Expo 2005
I make my sixth or seventh stop to visit the lady at the tourist information center near Spaceship Aqua. I have three questions. "First, who is the band that is playing on the stage?" She sorts through papers, then she responds that nothing is scheduled right now and that she doesn't know. "Second, is there a store with books in English?" She pulls out a map, circles "Maruzen", three blocks away, and responds, "third floor". Finally, I ask about Expo 2005. "I know it doesn't start until May 25, which is after I go. But, I see signs everywhere. Is there something to see now? What is it?"
She looks at me like I am joking. She looks at me some more. "I really don`t know very much," I interject. She looks at me again and decides that I truly may be the most ignorant person in the city of Nagoya. "Many people come to Nagoya just for Expo 2005. It started March 25." I nod and indicate that I had confused March with May. "It is a World`s Fair." She gives me pamphlets and maps. I will have no excuse to be bored with Japan.
I wake up in the morning to two Japanese men on my dormitory room floor. I`ve been trying to ignore them for the last hour, but I finally give up. One is in bed with his pajamas on, and it appears he will continue to read and rustle there. Another is fully dressed, says good morning to everyone, though two of the six in the room appear to still be successfully sleeping, and leaves. I dress quickly and quietly in clothes I have set aside, and exit the room. The wall clock says "5:45".
A woman in the lobby crosses her arms and says "closed". I have no patience at all this time of day. I ignore her, unlock the side door and leave without saying a word. I go to the 24/7 Internet place to send e-mail. I go to McDonalds for breakfast. I walk to Nagoya station and follow the signs to the Expo 2005 bus.
First, I head to the USA booth, where Ben Franklin talks about hope, optimism, democracy, and other buzzwords that Republicans use. The script does not warrant the elaborate Disneyland type theater set up, which shakes when Ben Franklin connects an electrical circuit and sprays water when Ben flies his kite in the rain.
Ben says that we will undo the damage we have done over the the last century "atom by atom", a clear reference to molecular nanotechnology, which currently has no budget. (As a dues paying member of "Foresight", I know my nanotechnology.)
The next room has displays on the moon landing, Mars Rover, and a functional plane recreated to match the photographs of the Wright Brothers` original plane. I am told that it flies and I respond that I thought the recreated plane actually did not fly. I am convinced when I give further thought to a video of a Wright Brothers plane flying. "I guess they didn`t have video in 1902." The USA gives me a 5 minute phone card as I leave.
Canada shows photos and music onto an elaborate screen, then sends you to a room where you can use the Internet to learn more about Canada.
Argentina follows their film with live tango dancing. I instantly prefer "live" to the canned programs.
I wait in a line at the China booth. They give me a numbered T-shirt with a Beijing 2008 Olympics logo on it.
Many of the poorer countries have the opposite approach. They want to sell you crafts and snacks. Cuba sells cigars and shots of alcohol.
The France media presentation is equally political to the USA. The world`s problems are listed on a video screen, while a video mime dancer hops and cartwheels around.
The U.K. farms out their booth to an environmental NGO. Their flower garden is a nice change of pace.
The U.N. lists their priorities and lists statistic after statistic to indicate progress, or lack thereof. It isn`t flashy, but it gets the points across.
Bio-Lung, a company in Japan, shows off greenery growing outward onto the sides of buildings. Their video is 3-D.
Most of the exhibition area is a natural forest, which according to the literature, would take two days to fully tour.
Spain shows a collection of Don Quixote, in various languages and formats.
Italy shows off "Dancing Satre", a 2000 year old sculpture, which I will say is on par with Michealangelo. I also saw this in the Tokyo museum in February.
I go to the Expo Dome to see a "popular singer from Greece", but decide the line through metal detectors is too long.
I haven`t paid for my night at the hostel and need to do this by 9 pm. I don't have much more time. Since I am considering visiting Africa in the Fall, I go to the Africa displays.
Wow!
Ethiopia has a tiny booth. In it is the skeleton of "Lucy", billed as the olest ho,inid bones, at 2.5 million years. Kenya matches this with a homo erectus discovered by Richard Leaky and with skeletons of interesting primates that are 17 million and 18 million years old-- I remember when they were discovered a few years ago. I see a skeleton of an elephant bird, the world`s largest extinct bird. I see more museum pieces and masks and music and people dancing. There are some videos of wildlife, but no expensive multimedia and high tech to distract from Africa`s messages.
I decide to eat here and notice a poster on the wall about housing made out of aluminum cans. It makes practical sense in the poorest countries, I decide. Maybe I can drag a a homemade aluminum can capsule behind my VW. That would draw attention!
Though I rush through the Africa booths, they turn out to be the highlight of Expo 2005.
I get back to the hostel at 8:30 pm and pay for two more nights. The early birds have checked out. This morning, I wake up at a refreshing 9 am.
She looks at me like I am joking. She looks at me some more. "I really don`t know very much," I interject. She looks at me again and decides that I truly may be the most ignorant person in the city of Nagoya. "Many people come to Nagoya just for Expo 2005. It started March 25." I nod and indicate that I had confused March with May. "It is a World`s Fair." She gives me pamphlets and maps. I will have no excuse to be bored with Japan.
I wake up in the morning to two Japanese men on my dormitory room floor. I`ve been trying to ignore them for the last hour, but I finally give up. One is in bed with his pajamas on, and it appears he will continue to read and rustle there. Another is fully dressed, says good morning to everyone, though two of the six in the room appear to still be successfully sleeping, and leaves. I dress quickly and quietly in clothes I have set aside, and exit the room. The wall clock says "5:45".
A woman in the lobby crosses her arms and says "closed". I have no patience at all this time of day. I ignore her, unlock the side door and leave without saying a word. I go to the 24/7 Internet place to send e-mail. I go to McDonalds for breakfast. I walk to Nagoya station and follow the signs to the Expo 2005 bus.
First, I head to the USA booth, where Ben Franklin talks about hope, optimism, democracy, and other buzzwords that Republicans use. The script does not warrant the elaborate Disneyland type theater set up, which shakes when Ben Franklin connects an electrical circuit and sprays water when Ben flies his kite in the rain.
Ben says that we will undo the damage we have done over the the last century "atom by atom", a clear reference to molecular nanotechnology, which currently has no budget. (As a dues paying member of "Foresight", I know my nanotechnology.)
The next room has displays on the moon landing, Mars Rover, and a functional plane recreated to match the photographs of the Wright Brothers` original plane. I am told that it flies and I respond that I thought the recreated plane actually did not fly. I am convinced when I give further thought to a video of a Wright Brothers plane flying. "I guess they didn`t have video in 1902." The USA gives me a 5 minute phone card as I leave.
Canada shows photos and music onto an elaborate screen, then sends you to a room where you can use the Internet to learn more about Canada.
Argentina follows their film with live tango dancing. I instantly prefer "live" to the canned programs.
I wait in a line at the China booth. They give me a numbered T-shirt with a Beijing 2008 Olympics logo on it.
Many of the poorer countries have the opposite approach. They want to sell you crafts and snacks. Cuba sells cigars and shots of alcohol.
The France media presentation is equally political to the USA. The world`s problems are listed on a video screen, while a video mime dancer hops and cartwheels around.
The U.K. farms out their booth to an environmental NGO. Their flower garden is a nice change of pace.
The U.N. lists their priorities and lists statistic after statistic to indicate progress, or lack thereof. It isn`t flashy, but it gets the points across.
Bio-Lung, a company in Japan, shows off greenery growing outward onto the sides of buildings. Their video is 3-D.
Most of the exhibition area is a natural forest, which according to the literature, would take two days to fully tour.
Spain shows a collection of Don Quixote, in various languages and formats.
Italy shows off "Dancing Satre", a 2000 year old sculpture, which I will say is on par with Michealangelo. I also saw this in the Tokyo museum in February.
I go to the Expo Dome to see a "popular singer from Greece", but decide the line through metal detectors is too long.
I haven`t paid for my night at the hostel and need to do this by 9 pm. I don't have much more time. Since I am considering visiting Africa in the Fall, I go to the Africa displays.
Wow!
Ethiopia has a tiny booth. In it is the skeleton of "Lucy", billed as the olest ho,inid bones, at 2.5 million years. Kenya matches this with a homo erectus discovered by Richard Leaky and with skeletons of interesting primates that are 17 million and 18 million years old-- I remember when they were discovered a few years ago. I see a skeleton of an elephant bird, the world`s largest extinct bird. I see more museum pieces and masks and music and people dancing. There are some videos of wildlife, but no expensive multimedia and high tech to distract from Africa`s messages.
I decide to eat here and notice a poster on the wall about housing made out of aluminum cans. It makes practical sense in the poorest countries, I decide. Maybe I can drag a a homemade aluminum can capsule behind my VW. That would draw attention!
Though I rush through the Africa booths, they turn out to be the highlight of Expo 2005.
I get back to the hostel at 8:30 pm and pay for two more nights. The early birds have checked out. This morning, I wake up at a refreshing 9 am.
Labels: travel
posted by David Rasmussen at 9:43 PM
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