Happy Birthday to me, Part deux

To jump right in

Japan

Seriously, lifelong dream accomplished right here. Going to Japan has been on my list of things I wanted to do ever since I discovered anime and manga (it was early in life, let me assure you). Not only did I get to visit Japan, but I got to go to, what, 7 different cities? I got to see so many things, experience so much, and-perhaps more importantly-reconnect with some friends that I hadn't seen in a LONG time. Some things are important, and those things, no matter how distant, should be kept close.

Vietnam

Vietnam was never in my list of places to go, but, the opportunity presented itself, and I am not the kind of person who will turn down travel. Ever. Out of all my adventures this past year, I think this one has the biggest list of 'bad' against it. That said though, having this unique experience was eye opening and well worth it-despite the down sides. Seeing a war torn, 3rd world country is something that everyone should do. It has a profound effect on the psyche. 

2 year anniversary with the hubs

I feel like this one is sort of self-explanatory. How could I not be excited about being married for 2 years, without there being any violence or straight up murder? I never thought I'd get married in the first place. To have it last this long is sort of a surprise. A pleasant one, yes, but a surprise nonetheless. 

World Expo

Another one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that I got to do. Since the expo is only held every few years, and never in the same country consecutively  the fact that I was in the right place at the right time is just amazing. I don't think this will be my last expo though, since there is still YEARS left for me to travel. Who knows when this will come up again though, but that chance is still there. It had its bad points, but it was still a unique experience to be able to have some part in. 

Acceptance into SFU

As I mentioned in the 10 things you likely didn't know about me post, I was not really great with that whole education thing when I was younger. It took me a while to get the swing of things, what with this being my 3rd stint in post secondary education. But, my acceptance into SFU (Simon Fraser University NOT San Francisco University) proves to me that I have grown into my intelligence. I am not a stupid person-I'm just full of hate and rage and, sometimes, laziness. But acceptance into university on my own merits, on my own terms, it's something to be proud of.

And in this vein-being asked to have an editing part-hell, even being allowed to read-a now (at the time, soon to be) published novel...well now. If that isn't making it, i don't know what is. The fact that it was an awesome book by one of my favourite people just made it that much better.

여수 셋

I don't have anything else to say. Consider this the photo post .
Oh, wait, no! I did have something to add! It was disappointing to see that Canada was not in attendance at the international pavilion. Apparently, Korea tried really hard to get my country there, but it just wasn't in Canada's budget. But new fighter jets are.
Also, I have discovered that Sweden is like the awesome parts of Canada, without all the bullshit! So, Viva Sweden!

여수 World Expo 둘

That last post ended on an angry note-just as my first day at the World expo did. That entire day was one disappointment after another. We couldn't get into any of the specialty buildings-like the one on robotics, or the aquarium.
This is what made us decide to go for a second day. Blasphemy, right? Well, we wanted to see the aquarium, and the robots, and the rest of the international pavilions that we missed.

Oh, and the good thing about the first day, the one shining beacon during the otherwise shittastic day was that we found the India pavilion had vegetarian curry. Thank science for India! 인도 FTW!

The second day started off just as beautiful as the first. That is the nice thing about early summer in Korea, before the monsoon season starts. The weather is fantastic-sunny and hot, with long days, and cool nights.
It was also a better start to the day because I A. got a coffee right away B. got to eat some food and C. there seemed to be less ajimmas in attendance. So far, so good.

We tried going to the aquarium right away, but the lineup was slated at 3 hours. The aquarium was on our list of things to do...but 3 hours? 진짜? We bailed on that, and went to the robot pavilion instead. There was still a line up, but it was much more manageable, at 30 minutes.

It was pretty cool, and had some awesome shows and innovations for the future of ocean protection. But, again, it was all in Korean. The good thing about that is that the staff pretty much let Kristan and I wander wherever we wanted, to read the English signs about all the robots and technology. 

After we left, we went to another pavilion....the Marine civilization and city Pavilion, I think. This was where they showed concept 'underwater houses'  so that, once we've destroyed the earth, we can move into the water. Or that's the impression I got. Once again, it was all in Korean. Shocking, I know.

The concept was pretty interesting though, and once the population declines significantly, it isn't an entirely bad idea, once you change a few things.

When we left that building, we discovered it was raining. Being from Vancouver, the rain doesn't bother me much. It did, however, bother the ajimmas. This was when my husband and I looked at each other, smiled, and went to see the line at the aquarium.

Which was a fantastic idea. Many people left, and the line was now at 1 hour, 30. Yes, that is still along time, but, we both wanted to go, so we bit the bullet and waited. And it was awesome! I love aquariums. Hell, I love the ocean, and everything in it. It is such an amazing force of nature...and so beautiful, and balanced. Until humans fuck it all up, of course.

We finished off with the rest of the international pavilions that we had missed the day before. It was all still in Korean, and still angry, and ignorant, but, by this time, I was just too tired to give a fuck.

There was so much potential for the expo...and I was let down, for the most part. It wasn't all bad. I did learn a lot about other countries, and their response to the world's oceans crisis. I got to see an awesome aquarium, which is apparently eco friendly-even though I doubt that Korea knows what eco friendly even means. I got to see Yeosu, which is very pretty.

But I also got to see the full force of the ignorance of Korea, Koreans, and some other parts of the world. As good as the good bits were-i will remember the anger over the indifference of the state of the oceans, and the living coast. 

여수 World Expo

Back when I was still in Korea, I had the chance to go to the Yeosu World Expo, which featured "The living Oceans and coast" as it's theme.
Which was quite the crazy random happenstance since my major happens to be Earth and Ocean science.
I had some great expectations about the World Expo, since (a little history here) I have studied the founding of the world expo, in England, from both literature and art history standpoints. I like to be well-rounded with my education.
Anyways!
It was a beautiful day when we got there, bright and early, so we had the ENTIRE day to explore the grounds, which were huge. And it was right beside the ocean, which was both beautiful and handy, what with the ocean theme and all.

We went wandering around the International Pavilions first, before visiting any of the "main" attractions. Like the science pavilion (!! I'm such a nerd). There were a lot of countries representing! Some of them were huge and super interesting, with huge interactive displays, movies, speeches by the president, and all sorts of cool things.

That said... a lot of them seemed to miss the mark. Completely. Many countries used their pavilions to promote tourism to their country. Which is fine, but some of the countires didn't have any information on the oceans, or the coast, or how they were trying to save either of them. Some of the countries were landlocked,  and promoted their lakes or rivers. Which I found disappointing.

Now, by this time, I was hungry, and went on the hunt for food. Now, this is when things started to go really downhill.

What part of "Oceans and the LIVING coast" evokes the idea of "all you can eat seafood buffet" or "We don't have anything vegetarian". After going to just about every food place, and hearing and seeing this...I was furious. Absolutely livid.
We got Dunken Donuts for food. And I ate it angry as fuck.

Now, if this was the only show of Korea's absolute ignorance and stupidity about the state of the oceans, and all that, it would have been fine. But it wasn't. Not even close. And it was so early in the day, that the idea of doing the whole thing, surrounded by ignorant old ajimmas...It wasn't looking good.

But, we continued on. Only to be slapped in the face with more and more proof about how ignorant Korea is about the world, and the oceans, and kindness, and all that.

The ajimmas-the Korean word for old woman-are mean. Like, war torn, don't give a fuck, mean. They will push, shove, cut in line, elbow, and yell. Over everything.

Every one of the "main" attractions started off really good-showing how the oil spills are killing the ocean life; showing the effects of over-fishing and bottom dragging; the dangers of the acceleration of animal extinctions;  and the effects of global warming on the entire planet. It was awesome, and an effective way to teach children the importance of the world and giving a shit about nature. That is, of course, until the end of all these attractions basically a pat on the head, saying 'But don't worry, someone else can fix all this! You just keep doing what you're doing!"
Ignorant pricks.


Oh, and the complete misunderstanding of the word "World'. Can't forget that. Everything was in Korean. And, for the most part, ONLY Korean. Even the international pavilions had Koreans on as staff to explain everything in Korean. Now, I can speak a little Korean, and can read it fairly well, but, I lived there for a year. Most of the international visitors did not. Nor can they speak Korean at all. Many of them have limited English as well, making it even more difficult to understand the complete butchering of the theme.

The all Korean, all the time sort of ruined the international feel of the world expo. It is no wonder that most of the visitors are Korean. And that they had to discount the entry fee just weeks into the expo. I guess it's hard to make money when catering to such a small audience.

Alright, I am actually sort of angry writing this, so I will continue this in the next blog. And actually the next post, and not some month later one.

xo