Hello again (after a nearly two year absence). We have a new blog address now: colemanfamilybloggingrevival.blogspot.com There is just one brief post thus far, but more are planned for the near future!

Predictably Wrong

Some time ago a friend asked me to describe my perception of Hawaii. I never was able to get around to answering adequately. Below I'll post a mini-essay--as in less than a page--I wrote last year that describes how often I've misjudged what a place will be like before arriving there for the first time. I'd never been in a place where drivers yielded better than Hawaii. And you can't beat the weather. The laid-back atmosphere was nice, as was the diversity. The only really hard to accept thing was it felt like it was rapidly losing it's "Polynesian" spirit and becoming more mercenary. It felt more like Asia to me in some ways.........................

Anyways, here's the essay:

Predictably Wrong
I don’t have a good track record when it comes to predicting what places are going to be like before I go there. It’s gotten to the point where I probably need to be like George in one of the Seinfield episodes and start believing the opposite of what my initial inclinations are. “Thanks to” my high school Japanese teacher’s fixation on inundating us with images of traditional Japan, I was half-expecting to see a fair amount of Japanese people walking around in kimonos and perhaps even an occasional samurai when I arrived in the Nagoya, Japan airport in February of 2000. My delusions prior to arriving in Korea in August of 2005 weren’t quite so anachronistic, but were equally ludicrous. Because it seemed like almost ALL the Korean students I’d met at the university I attended in Utah wore glasses, I was shocked to discover a sizable population of Koreans that wore contacts or who weren’t even “visually impaired.” Several weeks before our family moved to Hawaii this past August a friend my wife and I had met in college, who grew up in Hawaii and is now back living “on the island,” warned us that “Honolulu is pretty ghetto.” I chalked up her statement to her being Japanese descent and hence, based on a stereotype I don’t think most Japanese people would even challenge, paranoid about safety. How could “paradise” be “ghetto?” I thought Hawaii would be just one big, glitzy Waikiki district (thank goodness it’s not by the way!) But then I arrived and beheld Honolulu’s “thriving” homeless population. And visited Honolulu’s China Town. And couldn’t help noticing all the run-down gated apartment complexes and security officers at stores and in libraries. And overheard the hard to dispel rumors that the Hawaii public education system ranks 49th in the U.S., above only, gulp, Mississippi. So I’m now 0-3 and owe our friend in Hawaii an apology for trusting my unreliable preconceptions rather than the perspective she gleaned from growing up here. I have a chance to redeem myself and break the streak this summer when we visit Cambodia for the first time. I wouldn’t recommend betting on it, though.

The parable of the wedding feast

This past Saturday we were a little late leaving on the subway to commute to my classmate's wedding ceremony. I thought we were going to experience the ignominious distinction of arriving late and finding the doors to the wedding hall locked, with only ourselves to blame. Luckily(?) we arrived with one minute or so to spare and quickly realized that the doors wouldn't be shutting at all, fortuitous(?) for those who really did arrive late. The Korean wedding itself is a whole nother blog post (if I ever get around to it that is). Let's just say the inclusion of a MC who cracked, or more precisely, attempted to crack jokes into between the officiator's spiel felt quite out of place. The two plasma TVs broadcasting the ceremony live were a bit startling to me as well, especially since the ceremony room was small and we all had decent views. And I realized again how important bowing and greetings are in formal settings in Asia (that alone took seemingly several minutes). I'm glad we were able to attend, though.

Who's behind wood cut-out number one?

For those familiar with our blog the brown sun hat being held over the top left half of the traditional Korean dress should provide a valuable clue (not to mention either of the two little arms jutting out).

In Search of the Elusive Coconut?

Perhaps, Arielle doesn't realize that trees here don't contain coconuts at the top like some of the trees we observed on "The Island" (How almost all the locals refer to Hawaii).

Close-up Encounter with Ryosei

Courtesy of Arielle Coleman Photography Enterprises (F.Y.I Arielle specializes only in extreme close-ups, meaning for those of you looking for a little depth in your photo, you'll need to look elsewhere)

The conch falls into Arielle's possesion

Although, in almost all ways, I think having the conch in the possession of someone like Arielle would be a very good thing for all others on the island.

Wrapping Up the Kimchi Museum Visit

Ryosei had seen enough. Arielle insists on doing the v-sign, so famous in Japan, in the majority of her photos now. And as you can see, Arielle is rapidly growing out of her clothes. She's big for her age, which is surprising to us, since neither Vyda nor I are noted for our unusually large 'stature.'

Vyda calls this the "unforgettable Clark expression"

Now, granted, Arielle didn't really help me out by coaching me on my pose before she snapped the photo, but according to Vyda, I do this face all the time, which, frankly, is a bit of an unpleasant piece of information!

Arielle's maiden venture (voyage?) into the world of photography

I'm sure even the Picassos and Mozarts of the world had humble beginnings.............

Bet you can't eat EVEN one

Actually, I'm sure there are people viewing this shot of "unorthodox" types of kimchi that could eat all of them. But I'm sure there are also a few who would pass on all five, which is why I felt justified in tweaking the catch phrase from a LAYS Potato Chips marketing campaign from about twenty years ago and using it as my title. As for myself, someone who boldly professes a strong affinity for Korean cuisine--the spicier the better--I think I could even only eat the bean sprout kimchi in the middle.

Kimchi Museum

Living in Seoul Korea and not visiting the Kimchi Museum would be equivalent to living in Springfield, MA and not visiting the NBA Hall of Fame Museum. In this photo Arielle feigns sampling a type of kimchi--just one of thousands!--from a mannequin(sp?).

The house, er, shack that Jack built. I experienced first-hand this summer the painfully huge gap that is first and third world conditions. I think there might be a potential market for third world therapy. Extended time in primitive living conditions not only helps you lose weight, but also lose the tendency to take first world luxuries for granted. That saying, I cried because I had no shoes, but then I met a man who didn't have feet, only begins to depict the disparity.

Name that tune: Reaching out.........to touch a stranger..............there's magic in the air...............

I've heard a couple times since we shaved Ryosei's head--to cool him down in sweltering Vietnam--that he looks like my mini-me.

The last few minutes I spent inside of the one place I found in Vietnam that was generally mosquito free.

Moments before we parted ways at the airport.

In front of the most famous cathedral in Saigon.

Vyda's relatives