Recently, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won the election against LDP (Liberal Democratic Party). I'm looking forward to what the government under DPJ would do with regard to China-Japan relations (but really, Sino-Japanese relations). Even now, years after World War II, China and Japan's relation is less than...stellar. I remember being in Japan in the '90s and the ethnic tension was still sky-high. The Machiavellian ideals of Japan were still in effect in the '90s, and national-glorification/opinion was regarded higher than historic fact. Even though now, Japanese media and print are more "open" (e.g. allowing the publication of) the atrocities that were committed by the Japanese government during WWII, there has never been an official apology from the LDP of Japan to any of its neighbors. This is where the bitterness lies. Although there are recognition and awareness in Japan now, there lacks responsibility for the actions.
Since WWII, DPJ has had better relations with China, and I hope that the Japanese government, in the coming months or years, will take this opportunity to make a formal apology. Even though an apology won't resolve everything, it is at least the first step in bettering relations in East Asia.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Foggy day
Yesterday, a mystical fog enveloped the entirety of Valparaíso - all its hills, shore, and city. Everything seemed to move slowly as I gazed out the window. Fog has that effect, I guess. I grudgingly got up, feeling the effect of the fog already, and headed once again to Santiago, this time for a meeting with a doctor of Servicio Medico Legal in el Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice). There was another visitor from the US there, a forensic investigator from California who was helping the ministry with forensic work left over from the Pinochet era (with the desaparecidos during the dictatorship). Even though I desperately wanted to drill them on their work, I was there for another issue altogether.
As I headed out of the ministry building after the meeting and made my way through crowds of people to get to the subway, I ran into a large gathering that proved to be formidable to pass. I looked up and realized that a huge crowd had formed under an overhead, public TV screen that was broadcasting the soccer match between Chile and Denmark. The entire crowd (which blocked the automobile street) was hushed as Chile took control of the ball. Whispered gasps and hushed claps were silenced by the invisible power of the crowd. I shook my head and continued winding through statue-still people to get to the subway. I didn't want to stay when the game would end for fear of the inevitable stampede.
The bus ride back to Valparaíso was oddly tiring - it only lasted a bit over an hour. When I got to Valparaíso, it was drizzling, so I decided to take a micro back home instead of weathering (haha...) the 30 minute walk. I had forgotten that the streets were often one-way in the city, and by the time I realized, I was already well on my way up Playa Ancha. I desperately hoped that the micro would make a sharp U-turn at the university, but I was in no such luck. The micro wound all the way around Playa Ancha, the biggest hill in Valparaíso. As I wiped the dew from the micro window, I noticed that I had a panoramic view of the entire bay. The view was phenomenal and eerie. The ocean seemed to diffuse into the sky, its location a forgotten remnant of the place where the horizon used to be, now nothing but a blur. The only thing visible in the far distance was the perpetual circling of the lighthouse beam, its ray cycling like clockwork. It seemed like a scene from a movie, and I don't mean the cheap horror film type that Baltimore would remind one of but the independent film type that would be inspired by Virginia Woolf.
Just before twilight, and 30 minutes after I boarded the micro, I was finally on my way back down the hill. I caught a glimpse of the bay again, and realized that the heavy fog, still wrapped around the entire city, gave Valparaíso the feeling that it were floating in air. Neither water nor air were distinguishable, and just then, I understood, on a minute scale, how this city was able to inspire the poetry of Pablo Neruda.
As I headed out of the ministry building after the meeting and made my way through crowds of people to get to the subway, I ran into a large gathering that proved to be formidable to pass. I looked up and realized that a huge crowd had formed under an overhead, public TV screen that was broadcasting the soccer match between Chile and Denmark. The entire crowd (which blocked the automobile street) was hushed as Chile took control of the ball. Whispered gasps and hushed claps were silenced by the invisible power of the crowd. I shook my head and continued winding through statue-still people to get to the subway. I didn't want to stay when the game would end for fear of the inevitable stampede.
The bus ride back to Valparaíso was oddly tiring - it only lasted a bit over an hour. When I got to Valparaíso, it was drizzling, so I decided to take a micro back home instead of weathering (haha...) the 30 minute walk. I had forgotten that the streets were often one-way in the city, and by the time I realized, I was already well on my way up Playa Ancha. I desperately hoped that the micro would make a sharp U-turn at the university, but I was in no such luck. The micro wound all the way around Playa Ancha, the biggest hill in Valparaíso. As I wiped the dew from the micro window, I noticed that I had a panoramic view of the entire bay. The view was phenomenal and eerie. The ocean seemed to diffuse into the sky, its location a forgotten remnant of the place where the horizon used to be, now nothing but a blur. The only thing visible in the far distance was the perpetual circling of the lighthouse beam, its ray cycling like clockwork. It seemed like a scene from a movie, and I don't mean the cheap horror film type that Baltimore would remind one of but the independent film type that would be inspired by Virginia Woolf.
Just before twilight, and 30 minutes after I boarded the micro, I was finally on my way back down the hill. I caught a glimpse of the bay again, and realized that the heavy fog, still wrapped around the entire city, gave Valparaíso the feeling that it were floating in air. Neither water nor air were distinguishable, and just then, I understood, on a minute scale, how this city was able to inspire the poetry of Pablo Neruda.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Santiago, or 20 ways to screw up endoscopy and how to find an Asian supermarket
This past week was my first week at work. The building I work in is located in Playa Ancha, an area about 15 minutes away from where I live by micro (local bus). The area is full of university buildings, and I'm right next to a dilapidated house where they film scary movies and also across the street from the Chilean army, which makes me feel super safe.
Yesterday there was a capacitación (training) for endoscopy in Ñuñoa, a neighborhood in Santiago. I got up bright and early at 5 am and took a bus to Santiago. The training went ok, the morning presentations were kind of boring, but at least now I know what the inside of an endoscope looks like, and how to fix it when it breaks. The afternoon was composed of booths where we learned how to manage different parts of an endoscope. I also now know what a cancerous stomach looks like. Great. We went through all the technical parts of an endoscopy procedure, and also common ways that the procedure fails.
After the training, I was super hungry (ended at around 2 pm, and I hadn't eaten since 5 am). I checked my wallet and realized I brought only the Chilean peso equivalent of USD$20, which is just dandy. Didn't bring my ATM card either. I decided that instead of buying lunch, I would go to Patronato, another area of Santiago that is reputed to house an Asian supermarket. I had no idea what the supermarket was called, nor what its address was. Trusting my instincts, I ventured forward. By instincts I mean I asked every Asian person along the way about the supermarket. I figured that they would not steer me wrong, and I was not disappointed. I was super excited when I made it to ASSI (the supermarket), but realized that everything was super overpriced (ramen was more than $1.50 per packet...). I bought lots of noodles and furikake (Japanese rice-topping) anyways, and spent all my money. I was still pretty happy anyways.
Since I had no more money, there was no point spending more time in Santiago. I took a bus back to Valparaíso. The bus ride was a great 1.2 hours. The lower Andean hills were gorgeous, with majestic giant cacti climbing up the hills' facade. When I reached my destination, I walked home (may I again emphasize the fact that I had no money?).
When I got home I immediately made some ramen...and it tasted sooo glorious.
Yesterday there was a capacitación (training) for endoscopy in Ñuñoa, a neighborhood in Santiago. I got up bright and early at 5 am and took a bus to Santiago. The training went ok, the morning presentations were kind of boring, but at least now I know what the inside of an endoscope looks like, and how to fix it when it breaks. The afternoon was composed of booths where we learned how to manage different parts of an endoscope. I also now know what a cancerous stomach looks like. Great. We went through all the technical parts of an endoscopy procedure, and also common ways that the procedure fails.
After the training, I was super hungry (ended at around 2 pm, and I hadn't eaten since 5 am). I checked my wallet and realized I brought only the Chilean peso equivalent of USD$20, which is just dandy. Didn't bring my ATM card either. I decided that instead of buying lunch, I would go to Patronato, another area of Santiago that is reputed to house an Asian supermarket. I had no idea what the supermarket was called, nor what its address was. Trusting my instincts, I ventured forward. By instincts I mean I asked every Asian person along the way about the supermarket. I figured that they would not steer me wrong, and I was not disappointed. I was super excited when I made it to ASSI (the supermarket), but realized that everything was super overpriced (ramen was more than $1.50 per packet...). I bought lots of noodles and furikake (Japanese rice-topping) anyways, and spent all my money. I was still pretty happy anyways.
Since I had no more money, there was no point spending more time in Santiago. I took a bus back to Valparaíso. The bus ride was a great 1.2 hours. The lower Andean hills were gorgeous, with majestic giant cacti climbing up the hills' facade. When I reached my destination, I walked home (may I again emphasize the fact that I had no money?).
When I got home I immediately made some ramen...and it tasted sooo glorious.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Valpo vs. Viña
So yesterday I woke up pretty late (almost 11 am) to my cellphone ringing. I'm still not sure if I should answer in Spanish or English...a silly debate, really. Anyways it was Yike and Alberto, and we decided to walk around Cerros Alegre and Concepción and then have lunch nearby. Alberto drove the car, which I can't imagine being pleasant in Valparaíso. The neighborhood was really nice, and we stopped at a little bookstore/cafe to have lunch. Books are ridiculously expensive in Chile, and a lot of people go to Argentina on weekend trips to buy books. The cafes also serve huge sandwiches that have to be cut with a knife. That made me feel a bit odd, but when in Rome...
We then decided to walk around Cerro Bellavista, the next hill over, where La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's house, is located. It was really nice, although we didn't go into the house. There were marble slabs on the houses of the street where La Sebastiana is located, and the slabs had poetry quotations. I have yet to figure out why 80% of the slabs contain lines from Federico García Lorca (who isn't even Chilean) and not Pablo Neruda (who IS Chilean and whose house is right there...).
I really liked this mural - the hands look really great with the colors. The quote was about opening up the hands to the toils of the earth or something along those lines.
The houses are painted in bright colors. Here is a row of them just between Cerro Bellavista and Cerro Alegre (I think...). This picture is the location of the Wikipedia article on the city! Haha now I know those photos in Wikipedia are real.
Afterwards we went to Viña to go shopping (they needed groceries, I needed hangers and other things). The 'mall' was more of a large shopping center, and there was a ton of people. I thought things were going to be cheaper in Chile, but really, it's not cheaper by much. I paid like $2 for a hairbrush, $2 for a pack of 8 rolls of toilet paper, and $1.50 for 10 hangers. That kind of puts it in perspective (I think?).
Going from Valparaíso to Viña felt really strange. As people have told me, Viña is like Spain 20 years ago (architecture, fashion, etc). It's a lot more modern, with tall, fancy high-rises and large shopping centers. Valparaíso is dirtier and more run down. Right now, I prefer Valpo. Well, the hills of Valpo anyways. El plan (the flat, center-of-town area) of Valpo is worse than Viña because it's really dirty and the people look sketchy (it's slightly dangerous), but the hills of Valpo are MUCH more interesting than Viña, because of the art galleries, boutique shops, nice cafes, fun houses, and grafitti.
We also walked around the beach in Viña - it was gorgeous! The weather was super nice yesterday, and it didn't feel like winter at all! No one really swims in the ocean here because of the harsh waves, but it was nice nontheless.
I then went over to Yike and Alberto's apartment, which is in a high-rise in a neighborhood called Recreo, in between Valpo and Viña. The neighborhood is like a suburb in the US. We talked for a bit and watched the sunset. By the end, I couldn't believed that I had been walking around from 11 am until 7 pm. Pretty exhausting.
We then decided to walk around Cerro Bellavista, the next hill over, where La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's house, is located. It was really nice, although we didn't go into the house. There were marble slabs on the houses of the street where La Sebastiana is located, and the slabs had poetry quotations. I have yet to figure out why 80% of the slabs contain lines from Federico García Lorca (who isn't even Chilean) and not Pablo Neruda (who IS Chilean and whose house is right there...).
I really liked this mural - the hands look really great with the colors. The quote was about opening up the hands to the toils of the earth or something along those lines.
The houses are painted in bright colors. Here is a row of them just between Cerro Bellavista and Cerro Alegre (I think...). This picture is the location of the Wikipedia article on the city! Haha now I know those photos in Wikipedia are real.
Afterwards we went to Viña to go shopping (they needed groceries, I needed hangers and other things). The 'mall' was more of a large shopping center, and there was a ton of people. I thought things were going to be cheaper in Chile, but really, it's not cheaper by much. I paid like $2 for a hairbrush, $2 for a pack of 8 rolls of toilet paper, and $1.50 for 10 hangers. That kind of puts it in perspective (I think?).
Going from Valparaíso to Viña felt really strange. As people have told me, Viña is like Spain 20 years ago (architecture, fashion, etc). It's a lot more modern, with tall, fancy high-rises and large shopping centers. Valparaíso is dirtier and more run down. Right now, I prefer Valpo. Well, the hills of Valpo anyways. El plan (the flat, center-of-town area) of Valpo is worse than Viña because it's really dirty and the people look sketchy (it's slightly dangerous), but the hills of Valpo are MUCH more interesting than Viña, because of the art galleries, boutique shops, nice cafes, fun houses, and grafitti.
We also walked around the beach in Viña - it was gorgeous! The weather was super nice yesterday, and it didn't feel like winter at all! No one really swims in the ocean here because of the harsh waves, but it was nice nontheless.
I then went over to Yike and Alberto's apartment, which is in a high-rise in a neighborhood called Recreo, in between Valpo and Viña. The neighborhood is like a suburb in the US. We talked for a bit and watched the sunset. By the end, I couldn't believed that I had been walking around from 11 am until 7 pm. Pretty exhausting.
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