Tuesday, December 06, 2005

death and life

Immigration.
Baggage claim.
Customs.
"Nihongo wakarimasu ka?"
"Hai, wakarimasu." I assured the thin customs official that I understood Japanese.
"Shinkoku suru mono arimasu ka?"
"Eh, shinkoku?"
"Declare."
"Oh. No, no."
"Daddy is dumb." My three-year-old, Julian, summed up the exchange with this comment in Japanese.
The customs official laughed nervously.

That was the scene as I entered Japan with sons Julian and Elias to go to the funeral of my wife's father. Surreal was how it started and continued... If you want to read a journal account of a Korean-in-Japan's funeral, download away.

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