Hakata Dontaku Port Festival

(or Fukuoka, Japan - part one)

i arrived in fukuoka in the early afternoon on May 4th - the second, and last, day of the Hakata Dontaku Festival. i knew that there was some kind of festival going on before i went, but coming from a city whose prime activity is festivals, i didn't really think much of it. turns out that this is one of the biggest festivals in all of japan! over two million people turn out every year for the two day celebration that dates back over 820 years.

ladies in kimono and flower hats - hanakasa - unofficial symbols of the festival.

in 1179 the merchants of Hakata (fukuoka) organized a parade for their feudal lord. the parade, named Matsubayashi after the lord it originally honoured has remained unchanged since the middle ages. on may 3rd of every year a parade of over 12,000 locals in all kinds of traditional dress follow a procession of three gods of fortune on horse back - Fukurokuju (god of long life), Ebisu (god of business), and Daikoku (god of wealth). in the Edo period (1603-1868) floats and showcases of dolls were added to the parade. on the second day of the festival another parade showcasing groups and individuals from all over the island of Kyushu takes place. stalls of food and goods for sale are set up along the parade route. over 30 stages are set up around the city to highlight traditional dancing and music.

a baton twirler in the parade... so cute!

one of many marching bands

one of the many stages erected around the city - this one at Hakata Station.

a food stall - some kind of fried squid balls... i wasn't adventurous enough to try them... :(

banana + chocolate on a stick?!?!?! what more could you ask for?!?!

a hashimaki stall - a sort of savoury pancake is rolled up with all kinds of things inside, then covered in mayonnaise, seaweed flakes, and fish flakes - hmmm... not my kind of thing either...

roasted corn
- i was wary, having tried this in korea, but they did it much better in japan! it was worth the 5$ !!!

crepe with chocolate, strawberry, and whipped cream... mmmm... there goes my diet!!!

so many people, stalls and goodies to take in!

i found some higher ground to get this shot of a tiny area of the festival.

parents pay for their kids to dip a cup in the water and try to catch a ball! looked like fun and would have tried myself if it weren't for the funny looks i was getting from the kids!

the closing of the festival includes renditions of the Dontaku dance that spectators are invited to join. the dance involves a pair of wooden spoons being clapped together and waved in the air while a traditional band of musicians plays along. i was lucky enough to happen upon a dontaku dance area and was given my own set of spoons and shown the dance. this was the most memorable part of the whole trip! a couple of hundred strangers dancing and cheering in the street, it was truly amazing!

the band playing music for the dontaku dance.

a shot of the dontaku dancing crowd!

a leader of the dance showing everyone how it's done!

my set of "shamoji" - dontaku dance spoons!

the festival was suspended for a time during the 1800's because the government thought it to be too extravagant. the locals continued the tradition and in 1880 it was reinstated. the celebration was also put on hold during world war II but was quickly brought back to help rejuvinate the area. in 1949 the date was changed from january to may to coincide with constitution day (may 3rd). it is also at the same time as golden week - a week with four national holidays and which is one of the three busiest holiday seasons in japan.

so the first day of my trip to fukuoka was exploring the festival and the many stalls, different foods, people and parade watching, and generally wandering happily. it was a great introduction to the happy-fun place that japan is...

coming up - my addiction to the "amusement centers" and more happy wandering... stay tuned!

back from fukuoka

just a super quick note to say i am back from fukuoka, japan. here are a couple of pictures taken from the fukuoka tower to get you revved up for the posts to come... i promise details soon!

up the coast

towards the city

sorry, i just don't have time for more at the moment... taking the rest of the night off to relax before i'm back to the monsters tomorrow morning! the next few days will be full of so many posts you'll be sick of reading!

ready, set...

GO!

i'm all set for japan tomorrow. i went and got some ¥en today at the KEB (korea exchange bank) and the rate was better than i thought it would be. it's really strange to be buying yet another currency. i don't know if i should think about it in terms of the won or the dollar... then i get confused. foreign exchange has never been my forte...even when i was working at the bank. i always hated questions about exchange and rates, i just can't wrap my head around it.

i'm just going to keep thinking that 100¥ is like 1$...and 1$ is like 1000W... hopefully i won't end up spending my grandchildrens' inheritance! i've heard of people getting really confused in japan and thinking in terms of won when they see a price that says 40,000 which in korea is pretty cheap (around 40$), but in japan it's actually like 400$! i'll just have to steer clear of anything with more than three zeroes! of course, i am looking (thinking, debating...) to buy a digital SLR while i'm there, so that'll probably get into the hundreds of thousands... anyway... just a quickie to say see you all when i get back - hopefully with some great stories to tell - and i'm sorry i haven't been posting much of late... but that's bound to change soon. have a great weekend!

happy may day

four months to go! i know that sounds pessimistic, but i know it's going to fly by just as quickly as the last eight have. today was labour day in korea, as it was in many countries around the world. being canadian, i have always celebrated labour day on the first monday in september and until today didn't know that it's may 1st in almost every other country in the world (barring the US). however, since i am not a "labourer" i didn't get the day off. that was the weird part for me, since in canada it's a day for everyone, not just "labourers". oh well... it was a pretty chill day anyway...

the students are all taking their mid-term exams so there isn't anything for me to do. which is nice because it meant that i spent the morning sleeping in the "rest room" at school and then was allowed to leave at lunch time. so i guess i got my labour day after all! it's just so weird that i still have to go in, even if i spend the whole time sleeping. why not just let me do that at home? anyway, tomorrow will be the same as today (and yesterday) except that i have to teach one class in the afternoon - at work from 8:30 to 4:30 and my only class is from 2:35 to 3:20! ridiculous. anway, like i said only four months and of those, i only have 12 weeks of actual teaching left... it'll fly by.

i went back to the doctor today since i haven't really been getting any better. he gave me 5 days of antibiotics. this is probably why i keep getting more sick, he only wanted to give three days and i told him it wsan't enough - i've pobably developed some kind of antibiotic resistance... who knows if i even need the stupid pills. i think it's all just allergies gone crazy and now that i've gotten some flonase and an inhaler that i'll be better in no time. i hope so anyway, i'm really sick of being sick!

that's my update. there hasn't been anything particularly interesting to write about of late, so sorry if this is kind of boring... promise loads of good reading after my trip to japan this week! so stay tuned!!!

the Bonghwang-dong

no, i'm not writing about dirty things... this post is about the area in gimhae known as bonghwang-dong (dong being akin to 'hood). this is a historically significant area that has recently been renovated to increase it's importance. basically gimhae has been home to people since the bronze age and this particular area housed the ruling class of the Geumgwan Gaya period. it is also the site of the first archeological excavation in korea (in 1920).

really it's a nifty little park now. i'd never visited it though it's been in the back of my mind since fall. i pass by it all the time and today i was walking by and decided to finally check it out.

a map of the whole area. i basically walked around the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

at the front entrance (bottom left of the map) there is a big field where kids play and families picnic. to the right of the field there's a little 'lake' (more of a dirty pond...) which is sort of neat because it has a traditional boat sitting in the middle. on the shore there are raised houses in the style that would have been here hundreds of years ago.

see the boat? and the house? there's a walkway that goes out over the water.

here's a better shot of the boat. (it's actually filled with water.)

i veered into the wooded area to walk around the whole area. when i got to the top i found the Hwangse Rock. i'm lucky the area was renovated in the last few years because that meant signs in korean, english, and japanese, so i could actually learn about the area.

the hwangse rock.

the rock is significant because the son of the prime minister of the Garak period hung out here with his girlfriend, before he knew she was a chick. they played the "urinating game" (whatever that is) here, of course, she couldn't pee standing up and had to trick him using a peice of bamboo. i know, it sounds really weird. here's what the actual sign says:

Hwangse was the prime minister Hwang’s son at the time when the King Gyeomji (Suk King), the ninth king of Garak, governed the country. The prime minister Hwang and Chul were friends and made the promise that if they had a son each, they would be sworn brothers and if they had a son and a daughter respectively, they would be married. The prime minister Chul told Hwang the lie that Yeoeui was a man when the Hwang’s family was ruined.
Hwangse and Yeoeui was brought up together. One day Hwangse suggested the urinating game to Yeoeui. Yeoeui evaded the crisis by using hemp stalk. This game happened at the place call the Hwangse Rock now.
Yeoeui became feminine as she was growing up. Hwangse doubted her sexual identity so he suggested her that they went to the Geobuknae for a bath. Yeoeui was at a loss for the suggestion and confessed the fact that she was a woman. Finally they made a promise to be married.
Afterward, Hwangse got married to the princess Yumin according to the order of the King in compensation for winning the war with Shilla. Yeoeui missed the general Hwangse and was dead. Hwangse also missed Yeoeui, became sick and died at the year when Yeoeui was dead. And the sad legend that the princess Yumin left home to the mountain Yumin and became a Buddhist nun has been handed down.

uh, ya, ok. sorry for making you read that... but it's kind of funny isn't it? (on a side note i wonder about the translations of historic sites in canada and if they sound as bad in other languages as the korean ones do in english...)

the bonghwang-dong is also home to the Yeoeuigak. a shrine to Yeoeui.

up the stairs to the shrine.

and a little further there is another area with raised houses and other traditional buildings.

raised houses and semi-underground buildings were typical in the Gaya period.

this was a neat little area. you can't get in any of the buildings, but they're neat to look at. i'm going to put up some more pictures on my flickr account if you're interested. that's pretty much the bonghwang-dong. it was a nice walk on a beautiful day with a little history lesson to boot!

it's happenin'

i'm going to japan next week for two days!!! i know it's only two days, but still, i'm going to JAPAN!!! when is the next time i'm ever going to be able to hop over for the weekend? probably never... so i might as well take advantage. i picked up my ferry tickets today - it's a three-hour ride from busan to fukuoka - and i also booked my hostel - Khaosan Fukuoka International Hostel... i know it won't have enough time to do all the things i would like to, but i'll try my best!

i also made my trip to immigration to fix up the re-entry on my visa and amazingly there were no problems. i was in and out. since i was in busan i figured i might as well check out the nampo-dong area (one subway station over) since i had never really been there before. it was a really cool area with lots of shopping and street vendors. it seems like an area where you can get anything...

from dried squid...

to kimbap and other street food...

to neck ties...

and don't forget the "feminism fashion" !!!

this was just a neat statue i happened upon.

i didn't even see all of the area, i just wandered around for an hour or so. there were clothing stores, camera stores, outdoor stores, shoe stores, anything you could possibly want. i passed by three different mcdonalds, two pizza huts, a kfc, and many other restaurants. i was hoping to find a subway, but i still don't know if there is one in busan or not... the two things i wanted were the two things i didn't find - a video game store and a subway restaurant. oh well... maybe i'll find them in japan!

my illness was compounded by the not-at-all-fresh air in the city. i bought a face mask and wore it on the trip home, but i felt like a moron... we'll see how it goes... i might wear it and i might not... it just feels weird to have it on. the illness isn't gettin any worse, but it's not really getting better yet either... so all i can do is hope for the best!

to the doctor we go again...

went to the doctors today since i've been feeling like crap for the past five days. my chest has been tight, my nose running like a race horse, and i was having trouble breathing. turns out that the asian dust has affected me more than thought... at least that's what the doc said. i have mild asthma and allergies to the air - that's why i feel like crap all the time.

so he prescribed me an inhaler and some pills (not sure what those are). i looked up the inhaler online before using it and it seems ok. the same thing i'd get if this were happening back home. so yay! ummm...ya. anyway, the good news is that i'll hopefully be feeling better soon... the bad news is that i really am allergic to korea... just like that very first doctor told me in september! i'll either have to limit the amount of time i spend outside or get one of those face masks like the locals... think i'll feel pretty stupid wearing one, but if it's going to help... then it might just be the only option. i am certainly not going to stop going outside! so, coming soon, pics of me "going native" - i promise!

off to immigration in the morning so keep those fingers crossed there are no problems!

not so cool school

you have to read the previous post "is it friday already" for this to have full impact... so go do that.

now, isn't school #2 so cool? i swear that thirty seconds after posting that my co-teacher from school #2 called. i shouldn't have answered. keep in mind it's 8PM here... turns out that the principal decided today that i should actually go to school and sit around and do nothing all day!!! WTF??!?!?! my co-teacher told him there is nothing for me to do, that the computer doesn't even work, and that i'd already been told not to come in, but NO, he insisted that i have to be there. so i told her that i'm taking a sick day - which is no lie, i am sick... and that i'm going to the doctor tomorrow... which i was planning on doing anyway... along with going to the bank etc...

i told her to make sure that i don't have to go in next week when everyone else in the entire school will be away on a field trip... since that's when i'm supposed to be going to japan. fuckers. i'm so pissed.

this is one of the biggest problems with foreign teachers in korean public schools - they don't understand that a little bit of leeway with the foreign teachers goes a long way. that we don't have the same work load as the koreans and spend half of our day sitting around doing nothing to begin with... so why not let us enjoy korea a little more and give us that time off? it wouldn't bother me so much if there weren't so much disparity in the system... like i said at winter vacation about people going to thailand for a month or more... and i was at school every day. anyway... i digress...

co-teacher just called back and said that it's ok for me to "take a rest" tomorrow. she also asked about next week and he said that if i wanted to go to school that i could, but if i didn't want to then i didn't have to. what does that mean? is it some kind of passive aggressive attempt to get me to go sit there all day? when she said goodbye, she told me to have a nice trip... i mean it's pretty obvious, isn't it? sit around with nothing to do? or go to japan? let me see... ...

is it friday already??!?

it sure feels like it! i don't have to go to work until monday!!! plenty of time for me to get over whatever new korean disease has taken over my body! i hope anyway...

why don't i have to work? is there a national holiday? perhaps a "ped" day as we used to call them in high school? nope. school #2 is just really awesome. tomorrow is the last day of mid-term exams and being the wonderful people they are, have told me that i don't need to bother coming in since there is nothing for me to do. if only school #1 would do the same... i have three days of sitting around next week during their mid-terms. if both schools were cool, then i'd have eleven days off!!! i could have gone somewhere really cool with that much time... but alas, my school ain't cool... (ok, sorry so cheesy...)

anyway, that accounts for thursday, what about friday? saturday is school #2's "birthday" - yes, schools have birthdays too! (ok, maybe only in korea, but with the way they count birthdays here, i'm not surprised.) since the big day falls on a saturday this year, they've given everyone friday off! yay! so i have a four day weekend ahead of me... what to do? what to do? not much.

i've got a bunch of daytime errands that i need to take care of - bank, immigration, shopping... you know, important stuff! (ha..) well, immigration is important. i need to get my visa 'fixed' so i can go to japan next week. when i got my visa, they issued me a single entry, which means i'm only allowed to use it to get in the country ONE time.... ergo, if i leave the country i will have to re-enter on a tourist visa and it will be illegal for me to work.

so i have to go and pay them another 50$ to make my visa a multiple entry. like i didn't pay them enough in the first place. i would have to do it for thailand in august anyway, so i might as well get it over with now... i'm just praying there aren't any problems like the last time i went to immigration... and i won't have a korean with me this time either. here's hoping i can wrangle my way through the korean immigration system for a second time! keep your fingers crossed for me!

Popping Penguins

YAY! got to school this morning and was informed that my popcorn machine FINALLY arrived. my co-teacher had actually called to cancel the order because it was taking so long... and i was certain i'd never get it! but it came!!!! YAY!!! it's the cutest thing ever... and in true korean style it's shaped like a penguin!!! (of all things!)

in all it's penguin glory

first pops!

it's fast and efficient!

anyone who knows me knows how much i LOVE popcorn... i can't live without it. i've been eating the microwave kind for years, but they don't have any light or fat free here in korea... i've gotten so used to light and butter free that i can't really stand the stuff anymore, so this is the perfect solution! i can put whatever i like on it! (usually kernels flavour powder, but i'm all out and waiting for more to arrive from canada... hint... hint... ;~) anyway, just so happy... at least one good thing happened today.