Cutting Through Ice From South Korea to Japan

4:30 AM, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea:
The night before a flight always half awake.  May catch some shut-eye on the plane.

Gimpo International Airport, Seoul South Korea, 7 AM:
The airport bus driver bows before taking the driver's seat.  He's going to speed through the pre-dawn traffic.  He does, maneuvers through the slip and slide and before you know it, Gimpo check-in.  Staying sharp, for this is the first time departing from this airport.  It ends up being small- manageable with the feel of local terminals and light foot traffic.  The pace of the city still in step- singular thoughts of just getting to a destination occupies my early morning mind.

First Class seats with silverware and a Korean Herald Newspaper- crosswords for now until Haneda, Tokyo.  Flying into ice weather.  It seems the world is entering an Ice Age.  Reports of blizzards and below normal on the eastcoast of the US.  Easy to read about it, though.  As long as these engines stay clear of birds and ruptures, is all that matters.  I'm an aisle-guy now on planes.  My attention is on words- passing the time really.

Haneda to Akita, Japan:
Flying into a blanket of white.  Will the plane slide into the airport?  The delay at Haneda was for these invisible guys to plow the snow.  Keep everything in check for our lives to stay sane, keep the organism, this mode of transportation safe.  A suicide bomber in Moscow blew himself up before entering security at the airport.  Safety is an illusion.  Let's just land.  The last thing on my mind was watching Eddie Felsen's knowing grin...  There's someone at the airport grinning, too.  She's gotten so much lighter, her skin.  Warmth at the entrance.  Hello Japan!

Going to meet the parents.  From bus to train, all you see is snow.  This is the countryside, Akita Prefecture about 8 stops into what seems the middle of nowhere.  You don't really understand the word 'evergreens' until you see them in chest high of snow- and the white just keeps coming.  You imagine the early explores of the polar ice caps.  The opposite of complete darkness is light being reflected from every direction- a winter tanning which grips your pores by the balls.

Don't want to end this blog with the word 'balls'.  It's been a week here now and there's so much more to write about.  From Mount Iwate to Mariko's English School, Oasis and being naked with other guys at a hot spring, of course food and travel- it's interesting where you are now.  Lost the equivalent of 200 dollars when converting Korean Won to Japanese Yen.  The focus is the snow, though.  What can you say?  It's there all around you, everywhere.  I can see why Mari tries to stay clear of it.  I'm happy that she was a big snowboarder during her early youth.  Can't fight the snow.