Buddha flies a Heliocopter? I stand enlightened.

Katie Update

Last weekend I went up to Seoul for Buddhas Birthday and Lantern Parade. I hadn't been up to Seoul in a few months and during this trip I went to the university district for the first time. Seoul is vibrant unique city that is easy to forget about in the massive suburb that is Daegu. Countless cute Coffee shop after wine bar after boutique show the common trends.


The lantern festival parade was on Sunday night (another great reason to start work at four). It was pure spectacle. It wasn't as beautiful as the Rose Parade(s) but I have never seen anything quite like it. First of all more people where in the parade than were watching it. Rows and rows of beautiful traditional Hanboks worn by people carrying hand painted lanterns. Large Buddhist congregations will chose representatives to march in the parade including my bosses mother. Along with the traditional music, art and dances where some modern floats. I loved the lanterns of the fire breathing dragons and graceful peacocks but my favorite was one of Buddha flying a helicopter. I hope to see more parades feature divinities with heavy ammunitions soon (Jesus in a Jet? Vishnu in a Tank?). I jest but it was quite bizarre to see monks pushing floats with kids dressed up as Buddha. Fake ears and all.

The parade finished in three lengthy hours. I ran off to get a Starbucks in the middle of it, I have become my mother. After the parade, we scoured the streets for discarded lanterns and found the jackpot in Jogye-sa temple. I took them home via two subways, the bullet train and taxis. They now hang in my window and will hopefully give me luck for my second year in Korea.





In other major news I have finished my Ninja training and received my Black Belt in Hapkido. Tim, Brent and I have trained together for the past year and it was finally time to take the test. We had a crowd of seven watch us and our judge was, no joke, the dean of the bodyguard department at a local university. I was incredibly nervous, sweating bullets before I even began the test. I regretted asking all my friend to come and cheer me on. After all, it is not unusual to fail a black belt test. Even a old foreigner like myself had to hold up some standards.
The test started out with nine different kicking techniques. This part is not only the most exhausting part of the test but also the most difficult. I can't master the forms and although I can kick to eye level my master wants my kicks to be over my head.
The second part of the test is the twenty-one different self defense moves. Hapkido defense focuses on wrist locks. My self defense partner is six foot tall Tim. Not only do I have to restrain him and throw him over my back but he has to do the same to me. Being the “attacker” often involves having your face wiped through pools of sweat. My black belt test was no exception.
The next part of the test was two minute sparing rounds, falls, rolls and kicking apart a three cm board. Nunchucks were cancelled which was bad news for my bruise collection.

I am now the proud owner of my black belt with my name embroidered on it,
키ㄹ크 캐이티
Best souvenir ever!

Tokyo

Stephany was in the worlds largest metropolis for three days. I have a extra day and a half because I flew out later. Tokyo is a city of distinct districts so I have decided to write about these districts in groups instead of a day by day style.

Asakusa
This is the district where we spent the nights. It is built around the Sumida rive, which was the only body of water I saw during our stay. It's very easy to forget that Tokyo is a port city. Asakusa is famous for its Shinto/Buddhist shrine Senso-ji. Stephany and I wandered into Senso-ji during some late night exploring. We had the shrine completely to ourselves and we were able to take some great pictures that would have been impossible in the daytime tourist crowd (they are all on Stephany's camera).



Kappabashi-Dori
This is a street located within Asakusa district. Stephany and I followed the guide book there thinking its was a large store that sold fake food (buying one being side quest of mine) instead we were pleased to discover an entire street selling everything imaginable. Giant mascots to place in front of your restaurant, signs, banners, teapots, accessories for a American themed diner and of course fake food. These miniature works of art aren't cheap and we oohed and aahed over gems like "Donut on the Gold Chain" and "Floating Fork with Spaghetti." After lengthy consideration I walked away with a prefectly replicated bite of steak on a key chain. Money well spent.



Shibuya
Home to the worlds busiest pedestrian intersection, Shibuya is a shoppers dream. Or in my case nightmare, as I was too cheap to by anything. We took in the sights and sounds of Tokyo's high and low brow shopping. There was one store that ranked all the products sold in Japan (in very small categories like face mask or stationary set) and then sold the top three in its store. The entire store changes every week so the Japanese school girl doesn't embarrass herself by wearing last weeks lip gloss. Shibuya is also home to a quality skewers restaurant were we sampled everything from basic yakitori to lotus root.

Harajuku
We spent a huge chunk of time in Harajuku returning day after day. Stephany and I never spied the classic "harajuku girl" in her Gothic Lolita wear and if we did it was often westerners playing dress up. Harajuku is home to small unique shops. It reminded me a bit of 23rd st. at home except cheaper and a bit more trendy. Stephany even bought her own Loita dress here among the row and rows of the super floofy.


Akihabara
It seems that I was the only one in town who didn't know about this place. A thriving electronics market, Akihabara is also home to the strangest Japan has to ofter. Maid Cafes are a dime a dozen here as are stores selling pornographic comic books and figurines. Akihabara is the core of the strange counter-culture of Anime that has spread throughout the world. Stephany and I had a great time poking around, shopping for vintage video games and playing in the arcades. The arcades are a attraction in themselves. They are six of more levels of joystick pushing action. One of the floors is for picture booths. Stephany and I took our picture only to discover that its had automatically whitened our skin and magnified our eyes. Yes, we do look like aliens. The bottom floor is devoted to claw machines wear 100 yen buys you one shot at toys, movies, porn, live jellyfish and salamanders or cigarettes. As strange as this counter-culture is, it was a relief to see. I am still attempting to find some deviance in Korea.


Kichijoji
For anyone who cares this is were I am planning on moving to. As soon as I learn Japanese and find a local job that is. Kichijori is a neighborhood a half hour train ride out of central Tokyo. Stephany and I came here because we had tickets to see the Ghibi Museum (for a Japanese animation studio). The museum was clever and whimsical. It was great fun tracking down all of the signatures, sketches and picture of my favorite Pixar artists as they are fans of Ghibi and often come visit.


What stole the show for me however, is the neighborhood. Quaint shops, tree lined streets and a large park with a lake. How could this fresh example of suburbia be so close to the largest city in the world? And further more how can I move there?




I love Tokyo and I apologize for only writing about snippets of our adventures. I really must rush because my flight for Beijing leaves in 48 hours and I still need to pack. Let me leave you with this.


Ladies and Gentlemen, the famous rockabillies of Yoyogi Park

Kakegawa and Nara

The Kalks and Urhausens are a adventurous bunch, including my cousin Nikki who is teaching in Kakegawa. Stephany and I stayed with her one night in the midst of a torrential storm. The weather kept us from exploring much of the town. Instead Nikki introduced me to my two new favorite foods sake in a juice box and sakura mochi (pink sweet rice wrapped in a cherry tree leaf). Nikki works for Aeon and is lucky enough to teach adults and kids. The demand to learn English is much lower in Japan than in Korea. Nikki's Aeon was the only language school in her adorable town. Despite Kakegawa having fewer foreigners than in Daegu, the locals were nonplussed about Stephany and I hoofing around. Oh and by the way, if your ever in the mood for a macaroon the best ones are in Kakegawa. A bold statement I stand by.


After our overnight we were off to Nara. The capital of Japan for a brief period in the 700's, Nara ranks up with Kyoto in terms of Japanese history. We had a good deal of back tracking to do in order to see Nara and I want to thank Stephany for putting up with me, as I was determined to see the city. The main reason I wanted to see Nara was Todai-ji (remember ji= Zen Buddhist temple). The worlds largest wooden building, Todai-ji is one of the Japan's iconic buildings. It was originally built in 728 and suffered through several fires. The current building was finished in 1709 and is 30% smaller than the original. Inside sits the Daibutsu, a 50 foot bronze Buddha. I wish the weather would have been nicer that day as I wanted to see more of details engraved on the bronze. However the lack of interior lighting creates a feeling that the line between earth and the divine is being blurred. This "smudging"of mundane reality is the reason that when I travel my favorite thing to see is holy places whether they are shrines, temples, mosques or cathedrals.

In one of the pillars in Todai-ji has a large hole exactly the same size as one of Daibutsu's nostrils. Lore says that if you can crawl through the hole you will achieve enlightenment in your next life. I dared Stephany to squeeze through the pillar and she did! She had a large audience of school boys on a field trip. I started to chant "nice shot, nice shot" (a famous english phrase thanks to video games) and soon enough everyone joined in. This rush of dorky adrenaline has to be one of my favorite memories from the trip. The silliness in the temple was not out of place in the country where Hello Kitty sits on Buddha's lap.





Nara is also famous for its tame deer who are a religious symbol in both Buddhism and Shintoism. The deer are tame until the second you buy a deer biscuit from the vendor. After which, they will jump up on you like a dog standing on its hind legs to get a treat. I created the challenge to see who could get the best party pic (you hold out the camera with one arm and take your own picture) with a deer. The other tourists must have believed that we had gone off of the deep end as we ran around putting one arm over the deer and taking picture of ourselves. Not quite the proper way to treat the messengers of the Kami. Sorry Nara deer....



After a long day of traveling we returned to the bullet train station and begin the journey to our final destination, TOKYO!

Of Toris and Bath Houses

Our second day in Kyoto surrounded us with classic Japanese imagery. I felt like I had stepped into Miyzaki's film Spirited Away. First by visiting the central Inari Shrine in Japan, wandering a bamboo forest and then soaking in a bathhouse. All in the pouring rain.

Stephany and I took the train to Fushimi Inari-taisha after a ill conceived attempt to start the day with a bath at the bathhouse (it opens at three). The Shinto shrine is famous for its numerous Torii gates. The Torii is a bright orange gate used to mark the entrance of a holy place. The Shrine we were visiting is devoted to Inari, the deity of financial success. Each Torii in the shrine is donated by a business, which answers our question of "why do some gates look brand new while others are falling apart?'. It also give us a clue of what was written on the back of each Torii.


The numerous Torii that were flanked by fox guardian spirits. The grounds of the shrine continue endlessly up the mountain and the site was littered with thousands of shines for private worship. Like this one patronized by shrine kitty.


At some point in our adventures we decided that we had time for one more summit. We looked at the map on the way up and concluded that it should only take fifteen more minutes to reach the summit. Rule number one of this trip- traveling of any kind never goes as planned. We made it to the group of shrines on the peak of the mountain and than had the brilliant idea of taking a Torii-less shortcut back down.

We wandered down the path beyond the main shrine, past peoples homes and trough small family shrines. I was never too worried as we were never to far from a road or a home. I knew that we were safe from spending the night on the hill top but finding the train station again was a different story. We wandered in the rain though a breathtaking bamboo forest. It must have been for farming as the feeling of being shrunken Alice would be swapped with towering over the clear cutting. I have yet to see bamboo in Korea and the trip through the forest reminded me again that I was in my dream Asia.



At on point we turned a corner and discovered a small shrine with hundreds of strands of paper cranes. In the corner of the shrine was a carving of a Buddha about 18 inches tall. It had a washed out note card in English describing it as a "heavy-light stone". If you make a wish and then guess if the stone will be heavy or light, the Buddha will change its weight to grant it. By now we had been lost for over two hours and I wished that we could find the main entrance within the next ten minutes. I then guessed that the stone was heavy and just about pulled my arms out of their sockets haphazardly picking it up. Leaving the small shrine behind we stumbled right into the inner-shrine at the heart of Inrari. Thanks heavy-light stone!




Next up on our Spirited Away adventure. Funaoka Onsen, a classic Yubabba style bathhouse. Kyoto has no local thermal hot springs so we were unable to experience the classic Onsen experience. Steph and I still wanted to give the public bath a try, did a little research and found Funaoka. The onsen is one of the few remaining from the 1920's and it has retained its original wood carvings that strangely enough depict the Chinese invading Manchuria. I have gone to many public houses in Korea and I forgot how awkward the first time dropping trow and "hot tubbing" nude can be. It was no issue as Stephany did fantastic at all cultural challenges Japan threw at her. The Onsen has indoor and outdoor pools. The outdoor bamboo pool was the most pleasant but strangely I kept going back for more time in the electric pool. There is a reason my body was buzzing, they run a weak current in the water.

The dip in a classic Onsen was the prefect way to warm up after a long hike in the rain.


Next up- Our visit with Nikki with a Saki in a juice box AND Nara- Tame deer, wild schoolboys.

Kyoto

A theme to our trip to Japan seems to be traveling. I am willing to wager that Stephany and I spent equal amounts of time on trains, buses and subways as we did sightseeing or exploring.

Eventually Stephany and I did make it to Kinkaku-ji. The famous golden Zen Buddhist temple is as synonymous with Kyoto as the geisha. Kinkaku-ji (Ji means Buddhist temple) was built in 1393 as a retirement villa and then converted into a temple. The original building was much less ornate than what we saw as the original burnt down in 1955 and the gold leaf has recently been replaced. You don't see the temple until you round the corner waking me to the fact that I was really in Japan.

I can't say this enough. I love Japan.

Japan is very different than Korea. The mythical East Asia of my dreams lives on strong within Japan. The towns are diverse architecturally and the people have fascinating differences in fashion. Also many people commute on bike and strangely enough Kyoto reminded me of Amsterdam. Japan was a lovely break from the stares and faceless housing blocks of Korea.

After Kinkaku-ju, Stephany and I found our way back into the central part of Kyoto and decided to wander with temple intent. Its impossible not to find temples in Kyoto and stumbled into a Shinto Shrine and a massive Zen Buddhist temple.


Many Japanese would describe themselves as both Buddhist and Shinto. Shinto tends to be the religion of choice for life and Buddhism for after death. Shinto is a purely Japanese religion based on the worship of Kami spirits who are found in all living and natural things. While 90% of Japanese take part in shrine ceremonies only 30% are considered to ascribe to the faith system. Stephany is standing in front of a Shinto shrine in the picture. They have distinctive orange Tori gates and often a brighter color scheme. Yet it is difficult to tell the two apart at a glace as Buddhism and Shintoism are so connected many temples are templeshrines with the symbolism and traditions of both religions.

Kyoto has over 1600 Shrine and Temples. We had no specific plans to visit temples outside of the Golden One so I felt very lucky that our wanders took us to Mii-dera. Founded in 672 this Buddhist temple is one of the four largest in Japan. The site of much turmoil and warfare the temple was burned to the ground in three major wars before finally being rebuilt in 1599. Its sprawling grounds are prefect for two sisters with a knack for stumbling off the beaten track. Along with the main halls, we explored the bell tower and the graveyard. I will always remember the emotions of standing in that empty graveyard with the rustling sounds of the sotobas in the wind (sticks meant to represent stupas left at grave site). It was a moment that made me reflect on how blessed I am to be traveling yet again.


We also traversed a bit up the mountain to find a small fresh water spring dedicated to Jizo the guardian of children who die before their parents. Statues of Jizo are often decorated with red bibs.


After the exploring the shrine, We traveled to Gion. The historic center of Kyoto which is home to narrow back alleys and traditional homes. Stephany and I lurked the streets hoping to see a Gieko (Kyoto term for Geisha). This was our quest and we traveled up and down the streets stopping at nothing.


Ok, maybe some savory mochi in front of Kyoto's Miniami-za Kabuki theater could
cause us to pause.

We rewarded in the early evening to see a young Maiko (Geisha in training) being herded by a older woman teetering in her okobo shoes. It felt much more like stepping into a movie set then reality and the uniqueness of the situation is striking me more as I write this then it did at the time. I regret not taking a picture of her but I did manage to snap one of this full fledged Geisha.


That's all for now, later I'll share the epic story of "Kalk Sisters; Lost in the Bamboo Forest!"

Hi every one,

This is Stephany reporting to you from my very first international trip! This whole experience has been amazing and I hope to be able to have another wonderful experience like this soon (-ish). Every part of this trip has been great, I'm just sad it has to end so soon.

The first night of our trip set the pattern for this trip. By that I mean that we got lost. After arriving in Kyoto that night we eventually found our hostel and went right to bed. The hostel we stayed at was really nice, but when you are in a very small four-person room and two of them are already asleep at ten o'clock it can be difficult to rummage through your bags to get ready for bed. we ended going out into the hall and practically emptying all of our stuff on the floor because we didn't want to wake our roommates up.

The next day we went to the golden temple. Katie's lonely planet guide book, which we have been following without question, told us that it was right off the 205 bus route. So we hop on the first 205 bus we see and are off to see the golden temple. So we ride along not at all concerned about being the only ones on the train. Now remember what I said about getting lost? Not too far after we got on the bus pulls over and the driver proclaims, "finishu" we continue to chat excitedly about being in Japan, "finishu," still no response, "FINISHU!" We hastily got off the bus and found our selves in the middle of a random Kyoto street.




And that's all the time my fellow international traveler had to guest blog. I said goodbye to Steph today and I am prepping for my last day in Tokyo. I will finish what my sister started when I arrive back in Korea.