on a sphere there is no east or west,
west is east and east is west.
i've been traveling asia and spent a lot of time in koreatown and chinatown in LA and SF this past month.
i learned about bruce lee from his lifelong fan at the chinese historical society in sf chinatown, read archival news clippings of the sf earthquake in the prelinger library1, watched the book of mormon and fell in love with the soundtrack, had the best sullongtong at han bat sul lung tang koreatown, peered into north korea at the dmz, experienced the reign of samsung and lotte in korea, watched a live kpop dance show at the sbs tower, took traditional hanbok photos at the gyeongbokgung palace, and breathed a sigh of relief as one of the 5 vpns i installed worked in china.
i already learned all i can with english and american history and reached the endgame of its short history.2 with the time i have left, i want to understand learn chinese to understand its history.
there's so much the US misunderstands about china, and will continue to. i'm scared for the future of the relations, and feel a deep responsibility to bridge the gap.
when i bring up china, people in the U.S. immediately comment about their flawed politics. it's like their opinion is fed to them by the U.S. because there isn't a way to understand it properly with the language barrier. china and the U.S. have their own problems, and both are not perfect. china has the power centered in the government, whereas in the U.S. they are from business owners, who then lobby the government. the difference is that there is a juicy 'democracy' label slapped on the U.S. flavor. but is it really a democracy if the decision relies on money?
while visiting korea, i learned that the south believes there is only one korea and longs for the day the north will join back in with the south. there have been strides for peace, but it remains ambiguous. koreans live with the daily fear that the north may strike at any point, so much of the city is accessible through underground shopping areas that serve also as bunkers filled with clothing, food, and necessities.
i'm scared for the future of the U.S. china relations. in the last few years, the U.S. seceded the fulbright and peace corps programs with china, closed the confucious institutes around the college campuses, strengthened the militia in taiwan, and tightened the process in obtaining a visa.
it's funny how many little things intensify the tensions, like countries are macrocosms of me bickering with my sister and bringing up examples of her having done me wrong. like the panda that was mistreated in the U.S. sent back to china. or the disproportionate prevalence of the reporting of a disaster of one on the other news platform. i just hope the last straw of invading taiwan doesn't go too badly.
we are all on the same sphere, sharing the world with one another.
like how the koreans believe there is one korea, there is only one world. i long for the day when peace actually means peace and not as a means of avoiding conflict.
and now continually fear the incredibly downplayed impending economic collapse from the inevitable ‘big one’
at least the parts that weren't erased with the genocides of the indigenous people