Thanks to Gosijo for her writings about her impression towards BYJ on the nights of the Tokyo Dome Event. I'm sure it's not Gosijo alone felt this way, but almost or even all of the guest of that event.
Impressions – Travel…
[co-posted KOB & Quilt]by gosijo / 2009.10.01
Once again I will share my impressions on the Tokyo Dome event, #2 this time, focusing on Travel in Search of the Beauty of Korea, our dear BYJ’s book. Even if I later discover that my memory is not quite correct, even if I could understand neither the Korean or Japanese spoken onstage and have yet to read or hear translations (except for one), I hope you will take this post as representing what I felt, what came to mind as I reflected over my extraordinary day before going to sleep last night.
Unlike the Anime event, this one was, first and foremost, about Yong Joon addressing us, his kajok, his family, and telling us about his journey. I would say that I was most touched by the following four portions of the event. These were not consecutive but, rather, interspersed with beautiful musical and dance performances as well as question and answer segments with the hosts and artisans in attendance.
1) Yong Joon-nim reading to us in Korean a page from his book.
It sounded exquisitely poetic to me, highly philosophical as well. His delivery was like a warm shawl made of rich brocade wrapping around our shoulders and keeping us nice and warm.
2) Yong Joon-nim reading in Japanese another page from his book.Here again, we felt his strong wish to act as a bridge between the two cultures through heartfelt and sincere exchange.
3) Yong Joon-nim sitting on a park bench and writing a postcard to us.He did this in Japanese script and even I could see that he didn’t hesitate but rather formed each character with sure and precise strokes. Those sitting close to me told me his calligraphy was excellent.
Watching each word form and each idea take shape touched our hearts deeply; it felt like watching over his shoulder as he wrote to each and every one of us. For me, this was the most beautiful part of the event even if I did not know what he was writing at the time. Later, I met a Japanese sister for the first time, Whilst, and she translated Yong Joon’s message. He spoke of returning to us from his travels after seeing beautiful sights, hearing beautiful sounds and tasting delicious food, all the while keeping us, his “kajok” in his heart.
Many in the audience had tears in their eyes as they read these words.4) The procession around the arena with Yong Joon-nim carried as a king in an open palanquin.
Although I felt sorry for family sitting higher up, I was lucky to be quite close to where he passed, closer to the balloon of the day before, and see him facing our way, his eyes brushing over our group for quite some time. Even though his eyes did not meet mine, I sent him my silent message, added it to everyone’s around me, and it was clear that this happened repeatedly all the way around and that he “heard” us and was deeply touched.
The Anime event of the night before lasted two delightful hours but this one went on for nearly three and a half hours. Close to half this time, our dear YJ was present and shown on the giant screens, and we could read all the shifts in his expression, shifts that we all recognize like those of our nearest and dearest. In addition, we could hear all the familiar inflections in his voice, from his initial sigh of being overwhelmed by our love for him, “aaaahhhh”, from his reflective “mmmmm” or “ah” before answering each question, to his laugh bubbling up, to the answers he chose to deliver in a quieter, more intimate tone here and there.
And once again, I was privileged to be invited to a pan-national dinner hosted by one of the Japanese groups, and to meet sisters I had previously met only online as well as many others whom I had never encountered before.
What a fitting cap to an unforgettable day!
P.S.: please feel free to re-post.
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