Bill's Blog

Layover in Seoul, South Korea

January 6, 2024billkralovec

I really love it when we have flights with overnight layovers. It gives me and my travel companions an opportunity to visit places without having to pay for additional flights. The only expense is accommodation and transportation to and from the airport. In the past couple of years, we had overnight layovers in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Riga, Latvia. On our way back from Japan, we had an overnight layover in Seoul, South Korea. We landed around 7:00 PM in the evening and flew out the next day at 3:40 PM. Upon arrival, we took a taxi to the Hotel FirstStay in the heart of the city. It was a perfect hotel, a great location, comfortable beds, hot showers, and for me, a reasonable price ($120 for 5 people).

The hotel is situated between the Namdaemun Market and Myeong-dong (“bright tunnel – neighborhood” in English) the most famous tourist and shopping districts of the city. I convinced Owen and Oliver to go with me for a craft beer and chicken in the cafe/bar/restaurant district located just outside our hotel lobby. I discovered the popular Korean alcoholic beverage Soju, a distilled, clear drink from rice or other grain with an alcohol content of around 15%. I liked the Andong Lager I tried. Andong is a city in northern South Korea that is famous for Soju. My sons are adults now and it is so pleasurable for me to go out with them and have conversations. They are developing into fine young men and it makes me think of the cycle of life. The food was so-so and we were tired from travel and headed back to the hotel early.

This was my third visit to Seoul and my fourth visit to South Korea. The last time I came with my family was in July of 2016 and you can see how much the kids have changed since. I remember it being a hot day and we climbed the park overlooking the city to the Seoul Tower. I came a couple of times as the head of school in Japan as we were part of an athletics conference with schools in Korea. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and a mega metropolitan city of over 26 million people. My big impression this time is that it felt more Western and Chinese than Osaka. The hustle and bustle of Sejong Street reminded me of New York.

I got up early as usual and went for a walk. I was fortunate to catch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was the palace of the Joseon Dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1897. It looks like the Forbidden City in Beijing and reinforces my impression that Koreans are more like Chinese than Japanese culturally. It makes sense that they share a border with China and although I have not read extensively on Korean history, China must have had a large impact on the Koreans. It is nice that they were not assimilated into the Han Chinese nation-state. The Japanese systematically dismantled the palace but in the 1960s until today, it has been restored. The Palace is huge and appropriately portrays the power of the Joseon Dynasty. It is worth seeing the ceremony which takes place four times a day. I saw the 10:00 AM performance.

In front of the Seoul Financial Center, there was a display thanking the US military for its efforts in the Korean War (1950 – 1953). A policeman asked me if I was an American and thanked me personally. My father didn’t serve in the Korean War but was stationed in Stuttgart, West Germany from 1954-1955. I am glad that South Korea and the USA are strong allies.

Several activist groups were also promoting political causes on Seoul Square alongside Sejong Street, some I never heard of. The first was a sign asking for “fairness” and using “common sense” in the investigation of Korean First Lady Kim Keon-Hee. She is under investigation of taking kickbacks and not paying taxes. She also embellished her relationship with NYU’s Stern Business School on her resume. Two pro-Israeli banners were encouraging the destruction of Hamas and another stand was a memorial for victims of the COVID-19 epidemic. There was also a wall of photos of the 159 people who were killed in the Halloween Crowd Crush in 2022. I like seeing free speech in action!

Nadia and I explored the Namdaemun Market before the taxi came to take us to the airport. It is a huge, sprawling market with stalls lining the streets. It has been a market since 1414 so a lot has gone on there. We bought some knock-off hoodies for the kids and I had a delicious soup, Korean noodle empanada, and of course, bibimbap.

We snapped a few photos on the plane as this might be the last time all five of us fly together! We have had so many good times traveling together over the past 16 years (from the birth of Ocean until yesterday). Hopefully, we can have more opportunities to travel together.

Final Days in Japan

January 5, 2024billkralovec

Winter Break is coming to an end as we head back to Tashkent and school starts on Monday. We finished our time in Japan visiting a few more friends (Mike and Ana), tidying up the house, packing, shopping, and eating. While the girls were shopping in Daiso, the dollar store of Japan, I went for a walk in Kita Senri Park. There is a nice trail that winds through a bamboo forest, similar to the famous UNESCO World Heritage site in Kyoto. It is right behind our former school and the path leads to our neighborhood in Onohara-Nishi. We also had so much shopping that we needed to go to a second hand store and buy three carry-ons to make sure we could take everything back with us to Tashkent.

Nadia, Ocean, and I then ate tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets, cabbage, rice, and miso soup) which on this visit was my favorite meal. Of course I had the deep-fried oysters as well because they are in season. Hiroshima is famous for its oysters and I saw them on menus all over the city. Ocean needed to do some last-minute clothes shopping. We discovered Gu the sister brand of Uniqlo. It is a cheaper version and I really couldn’t tell the difference between the clothes.

We then went on the La La Port Expo City Mall Ferris wheel. These are big in Japan and other East Asian countries. The symbol of the 1970 Expo, the iconic Tower of the Sun was lit up. It was created by Japanese artist Tako Okamoto and it is such an unusual building. I don’t know if the tower gets built in 2023, but in 1970, it was a centerpiece of the Expo and today it is a museum and still visited. We used to take students to Expo Park on field trips. The Osaka metropolitan area has a population of just under 20 million people and you could see the long spread of lights leading to the city center.

Our good friends Yumiko and Wakaba helped us get to the train station and on the limousine bus to the airport. The Osaka International School community always treated us with so much kindness! It is a process to get to Kansai International Airport as it is an artificial island in the south of Osaka Bay. We first traveled from the end of the Hankyu train line into the city center. From the Hankyu Umeda station, we then took an airport shuttle bus to the airport. The airport has been renovated since we lived here.

Chinese tourists were spending money like crazy not only at the airport duty-free shops but downtown as well. With a weak Yen, goods are very affordable. My friend reports that 30% of admissions at the international school are from Chinese applicants. Families are investing in Japan and receiving 10-year visas from the Japanese government. This includes buying hotels, apartment blocks, etc., and raising their children in Japan. I think this is a sign that upper-class Chinese people are hedging their bets on the future of the country. I would guess the Japanese government appreciates the influx of capital into their economy but does not want to be overwhelmed by a much louder and brash Chinese culture.

I love travel days because our adolescent kids are trapped with us and have to talk to us! I had a great day with them and we laughed a lot! I don’t know how many more full family travel days we will have as Owen is already in his third year of university, Oliver is off to college in August, and Ocean will be graduating in two years. As I wrote earlier in the school year, I am savoring my time with the kids!

The sun was setting in the Land of the Rising Sun as we hopped on the shuttle train to our departure gate. I hope Japan stays strong and preserves its unique culture as it struggles economically with a rapidly aging population. I think the social cohesion and trust will get them through the next 20 to 50 years and they will come out the other side in good shape.

Latest Reading: Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

January 4, 2024January 5, 2024billkralovec

The setting of the novel is the Hundred Years War, which was fought between England and France and various allies between 1337 and 1453. I didn’t know much about the war except that Joan of Arc played a role in rallying the French. This novel and inquiries to Chat GPT helped me learn a lot about this conflict. England’s King Edward III started the war by laying claim to the French throne because of his mom’s lineage.

The Essex Dogs are a military unit of 10 soldiers in Edward’s army. Essex is a region in England where the main character, FitzTalbot Loveday is from. The novel follows them as the English army is invading Normandy in the summer of 1346. It is like a Band of Brothers but set in medieval times, ala Game of Thrones with longbows, knights, sword fighting, cavalry, etc. The English marauded through Norman towns which reflects early English victories in the real 100 Years War. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but by the end of the book, you are hoping the guys can survive the many battles against the French and their German allies. It is not a deep, life-changing novel, but it is entertaining and I like learning history through historical fiction.

What changed for me with this book was using Chat GPT to provide background on the historical figures and events mentioned in the book. In the actual 100 Years War, the French eventually won. The use of the long bow was a game-changer in warfare and the conflicts ushered in the first ideas of nationalism and the nation-state. Joan of Arc was a real person, a French military hero, and a Catholic Saint. There is a mysterious woman character in the book, but the story takes place before she was born.

The story reminded me that if I had an opportunity to time travel, I would prefer to travel to the future. Life was difficult back then for the vast majority of people. In the novel, the descriptions of the lives of peasants in the fortified towns and villages and the English soldiers on a campaign are miserable. The novel helped me fall back to sleep this week and I enjoyed going into their medieval world. I also would love to visit Normandy someday. It seems like an interesting part of the world with D-Day, the sea, and the countryside.

I always pick up new vocabulary words when I read and below is a list.

flitches – slabs of bacon (old English) or a piece of timber
chevauchée – Medieval military technique of burning and pillaging enemy territory to reduce productivity (ex. burn fields, kill horses)
squire – attendant to a knight before becoming a knight
feckless – good for nothing; weak

My Thoughts on Japan

January 4, 2024billkralovec

Japan will always have a special place in our hearts as we lived in Osaka from 2014 to 2019. I reflected on my time here shortly after departing in the summer of 2019. (Farewell Japan) We decided to come back for our Winter Break mostly for the kids so they could reflect on their time here. Nostalgia has a way of romanticizing a place and they were here during their formative years, so I think it was good to have all of us visit it again. We had a great holiday here, although, as I always say, as long as I am with family and friends, it does not matter where I am, I will enjoy vacation time! We stayed close to our former neighborhood and relived many of the streets, and trails and visited with old friends.

Last month, Ian Bremmer in his excellent PBS program G Zero World, interviewed the current US ambassador to Japan on his podcast “Unpacking the Complicated US-Japan Relationship“. My father regarded Japan as a mortal enemy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in his childhood. Today Japan is one of our strongest allies, especially against China. In one generation there was a complete reversal of the relationship between the USA and Japan. Japan is a stable democracy that values human rights and is on the American side in the global division between the Americas/Europe vs. China/Russia/Iran. I think it is special that the two countries have turned from enemies to friends.

The visit reminded me of the distinctiveness of Japan. There is no other place like it and even its closest equivalent, South Korea, is much more like the rest of East Asia than Japan. I appreciate differences and it is good to have a place like Japan in the world. What other country designs sewer covers based on what suburb they are located in or if the firefighters use them? The attention to detail and focus on their surroundings truly astounds me.

One aspect I don’t miss is the small size of the Japanese homes. The entire ground floor of the house we are renting these two weeks is slightly smaller than our living room/dining room in Uzbekistan. There is a lack of privacy within the home and I understand why there are so many hotels people can rent by the hour. Coming down the steep, narrow stairs in the morning to turn on the heaters in a very cold house. I always said it is like living on the seasonal porch in an American home. The idea of “feeling the seasons” sounds great, but living it is not.

I love the fresh air and blue skies of Japan. In the winter especially, the skies are so blue. I also used an electric bicycle for the first time and think that it could convince Americans to use a bicycle more for their daily errands and activities. The winter fresh air was invigorating as I cycled often through my old routes I loved when I lived here. Not much has changed. I also loved the juxtaposition between our suburban nature town of Minoh and the megacity of Osaka downtown.

Earthquakes will always be prevalent. We were reminded of the Osaka Earthquake of June 2018 that we lived through when there was an equivalent earthquake on New Year’s Day afternoon in the Noto Peninsula. Fortunately, the epicenter was over 400 kilometers away from us instead of 10 kilometers like in 2018. Our house swayed back and forth gently for over a minute while we were having lunch. 57 people died and there was a lot of destruction on the other side of main island of Honshu. There is no way of getting away from earthquakes as Japan is directly on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

I am not sure when I will get back to Japan again. Sayyonara!

Family Journal: January 1, 2024 – Hike to Katsuoji Temple

January 2, 2024billkralovec

We kicked off the New Year with a hike to Katsuoji Temple. It is our favorite temple in Japan! The temple is located in the hills of Minoh Park, a huge forested set of hills and valleys just on the outskirts of the urban sprawl of Osaka. We all spent a lot of time in Minoh Park, cycling and hiking through the beautiful Sugi forests. In certain areas in the park, one can see deer and monkeys and it is nice to have nature so close to the metropolis of Osaka. It is a perfect hike starting from our old house, it is about a 4-kilometer walk (2.5 miles) up the mountain on a clearly marked trail. Japanese people in the early days of the New Year, visit their local temple to pray for good fortune in the upcoming year and pay respects to their ancestors. This is called hatsumode. It is a befitting way to start a year. I loved getting the family together to exercise and to reflect on what is coming up in 2024.

We purchased lucky charms to bring us money, safety while driving, luck on school exams, and one lucky wish. We attached the charms to the complimentary bamboo branch we received upon entrance to the temple. We lit a candle and incense for our ancestors, both dead and alive. We skipped the prayers at the shrines because the lines were too long. Rain interspersed stretches of sunshine throughout the day but it was not heavy and the walking warmed us up.

I love Katsuoji because, unlike many temples in Japan, it is located in a wilderness area and not overcrowded like many temples during New Year’s celebrations. The Emperor Seiwa erected the Buddhist temple 1,260 years ago and named it katsu, which means “winning” in Japanese. For centuries, warlords and common people have come to Katsuoji to buy the famous Daruma dolls to see if they get the winner’s luck. If the wish is fulfilled, the daruma dolls are supposed to be left on the grounds. We bought six Daruma dolls to represent our five family members and our dog Obi.

It was a perfect way to start the new year. I love exercising in the wilderness followed by a cultural experience. We don’t know what 2024 will bring us but we will do our best and stick together as a family. Happy New Year and best wishes for health, happiness, success, and fulfillment in the upcoming year.

Family Journal: December 31, 2023 – Happy New Year!

January 1, 2024billkralovec

We spent New Year’s Eve in downtown Osaka to celebrate the end of 2023. Our eldest son Owen went with his friends so it was Oliver, Ocean, Nadia, and me who left our house around 6:00 PM. We ate at One Karubi, a Korean Barbeque Beef restaurant. They only offer a 2-hour, all-you-can-eat menu option. We were pretty much done after the first hour but continued to order drinks and some desserts in the second hour. We used to go to the restaurant for special occasions when we lived here and it was nice to go back.

After dinner, we drove 30 minutes to one of the most popular tourist areas of Osaka, Dotonbori. “Bori” means canal and “Doton” refers to Nariyasu Doton, an entrepreneur who built the canal way back in 1612. Doton built it to increase trade in Osaka, but in 1621, the Tokugawa Shogunate designated it an entertainment district. 403 years later, it is still an entertainment district with lots of bars, restaurants, karaoke, pachinko, etc. Sadly, there is only one theatre left, as originally it was full of kabuki and bunraku theatres. I wonder if a world-class theatre district like Broadway or London’s West End could be built here and survive? Japanese really don’t celebrate New Year’s Eve by going out to places like Times Square. It was mostly tourists. We were surprised by the large numbers of men from the Philippines who were congregating along the canal, drinking and smoking. They must be guest workers here, as they didn’t look like typical tourists. We noticed piles of rubbish everywhere which is rare in Japan. Public garbage bins are not common here and with so many tourists, I can see why this happened.

Kuidaore (食い倒れ) is a Japanese word that means to “ruin oneself financially by extravagant spending on food” or in Western terms, “eat until you drop”. Osaka is the food capital of Japan and prides itself on having the most and best restaurants in the country. Of course, we needed to stop to try some takoyaki or fried balls of a doughy batter with octopus inside. It was nice to watch the preparations of the takoyaki and okonomiyaki (pancakes) in front of the hot grills in the cold weather and slight rain.

We left Dotonbori and headed over to ShinSekai district, about 4 kilometers away from Dotonbori. “Shin” means new and “Sekai” means world. The area was first developed in 1912 and being typical of Japanese culture, it was modeled after Coney Island (north side) and Paris (south side). The Japanese often replicate outside cultures and with their attention to detail and hard work, often improve them! 🙂 The amusement park is long gone but the Eifel Tower, Tsūtenkaku (tower reaching heaven) is still there. The tower burned down in 1943 and the steel was used in Japan’s war efforts. Residents lobbied the government to rebuild the tower. The tower reopened in 1956 and featured a Billiken. Art teacher Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri created the Billiken charm doll in the early 1900s. The figure came to her in a dream and she found the name in an 1896 poem. She sold the patent to the Billiken Company of Chicago. To purchase one, or even better, to receive a Billiken doll brings you good luck. The Billiken is also known as the “God of Things as They Ought to Be”. It was a big fad in the early 20th century but faded into obscurity over the past 100 years. Today it is still a symbol of American culture in the shinsekai district and we noticed many billikens around the neighborhood. I am glad they kept the idea alive. We will probably head back to the district once more before we leave to enjoy the cozy kushi-kastsu (deep fried meat on skewers) restaurants and I’ll blog more about one of my favorite districts of the city.

We also paid our respects to the kami inari a Buddhist/Shinto god associated with “with foxes, rice, household wellbeing, business prosperity, and general prosperity”. We all send positive vibes in honor of Oliver so he can pass his IB Diploma in May. You can find the shrines all over Japan, in both cities and the countryside. You wash your hands to leave the secular world and enter the sacred world. You go through a ritual of ringing the bell and clapping to “wake-up” the kami (ancestral spirits) and bow to show respect. We are all hoping it works!

We finished the evening by celebrating the countdown at our house together. My first New Year’s kiss was of course with my beautiful wife Nadia. It was so nice to spend the evening together with Oliver and Ocean. They will soon become adults and leave us, and it felt like a nice way to be together as a family to welcome 2024.

The Sacred Deer of Nara Park

December 30, 2023billkralovec

As you can see by this bloated deer, the tourists are back! I was reading that during COVID, the deer were starving without the daily influx of tourists feeding the deer rice cookies. By the time we arrived in the afternoon, the deer looked like they were full and tired of having tourists stick cookies in their faces. We had to walk away from the central park area up to Wakakusayama Hill to find deer that were eager to crunch the cookies.

This is the fourth time that I’ve visited Nara Park and the famous Sika or Northern Spotted or Japanese Deer (Cervus nippon). My daughter Ocean wanted to post photographs of feeding the deer on her Instagram so we drove from Osaka to Nara (55 minutes). Besides the deer, there are some beautiful Buddhist Temples including one of the world’s largest wooden temples housing a huge statue of Buddha. The manicured grounds are full of trees, ponds, and open grass areas.

The deer are considered to be sacred messengers of the gods and have been protected for over a thousand years. They have been isolated for so long from other deer herds in Japan that they are genetically different and they behave differently. The Nara Deer are famous for bowing while approaching tourists for rice. This is not a behavior Sika Deer exhibits in nature and they think it may have developed as a form of communication between the deer and the humans.

In the evening, Nadia and I rode our bicycles to meet with my friend Kurt at the Minoh Brewery. They make in my opinion, the world’s finest craft beers. I tried the Yuzu White one of their winter beers. I love seasonal things and like all of their beers, absolutely delicious. I don’t drink a lot of beer or alcohol in general for health reasons especially now I am in my 50s, but I do love an occasional good craft beer. I also keep being impressed with Google Translate. It is so much faster and more accurate than 5 years ago and makes travel in Japan easier. I also sense the Japanese are opening to the English-speaking world. With such a weak yen, the island is receiving many more tourists who are coming specifically for shopping.

Family Journal: December 28, 2023

December 29, 2023billkralovec

Japan is a country of jingles or tunes. One of my favorites is the Family Mart entry door chime. Every time the sliding doors of a Family Mart open, a Panasonic door chime plays the melody above. This blog post about Family Mart in China, explains the origin of this melody. I wonder what the employees of Family Mart think when they have to listen to the song all day long? Do they get tired of the tune? It brings back memories of our time living in Japan. Our kids love Family Mart, over 7 11 and Lawson’s in the Japanese Convenience Store market. There are many 7-second jingles in the train stations, with departure and arrival tunes and stores also play their own theme songs.

I also made a short video above of Nadia and I cycling back from the grocery store. There are many narrow alleys and roads in Japan, often dating back centuries to the Edo Period. This particular road in our former neighborhood is called Kyusaigoku Kaido. Kaido is the name of any historical trail/path/road. This particular road meanders from northern Osaka to Kyoto. I’ve taken it all the way to the Suntory Whiskey Distillery in Kyoto. I love the old wooden homes, lanterns, and Japanese-style gardens along the route. We rode it often when we lived here because it has less car traffic than the busier roads.

Finally, we are catching up with old friends. It is so nice to see them again and Nadia and I have fond memories of our time working at the Senri and Osaka International Schools of Kwansei Gakuin and living in Minoh. Fumie, Ritsu, and Izumi (sick yesterday) took good care of our family, helping us navigate Japan and the school as we adjusted to the distinct culture of the school and country. Kurt and Cari were close family friends of ours and Kurt was a trusted colleague on the leadership team. He always gave good advice and cared about the students. My heart was filled with happiness that all of them are healthy and still enjoying life. Until we meet again!

Family Journal: December 27, 2023

December 27, 2023December 27, 2023billkralovec

I had a really nice relaxing day, enjoying both urban and suburban Japan. Oliver and I worked on his university applications with his friend Kenta. They are applying to US universities and I gave them advice on their essays and help in filling out the forms. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant serving tonkatsu (Japanese deep-fried pork cutlet). I of course ordered the winter menu set that came with deep fried Hiroshima oysters. The meal is accompanied with miso soup, cabbage, rice, and a special tonkatsu sauce. Absolutely delicious! Although it is deep fried, it is not oily but crispy and it just goes so well with cabbage and rice. The breading is “panko” a white-bread, non-crust bread crumb. The cabbage topped with sesame dressing gives the meal some more crunch.

After a short nap, I went for a long walk in the hills of Saito, above our rental home. I love that we lived in a nice suburb close to nature. It was sunny and cool and perfect walking weather.

Oliver and I then went downtown Osaka to pick up Nadia and Ocean. We stopped at the Hankyu Department Store and watched people and drank a nice craft wheat beer. We then drove back home. Owen went skiing with friends to Hakuba and will be gone for a few days.

Nadia and Ocean were tired so we drove back north to our rental house. I wanted to stay downtown a bit more, but we will go again. Below is a short video of us crossing the street in Umeda.

Family Journal: December 24, 2023 “Parks and Seasonal Eating”

December 26, 2023billkralovec

Ocean, Nadia, Oliver and Owen in front of the slide in Senri Chuo Park

We continue with our nostalgia tour with a walk around Senri Chuo Park. Japan has some beautiful green parks, especially in the suburbs. We spent a lot of time in Senri Chuo Park when we lived here from 2014-2019. I loved watching birds in the pond and running/cycling the trails in and around the park. The kids loved the giant slide and playgrounds. We also used to take the students from OIS for an annual picnic in the last week of school here. Many good memories.

We forgot how beautiful the northern Osaka suburbs are. There are breathtaking views of the surrounding Minoh Hills and the manicured parks and cycling trails. We also visited one of the neighborhood parks, Matsuide. We remember our first day in our house in August of 2014 with all of us sweating and going over to the park. Lots of good times in the park after getting over the culture shock and jet lag…

Yesterday Nadia and I went for a 20-kilometer bike ride. I took her on some of my old cycle routes around Expo Park and back to Onohara-Nishi. The rental house comes with two electric bikes that are quite popular in Japan. Japan is ideal for cycling because of its courteous and safe drivers, excellent roads with many bike lanes, good weather for most of the year, and a lot of people do it so drivers and pedestrians are used to cyclists. I am against electric bikes because it is “cheating” but it is nice on the hills and when you are doing errands and are tired after a day’s work.

One of my favorite aspects of Japan is the food. Japanese eat seasonally and each season comes with a different set of seafood. I ordered the Winter 5 set at our neighborhood sushi restaurant, which featured the famous Tiger Blowfish and scallops. Eating sushi in Japan spoiled me and all other sushi I eat in other countries pales in comparison.

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