I got back from [South] Korea a few days ago. It was amazing! I needed to go there , as the nearest foreign country, for visa reasons, and I stayed with a Japanese/Korean Baha'i couple on the outskirts of Seoul. They were the most lovely people. Toyoko, the wife, took me to a traditional market on one day, then a typical Korean cafe, where she also explained Korean culture to me. Her explanation was incredible, and really interesting particularly as it was from a Japanese perspective. She explained that unlike Japan, where everything is fairly formal, you say itadakimasu before eating, gochisousama afterwards, women cant cross their legs......, Korean culture is fairly relaxed. As if to demonstrate, in the cafe we were in, a middle-aged woman sitting nearby suddenly started talking to us, asking what age we were (age difference dictates the level of language used in Korean), and asked whether Toyoko was Japanese (we were speaking in Japanese). Then she told Toyoko that the chef was really busy and told her "Why arent you up there helping her?" The directness was so unlike Japan- and not even in Australia would a customer offer to help a chef get food ready!
Although I didn't go into Seoul proper at all because both me and Toyoko dislike large cities, the area of Seoul we were in (right on the outskirts) was about the same density as the Sydney CBD and there was nothing bu apartments in sight. I shudder to think of what the Seoul CBD must be like.
I recently started reading a Baha'i book called 'The Dawn Breakers', a book that is probably the biggest book I've ever seen. It's about as thick as I can stretch my thumb and my second finger apart - just to demonstrate how massive it is! It was written by one of the first Baha'is, who was alive at the same time as Baha'u'llah, the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith (Baha'u'llah lived 1817-1892 in Persia). The book is basically a history of the first years of the Baha'i Faith and it is amaaaazing. I'm not far into it yet, but the anecdotes it gives of what these people did for their beliefs are incredible- particularly given the persecution they received. The thing I like most about it is, because the author was alive at the time, and really "ablaze" with his beliefs, it sets an incredible, almost contagious, tone for the story.
A friend of mine was telling me the other day that she likes the quotes I put up on here in some of my earliest posts. I don't know whether I've put this one up yet, but its one of my favourite ones. I like it especially because it helps you to ensure that your love for others is genuine, at a thoughts level. And I think heaps of other qualities flow through from that... :
Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path
- Abdu'l Baha
We just received a copy of Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness, the second in the Moribito series which Cathy translated. I read the first one and loved it, I think I wrote about it in an earlier blog post of mine, but I'm really excited to get into it. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been properly released in America or anything yet, so I'll probably be one of the first people to read it :) Looking forward to it!
Sonia
Wonderful to read your journeys.
ReplyDeleteTonight I am going down to a small town called South Johnstone, to pick up Junko. Small world eh. One week Japan, next week Tully (you can find that on a map), Feluga (where your Uncle David lives and you won't find it on a map), and South Johnstone (a sugar mill that might be on a map). Junko is here for a day and then goes to Rockhampton.