Highlights from Japan

the Itsukushima Shrine off the coast of Hiroshima

Here are some highlights from my visit to Japan!

Hello To Japan! (6/16)

GLOBIS in Asia prepares to depart Yeungnam for Japan!

Straight from my journal:

In Japan! Flight went flawlessly--I guess I'm getting used to this whole Asian travel thing. We weren't locked out of the Daegu airport this time around, despite leaving more on-time than last time around--less people, less partying the night before, more professors involved. Our last flight from Daegu seemed to come quickly. They were out of bananas, thus ruining my breakfast plans. Curses!

Back in Seoul/Incheon

The layover in Seoul/Incheon flew by! I spent most of it stretching, which felt great. The fact that soccer was on TV helped a whole lot! I got to watch a good chunk of Love Fiction [a Korean rom-com]-- very fascinating film, definitely deserving of dissection later. The number of Koreans has been thinning out understandably; now, i feel flung into the unknown again. Japan is definitely noticeably different than Korea, but less shockingly so than China was, I think. Perhaps having two different Asian Tigers under my belt better prepared me for this third. The weather is humid and overcast; it should be this way for most of our stay, as a typhoon is on its way. I'm exited to cross that off my list of things to experience!

Winding Down Class, Hiking Up Mountains (6/14)

On what would be our second to last day of class at Yeungnam University, we discussed the institutional architecture of the East Asian region. We ran through the alphabet soup of major regional institutions, including ASEAN, APEC, the East Asian Summit, TPP, and SCO. Different countries play different roles in each of these diverse institutions, but through discussion we established some characteristics for different actors. The US wants involvement. China wants a regional block. Japan wants to stay "head goose" economically, equal with China and the US. Korea is somewhat of a go-between/glue for the US, as defense, and China, as the new giant. ASEAN, made up of the littler states in the region, is hedging-- they prefer a mesh of institutions or anything that will prevent them from being squished by the bigger players.

After class, we went on another field trip, this time to Hapcheon, a heretofore unexplored region not far from Yeungnam. Our first visit was an incredible organic bed and breakfast beside a massive man-made lake. The bed and breakfast belonged to a friend Dr. Yi had made at the Yeungnam dining hall a few days prior-- this was a very special visit for us!

Highlights from Beijing

Click below for a slideshow of highlights from my time in Beijing! Or view it here on G+!


And enjoy these video clips (also available on youtube)!

Mountains, Monks, and More Temples (5/26)

C O N T E N T S :

P A R T   I .                    P A R T   I I .              P A R T  I I I .

The foot of Mount Geumjeong

P A R T    I .

H I K I N G   A   mountain at the crack of dawn isn't exactly my preferred activity of choice after a crazy night out, but with my time at Hongbeopsa quickly coming to an end and no other such opportunities in sight, you better believe I took this chance! Not only was this our only opportunity to try the Korean national sport of hiking in ever-beautiful Busan, it was also our only time off before the impending events of Buddha's Birthday and all the responsibilities it entailed. And, despite his innumerable obligations and commitments concerning the ceremonies, the head abbot himself, Juje-Sunim (sp?) joined us on the hike! Hiking in such a beautiful country was a treat by itself, but the addition of such venerable companions made the experience an honor of another kind; all of which was before we really knew the significance of our surroundings and the access our company was to grant us... but I'm getting ahead of myself!

A Day at Hongbeopsa (5/21)

C O N T E N T S:

I N T R O D U C T I O N .    Y I ' S    M O R N I N G   L E C T U R E .   L A N T E R N S  .   C O M P U T E R S .  K I D S .  W A N D E R I N G S .  V I D E O .

This is Mr. Jung. He is legend, but more on that later. In this picture, we're riding in the Golden Jung Express (aka the elevator to the rooftop Buddha)-- hooray!

INTRODUCTION.

THE 21ST of May was our first slowish day in Korea, by which I mean we didn't stray far from the temple. I was very excited about the prospects of finishing off the last of my jetlag with some much-needed R&R--jetlag surprisingly hadn't been too much of a problem, but I was still excited to sleep.

Our main events for the day included spending some time with the Baby Monks and then later meeting with a group of middle school kids who stay at the temple as part of an afterschool program. This meant that we had most of the day to do what we pleased--another departure from the previous days of scheduled chaos.

Although our schedule was slow, the Temple's was not-- the grounds were SWARMING with people, mostly women, who had come to pay respects to the dead (see below).

The Main Dharma hall was packed to capacity!

My day got off to a great start with an enlightening breakfast with Dr. Yi. One of the most valuable parts of my study abroad experience was the unparalleled amount of exposure to the professors, and you better believe I did my best to take advantage of every free second. I would sit with Dr. Yi every chance I got, most often in the dining hall for breakfast, and would ask and talk and listen as much as possible. As one of 775 students in my major, you can imagine it's hard to get access to the ~12 or so professors during the semester. And, because breakfast with professors is regularly quite unfortunately out of the question, I thoroughly enjoyed each and every golden opportunity like the one I had this day.

Dr. Yi spoke briefly of her youth in Korea and her path through life to where she is now. She talked about her memories of the Vietnam era and Korea's involvement in the war, which resonated with me due to the war's effects on my family, especially my father. She also spoke of life in uniform under General Park Chung-hee's militaristic rule and the subsequent economic and cultural revision and expansion, and the sorts of drastic change that entailed. At that moment I was struck by how drastically different our backgrounds were-- America's contemporary history has absolutely no analogues to Korea's rapid and tumultuous rise. I felt so lucky to be hearing first-hand of these events I had theretofore only read about from afar-- Dr. Yi lived those things, which I find incredible.

The Lotus Lantern Festival (5/20)

I    S L E P T  like a rock after our crazy Saturday at the temple and in Busan, but woke nonetheless to the morning gong around 5am. I tagged along with my roommate Andy for a run along the river in the crisp morning air and had a great conversation about International Affairs, Buddhism, Korea, and the world in general. He's on a year-long Fulbright scholarship to study Environmentalism among Buddhist nuns-- his blog can be found here-- so you better believe we had a lot to talk about! Between the exercise, the scenery, and the conversation, it was a phenomenal way to start the day!

Dr. Yi's morning lecture session

A S   W E  returned to the temple, we learned just how busy the day would be for our study abroad group and for the temple at large. It was a week and a day before Buddha's Birthday, and the temple was swarming with people practicing and preparing for the festivities on top of the usual templegoers. The mix of people-- young and old, from near or far, working or worshipping, etc.-- was something I'd grow accustomed to in my stay at Hongbeopsa: it illustrated just how embedded the temple is in its surrounding community.

Dr. Yi sat us down, laid out or schedule for the day, and asked for our reflections on our previous day's adventures. I was shocked at how densely populated Busan was, and apparently it's got nothing on Seoul! The number of people, the sheer number of different stores and how closely-packed they are, the ads and lights and sounds, the number of fish in the fish market... it was all extremely impressive, exciting, and alluring! And I even found an international ATM!

Finally got some won!!