A Memory from Customs at Narita Airport, Tokyo

I had quite the experience while proceeding through Japanese Customs in 2002. After having lifted away from the thick, hot air of Seoul, I landed at Narita dead tired from the previous evening in the capital of South Korea. My introduction to soju was swift.

Picture a 16-year-old blonde kid, surrounded by Koreans and Japanese businessmen and families. Here I am stepping off a flight from Seoul... alone. As I approached the Customs official, the last remnants of soju reminded me of how early the flight was. I stepped up to the desk and handed the big Japanese man my passport.

As he sized up my travel stamps, he saw that I had traveled from South Korea alone, and began to interrogate me about my travels. Being as calm as any 16 year old in a Customs line possibly could be, I explain that I was staying with a friend in Korea, and that now I would be staying with friends in Niigata. He continued to ask more questions, and I continued to give him several variations on the same theme.

After a few minutes of this, he told me he is opening my bag to check through my luggage, to which I agreed. He cut the tie-wrap sealing the zipper and began combing through my clothes and souveniers. I had some whiskey and soju to give as gifts in Japan, but I had already declared them. So that was no concern! But then all of a sudden, the officer lets out a gasp as he pulls from my luggage....

A Maxim magazine! Nani desuka??? The tension of the situation rose at a very... unreasonable rate. He began speaking over me in harsh tones, and entirely in Japanese. I was able to make out "pornography?" in his words. So as he was asking me a question, I tried to reply that it is not at all pornographic! It seemed almost silly at the time, as if I had been called into the principal's office at elementary school.

I offered to show him the contents of the magazine, in order to prove my point. Then I proceeded to flip through the pages, showing him articles and some very nice--non-nude--photos. I even got a smile on his face. By the end he was convinced that it's all ok, and that the magazine is not what he'd expected. With that, the officer decided I was free to go.


He still took the magazine though!

The Prague Blog: Part 1, The Experience

How can I begin this blog, except by exclaiming, PRAGUE ROCKS!!!

Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you about my week long Prague experience. First of all, let me note that I chose to stay a week, instead of just a few days like many of the travellers I met there. There are many things you can see and taste in 3 days. If you were to search out some list of the top 10 spots in Prague, you could probably get pictures of all of them in 3 days. But...

If you really want to experience Prague, then you need to give it time to reveal itself to you. My experience became real for me on day 4 of the trip, which was one day after the dreaded Prague pub crawl, an essential part of any young tourist's visit. If that was the farthest one can get from the essence of Prague, my experience the next day was probably about the closest. I started the day off on facebook, where I began talking to a girl I met at the pub crawl. We decided we would meet for Czech food at lunch time. We found a beautiful restaurant in an old brewery building.

Drinking Pilsner Urquell, we order beef goulash with plain dumplings and bacon dumplings. Amazing food, completely cured any side affects of the previous absinthe-soaked evening. For the rest of the day, the heartiness of this meal spread to all of my impressions of Prague.

Afterwards we visited the Spanish Synagogue. The interior was beautifuly decorated with geometric designs and 'arabesques', but unfortunately we were asked not to take photos. You will have to visit for yourself. :)

After parting ways with my new friend, I went to an old church from the Twelfth Century. It is actually several chambers and a courtyard, which is near the Narodni Gallery. NOBODY was there, except for an employee at a gift shop at the end of a separating hall. I had the entire place to myself.

So I walked slowly through the halls and chambers, trying to feel the residual memories of almost a thousand years of human activity that has taken place within these walls. I set my jacket and camera aside, and sat down for meditation in the grandest chamber. Any small rustle of clothing would produce a loud and long echo, so I stayed silent. All alone, just me and this Bohemian princess from the 1200's. What a world.

After the peaceful repreive to my otherwise quick-paced and social experience of Prague, I went slowly walking until I reached the old city centre. I arrived just in time to hear the great astrological clock announce a new hour. It was already the fourth time I had seen the show. Beautiful, but I wonder how many of those crowded-in tourists noticed anything past the cameras they held over their eyes.

Here is a 500 year old clock that is in perfect working condition, and can tell you the position of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the day of the month. As a nearby guide pointed out... let me see your IPod function 500 years from now!

I ended the evening by spontaneously buying a ticket to see members of the Prague Symphony Orchestra perform a selection. The performance was a wonderful way to cap off a great day, and to really do the city justice. Here is a great cultural centre of the European world. It came as no surprise, therefore, that I found a comic-book bar to be my favorite evening hangout! The bar is called Batalion, and is covered in the comic artworks of Kaja Saudek. If you get a chance check it out. www.batalion.cz

What can I say after such a day but jsem šťastný (I am happy)! :)