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<font size="2">FYI</font><br>
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<div style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: helvetica, arial; color: black;">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Jaime R Vergara <pinoypanda2031@aol.com><br>
To: editor <editor@saipantribune.com><br>
Sent: Mon, Oct 6, 2014 6:21 pm<br>
Subject: Jaime for ST Wednesday, Oct. 8<br>
<br>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"><b>XVII Asiad in Incheon
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">Last Saturday closed XVII Asiad in Korea, <i>aka </i>The Asian Games. I watched it off and on during the week. It was actually anti-climactic as China
racked the medal count for the ninth consecutive time with twice as much as the
second, the host country, South Korea. The
Philippines who hosted the first event a century ago had one gold, three
silvers, and thirteen bronzes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">China is into bragging rights these days, in response, I
think, to continuous official put-downs from the United States and Japan. It sent numerous athletes into the fray, with
the table tennis <i>(ping-pong) </i>doubles becoming
an awkward spectacle when it was fought over by contending Chinese teams vying
for the Gold. Hong Kong and Taiwan
played on their own cognition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">English as the international language, and Hanggul being the
local tongue, we had the broadcast translated from Korean to English and then
to Chinese. CCTV often just skipped the
English. From the synchronized swimming
to the track and field relay, China's team exhibited their prowess, while <i>Hanggul Saram</i> reflected all what they
have learned from being the unofficial 51st State of the Union. The opening attended by President Park ended
with Psy's universal Gangnam style, the closing showed Korea's k-pop group of
CN Blue, Big Bang and Sistar. Shadows
and moves of Michael Jackson are alive and well in South Korea!<span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-family:"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">The news was, of course, off the playing field. While China was racking the medals, and the
MVP is a Japanese swimming athlete, the DPRK sent high-ranking officials at
closing that became the occasion for talks with their South Korean counterparts. At a time when Kim Jong-Un is allegedly having
health problems, it was nice to know that high ranking officials close to him
were able to be away, settling rumors of a possible coup to rest. The western press is often quick to the draw
when imagining what might be happening in the hermit kingdom!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">The swimmer MVP received his trophy from <i>keffiyeh'd</i> Kuwait's Sheik Ahmed Al-Fadah
Al-ahmed Al-Sabah (how do they keep up with names that long), president of the
Olympic Committee of Asia, responsible for the Asian Games. When the head of the local organizing
committee gave his closing message in Korean, translated for broadcast in China
in <i>Putunghua </i>but not in English, I sat
back and practiced my <i>Ari-rang! </i>and echoed
my <i>Yobo sa-i-yo </i>and <i>kamsa hamnida!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"><i> </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">18th Asian Games is scheduled next in Indonesia 2018 so the
closing ceremonies presented costumed dancers that I thought looked and moved
more like natives of Peru. Of course,
long time ago, the <i>Peruanos</i> traveled
from the steppes of Mongolia whose kin also went down to Indonesia. Any way, Korea managed to have its
black-hatted "old" men in white kimonos, the stereotyped male Korean,
performing stylized moves. With the
Games theme this year as <i>Diversity Shines
Here, </i>Korea virtually subsidized everyone's coming to the Games to insure
attendance, an edge it gave India's New Delhi in the bidding for the venue.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">Kinks in the games were few, with a couple showing steroids
in their blood test, three basketball players born in the USA barred from
competing, and the Qatar basketball ladies refusing to play when their <i>hijab </i>head gear were banned. Still, the One Asia theme was heavily
promoted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">Asia as geography is problematic since the Persian word from
which the name was derived from just means "east of Europe", but the contiguous
landmass goes north up to Russia all the way to Bering Straits of Alaska. It does not fit therefore as a continent
surrounded by water.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font size="4">Used as an ethnic definition, Asia is problematic around the
area between the Black and Caspian Seas, which is not Turkic, Mongol, Hindu,
Malay, nor Han, or any of the other identifiable ethnic "Asian" minorities. This is probably why the central Asian
countries of the USSR have since joined (though Russians from the 'Stans look odd) but
not Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia of the Aryan Mt. Caucasus area. Part of Turkey is Europe, and Aryan Iran
takes exception in being lumped with the Arabs.
Ideologically, Israel since 1974 was thumbed out on Arab objections. Calling it the Asian Games, however, might require
some rethinking by its 45 nation members.</font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">But for now, the fun and games at Incheon has come to a close. Longevity, if the Philippines, one of three
original members of the precursor of the Asian Games is to be an example, does
not guarantee medal-earning performances.
Overall, the top three Gold medal accumulators are China, Japan, and
South Korea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">But for now, the Korean Kims are talking ("Kim" is
the regal name on both sides of Panmunjom, which also means "gold")
as the DPRK sent high level officials to the closing ceremony and opened tete-a-tete
opportunity between the separated kin. The
US quickly sent high State Department officials while Pyongyang welcomed their
athletes as returning heroes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;"> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18px;">Meanwhile, the twin typhoons of Phonfone and Vongfong
threatened Japan and the Marianas. <i>Semoga beruntung.</i></div>
<br>
<div style="font-size: 18px; clear: both;"><i>j'aime la vie</i><br>
<a href="mailto:pinoypanda2031@aol.com">pinoypanda2031@aol.com</a><br>
<div><i>yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!</i></div>
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