I've been fairly busy since I got back to the States, which is my excuse for waiting so long to post the conclusion to my trip. I've also been dealing with a very strange case of jet-lag, which didn't strike until I'd gotten several nights of sleep. Well, here's what happened.
Tuesday
Nara is far cooler than Kyoto. The weather there was some of the most pleasant weather I’ve experienced in Japan (that may just be because of the contrast with Kyoto. Most of us left our backpacks and other carrying containers in lockers at the Nara station (we checked out of the K’s House, so we couldn’t leave them there). I carried my backpack for the entire day. Why? Because it cost 300 yen to get a locker and they only took 100 yen coins. I I had remembered that I carried more hundred yen coins in a different pocket, I would have gotten one, but I thought I only had one 100 yen coin with me.
Almost as soon as we’d left the station in Nara, we saw deer. The deer in Nara have no fear of man. One of our group, Ashlie, went up to one of the deer to give it some of her drink (I don’t know why) and it took the map she was holding instead. She tried to get the map back, but the deer never let her get a hold on it.
As we walked to the Todaiji Temple we encountered many more deer. Many, as in, I’m not sure if herds in the wild have this many deer. People were selling packs of cookies to feed the deer for 150 yen each. Several of my companions bought packs of them. The deer were oddly polite. Yes, polite, which is not a word often used to describe anything besides humans. It was possible to get the deer to bow.
The Todaiji Temple had a very big Buddha and a decent souvenir shop. It also banned people from using tripods to take pictures, for some reason. About 3 seconds after I saw a sign saying “No Tripods” I saw a woman setting up a tripod. Some people just have no manners.
We returned to the station for lunch. I eventually found my way to a McDonald’s, having decided that I was well and truly fed up with Japanese food. I decided to try out the Mega Mac with its accompanying meal. It was very filling, but the taste left something to be desired. At least I’ve satisfied my desire to give it a try.
It was then time to go to one last temple. No, wait, shrine. Temples (in Japan) are Buddhist, shrines are Shinto. Honestly, it wasn’t very memorable, which is why I had trouble remembering which it was. There were definitely miko attending some of the windows there, so it must have been a Shinto shrine. What I most remember about the shrine are the interactions we had with the deer there. I gave a deer cookie to a deer by holding it in my mouth. I was not foolish enough to be the first one to do it. Another student made sure that the deer didn’t bite his lips off when he did so before I gave one a cookie.
We had to head back to Kyoto after the last shrine. Or so we thought. Turned out that we had a couple more hours than we wanted. When we arrived at the station (and went through the ticket area) we found out that someone had committed suicide by jumping in front of one of the Shinkansen bullet trains. As a result, all of the trains were delayed by around two hours. Bad news for both commuters and anyone who cared about the man who killed himself. Although I was looking in a different direction at the time, my companions said that when one of the Shinkansen pulled up, it had a splatter of red and a dent on the front of it.
When we finally got back to the guest house, it was past 10:00 PM, which is why I didn’t write anything that night.
Wednesday
Our last full day in Japan, and my last chance to get the figurines I wanted.
The weather in Tokyo seemed to be much cooler than it had been before we went to Kyoto. I haven’t checked the weather reports, so I don’t know if it actually cooled down or if it was just because after Kyoto, not much can feel hot to me. In any case, I found movement outdoors to be very easy.
After a quick check-in online in the morning, and sending off an email to my family, I went over to Machida. I wanted to get more figurines, and this was my last chance. I had some trouble finding my way back to the department store with the right machines, but after I found the McDonald’s I’d eaten at on Sunday, it was easy. The machines only accepted 100 yen coins, and I’d decided that before going to the arcade and reducing a bill to coins, that I would try it with the 100 yen coins I’d acquired through purchases on the previous day. Three tries, three of the same figurine which I already had. I went to the arcade, exchanged a 2000 yen note ($20), and returned to challenge the machines again. In hindsight, my obsession seems a bit silly. I received a repeat, a repeat, new-but-not-quite-right, and finally the one I was looking for. To make up for spending money so recklessly, I decided that that would be the last bill I spent while in Japan. I visited Yodobashi Camera one last time to say goodbye, and left Machida for the second-to-last time.
By the time I got back, there wasn’t really time to get online again before a meeting scheduled for 4:30. I spent most of the time between my return and the meeting packing my things. A lot of the people were missing when the meeting time came around; they had gone to the Studio Ghibli Museum and most had not yet returned. In truth, the meeting was nothing important, just Kazuko again telling us about how we’d have to be packed and ready to go early on Thursday. It would have been easier for her to give the information to those of us who’d been to Kyoto and have us pass it on the previous night. It amounted to about two sentences’ worth of information.
We didn’t have as much involvement in the planning of the Sayonara Party as we’d been led to believe that we would. Yes, it was Kazuko’s doing again. I’ve been rather hard on her, but I must soften it with the fact that this was the first time the trip was done. Presumably she’ll know better next year. Back to the party. Poor, poor Sam 1. He’d been alarmed at the thought that we might have to do something big (there had bee mentions of a song and dance number), so he wrote a speech instead. By the time he found out that we didn’t all have to do something, Kazuko knew about his speech and he had to give it. Angela also spoke, and Billy sang a song while playing his guitar. There was some food and a few pictures, and that was mostly it.
Most of the group went out after the party. Some of them were talking about staying up all night so that they could sleep on the plane. As one of the first people up each day, I can say with certainty that not one of them succeeded. I didn’t go out, since I’d decided not to spend any significant amounts of money, which I would have had to do. The only other people in the guest house at the time were Billy and his Japanese girlfriend (I know her name, I just think it more respectful not to mention the names of our Japanese guides). As he was serenading her upstairs, I spent the time downstairs. Ended up falling asleep down there, before Billy and his girlfriend came down and I went back upstairs.
Thursday
The day we left Japan. Or most of us did, anyways.
I woke up just as early as normal, which left me quite bored for a while. I’d packed my laptop the previous night, and had no desire to dig it out of my backpack. I was able t finish packing in a matter of minutes, while a lot of the others needed all the time they had. The greatest difficulty I had was when one of my figurines lost a part, and I had to search underneath my bed for it. Those of us who weren’t packing were also doing a bit of cleaning.
We had one more meeting, this time with many of the local students and some of the teachers there. They helped us out in getting the refrigerator emptied and stuff like that. Kazuko was constantly alternating between telling us “That isn’t their job! Clean up!” and “Everybody, come in for the meeting!’ At times, I think she even did the two within the same minute. The meeting was pointless, anyways, as we’d gone over everything the previous night.
We went to Machida one last time, where we caught a bus after a considerable wait (and Kazuko drafting two of the guys to carry her luggage, even after she told us to pack light). The bus ride was around two hours long, and I might have caught a few minutes of sleep on it. Finally, we made it to the airport.
Remember how I said most of us left Japan? Well, Ryan (the guy who I said should have insurance taken out on him so long ago) lost his passport. He had to make his way to the US Embassy in order to fix his problem. We had thought that a copy of his passport would be enough, but it wasn’t. Make a note of that: real passport only. I just hope he didn’t use any of the ways Sam 1 suggested to get deported. Without a passport, they wouldn’t know where to deport him to.
Not much to say about the plane ride. I spent about four hours of it talking to Sam 1, next to whom I had been seated. The other four or five hours were mostly spent listening to music, trying to watch fragments of movies, and playing my DS.
Finally, we arrived back in America. Most of us managed to stick in a group until we parted at the pick-up location. We managed to stick together through the initial screening, baggage claim (where Kazuko left us), customs, and the subway trains that took us between the arrival area and the main part of the airport. Quite impressive, I think.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Bad to Good
7-4-08 Cont. (6:28 PM local, 2:28 AM back home)
The Fourth of July has finally started in proper. We were originally planning to have some celebrations near the river, but those seem to have been put of until tomorrow, when it won’t be the Fourth in either America or Japan, which makes no sense. Well, I wrote “we” but really meant some of the others. I haven’t had anything to do with any planning.
Okonomiyaki was a disappointment, to put it lightly. Actually, it was the worst of the many disappointments I’ve faced in Japan. It tasted terrible. It might just have been the stuff added to the batter, none of which am I known to like. I remember the basic principles, so I can try to make better stuff when I get back to the States.
Kazuko does not know what the hell she’s talking about. The woman is a, to borrow a term from The Simpsons, “craptastic” tour guide and planner. We had a choice between a very scary movie that came recommended by the local students, but was entirely in Japanese, and what she called a moderately scary movie with English subtitles. I could have sworn that we voted on the very scary movie, which is what we were originally supposed to watch anyways, but she had us watch the moderately scary one. It was not scary. It was a joke. A bad joke. Nowadays, when you tell people that you’re going to show them a Japanese scary movie, people expect something like Ringu (original version of The Ring). What she showed us must have been a joke, even when it was made back in the fifties.
Then there was the Japanese music. Kazuko said that it would probably be with traditional instruments, not J-Pop (Japanese pop music). I was hoping that her track record of being wrong would continue. No such luck. I’m trying to have as much fun as I can over here, but it really isn’t easy with such a lousy and bossy tour guide. I came over here because I enjoy certain parts of Japan’s modern culture, not Japan’s traditional culture. Turns out that I’d have an easier time experiencing those aspects back in the States than I’m having when I have to deal with Kazuko.
I’m not having fun with Kazuko. My Top Three Fun Things in Japan are: calligraphy, visiting the Yodobashi shops (multiple times), and using my laptop. She planned exactly one of those things. Her track record is not good. Tomorrow we visit Kamakura, which is where the anime Elfen Lied was set (unless that was a different Kamakura). It has a chance of being fun, but I’m not counting on it. Nor am I very optimistic about the last trip on Monday and Tuesday at this point. Or the Sayonara Party (I hate parties). Yeah, Japan has been very disappointing so far. I blame Kazuko for planning lame activities. Not many college students are actually interested in traditional culture, now are they (incidentally, the stuff the local students have led has been more fun that what Kazuko led)? No, if someone is interested in Japan enough to go there nowadays, isn’t it more likely that the pop culture is what drew them here? From what I’ve heard, Akihabara is the place that would most match what I want, but with the shootings that have happened there, we didn’t go.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to go to judo tonight. There were scheduling issues, and I’m not sure of the details, but we couldn’t see it. So much the better, that gives me more free time. Unfortunately, we only found this out after spending 15-20 minutes standing around in the rather hot sports building. To get to the area where we waited, we had to take off our shoes and put on some slippers that we set up for just such a purpose. They were nowhere near large enough for my feet to fit inside, but I still had to wear them (I forgot to mention that we had to do the same thing when we visited the elementary school, so I spent the visit with my heels hanging over the edge of the slippers).
Most of the others have gone out to one place or another. I think there are only three of us in the guest house right now, with one being someone who recently returned. I’m the only one in the main room right now.
Bah.
7-4-08 Cont. Again. ‘Bout 8:17 PM here, so 4:17 AM back home.
Thank you, Tokyo, and Happy Fourth of July! There’s an absolutely awesome lightning storm going on outside right now. I took a video of it. Ryan, Andrejs, and I were all out there together, behind the Taiwan students’ house. We were getting eaten alive by the bugs, and I was the first to come in. Mostly because I was satisfied with what I got before they were. Maybe the coolest natural phenomenon I’ve ever seen.
7-5-08 (6:06 PM Saturday local, 2:06 AM home)
Japanese class in now over. Kazuko gave us our last extra credit quiz today, and we turned in our last extra credit written conversation. Do not ask me what I wrote on mine; it was the product of late-night discussion about how to translate certain phrases into Japanese. I was so shocked that I new the answer that I had to use it in my conversation. It was nothing too bad, and might and up making Kazuko laugh, even. Speaking of the written conversations, I think that one place where Kazuko and I differ is in the level of formality we think should be in them. I use characters that I already know when I write, so they speak in a more casual way than might be usual. It doesn’t seem odd to me because I know them, but she probably doesn’t so… Anyways, I don’t think that some of the points she marked off on my second-to-last conversation were technically wrong, just more casual than she might have wanted. Doesn’t matter, since my score in her class is better-than-perfect thanks to extra-credit.
My slight faith in Kamakura was rewarded. We visited the temple of the Giant Buddha and a couple of Shinto shrines (actually, the first shrine might have been a Buddhist temple as well, I saw signs of both faiths), and all were fun.
I went inside the big Buddha’s belly, which wasn’t actually that impressive, but allowed me to use the phrase “I went inside the big Buddha’s belly.” I also bought a few charms there. The second sacred place we went to had a cave we could go inside. There were hundreds of tiny statues in the cave, and it was lit only by candles. In order to get through the cave, I had to bend over double because the cave got so small. At the same place, there was a very large series of stairs that I climbed up. I thought it would go all the way up the hill, but no such luck. That was quite disappointing, but it still went about halfway up the hill. I should mention that it was very hot today.
After we visited the first two holy sites, we had to go back to the train station and catch a short ride to another location in Kamakura, closer to the final shrine. While waiting for the rest of the group to show up, I went into a 100 Yen store and got a new bag to replace the one my mother sent with me. Last week I damaged the carrying straps ( not sure how I pulled that one off) and then today I couldn’t find it. Yeah, people should not trust me with their stuff. I also bought a Mountain Dew there, since I couldn’t carry my water bottle around for hours at a time in a practical manner without a bag to carry it in.
When we arrived at the last station, Kazuko set us free to get our own lunch. Most of the group went to have okonomiyaki, but five of us (myself included) went to McDonald’s. I had a hamburger from the 100 yen menu. Apparently they serve Mega Macs over here, which have four meat patties and three buns. They also have Happy Books to go with the Happy Meals.
Shortly after we ate, one of the other students who ate at the cheap location found a shop that focused on the works of Hayao Miyazaki. For those who don’t know, they include but are not limited to: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. There was some neat stuff in there, but nothing I really wanted to buy.
Wandering down the street the Miyazaki shop was on, I realized that there were a few things about shopping in Japan that I hadn’t yet mentioned. Shopping streets in Japan are three-dimensional, not two-dimensional like streets in America. You have to pay attention to all the little nooks and crannies because some of the stores are located below street level and some are on the second floor of buildings. The Miyazaki shop was the most interesting place I found on that street.
The third holy site was the first one I was sure was a Shinto shrine. How was I sure? Because it was the first place where I saw a miko, a Shinto priestess. The structure wasn’t as impressive as at the second, but it was interesting to see the bazaar-like atmosphere that sprang up below the shrine’s staircase. There was a wall of masks that felt very out of place: some were Pokemon, some were from Hello Kitty, some that looked like they came from a Sentai Rangers series, and others that I can’t describe. Interesting note about the bathroom at the shrine: There was no toilet paper. None whatsoever. I noticed it before I needed any, fortunately.
I don’t think we’re going to be doing any Fourth of July celebrations today either. Even if we were, I decided that if I had a new blister today, I wouldn’t go. Turns out that I have a new blister; this time on my left big toe, matching the one on my right. Just going to rest for the rest of the night.
Before I go, I should mention that the local students were the guides for the day.
7-6-08 (9:08 AM Sunday local, 5:08 PM Saturday back home)
I used up the last of my real food yesterday. All I have left is candy. I did that purposefully, so that I would have to set off early today in order to get something to eat. I’m planning on heading off to Machida today and spending most of the day shopping. I’ve heard of a taiyaki place over there (although I just know the general area), and can probably find a place that will serve gyuudon as well.
I’m washing my things for the last time in Japan right now. The washing machine was giving me a surprising amount of trouble that it hadn’t given me before, but I managed to get it to work.
I’m seriously tempted to try to make my way to Akihabara today, since I’ve heard so many good things about it. The odds of the shootings happening there again today are vanishingly small, after all. This is probably a case in which my curiosity would win over my caution except that I have no idea how to get there. I’d probably have to switch trains and even lines in order to get there, and I have nowhere near the understanding necessary to find my way there alone.
7-6-08 (5:01 PM Sunday local, 1:01 AM back home)
Finished my shopping in Machida today. Well, finished for now, anyways. I’ll probably end up going back there on Wednesday. I wasted quite a bit of money on figurines. Now that I actually stop to think about it, I blew over $20. Not good. I didn’t even manage to get the one that I really wanted, either. Moral: Stay away from the coin-operated toy machines in Japan.
It was quite hot today, but I managed to spend most of my time inside where there was air-conditioning. That was what determined a lot of where I went with my day. I saw one place that looked like it had air-conditioning, went in, browsed, and went out a different exit.
I stopped by a 7-11 in Machida. That was the first time I went into a Japanese 7-11. There weren’t any slushies or the sorts of things Americans are used to, but there were meat buns, Makoto’s food. Since I’ve already had one, I didn’t buy one there. I did, however, finally get some rice balls to eat while I was there, as well as something for either dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow morning, depending on when I get hungry.
I don’t like nori. Nori is dried seaweed. The Japanese use nori in a lot of their foods, including rice balls. The pack I bought had two rice balls in it, with different fillings. I could identify less than half of what I ate. I knew the rice and the nori, but neither of the fillings or the little bunch of extra stuff I was given along with the rice balls. That’s one of the reasons why I wouldn’t be able to live over here: I don’t like Japanese food. Sure, there have been a few good-tasting food items over here, but I wouldn’t be able to take them being the entirety of my diet.
Went into a Japanese arcade, I did. Shouldn’t have done that. I blew 300 yen trying to get a large figurine from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzuki (which was actually only two tries), and it allowed me to get the 100 yen coins that I later wasted in coin machines.
When I say “wasted” I don’t mean “used to get figurines.” I mean “the d@mn machine ate 600 yen and I don’t know enough Japanese to explain the situation!” I should have stopped with that machine after it ate the first 300 yen, but I thought that another try might clear it up. No such luck. Still, I do like the figurines that I managed to get.
I’d like to reiterate that I like Yodobashi Camera. They didn’t have the sort of coin machine I wanted at the one in Machida, but there was a coin machine that shocked me. Not so much that it existed, but that it was somewhere where children could get to it. It also surprised me that that machine was nearly empty. I took pictures of it, but I’m not sure that those are enough to get people to believe me about it.
Apparently, in Japanese McDonald’s ice cream is called a “soft twist.” I’m not sure why. I didn’t plan on going there today; I wanted to find taiyaki and a place to get gyuudon, but at the time I couldn’t find either. The ice cream was very refreshing on such a hot day.
I also saw some kittens in a store. OMOCHIKAERI (wow, my word processor says that word is okay. Did I overload it?)! That is, I WANNA TAKE THEM HOME! But I have my own precious kitties, and the ones I saw today reminded me of them. It was so sad to see them in the store windows. The kittens (and puppies, and bunnies) were all alone in their sections and they couldn’t play with anybody else. SADNESS!
I finally gave up on my attempts to find taiyaki or gyuudon in Machida and went back to the station. I had earlier had a difficult time getting out of the station because I’d wandered into the station’s attached department store and didn’t know how to navigate out. I went back to that department store and made my way through every level, eventually ending up on a floor where I finally found some books I recognized: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series. I was seriously tempted to buy Volume 9, since it’s my favorite of the series, but held off.
I then traveled to the very bottom floor of the department store, and found the place where they sold food. I walked through the various stands, and found one that sold taiyaki. やっと見つけった(Yatto mitsuketta! I finally found it!). I bought one, since I didn’t know how it would taste.
Which brings me to something that I need to address: the Kanon food mission. I set out in Japan on a mission to eat all five of the favorite foods of Kanon’s characters during my time here: taiyaki, nikuman, something with strawberries, gyuudon, and ice cream. Shiori, Nayuki, your foods are okay; the ice cream and the strawberries were fine. Mai, I still haven’t managed to find gyuudon. Ayu, Makoto, we need to talk. Taiyaki and nikuman are not yummy. Stop acting like they are. You are misleading people. Stop it. Diversify the food you eat, and I’m sure that you’ll find something that actually tastes good.
That is all for now.
7-7-08 (8:20 PM Monday local, 4:20 AM back home)
If the reader would please imagine the next sentence in a Ricky Ricardo voice, I would appreciate it. Mai, youse got some ‘splainin’ at do! Thank you. The reason for that sentence is that I have finally completed my Kanon Food Mission, and eaten some gyuudon (or close enough). Mai, you are adorable, but you do not have good taste in food. If it’s just because that was how you became friends with Sayuri-san, that’s fine, but you should specify that that‘s the case.
Where did I finally find gyuudon? In a restaurant that me and four of the girls on the trip found. Why was I traveling with four of the girls who came on the trip? Because I didn’t know where to get food in Kyoto either. Why am I in Kyoto? Maybe I should back up a bit.
Today was the first day of the optional Kyoto overnight trip. Eleven students signed up to go on it, but one dropped out literally as we were walking for the train station, so there are only ten of us, plus Kazuko and her friend, who is acting as a guide.
Kyoto is very hot. I’ve used that to describe Tokyo, but Kyoto takes it to another level. I brought two water bottles filled with ice with me when I left the guest house today, and I was glad that I did so. We visited three temples today, and by the end we were all exhausted.
First up, we visited Kiyomizu’s Temple. The main feature there were three streams of water (streams in the sense of falling in streams, rather than along the ground) that you could drink from. The three streams represent health, wisdom, and longevity. People are only supposed to drink from two of the streams, as to do otherwise is to invite misfortune. I drank from the first and second streams. I have no idea what they represented, as my research has turned up nothing.
The second temple we visited was an accident; Kazuko led us into the wrong one. We got some incense and put it into a burner in front of a gigantic statue, and then went to the proper second temple.
The proper second temple was not very impressive, to tell the truth. The best part of it was that parts of it had air conditioning. The worst part of it was that it had a lot of stairs that were not air-conditioned. Really, though, the Kiyomizu Temple had more stairs just to get to the temple. Actually, the worst part was that my camera’s battery ran out during the visit there. At least I got to have a sluchy-like drink that was tasty even though it gave me brain freeze.
We had to take a taxi to the third temple. It was the Golden Pavilion, a building covered in some form of gold and its surroundings. I really wished that I could take pictures there, but with my camera’s battery depleted… There were also some small places off the path that people could try to throw coins into. I’m not sure why. At the end, Kazuko decided to treat all of us to kakigori (shaved ice). Very nice.
We then returned to the hostel where we had earlier dropped off our stuff. It’s pretty nice here; this is the first place in Japan where I’ve had a comfortable time connecting to the internet. There aren’t any three-pronged outlets as far as I can tell, though, so I’m on battery power. There’s a breakfast buffet, but we’ll have to leave tomorrow before it opens. Pity, as my mouth was watering when I read the description.
And the topic of food leads me back to being in a restaurant with four girls. I spent the time listening to their girl talk, which I am not allowed to repeat under threat of chopstick assault.
Tomorrow we’ll be visiting Nara. We expect to see a lot of deer. And that is all for now.
The Fourth of July has finally started in proper. We were originally planning to have some celebrations near the river, but those seem to have been put of until tomorrow, when it won’t be the Fourth in either America or Japan, which makes no sense. Well, I wrote “we” but really meant some of the others. I haven’t had anything to do with any planning.
Okonomiyaki was a disappointment, to put it lightly. Actually, it was the worst of the many disappointments I’ve faced in Japan. It tasted terrible. It might just have been the stuff added to the batter, none of which am I known to like. I remember the basic principles, so I can try to make better stuff when I get back to the States.
Kazuko does not know what the hell she’s talking about. The woman is a, to borrow a term from The Simpsons, “craptastic” tour guide and planner. We had a choice between a very scary movie that came recommended by the local students, but was entirely in Japanese, and what she called a moderately scary movie with English subtitles. I could have sworn that we voted on the very scary movie, which is what we were originally supposed to watch anyways, but she had us watch the moderately scary one. It was not scary. It was a joke. A bad joke. Nowadays, when you tell people that you’re going to show them a Japanese scary movie, people expect something like Ringu (original version of The Ring). What she showed us must have been a joke, even when it was made back in the fifties.
Then there was the Japanese music. Kazuko said that it would probably be with traditional instruments, not J-Pop (Japanese pop music). I was hoping that her track record of being wrong would continue. No such luck. I’m trying to have as much fun as I can over here, but it really isn’t easy with such a lousy and bossy tour guide. I came over here because I enjoy certain parts of Japan’s modern culture, not Japan’s traditional culture. Turns out that I’d have an easier time experiencing those aspects back in the States than I’m having when I have to deal with Kazuko.
I’m not having fun with Kazuko. My Top Three Fun Things in Japan are: calligraphy, visiting the Yodobashi shops (multiple times), and using my laptop. She planned exactly one of those things. Her track record is not good. Tomorrow we visit Kamakura, which is where the anime Elfen Lied was set (unless that was a different Kamakura). It has a chance of being fun, but I’m not counting on it. Nor am I very optimistic about the last trip on Monday and Tuesday at this point. Or the Sayonara Party (I hate parties). Yeah, Japan has been very disappointing so far. I blame Kazuko for planning lame activities. Not many college students are actually interested in traditional culture, now are they (incidentally, the stuff the local students have led has been more fun that what Kazuko led)? No, if someone is interested in Japan enough to go there nowadays, isn’t it more likely that the pop culture is what drew them here? From what I’ve heard, Akihabara is the place that would most match what I want, but with the shootings that have happened there, we didn’t go.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to go to judo tonight. There were scheduling issues, and I’m not sure of the details, but we couldn’t see it. So much the better, that gives me more free time. Unfortunately, we only found this out after spending 15-20 minutes standing around in the rather hot sports building. To get to the area where we waited, we had to take off our shoes and put on some slippers that we set up for just such a purpose. They were nowhere near large enough for my feet to fit inside, but I still had to wear them (I forgot to mention that we had to do the same thing when we visited the elementary school, so I spent the visit with my heels hanging over the edge of the slippers).
Most of the others have gone out to one place or another. I think there are only three of us in the guest house right now, with one being someone who recently returned. I’m the only one in the main room right now.
Bah.
7-4-08 Cont. Again. ‘Bout 8:17 PM here, so 4:17 AM back home.
Thank you, Tokyo, and Happy Fourth of July! There’s an absolutely awesome lightning storm going on outside right now. I took a video of it. Ryan, Andrejs, and I were all out there together, behind the Taiwan students’ house. We were getting eaten alive by the bugs, and I was the first to come in. Mostly because I was satisfied with what I got before they were. Maybe the coolest natural phenomenon I’ve ever seen.
7-5-08 (6:06 PM Saturday local, 2:06 AM home)
Japanese class in now over. Kazuko gave us our last extra credit quiz today, and we turned in our last extra credit written conversation. Do not ask me what I wrote on mine; it was the product of late-night discussion about how to translate certain phrases into Japanese. I was so shocked that I new the answer that I had to use it in my conversation. It was nothing too bad, and might and up making Kazuko laugh, even. Speaking of the written conversations, I think that one place where Kazuko and I differ is in the level of formality we think should be in them. I use characters that I already know when I write, so they speak in a more casual way than might be usual. It doesn’t seem odd to me because I know them, but she probably doesn’t so… Anyways, I don’t think that some of the points she marked off on my second-to-last conversation were technically wrong, just more casual than she might have wanted. Doesn’t matter, since my score in her class is better-than-perfect thanks to extra-credit.
My slight faith in Kamakura was rewarded. We visited the temple of the Giant Buddha and a couple of Shinto shrines (actually, the first shrine might have been a Buddhist temple as well, I saw signs of both faiths), and all were fun.
I went inside the big Buddha’s belly, which wasn’t actually that impressive, but allowed me to use the phrase “I went inside the big Buddha’s belly.” I also bought a few charms there. The second sacred place we went to had a cave we could go inside. There were hundreds of tiny statues in the cave, and it was lit only by candles. In order to get through the cave, I had to bend over double because the cave got so small. At the same place, there was a very large series of stairs that I climbed up. I thought it would go all the way up the hill, but no such luck. That was quite disappointing, but it still went about halfway up the hill. I should mention that it was very hot today.
After we visited the first two holy sites, we had to go back to the train station and catch a short ride to another location in Kamakura, closer to the final shrine. While waiting for the rest of the group to show up, I went into a 100 Yen store and got a new bag to replace the one my mother sent with me. Last week I damaged the carrying straps ( not sure how I pulled that one off) and then today I couldn’t find it. Yeah, people should not trust me with their stuff. I also bought a Mountain Dew there, since I couldn’t carry my water bottle around for hours at a time in a practical manner without a bag to carry it in.
When we arrived at the last station, Kazuko set us free to get our own lunch. Most of the group went to have okonomiyaki, but five of us (myself included) went to McDonald’s. I had a hamburger from the 100 yen menu. Apparently they serve Mega Macs over here, which have four meat patties and three buns. They also have Happy Books to go with the Happy Meals.
Shortly after we ate, one of the other students who ate at the cheap location found a shop that focused on the works of Hayao Miyazaki. For those who don’t know, they include but are not limited to: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. There was some neat stuff in there, but nothing I really wanted to buy.
Wandering down the street the Miyazaki shop was on, I realized that there were a few things about shopping in Japan that I hadn’t yet mentioned. Shopping streets in Japan are three-dimensional, not two-dimensional like streets in America. You have to pay attention to all the little nooks and crannies because some of the stores are located below street level and some are on the second floor of buildings. The Miyazaki shop was the most interesting place I found on that street.
The third holy site was the first one I was sure was a Shinto shrine. How was I sure? Because it was the first place where I saw a miko, a Shinto priestess. The structure wasn’t as impressive as at the second, but it was interesting to see the bazaar-like atmosphere that sprang up below the shrine’s staircase. There was a wall of masks that felt very out of place: some were Pokemon, some were from Hello Kitty, some that looked like they came from a Sentai Rangers series, and others that I can’t describe. Interesting note about the bathroom at the shrine: There was no toilet paper. None whatsoever. I noticed it before I needed any, fortunately.
I don’t think we’re going to be doing any Fourth of July celebrations today either. Even if we were, I decided that if I had a new blister today, I wouldn’t go. Turns out that I have a new blister; this time on my left big toe, matching the one on my right. Just going to rest for the rest of the night.
Before I go, I should mention that the local students were the guides for the day.
7-6-08 (9:08 AM Sunday local, 5:08 PM Saturday back home)
I used up the last of my real food yesterday. All I have left is candy. I did that purposefully, so that I would have to set off early today in order to get something to eat. I’m planning on heading off to Machida today and spending most of the day shopping. I’ve heard of a taiyaki place over there (although I just know the general area), and can probably find a place that will serve gyuudon as well.
I’m washing my things for the last time in Japan right now. The washing machine was giving me a surprising amount of trouble that it hadn’t given me before, but I managed to get it to work.
I’m seriously tempted to try to make my way to Akihabara today, since I’ve heard so many good things about it. The odds of the shootings happening there again today are vanishingly small, after all. This is probably a case in which my curiosity would win over my caution except that I have no idea how to get there. I’d probably have to switch trains and even lines in order to get there, and I have nowhere near the understanding necessary to find my way there alone.
7-6-08 (5:01 PM Sunday local, 1:01 AM back home)
Finished my shopping in Machida today. Well, finished for now, anyways. I’ll probably end up going back there on Wednesday. I wasted quite a bit of money on figurines. Now that I actually stop to think about it, I blew over $20. Not good. I didn’t even manage to get the one that I really wanted, either. Moral: Stay away from the coin-operated toy machines in Japan.
It was quite hot today, but I managed to spend most of my time inside where there was air-conditioning. That was what determined a lot of where I went with my day. I saw one place that looked like it had air-conditioning, went in, browsed, and went out a different exit.
I stopped by a 7-11 in Machida. That was the first time I went into a Japanese 7-11. There weren’t any slushies or the sorts of things Americans are used to, but there were meat buns, Makoto’s food. Since I’ve already had one, I didn’t buy one there. I did, however, finally get some rice balls to eat while I was there, as well as something for either dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow morning, depending on when I get hungry.
I don’t like nori. Nori is dried seaweed. The Japanese use nori in a lot of their foods, including rice balls. The pack I bought had two rice balls in it, with different fillings. I could identify less than half of what I ate. I knew the rice and the nori, but neither of the fillings or the little bunch of extra stuff I was given along with the rice balls. That’s one of the reasons why I wouldn’t be able to live over here: I don’t like Japanese food. Sure, there have been a few good-tasting food items over here, but I wouldn’t be able to take them being the entirety of my diet.
Went into a Japanese arcade, I did. Shouldn’t have done that. I blew 300 yen trying to get a large figurine from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzuki (which was actually only two tries), and it allowed me to get the 100 yen coins that I later wasted in coin machines.
When I say “wasted” I don’t mean “used to get figurines.” I mean “the d@mn machine ate 600 yen and I don’t know enough Japanese to explain the situation!” I should have stopped with that machine after it ate the first 300 yen, but I thought that another try might clear it up. No such luck. Still, I do like the figurines that I managed to get.
I’d like to reiterate that I like Yodobashi Camera. They didn’t have the sort of coin machine I wanted at the one in Machida, but there was a coin machine that shocked me. Not so much that it existed, but that it was somewhere where children could get to it. It also surprised me that that machine was nearly empty. I took pictures of it, but I’m not sure that those are enough to get people to believe me about it.
Apparently, in Japanese McDonald’s ice cream is called a “soft twist.” I’m not sure why. I didn’t plan on going there today; I wanted to find taiyaki and a place to get gyuudon, but at the time I couldn’t find either. The ice cream was very refreshing on such a hot day.
I also saw some kittens in a store. OMOCHIKAERI (wow, my word processor says that word is okay. Did I overload it?)! That is, I WANNA TAKE THEM HOME! But I have my own precious kitties, and the ones I saw today reminded me of them. It was so sad to see them in the store windows. The kittens (and puppies, and bunnies) were all alone in their sections and they couldn’t play with anybody else. SADNESS!
I finally gave up on my attempts to find taiyaki or gyuudon in Machida and went back to the station. I had earlier had a difficult time getting out of the station because I’d wandered into the station’s attached department store and didn’t know how to navigate out. I went back to that department store and made my way through every level, eventually ending up on a floor where I finally found some books I recognized: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series. I was seriously tempted to buy Volume 9, since it’s my favorite of the series, but held off.
I then traveled to the very bottom floor of the department store, and found the place where they sold food. I walked through the various stands, and found one that sold taiyaki. やっと見つけった(Yatto mitsuketta! I finally found it!). I bought one, since I didn’t know how it would taste.
Which brings me to something that I need to address: the Kanon food mission. I set out in Japan on a mission to eat all five of the favorite foods of Kanon’s characters during my time here: taiyaki, nikuman, something with strawberries, gyuudon, and ice cream. Shiori, Nayuki, your foods are okay; the ice cream and the strawberries were fine. Mai, I still haven’t managed to find gyuudon. Ayu, Makoto, we need to talk. Taiyaki and nikuman are not yummy. Stop acting like they are. You are misleading people. Stop it. Diversify the food you eat, and I’m sure that you’ll find something that actually tastes good.
That is all for now.
7-7-08 (8:20 PM Monday local, 4:20 AM back home)
If the reader would please imagine the next sentence in a Ricky Ricardo voice, I would appreciate it. Mai, youse got some ‘splainin’ at do! Thank you. The reason for that sentence is that I have finally completed my Kanon Food Mission, and eaten some gyuudon (or close enough). Mai, you are adorable, but you do not have good taste in food. If it’s just because that was how you became friends with Sayuri-san, that’s fine, but you should specify that that‘s the case.
Where did I finally find gyuudon? In a restaurant that me and four of the girls on the trip found. Why was I traveling with four of the girls who came on the trip? Because I didn’t know where to get food in Kyoto either. Why am I in Kyoto? Maybe I should back up a bit.
Today was the first day of the optional Kyoto overnight trip. Eleven students signed up to go on it, but one dropped out literally as we were walking for the train station, so there are only ten of us, plus Kazuko and her friend, who is acting as a guide.
Kyoto is very hot. I’ve used that to describe Tokyo, but Kyoto takes it to another level. I brought two water bottles filled with ice with me when I left the guest house today, and I was glad that I did so. We visited three temples today, and by the end we were all exhausted.
First up, we visited Kiyomizu’s Temple. The main feature there were three streams of water (streams in the sense of falling in streams, rather than along the ground) that you could drink from. The three streams represent health, wisdom, and longevity. People are only supposed to drink from two of the streams, as to do otherwise is to invite misfortune. I drank from the first and second streams. I have no idea what they represented, as my research has turned up nothing.
The second temple we visited was an accident; Kazuko led us into the wrong one. We got some incense and put it into a burner in front of a gigantic statue, and then went to the proper second temple.
The proper second temple was not very impressive, to tell the truth. The best part of it was that parts of it had air conditioning. The worst part of it was that it had a lot of stairs that were not air-conditioned. Really, though, the Kiyomizu Temple had more stairs just to get to the temple. Actually, the worst part was that my camera’s battery ran out during the visit there. At least I got to have a sluchy-like drink that was tasty even though it gave me brain freeze.
We had to take a taxi to the third temple. It was the Golden Pavilion, a building covered in some form of gold and its surroundings. I really wished that I could take pictures there, but with my camera’s battery depleted… There were also some small places off the path that people could try to throw coins into. I’m not sure why. At the end, Kazuko decided to treat all of us to kakigori (shaved ice). Very nice.
We then returned to the hostel where we had earlier dropped off our stuff. It’s pretty nice here; this is the first place in Japan where I’ve had a comfortable time connecting to the internet. There aren’t any three-pronged outlets as far as I can tell, though, so I’m on battery power. There’s a breakfast buffet, but we’ll have to leave tomorrow before it opens. Pity, as my mouth was watering when I read the description.
And the topic of food leads me back to being in a restaurant with four girls. I spent the time listening to their girl talk, which I am not allowed to repeat under threat of chopstick assault.
Tomorrow we’ll be visiting Nara. We expect to see a lot of deer. And that is all for now.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Weekly wrap-up
This is probably going to be my last blog post for a while. The weekend is coming up, and the buildings with internet access are closed on weekends. I might be able to get some access on Sunday by sitting outside of one of them, but there’s no guarantee of that. After the weekend, I’ll be in a different city for a couple of days. Both will be busy, and I have no idea what kind of internet access there will be over there. If things go as I expect, this will be my last post until Wednesday (local time). Anyways, for what I’ve been up to…
7-3-08 Cont. (3:24 PM local, 11:24 PM Wednesday at home)
I’m still exhausted. I’ll get back to that later.
We had to walk to the elementary school. It didn’t surprise me, nor was the walk there that difficult. It was still morning, and it hadn’t gotten very hot yet.
At the school, we found out that the teachers already had plans of their own, AND Kazuko had given us bad information. Instead of each of us being sent to our own classroom and having to entertain the students for an hour or so, we were broken up into our three groups and each of those groups was sent to help with an English lesson. When the English lesson was over, THEN we were sent on to different classes on our own. For lunch.
I was assigned to a third grade classroom. Lunch was milk, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), slices of peaches and oranges, and some surprisingly good spaghetti. Spaghetti that had pieces of fish inside of it. The students didn’t have very good English, nor I good Japanese, but I was able to answer some of their questions. After lunch, I went to the front of the classroom and answered some more questions from the class. The class I was assigned to even drew pictures on the blackboard (green board) to celebrate my arrival. I might not have noticed except that one of them was a picture of a kitty. When it was time for me to leave the class, a bunch of students had me give them my signature. One little girl didn’t have a book for me to sign, and so asked me to sign her hand. Odd.
Not long after class, we a lot of us were waiting in the meeting room for a few of us who were playing with the students during recess. Billy (name changed after the drunkenness incident) played his guitar for us and some of the students who followed us into the meeting room. They enjoyed it. When he was done, we somehow got started on the “We Will Rock You” song. It was sung by one of the Japanese students. Surprising. Incidentally, all of this means that I had no opportunity to use the cards that I spent over three hours last night making. So I wasted three hours of my life and over half of my note cards.
The walk back was terrible. By the time we left, the sun was high in the sky and not showing us any mercy. I have moral objections to buying bottled water, so I couldn’t get any out of the vending machines near the school (nor was there anything else there that I would consider drinking). I bought a couple of cans of Mountain Dew out of a vending machine near campus grounds (that vending machine has unusually large cans). Both are gone now.
I was originally planning on heading over to the computer lab to connect to the internet after I recovered from the trip back here. It took me longer than I expected, and I still have no desire to make the trek to the computer lab. There’s still more than an hour until we have to meet for our next activity (some sort of kempo club this time), but considering the amount of time it takes to get to the computer lab and back, and the heat out there… This message will have to wait until tomorrow to be posted. Oh well.
7-4-08 (6:37 AM Friday local, 2:37 PM Thursday back home)
The kempo club was the most entertaining of the three martial arts clubs we’ve been to so far. Mostly because they allowed six of us to volunteer to join them in their practice. Six volunteered, but only five were able to practice. The sixth couldn’t fit into the gi. I was not one of the ones who volunteered.
When we got back to the guest house, some of the local students were waiting for us. I tried to get involved in the conversation, but my reserved nature kept me mostly out of it. I did eventually help another student out with his homework, and then I decided that it was time for bed.
Woke up to a thunderstorm this morning. It was the sort of weather I was warned about when I decided to come to Japan. It was really rather nice to lie in bed and listen to the falling rain and roaring thunder. It was also the first time my room here was actually cold when I woke up. Usually it’s incredibly hot in there in the morning, no matter how cold it was when we went to bed.
Plans for the next few days: Today, we’ll be cooking okonomiyaki, watching a scary movie, and if the schedule is to be trusted, listening to Japanese music as well. Tomorrow (Saturday), we’ll be heading over to Kamakura, a historical city. Hopefully there won’t be any rampaging diclonii while we’re there. I plan on spending a lot of my Sunday over in Machida, shopping for souvenirs and trying to find a taiyaki place I heard about. Come to think of it, I still need to eat gyuudon as well.
That’s all for now.
7-3-08 Cont. (3:24 PM local, 11:24 PM Wednesday at home)
I’m still exhausted. I’ll get back to that later.
We had to walk to the elementary school. It didn’t surprise me, nor was the walk there that difficult. It was still morning, and it hadn’t gotten very hot yet.
At the school, we found out that the teachers already had plans of their own, AND Kazuko had given us bad information. Instead of each of us being sent to our own classroom and having to entertain the students for an hour or so, we were broken up into our three groups and each of those groups was sent to help with an English lesson. When the English lesson was over, THEN we were sent on to different classes on our own. For lunch.
I was assigned to a third grade classroom. Lunch was milk, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), slices of peaches and oranges, and some surprisingly good spaghetti. Spaghetti that had pieces of fish inside of it. The students didn’t have very good English, nor I good Japanese, but I was able to answer some of their questions. After lunch, I went to the front of the classroom and answered some more questions from the class. The class I was assigned to even drew pictures on the blackboard (green board) to celebrate my arrival. I might not have noticed except that one of them was a picture of a kitty. When it was time for me to leave the class, a bunch of students had me give them my signature. One little girl didn’t have a book for me to sign, and so asked me to sign her hand. Odd.
Not long after class, we a lot of us were waiting in the meeting room for a few of us who were playing with the students during recess. Billy (name changed after the drunkenness incident) played his guitar for us and some of the students who followed us into the meeting room. They enjoyed it. When he was done, we somehow got started on the “We Will Rock You” song. It was sung by one of the Japanese students. Surprising. Incidentally, all of this means that I had no opportunity to use the cards that I spent over three hours last night making. So I wasted three hours of my life and over half of my note cards.
The walk back was terrible. By the time we left, the sun was high in the sky and not showing us any mercy. I have moral objections to buying bottled water, so I couldn’t get any out of the vending machines near the school (nor was there anything else there that I would consider drinking). I bought a couple of cans of Mountain Dew out of a vending machine near campus grounds (that vending machine has unusually large cans). Both are gone now.
I was originally planning on heading over to the computer lab to connect to the internet after I recovered from the trip back here. It took me longer than I expected, and I still have no desire to make the trek to the computer lab. There’s still more than an hour until we have to meet for our next activity (some sort of kempo club this time), but considering the amount of time it takes to get to the computer lab and back, and the heat out there… This message will have to wait until tomorrow to be posted. Oh well.
7-4-08 (6:37 AM Friday local, 2:37 PM Thursday back home)
The kempo club was the most entertaining of the three martial arts clubs we’ve been to so far. Mostly because they allowed six of us to volunteer to join them in their practice. Six volunteered, but only five were able to practice. The sixth couldn’t fit into the gi. I was not one of the ones who volunteered.
When we got back to the guest house, some of the local students were waiting for us. I tried to get involved in the conversation, but my reserved nature kept me mostly out of it. I did eventually help another student out with his homework, and then I decided that it was time for bed.
Woke up to a thunderstorm this morning. It was the sort of weather I was warned about when I decided to come to Japan. It was really rather nice to lie in bed and listen to the falling rain and roaring thunder. It was also the first time my room here was actually cold when I woke up. Usually it’s incredibly hot in there in the morning, no matter how cold it was when we went to bed.
Plans for the next few days: Today, we’ll be cooking okonomiyaki, watching a scary movie, and if the schedule is to be trusted, listening to Japanese music as well. Tomorrow (Saturday), we’ll be heading over to Kamakura, a historical city. Hopefully there won’t be any rampaging diclonii while we’re there. I plan on spending a lot of my Sunday over in Machida, shopping for souvenirs and trying to find a taiyaki place I heard about. Come to think of it, I still need to eat gyuudon as well.
That’s all for now.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Another quick update
7-3-08 Thursday, 6:30 AM local. Wednesday, 2:30 PM back home.
Didn’t have time to write yesterday. I was very busy in the later day.
After class, we had a two hour break for lunch, but there wasn’t anything worth writing about at that point. I went down to the bakery and bought enough bread to last me for a few days, at least. I made it back with enough time to have lunch and even spend some time in the computer lab, catching up a little on some stuff that I was missing.
After lunch we went to a calligraphy class. It was the first class activity we’ve had over here that I was sorry to see end. Writing the figures was just plain fun, even if it was difficult to get them right. We all got to make a final character on a special board, and it was stamped by the instructor. We are not to touch the stamp for a year, because it was made with oil and powder, and touching it would damage it.
Next up was a trip to the observatory. The only part of the narration that I understood was when it was talking about Orihime and Hikiboshi, since those two stars are involved with a festival I know a little bit about. The chairs were extremely comfortable, and I had a difficult time staying awake. I want one of them to replace the bed I have here!
We had a short , uneventful break followed by a visit to the school’s brass band. Watching them practice wasn’t very amusing, but when the started singing (yes, singing) they were good. They gave us a song as we were about to leave, and that was good as well.
The reason I didn’t have any time to write last night is because I spent the night making the cards I’m planning on using to play with the students today. Everything from this point on in Japanese class is extra-credit, so visiting the elementary school today is pretty much the last hard thing on the trip. Everything else is play.
Except for maybe the planning of the Sayonara Party. Kazuko says that we need to come up with something to show our gratitude to the local students. Some of the other students are doing the planning for that though. Nobody has asked for my ideas, which is fine with me. I don’t have any ideas for what we could do.
Didn’t have time to write yesterday. I was very busy in the later day.
After class, we had a two hour break for lunch, but there wasn’t anything worth writing about at that point. I went down to the bakery and bought enough bread to last me for a few days, at least. I made it back with enough time to have lunch and even spend some time in the computer lab, catching up a little on some stuff that I was missing.
After lunch we went to a calligraphy class. It was the first class activity we’ve had over here that I was sorry to see end. Writing the figures was just plain fun, even if it was difficult to get them right. We all got to make a final character on a special board, and it was stamped by the instructor. We are not to touch the stamp for a year, because it was made with oil and powder, and touching it would damage it.
Next up was a trip to the observatory. The only part of the narration that I understood was when it was talking about Orihime and Hikiboshi, since those two stars are involved with a festival I know a little bit about. The chairs were extremely comfortable, and I had a difficult time staying awake. I want one of them to replace the bed I have here!
We had a short , uneventful break followed by a visit to the school’s brass band. Watching them practice wasn’t very amusing, but when the started singing (yes, singing) they were good. They gave us a song as we were about to leave, and that was good as well.
The reason I didn’t have any time to write last night is because I spent the night making the cards I’m planning on using to play with the students today. Everything from this point on in Japanese class is extra-credit, so visiting the elementary school today is pretty much the last hard thing on the trip. Everything else is play.
Except for maybe the planning of the Sayonara Party. Kazuko says that we need to come up with something to show our gratitude to the local students. Some of the other students are doing the planning for that though. Nobody has asked for my ideas, which is fine with me. I don’t have any ideas for what we could do.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Quick Update
7-1-08 (7:42 PM Tuesday locally, 3:42 AM back home. I think.)
Quick review of what happened after my last post yesterday: karate club. First they had us take off both out shoes and socks, then we could put them back on, then just our shoes had to come off. During all of this, I discovered that I have a blister on my right big toe. I’ve done a lot of walking in the past, and this is the first time I’ve gotten a blister, which should go to show just how much more intense it is to be over here.
The club was not as interesting as it sounded. We pretty much just watched them practice. I didn’t expect (or want) anything more, but the kendo club put on a better show. I understand that some of the more active students (including one who had practiced karate) got to participate a little bit during the later parts of the meeting, but I was long gone by then. An hour was polite, and that was what I stayed.
Now for today.
We had pizza today. Japanese pizza. No, not okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), that was scheduled for tomorrow. Pizza with Japanese-style toppings. Ranged from bacon-like pork with corn to shrimp to veggies and some unidentifiable meat. Pretty yummy, but surprisingly greasy. We were originally going to eat round sushi, but that was changed because it conflicted with what we would do later. Being able to look back on it, I would have taken the sushi over what it conflicted with.
What it conflicted with was us seeing a kabuki play. Kabuki is a highly-stylized form of Japanese play, usually a comedy, and only performed by men. Yes, even the female roles are played by men. I was able to understand the plot of the play (thanks mostly to a summary in English rather than my skill in Japanese). Even the Japanese people have difficulty understanding some of what is said in kabuki thanks to the archaic speech used in it (think the Japanese version of Shakespearean English). I tried to enjoy the play, I really did, but just couldn’t find it funny. Or entertaining. I almost fell asleep several times.
Getting to the play was slightly painful as well. At first, the trip was great; we went to a part of Tokyo that I hadn’t been to before (Tachikawa), and my first thought once out of the station was “This looks like a fun place!” Unfortunately, one of the trains we were going to catch was undergoing repairs, and we had to take a more roundabout route than was planned. It included a lot of walking. At this point, I should remind you that my feet have begun to blister. Even with that, it was pretty fun at first. The problem was the distance we had to walk. I’m getting used to long distances, but I was panting for water (which I wouldn’t find until after we left the play about two hours later) by the time we got to the theater.
The most enjoyable part of the trip was when we stumbled upon a vending machine that served the closest thing any of us have found to chocolate milk in Japan. The iced cocoa wasn’t quite right, but it was close enough. On the topic of vending machines, anybody who wants to come to Japan for the cigarette vending machines had better bring proof of age. As some members of my class found out today, they have now implemented ID scanners on all of the cigarette vending machines. Oh, and in most urban areas, it seems that the beer vending machines are a thing of the past; I hear that they only remain out in rural areas.
Earlier, I mentioned that okonomiyaki was scheduled for tomorrow. It no longer is. Kazuko did not give a reason. As such, I’m tagging along with Ryan and a few others who are going to Machida for lunch tomorrow. We will eat okonomiyaki. It may be a little expensive, but I will eat it.
On Thursday, we’re scheduled to visit a local elementary school. We will be split up, and one of us sent to each class. Some of the less experienced students will have students from the university helping them out, but I don’t know how useful they will be. Essentially, we are expected to entertain the children. Kazuko says that it might just be for a half-hour, but the schedule has it being significantly longer. We also don’t know how much English the children know. I’m planning on making some cards with pictures on them and words on the other side, and using them to play “karudo” with the kids. I’m not sure if that is the right name for the game. Essentially, the game consists of a caller (me) calling out a card (all of the cards are laid out on a table) and the students grabbing the card that is called. Whoever has the most at the end is the winner.
I haven’t decided yet if I want the words on the cards to be the English words with me calling out the Japanese names or the Japanese words with me calling out the English names. It would be helpful to know how much English the students know.
______________
10:25 AM, Wednesday
We're scheduled ot make some sort of Japanese food on Friday. We were originally going to roll some sushi, but Kazuko has decided that okonomiyaki will be a better choice. Many of us hope that she sticks with it, myself included. Doubtful now that I'll go to machida to eat today. Probably just drop by the bakery.
Quick review of what happened after my last post yesterday: karate club. First they had us take off both out shoes and socks, then we could put them back on, then just our shoes had to come off. During all of this, I discovered that I have a blister on my right big toe. I’ve done a lot of walking in the past, and this is the first time I’ve gotten a blister, which should go to show just how much more intense it is to be over here.
The club was not as interesting as it sounded. We pretty much just watched them practice. I didn’t expect (or want) anything more, but the kendo club put on a better show. I understand that some of the more active students (including one who had practiced karate) got to participate a little bit during the later parts of the meeting, but I was long gone by then. An hour was polite, and that was what I stayed.
Now for today.
We had pizza today. Japanese pizza. No, not okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), that was scheduled for tomorrow. Pizza with Japanese-style toppings. Ranged from bacon-like pork with corn to shrimp to veggies and some unidentifiable meat. Pretty yummy, but surprisingly greasy. We were originally going to eat round sushi, but that was changed because it conflicted with what we would do later. Being able to look back on it, I would have taken the sushi over what it conflicted with.
What it conflicted with was us seeing a kabuki play. Kabuki is a highly-stylized form of Japanese play, usually a comedy, and only performed by men. Yes, even the female roles are played by men. I was able to understand the plot of the play (thanks mostly to a summary in English rather than my skill in Japanese). Even the Japanese people have difficulty understanding some of what is said in kabuki thanks to the archaic speech used in it (think the Japanese version of Shakespearean English). I tried to enjoy the play, I really did, but just couldn’t find it funny. Or entertaining. I almost fell asleep several times.
Getting to the play was slightly painful as well. At first, the trip was great; we went to a part of Tokyo that I hadn’t been to before (Tachikawa), and my first thought once out of the station was “This looks like a fun place!” Unfortunately, one of the trains we were going to catch was undergoing repairs, and we had to take a more roundabout route than was planned. It included a lot of walking. At this point, I should remind you that my feet have begun to blister. Even with that, it was pretty fun at first. The problem was the distance we had to walk. I’m getting used to long distances, but I was panting for water (which I wouldn’t find until after we left the play about two hours later) by the time we got to the theater.
The most enjoyable part of the trip was when we stumbled upon a vending machine that served the closest thing any of us have found to chocolate milk in Japan. The iced cocoa wasn’t quite right, but it was close enough. On the topic of vending machines, anybody who wants to come to Japan for the cigarette vending machines had better bring proof of age. As some members of my class found out today, they have now implemented ID scanners on all of the cigarette vending machines. Oh, and in most urban areas, it seems that the beer vending machines are a thing of the past; I hear that they only remain out in rural areas.
Earlier, I mentioned that okonomiyaki was scheduled for tomorrow. It no longer is. Kazuko did not give a reason. As such, I’m tagging along with Ryan and a few others who are going to Machida for lunch tomorrow. We will eat okonomiyaki. It may be a little expensive, but I will eat it.
On Thursday, we’re scheduled to visit a local elementary school. We will be split up, and one of us sent to each class. Some of the less experienced students will have students from the university helping them out, but I don’t know how useful they will be. Essentially, we are expected to entertain the children. Kazuko says that it might just be for a half-hour, but the schedule has it being significantly longer. We also don’t know how much English the children know. I’m planning on making some cards with pictures on them and words on the other side, and using them to play “karudo” with the kids. I’m not sure if that is the right name for the game. Essentially, the game consists of a caller (me) calling out a card (all of the cards are laid out on a table) and the students grabbing the card that is called. Whoever has the most at the end is the winner.
I haven’t decided yet if I want the words on the cards to be the English words with me calling out the Japanese names or the Japanese words with me calling out the English names. It would be helpful to know how much English the students know.
______________
10:25 AM, Wednesday
We're scheduled ot make some sort of Japanese food on Friday. We were originally going to roll some sushi, but Kazuko has decided that okonomiyaki will be a better choice. Many of us hope that she sticks with it, myself included. Doubtful now that I'll go to machida to eat today. Probably just drop by the bakery.
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