Seoul's Wednesday Demonstrations

Last week Aya and I went to Seoul for a few days. This is the first time we were back in 7 years, despite being fairly close all the while. Flights from Beijing take only about 2 hours. Mostly we went back to take advantage of the holiday here in China, since it was the Chinese New Year and I had a week off from work.We also thought it might be nice to see a bit more of Seoul since last time we were on a fairly rushed weekend tour. I can't say we succeeded very much in that since for half of the days we were there it was the new year in Korea as well so many places shut down. We did get to the war museum and I managed to find the statue to comfort women in front of the Japanese embassy, but beyond that we just ate a lot of Korean food, walked around shopping areas, and met with a friend.
The War Museum was indeed interesting. Initially we approached from a strange angle so made our way first through a large yard of old military craft from tanks, planes, transports, and even a ship/cruiser. It seemed like we were encouraged to climb aboard the cruiser, so we did. Aya found the bridge and we had a bit of fun mucking around spinning the wheels and shifting the levers. It was only after climbing down that I realized it was a replica of a ship that had seen action about a decade ago. All about the ship were red marks to show where bullets or shrapnel had hit it. The attack left 7 sailors dead.Inside the museum the story was not any happier. Spread over three levels, each section dealt with a different stage or perspective of the war. I think the most interesting thing to me, in general, was that the North attacked while the South was unprepared and just after U.S. troops had left for Japan. While tactically smart, I find it odd that the North denies these events and claims it was first the South that attacked. Events seem at odds with that interpretation and I would assume they would want to take credit for the clever maneuver, but I'm no military historian. Overall the museum was interesting in its displays, but I thought a bit haphazard with the layout. It felt like the same story, in full, was repeated in each section and so after 3-4 parts in about 2 hours we decided to cut to the UN forces section, then call it done. It was interesting to see how many countries contributed to the effort, but also what they contributed. A number of nations contributed rice and oddly Japan, fresh from defeat, also contributed medical aid and rice. It seems rice can never be under appreciated.The next day I took a walk to see the statue commemorating the comfort women during the war of Japanese Aggression or WWII or, what have you. Of course in East Asia, accounts differ as to the details, but roughly the story is that during the war Japanese troops kidnapped women to serve in their brothels. After the war was over, much later, there were negotiations between the governments of Korea and Japan. A settlement was paid and apologies made, but some S. Koreans were not happy with the terms or apology. Protests started to be staged in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 1992 and have continued almost without pause every week. On the 1000th protest day the statue, "Pyeonghwabi", was erected. It was this statue that I was going to see. The protests have continued since then and that was very noticeable when I arrived. There were many political posters and even what appeared to be a man living next to the statue. He approached me at first and then realized I spoke no Korean. The odd thing about that is the next few groups of people to arrive to view the statue were also not Korean, they were Japanese. I was especially curious because over the weeks before my visit Japan and Korea had agreed to a new set of payment and apologies. The same old resistance arose, but it seemed to not have the same wind as before. I have to wonder, as the people involved in this conflict become old and die will these old perceptions die as well? Should they? 

This Is 34

Turning 34 two weeks ago was just another day in the year, but a time also to reflect a little bit about getting older. I guess that now I officially feel like I am no longer young. There are a few grey hairs in my beard, sometimes I find it difficult to read small writing on a computer screen (just bumped this up from 12 to 16 font size) and there are days were I feel like my back is getting stiff. Instead of thinking about all the pints I will have with the guys, now I think about staying home and not having a headache all day Saturday. Most days I get up early and even on weekends now its hard to sleep past 7am or stay up much past 10pm. If I get up in the middle of the night, which happens more often than not now, I feel stiff for at least a few steps. 

So another year has passed and besides the physical indicators of middle age I also feel that I am in my prime in many ways. I am pretty fit and exercise just about every day. I am generally healthy and have good body weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. Neither Aya nor myself have any major health problem. That is something to be thankful for, a wife and good health! Being DINKs allows for a good deal of disposable income to save or spend on traveling and so we are enjoying today while also making a good nest for tomorrow. My job is very enjoyable and I feel it is secure. I have a good outlook for the future. I guess I say all that to mean, sure some things are happening as I age, but for the most part life is very good. Here is to 34 and another year of gray hairs appearing. I welcome them. 

Resolutions

Saturday night, the 2nd of January, Aya and I landed in Beijing. The AQI was at 540. Off the charts more or less. A welcome home to Beijing sort of a day. Of course I was disappointed. I could see the smog in the airport terminal and had my mask on before the airplane doors even opened. Our driver, Peter, told us that even in ancient times there was air pollution and that Beijing wouldn't be signaling any more "red alert"s as they were too inconvenient for working people and parents. Ah... home.

So now that its been a few days and the skies are blue, let me begin to write the new year post, but without any silly resolutions.

It was a good year. Aya and I were both employed and both of us enjoy our jobs and hope to continue with them indefinitely. Of course, for an international school teacher indefinitely just means at least one more year, but for Aya she wishes her job to last a long time. I also started a part time class with Global Online Academy which I have really enjoyed and seems like it will lead to a leadership position at my international school because of it. Work has been happy and home has too. We like living in Beijing, usually. Sure, the skies can be very unhealthy at times. However, we try to make the best of what we have. Poor air days just mean staying in the filtered indoors for a movie or games. Pretty much ok with us homebodies. Our health has been good. No major issues, few minor ones. The friends and family front has been good too. No major illnesses or deaths and we got to see both our families and grandparents within the last year as well as numerous old friends. It seems the older I get the more I understand that some friendships are forever and that family is important. I can't believe sometimes how old I am already. It seems like yesterday I was young, but this aging thing is going pretty good so far.

Quite often Aya says, "we are lucky" or something of that nature. I think I say it a bit too, but mostly I am just backing her up and of course we are. This past November I was scheduled to take a group of kids to Paris for an MUN conference. It ended up being cancelled because of the attacks there and a lot of the kids were disappointed, naturally. The thing is, many of those kids still pushed to go and didn't seem to understand why they couldn't. They focused more on how it was unfair to them rather than on the gravity of the situation. This is why we constantly remind each other of our good luck and do not take it for granted. Life can change at any instance, so planning for the future is good but you must also live today as much as you can. At the same time, we cannot take for granted our good fortunes and positions in life. Getting wrapped up in what we don't have only serves to make you unhappy (unless what you don't have is crippling poverty or something). Not often enough, perhaps, do people feel satisfied. Sure, we say it time to time, the important things in life are free, etc., but how many people actually live that? This year, maybe that should be people's silly resolution. 

6 Years On

This past weekend Aya and I celebrated our 6^th anniversary and this year it was her year to choose where we would stay or what we would do. She chose wisely and we spent a night in the Kerry Hotel in downtown Beijing. The Kerry is a nice place and Aya got us an executive room. This means a “free” happy hour and small buffet as well as access the the Executive Lounge with a nice view, media, tea cookies, etc. We planned to go for afternoon tea, have a workout/use the pool, get a massage, have some dinner at the hotel and get stinking drunk. Unfortunately, the air in Beijing was apocalyptic when we arrived. Though the hotel must have some sort of filtration system, the air inside was still an “unhealthy” 180aqi.

Long story short, we ended up spending most of our time in our hotel room with the air filter the hotel could provide, playing board games and munching on the snacks the hotel provided. Much to the Kerry’s credit, Aya had told them it was our anniversary and the hotel provided a bottle of wine, nuts, and a nice cake to mark the occasion.

The luxuries of life at our finger tips, but just out of reach, it made me think about how much those things didn’t matter. I had a really great time just spending a night with Aya, playing board games, drinking some scotch, and hitting the hay early. The best things in life are (nearly) free. I can’t believe 6 years have gone by, they have gone so fast. We talked about each year that we have been together and where we were for each anniversary. It took a little doing to figure out all the details. Each year as we do this the minor things will be forgotten, I’m sure. That’s ok. The important things, they don’t get forgotten.