many things that I want to buy for gifts. But I was so overwhelmed by ideas that I decided that I would go next month with a better idea of who I need to buy gifts for.

Here are some pics from the temple

Then after we went to the temple we had a lot of time to kill as it was a Friday and nothing to do the next day, so we decided to explore Kyoto. We tired to find some Geisha’s but we only knew they were in Gion. But we did not know when or what part of Gion we should find them. So we decided that it was more of an exploratory venture to see the area and to know where to hit when we went there next. But it was funny when we were looking for Gion, we went and asked a police officer and one of those many police stations located in most Japanese city. They did not speak English that well and we did not know Japanese that well, so we reverted to the international communication language of using hands and making hand motions. I wish I had gotten a picture of them as they were so friendly and kind. So after we asked them we went and looked for Gion and walk around there. It was interesting as I was reading about Kyoto and supposedly the Japanese during World War II destroyed a lot of the historical or older looking districts of Kyoto for use of materials in the war. This could explain why most historical places in Kyoto are located on the outer areas of Kyoto.

Photos:

Then after we explored the Gion and downtown area we decided to go to a bar that my friend wanted to visit, so we headed towards the subway. We got on the train and started riding it when the train stopped at one of the stops and did not continue forward, so we were confused why it stopped going. But just as the confusion was about to get to us we were met by a kind Japanese stranger who decided to inform us that the train stopped here but we had to take the next train. Little did we realize that he was drunk hehe…. so he was a “little” more friendly then most Japanese people. He started talking to us, he asked if we spoke Japanese and we would say a little or stuff like that. After that began a 20 minute train ride filled with laughs and other interesting moments as he guided us to the station we required. During that trip he told us he was 73 years old and was just returning from a night of drinking. It was amazing as he did not look 73. He then said I was tall and he hit me on the head friendly. It was funny as he would speak in fast Japanese to us and we would try or pretend to understand what he was saying, and after he was done talking he would say “do you understand” and we would be like chotto or something like that and then he would laugh hehe… he had one of those laughs that at first you see nothing funny but you start laughing because his laugh is so great. He told us about his family and where he studied English. Then he tried to explain what we could find once we got to the station. Sadly our ride with the special stranger had to come to an end and we got off promising to say hi if we ever ran into each other. All through the trip I wanted a photo of him, but I was only able to get a reflection shot of him.

In Japan there is a problem of people killing themselves by jumping in front of trains so to counter that they have installed doors and other devices used to prevent people from being able to jump. This was just one of the many I have seen in Japan. This was the most advance one I have seen.

We found the bar that my friend wanted to find, but not after we walked left instead of right on the exit of the station and explored a different district of Kyoto. It was a more residential area. We were asking people where to go and they would try to help us but we kept on getting lost. Just as we were about to give up we found it. But before that we found Kendo club and we were scared to go near and take photos so we took them from afar.

At the bar we were the only ones there and so the women who owned the place came and talked to us. She was 37 and had visited Canada in her high school age. She and the old man are so far some of the most unique and cool people I have met in Japan. For many people the perception of Japan is of a country that is conservative, but when we found these two people they brought so much joy to my heart as they were people who were living their own life to the rules that they thought were best, whether people thought it was correct or not. She is 37 and her parents wish her to be married so when friends or family ask why she is not married they say she is sick because for them that can be the only reason why she is not married. But she said maybe I never will marry and I thought that was cool as she was doing what she thought was right and not what others made her believe. As we were leaving we checked the bill and realized that it was only 3100 yen, when it should have been closer to 4000 yen, because she had given us the teas for free. That just made me respect her more and more. Even though I may not use the device my friend was using, I will go there to drink Tea as she seemed friendly.

We had to leave sadly as we would have missed the last train back to Hirakata if we didn’t. So we caught the train, as it was so late we had to local train it back to makino. This turned a 10 minute train ride into a 30 minute train ride, but I did not care as it was blast. I think it was one of the most fun days I have had in Japan.

Sorry for long post, but I wanted it to be good, leave comments please.