FYI -----Original Message----- From: Jaime R Vergara <pinoypanda2031@aol.com> To: editor <editor@saipantribune.com> Sent: Mon, Oct 6, 2014 6:21 pm Subject: Jaime for ST Wednesday, Oct. 8 XVII Asiad in Incheon Last Saturday closed XVII Asiad in Korea, aka The Asian Games. I watched it off and on during the week. It was actually anti-climactic as Chinaracked the medal count for the ninth consecutive time with twice as much as thesecond, the host country, South Korea. ThePhilippines who hosted the first event a century ago had one gold, threesilvers, and thirteen bronzes. China is into bragging rights these days, in response, Ithink, to continuous official put-downs from the United States and Japan. It sent numerous athletes into the fray, withthe table tennis (ping-pong) doubles becomingan awkward spectacle when it was fought over by contending Chinese teams vyingfor the Gold. Hong Kong and Taiwanplayed on their own cognition. English as the international language, and Hanggul being thelocal tongue, we had the broadcast translated from Korean to English and thento Chinese. CCTV often just skipped theEnglish. From the synchronized swimmingto the track and field relay, China's team exhibited their prowess, while Hanggul Saram reflected all what theyhave learned from being the unofficial 51st State of the Union. The opening attended by President Park endedwith Psy's universal Gangnam style, the closing showed Korea's k-pop group ofCN Blue, Big Bang and Sistar. Shadowsand moves of Michael Jackson are alive and well in South Korea! The news was, of course, off the playing field. While China was racking the medals, and theMVP is a Japanese swimming athlete, the DPRK sent high-ranking officials atclosing that became the occasion for talks with their South Korean counterparts. At a time when Kim Jong-Un is allegedly havinghealth problems, it was nice to know that high ranking officials close to himwere able to be away, settling rumors of a possible coup to rest. The western press is often quick to the drawwhen imagining what might be happening in the hermit kingdom! The swimmer MVP received his trophy from keffiyeh'd Kuwait's Sheik Ahmed Al-FadahAl-ahmed Al-Sabah (how do they keep up with names that long), president of theOlympic Committee of Asia, responsible for the Asian Games. When the head of the local organizingcommittee gave his closing message in Korean, translated for broadcast in Chinain Putunghua but not in English, I satback and practiced my Ari-rang! and echoedmy Yobo sa-i-yo and kamsa hamnida! 18th Asian Games is scheduled next in Indonesia 2018 so theclosing ceremonies presented costumed dancers that I thought looked and movedmore like natives of Peru. Of course,long time ago, the Peruanos traveledfrom the steppes of Mongolia whose kin also went down to Indonesia. Any way, Korea managed to have itsblack-hatted "old" men in white kimonos, the stereotyped male Korean,performing stylized moves. With theGames theme this year as Diversity ShinesHere, Korea virtually subsidized everyone's coming to the Games to insureattendance, an edge it gave India's New Delhi in the bidding for the venue. Kinks in the games were few, with a couple showing steroidsin their blood test, three basketball players born in the USA barred fromcompeting, and the Qatar basketball ladies refusing to play when their hijab head gear were banned. Still, the One Asia theme was heavilypromoted. Asia as geography is problematic since the Persian word fromwhich the name was derived from just means "east of Europe", but the contiguouslandmass goes north up to Russia all the way to Bering Straits of Alaska. It does not fit therefore as a continentsurrounded by water. Used as an ethnic definition, Asia is problematic around thearea 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 Asiancountries of the USSR have since joined (though Russians from the 'Stans look odd) butnot Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia of the Aryan Mt. Caucasus area. Part of Turkey is Europe, and Aryan Irantakes exception in being lumped with the Arabs. Ideologically, Israel since 1974 was thumbed out on Arab objections. Calling it the Asian Games, however, might requiresome rethinking by its 45 nation members. But for now, the fun and games at Incheon has come to a close. Longevity, if the Philippines, one of threeoriginal members of the precursor of the Asian Games is to be an example, doesnot guarantee medal-earning performances. Overall, the top three Gold medal accumulators are China, Japan, andSouth Korea. But for now, the Korean Kims are talking ("Kim" isthe 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-teteopportunity between the separated kin. TheUS quickly sent high State Department officials while Pyongyang welcomed theirathletes as returning heroes. Meanwhile, the twin typhoons of Phonfone and Vongfongthreatened Japan and the Marianas. Semoga beruntung. j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031@aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!