Shannon Sensei

It's more than official...

2008-06-20T07:17:00.003+09:00

...I am going back to Japan...
This time I am working as a chaperon for Broomfield's Sister City program. So I am going to Japan for about 12 days, with a couple of days in Tokyo and the rest of the time with a host family in Ueda... My exploration of the islands of Japan continues.

I am thrilled to not only be returning to Japan, but also to get to share the experience with other Americans this time.

2007-01-15T11:56:00.000+09:00

I miss Japanese food!

There are a lot of things I've been missing. My Christmas and New Years in Japan were very special and it was hard not to think about them recently. I miss my friends. I would have loved to have been around when Kanami and Noriaki married. And I really missed out on the English department sponsered Christmas party.

But I definitely miss Japanese food!

Nikko

2006-07-08T11:16:00.000+09:00

Where can you go to see the original Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil monkeys? Nikko! Thanks to Marie, off we went!

Nikko is a nice smaller mountain city outside of Tokyo.

Wow, it was really nice getting out of Tokyo and up into some nature and higher elevation. We got to Nikko by express train, and it took about an hour (after we got to the other side of Tokyo). We left the station and tried to get our bearings, so that we could head to the park, where all the temples and shrines are.

Well, we went the wrong way, but in doing so found a small, empty, silent (but for a song bird) neighborhood shrine, where we both took some good pictures and got to rest and relax a bit. We really realized we had been craving to get out of the city while we were here.

On we went, until the sight of lots of other tourists alerted us that we were now going in the right direction. We saw lots of souvenir shops and stopped in a couple (for souvenirs, food and a bathroom.) Just past the shops was the entrance to the park and a spectacular view including a famous red bridge, Shinkyo.

We entered Nikko park, walking by the granite slab marking it as a World Heritage site. We bought tickets for all of the areas andd went in. The park itself was beautiful and the shrines and temples were incredibly ornate! The first temple, Sanbutsu-doh is enormous! Just as we got there, they started ringing a giant bell. I caught it on video, because it's super cool:

Dailymotion blogged video
Bell
Video sent by JollyOleShannon

We bought a couple of good luck charms. You put in the money and then reach in the box and pull one out. Whichever one you get has a bit of a fortune and a certain kind of luck. I got Ebisu, a "notable blessing diety. . . the diety of bringing laughter, the source of good luck, and the wellspring of happiness. . . the patron diety of prosperous business and deep satisfaction." You are supposed to keep them with you all the time. I stuck mine in my camera bag and this is the first time I've pulled him out again. . . oops. Into the temple we went. We got stuck behind a bit of a tour group, so we looked at the 3 very large different images of Buddha, and other smaller sized, rare representations of Buddha.

Current Music :
For more Information: http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/nature/index.html

Third CSW Outing

2006-07-03T21:09:00.000+09:00

Okay, I'm lazy again. Here is the write-up for the third outing. Pictures here.

On Sunday, June 4, I met Kana and Yukino in Odaiba at around 11 am. Both of them made plans with me, by cell phone, to meet me at the station. I learned when I arrived that the third member of the group, Midori, had caught a cold and was unable to join us that day. (The week before, I had met with all three girls to make a plan for Sunday.)

The first part of our plan was greatly encouraged by three grumbling stomachs, lunch! Odiaba has so many places to eat that it was difficult to decide. Eventually we settled on ramen as a way to satisfy both our appetites and our pocketbooks. We went to a famous shop that is actually 4 different ramen shops, each representing a different style or region. The girls suggested that I get miso ramen, since I had never tried it before. I was very glad for their suggestion, it was delicious. Because the shop was so crowded, we had to sit separately. Yukino and I sat together and Kana sat at a nearby counter. Yukino chatted with me during lunch about food and our families and hometowns, and Kana leaned over now and then to participate, when it wasn’t inconveniencing the people around us.

Just before we finished the meal, he had been given three coupons for a free game at a festival at the Odaiba shrine which was located on the roof of the shopping center. We decided it would be a great idea to stop by. The festival provided not only a few free superballs as a prize, but also a great view of the bay and area landmarks, as well as a number of cute kids to look at!

From the festival, we satisfied an ice cream craving with the futuristic Dippin Dots while continuing to chat. Then we took a bit of a walk into the past at an area of the shopping center that was set up to resemble a Japanese street market of 30 or 40 years ago. This was very fun. We did a lot of window shopping and did a bit of real shopping as well. We saw a lot of vintage pictures of famous Japanese singers and actors, stopped by an Okinawa wares store where I found two things I’d been craving: root beer and Juicy Fruit gum. There was a lot to see and do here. It was a great choice.

From the dark shopping area we moved into the bright sun on the beach. After a short walk, we went to see the Odaiba Statue of Liberty and then went to the Fuji Television building. That is some interesting and unique architecture. Despite Kana’s dislike of heights, we all went up to the observation room. We enjoyed the view and played a bit on the set of IQ before making our way back down. Dessert and coffee finished off the afternoon at a café in the Fuji Television building.

With these two students, I chatted the most freely that I think I have yet at a CSW get together. It may have been the number of people, the relaxed nature of the plan, or the students themselves. But it was a fun and easy afternoon.

Current Music : Take On Me A-ha (Actually this is just stuck in my head, but it counts.)
Current Mood: Hyper, happy, starting to miss Japan--totally excited to go home!

CSW outing #2

2006-06-01T23:25:00.000+09:00

I'm really lazy, and have to write a report about my CSW trips anyway. So here's the report for plan number 2, exactly as I turned it in to the professor:

I met with Shiori, and Satomi on Saturday May 27, at 11:00 am in Omote-Sando. Marion joined us after the tea ceremony class, as she had gotten confused about the meeting time. To set up the plan, all three of the students sent me e-mails by keitai to introduce themselves. I discussed the specifics with Satomi by e-mail for a couple of weeks before the meeting.

After easily reaching the meeting place, Shiori, Satomi, and I walked to the tea ceremony club. It was a very nice place and all of the rooms were beautiful. It took about an hour to go through the tea ceremony, and we each got to learn how to make the Japanese tea. The teachers were very kind and patient, and even did part of the lesson in English for me. Also, Shiori and Satomi were good to make sure I was following the lesson and was okay. I really enjoyed learning more about the tea ceremony. It was a great choice for an activity and it was something that I could not have found/done on my own.

We met Marion and she apologized to me for being late. She and I chatted as we walked the train and then to our next destination, a famous chopstick store, Ginza Natsuno, in Harajuku. We all chatted about the cute tiny chopsticks, the funny looking chopsticks and chopstick rests, and the giant serving chopsticks. I really fell for a cute star-shaped chopstick rest, or hashi oki, as I learned. I got it and a matching pair of chopsticks.

Saturday was a rainy day, so we took some time to decide how to adjust our plan accordingly. During that time, we all heard our stomachs growling, so we headed to lunch. Online the girls had found a place where we could have okonomiaki. I’d never had it before, and was looking forward to making it right at our table. The restaurant was kind of a hole in the wall, but the atmosphere was nice. It was the kind of place I wouldn’t have found as a foreigner living in Japan. Also, the okonomiaki was delicious! We also got monja. Yum! At lunch we all chatted together almost entirely in English, with everyone contributing pretty much equally. I was impressed.

By the time we finished eating, the rain had let up a bit. So we walked along the famous streets in Harajuku to the Meji temple. I was not expecting the walk up to the temple to be so long; I didn’t know there could be so many trees hiding in Tokyo. But it was very beautiful. The temple was beautiful and simple. I really liked the design. We even managed to catch a wedding procession. The bride was very beautiful and her hair was amazing! On the walk there and back I spent a lot of time talking to Satomi and to Marion.

From there, we went to Harajuku station where we split up. I felt like it was a good plan and a good and busy day. I had a fun and easy time talking with the students. And I think they felt the same way with me. The most interesting thing I’ve noticed on these meetings has been the way the students work together to communicate with me, when something is difficult for them to express.

A Blog Reader's Key to Terms: keitai = cell phone; okonomiaki = a pan fried vegetable and sea-food "cake" similar to latkas, except replace potatoes with cabbage; Harajuku = fashionable young shopping area.

Edited June 2: Find photos of the day here!

Matsuri--preparing for summer

2006-05-20T23:24:00.000+09:00

Today I went to one of the biggest Matsuri in Tokyo (Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa) with Marie. While it was crowded, it was not quite as crowded as it could have been. It dates all the way back to the Edo period.

A matsuri is a festival usually held at Buddhist temples and shinto shrines in Japan. They are very popular in summer. Almost every temple and shrine has their own matsuri weekend. The streets and walkways around the temple or shrine fill with booths and vendors. Most of them sell food (mmmm), toys, or have games for children, though we saw plenty of adults playing today as well. The games all seem to center around scooping something moving out of a pool of water or scooping something out of a pool of moving water. "Something" can be goldfish, baby turtles, and tadpoles (the latter two Marie and I felt very sorry for as they didn't seem too happy) or it can be plastic toys, super balls, or balloons with air and toys inside. I definitely want to try one of these games sometime this summer.

Before we even made it to the temple, we ran into one of the mikoshi processions. The mikoshi is the vehicle (a highly decorated platform with long poles for many people to hold while they walk) for travelling version of a nearby shrine. They shake the mikoshi a lot, because it is said that the harder they shake, the more happiness falls out for the people. It's like a fantastic dance the way the mikoshi's supporters jump and walk and turn and move.

Marie first bought a rice cracker, and then we hit the main street leading up to the temple. We have both been to Asakusa many times and so we mostly ignored the permanent shops that we'd browsed through many times before and headed to the booths set up especially for the festival. I bought a big snow cone where you could put on your own syrups. I got melon and strawberry. (First we watched a young girl make hers.) Marie thought that snow cones were a strange idea, after all they are ice and sugar water. She'd never seen one before except on Lilo and Stitch.

We watched lots of people trying to catch goldfish in a paper nets (this is a little difficult because if the paper gets too wet and if the goldfish panics too much, your net will rip, and then your turn is up. The idea is to get as many of them into your floating bowl with water as you can before your net rips. Then you get to take those fish home. (Yep in a plastic bag just like the sort of similar games in the states!)

We wandered around and looked at the food. I decided I wanted to get some yakisoba (fried noodles with vegetables) after I finished my snow cone. Marie got some chocolate-covered sponge cake and then I bought my yakisoba. Next Marie had her eye on some soft serve ice cream (soft cream here). But in the meantime, we sat near the temple and people-watched while I ate my yummy fried noodles. There were these incredibly cute kids hamming it up for some people taking pictures and the audience sitting around on the side of the temple.

That's when we noticed the storm clouds moving in.

What had been a really bright day turned cloudy quickly. They made a couple of announcements about the impending storm. Then the rain started to fall, interrupting my attempt to take a nice picture of a couple of girls in yukatas (summer cotton kimonos). We hid under an awning for a little while during most of the wind and a lot of the rain. After awhile Marie and I got tired of waiting and so we decided to walk in the much calmed rain (we'd both forgotten umbrellas) to the station. Just after we stepped out from under the awning, Marie spotted a couple of nice looking Japanese guys with an umbrella each and asked if they didn't mind if we walked along with them under their umbrellas. I thought she was a bit crazy, but they were happy to help. And I had a fairly successful (and simple) conversation in Japanese with a stranger, which was more exicting than it sounds.

From Asakusa, Marie and I headed to Omote-Sando/Harajuku. It was time to look for tabi socks for Marie, and I wanted to look for a yukata. After taking some good clearing weather pictures, and then walked towards the second hand store where she has shopped before for traditional Japanese clothes. On the way we stopped at a toy store that had LEGOS! (no joke) and a bunch of cute Japanese characers, as well as some internationally known ones like Mickey and Wallace and Gromit. I bought some stickers, a bunch of cool postcards, and a couple of hair-sticks. Then on to the second hand store, where Marie found her tabi, and I bought a yukata! The next step is buying two more belts for it and learning how to properly wear it.

Current Music :
Current Mood:
Image best fitting me right now:

Since Nagasaki

2006-05-14T20:18:00.000+09:00

Since I visited Ayako in Nagasaki in March, I've been up to a lot more than procrastinating and not writing blog posts. Saint Patrick's Day, the cherry blossoms, spring, the start of the new school year, a new camera, a night out for sushi, the start of some private tutoring, another visit to Yokohama, and a day at the aquarium have all come and gone, in no particular order.

For St. Patrick's Day I went to an Irish pub for some Guinness and Baileys with Kanami. They had a live Irish band, who were good, but being Tokyo and St. Patrick's Day the place was impossibly packed, so we slipped out early and went to karaoke instead. Then on Sunday I went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Harajuku. The parade was lively and a lot of fun, with music, lots of green, lots of advertisements for pubs, and a lot of Westerners living in Japan. From the parade, I went back to the pub I'd visited on Friday night for fish and chips and another couple pints.

Viewing the cherry blossoms, it was easy to see why they are such a national treasure and such an international sensation. The trees full of blossoms appear akin to snow-filled branches, or trees that grow clouds. The wind blows petals out of the trees in small, fragrant flurries that are incredibly peaceful. A big tradition in Japan is to have a nice picnic lunch under the cherry blossoms in the spring. I mean, this is a BIG tradition. Everyone does it. In Ueno park, they tape down tarps (for which you take your shoes off before stepping on) and set up trash disposal areas. On the weekend, this park is packed! I wish I had more chances (or had used my chances more wisely) and sought out a park less crowded for my own picnicing pleasure. I did spend lots of time under the cherry trees, trying to capture their beauty in pictures, but, it isn't easy. Most of my pictures are on a friend's camera, and I'm waiting for copies.

This semester I am nice and busy, especially on Mondays and Fridays. I'm getting a lot more student visitors so far, which is nice! I'm working on a Poetry class, which I really enjoy, because I've missed teaching literature a lot. I'm also reassuring myself that whatever ability I have in that way won't rust over now. The semester's going by quite quickly and I know we'll all be surprised when July comes along, and it will be over.

I've been hoping to get a new camera for a number of months and, with the help of a friend, I finally picked one out and picked it up. I suppose some part of me has always been interested in photography, but I never really pursued it as a hobby. I am hoping this camera helps me to do that.

Kohmoto-sensei took us out for sushi again, and this time didn't make me try anything that was too scary. I got to just enjoy the kinds of sushi that I really like and also got to have some crab. Mmmm. I did also try some saki with green tea, which was really very good. Then we went to a yakiniku (Korean barbeque--cook it up at the table) restaurant, which was also good. I think I had some liver and other kinds of beef I'd rather not know the cut of, but it was cut and flavored well. I impressed everyone when the spicy Korean soup was just pleasantly spicy to me, and not too bad. Then, karaoke of course.

One of my Japanese tutors, Yuka, took me to Yokohama and Minato Mirai again. This time instead of having nikuman at the seaside, we went to a Chinese "viking-style" restaurant--that's all-you-can-eat buffet to Americans. In Minato Mirai, we went to the top of the Landmark Tower to the observation area, to see as much of Tokyo as we could see on the rainy, hazy day. We could actually see a LOT and the bay was beautiful. The coolest thing was that the elevator to the top floor is the FASTEST in the WORLD--as attested to by the Guinness Book of World Records plaque on the first floor. The best part of that was that it was such a smooth ride that you barely notice, despite the spedometer posted above the door, and your ears popping somewhere in the middle of the building.

Yesterday, I went to the Epson Aqua Stadium with three students for a class project (the project being for them to make a plan with me to go out somewhere in Tokyo for a few hours). The aquarium itself was rather small, but it did have a tunnel tank with sharks and rays in it that was really impressive. The best part was the dolphin show. Who could complain about dolphins jumping 7 meters in the air, dancing with their trainers, and letting them ride on their backs all to the tunes of "It's Raining Men" and "Rock the Boat"? I certainly couldn't.

Current Music : Carnival by Bikini Kill, because Amy Rocks Me
Current Mood: Lazy

Nagasaki: food and Ayako's family

2006-05-08T21:33:00.000+09:00

Links in this post go either to my pictures on flickr, or to wikipedia.

I am really not going to be doing justice to this post about Ayako’s family and the food in Nagasaki. Please forgive me. I should have written about it in March when I got back, but I just haven’t been writing. I blow. So here is an unorganized, sloppy, but hopefully mildly informative blog post.

The best thing about getting to visit Nagasaki was not sightseeing, but rather it was that it was a chance to spend some time with my friend Ayako in her home country and to meet her family! I got to see a whole other side of her this way, and it was great to see my good friend again. Meeting her family and spending time with them in their home was also very exciting for me. Not only was I happy to see her home, but I was looking forward to getting out of Tokyo and spending a good amount of time with a Japanese family on the day to day. Though I’ve had the opportunity to spend a few holidays with my friend in Tokyo, also named Ayako, and her family, my time in Nagasaki was a lot longer and a bit different.

One thing that was different visiting Nagasaki Ayako’s family was that they ate at a traditional Japanese low table (zataku) on a tatami mat, while Tokyo Ayako’s family eats at a dining room table in the kitchen. Also, for while I was staying with them, I was given a chan chan ko to wear. For me it was an overshirt reminiscent of most traditional Japanese wrap-style clothing, but short (waist-length) and very thick like a winter quilt. It was quite warm and nice.

Ayako’s family lives above her father’s office where he works as an acupuncturist and pressure point therapist. Yep, big baby about needles Shannon staying with an acupuncturist. That only got uncomfortable when I got a bad headache. But I think it all turned out okay. (Randomly, here's a picture.)

Living with her family for a week was nice and fairly easy. It was comforting to be around a family, although it did make be a bit more homesick than I had previously been, and I was more worried than usual about making a cultural mistake.

I also wanted to talk about all the fantastic food that I got to eat while staying with Ayako and her parents. Yes, I sort of took notes about this; no, I don’t remember what we ate on each day from memory!

On Monday, my first day with Ayako’s family, we had teppanyaki. This is meat and vegetables cooked on an iron (at homes electric) griddle right before it’s eaten. So you cook a little, then you eat a little. If you’ve ever been to a Japanese restaurant in the States where they cook the food on a big griddle in front of you, often performing a little show like flashy fast scary knives, (think Benihana), then you’ve had teppanyaki. We had beef, cabbage, enokitake mushrooms, etc. Yum!

On Tuesday, the electric griddle was back on the zataku because we were having shabu-shabu. It seemed very familiar to me to teppanyaki, in that you cook a little and then you eat a little, repeat, and that a lot of the food we cooked was the same the second night. That night we had pork, tofu, formed fish paste, cabbage, other greens and more mushrooms. But instead of cooking it in a little oil in the bottom of the griddle, it’s all boiled in water with seasame oil, konbu (kelp), and other broth type things. You dip what you want to cook in and swish it back and forth a few times, and then eat! Both nights we also dipped our food in ponzu sauce (I don’t know what it is, but it’s good) and had white rice, of course.

On Wednesday, we had tonkatsu and other fried goodies with white rice. Tonkatsu is a breaded deep fried pork cutlet. Very good! It’s very popular here (and understandably so) and can be found in a variety of dishes. In Kyoto, I had it with Kare Raisu (Japanese curry with rice).

On Thursday, Ayako’s mom made hamburgers. Well, sort of. No she wasn’t indulging my homesickness and making American fare, she actually made hambaga which is similar and yet different. It’s a Japanese version of hamburger patties (no bun, no cheese) that’s often served with a nice brown gravy and white rice.

On Friday, we were busy and went to mass in the evening, so we had just a quick meal of onigiri. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll redefine. Onigiri is a ball made of rice that has a nice filling, maybe of fish or omebushi (Japanese plum)—which, by the way, are way way too sour for me—and then often wrapped in crisp nori (seaweed). They vaguely resemble big, triangular, sushi rolls.

On Saturday, we (Ayako, her mom, and I) went out for champon. In Japan, it seems that every city or area is famous for many things. Most of them are something edible. (People ask me what my hometown is famous for, and most of the time I don’t know how to answer. The mountains, yeah, but Denver’s a bit to the east of those; the professional athletic teams? I guess….) Nagasaki is famous for champon and kasutera (castella). Champon is oriental noodles (like real, not instant, ramen) in a really good, very hot (it always is—the native’s often sweat when they eat these really hot, and sometimes spicy, noodle dishes; I have neko gita, the cat’s tongue, and thing’s are almost always too hot and I have to let it cool before I can eat it) broth loaded with seafood and seafood products (like the formed fish paste earlier mentioned and brushed over). It’s delicious! But, if I were to get a custom order, I’d leave some of the seafood (and products) out. But that’s just me. Because champon is famous in Nagasaki and because I was going with locals who know where the best champon restaurants are, the place we went was very crowded. Many restaurants in Japan have very large round tables. These can sit either one big party, or several small parties sharing the table. We sat at a low, round, large table where a bunch of men were just being served. Uh oh, eating Japanese food I’d never had before under pressure, again! Mostly they ignored us except for an old man who came in on alone. He wanted to know about the foreigner. Ayako’s mom answered most of his questions, and I think I got a compliment on my low table posture. I was glad, because it hurts (after a little while) to kneel and sit on your feet and sit upright. If you are a woman, you can relax and sit on only one foot with your ankles and feet pointing to one side, unless it’s a very formal occasion. (For the curious, men can cross their legs and sit on their bottoms—cris-cross, applesauce for the lower elementary teachers out there.)

Kasutera (castella) is good. It’s really good. For the 211 girls, it’s that lovely yellow pound cake that Ayako’s mom sent to her that she shared with us. Remember with the sugar crystals on the underside? For everyone else, well, it’s a lovely yellow pound cake with sugar crystals on the underside. The original recipe comes from Spain by the Portuguese. It’s sweet, but not too sweet and has a nice thick, heavy texture.

On Sunday, we went out again. This time to kaiten sushi. Kaiten sushi is a revolving/circulating/rotating sushi bar. The sushi passes by your table and you grab what you like, while a few other things can be ordered specifically. This was a good way for me to see a lot of sushi, and avoid what I didn’t like! *blushes, embarrassed* Some sushi, I really love. Most of the rest I would probably like if it weren’t so darn expensive and I could have it more often. There are a few things, though, that I just don’t want. *blushes again, apologetically*

Clearly that wasn’t all of my meals. For breakfast every morning, Ayako’s mom made us toast (with anything we wanted on top, from peanut cream, to Godiva’s version of Nutella, to jam, to just plain butter), a small salad with ham, yogurt, fresh fruit, tea, and probably something I’m forgetting. It wouldn’t be uncommon for breakfast to include rice and fish as well. But ours were rather light. Also, we went out for western food a few times as well, and one day I made chili (my mom’s recipe, full of vegetables, hahahaha to you chili-purists who fight vegetables in chili) for lunch. It was good! (phew) But, it could have been better. It didn’t get to simmer long enough, and I should have drained the meat better. But it was good. (See picture of me in the chan chan ko.)

In the end I had a very good time visiting Ayako, meeting her family, traveling around Nagasaki, learning so much about Japan, and eating such great food!

To Ayako and your family: Thank you so much for having me. And I apologize for not being more adventurous with the food I ate. I really was feeling rather homesick at the time. My apologies.

Nagasaki: sightseeing

2006-04-12T21:20:00.000+09:00

In this post, you'll notice many links. They will take you to pictures on my flickr pages. Let me know what you think of this system. It should make the blog load faster and cleaner. Plus, you can browse through all of the pictures (and more eventually) together on flickr or look at the single pictures at these links. So, let me know.

I went to Nagasaki in the first full week of March to visit my good friend Ayako. I met Ayako at Benedictine College last year and was so happy to get an opportunity to visit her in her hometown and meet her family. Our shared cultural experience is now complete, as she came to visit my family twice while in the states!

Nagasaki, as many of you likely know, was the second city in Japan to be struck with a nuclear bomb by the US ending WWII. I knew I was going to have to face that as an American visiting. Of course, what I didn’t realize until later was that about anyone visiting Nagasaki has to face this fact. What I didn’t expect was Ayako’s dad asking me the first night of my visit if visiting the atomic bomb museum was the purpose for my visit. I explained that his daughter was the purpose of my visit. But the second day, we went to the hypocenter, peace park (and its famous statue), and museum, where we both got headaches. There are many monuments for peace in Nagasaki, it has seen its share of violence over many centuries, and almost all of them are draped with strings of origami cranes. One thousand cranes are supposed to give good health. and/or good fortune. Because of a famous story of a young girl sick with radiation poisoning (that I read in third grade) the cranes have also become associated with victims of the nuclear bombings. One of the monuments, a pillar, lifts an eternal flame over ground zero; its source comes from the Olympic torch, a flame often given to support peace.

My headache turned out to be part of a cold that I’d been fighting for a couple weeks. The next morning, it caught up with me and I spent most of the day in bed with a fever, runny nose, headache, and cough. Ayako is a very good nurse! Sorry to Ayako and her family for causing trouble!

The next day we saw more of Nagasaki’s touristy sites including spectacles bridge (the round arches of the bridge reflect in the water and look like spectacles!) From there we took a bus, a walk, and a street car to Dejima, an artificial island created where the Portuguese and then Dutch traders and merchants were exiled during the Japanese period of national seclusion. During that time, Dejima was the only part of Japan where foreigners were allowed. The gate at the one bridge on and off the island were very carefully guarded. Though the original island is gone, it is being reconstructed as it was in the early 1800’s and there is a scale model showing each building and the gardens. From Dejima, we walked to Nagasaki Seaside park near the harbor and enjoyed the warm spring weather and the great view of the water, the major bridge, Mt. Inasa, and the wharf. And also a pile of sod that looked like a dragon (or possibly a camel… or maybe it was just me.)

Friday night Ayako and I went to Urakami Cathedral (which has been reconstructed since its destruction in when the nuclear bomb hit nearby) to visit and attend mass. It had originally been completed in 1925, after 30 years of construction. At that time it was the largest church in the Orient. Rebuilt in 1959, it has a more modern (in architecture and furnishings, not layout or structure) style than most of the cathedrals I’ve seen.

The next day Ayako and I met one of her friends and we walked past Oura Catholic Church (a beautiful white French missionary church built in 1864, and the oldest existing church in Japan) on our way to Glover Garden. After the end of Japan’s period of seclusion (mid-nineteenth century) many Scottish, British, and Irish men came to Nagasaki to open businesses and make their fortune. They helped build a productive and strong city from the quiet collection of fishing towns it had previously been. The leader among these was Thomas Glover. He also started schools for local children. Glover Garden is his land and buildings, and the neighboring lands and homes formerly belonging to other Western merchants, restored to maintain the spirit and lives of these famous former Nagasaki residents. This community of the Nagasaki foreign settlement found Tamaki Miura, the famous Japanese opera singer, star of Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly as it was originally performed. The opera is set in Nagasaki and is one of the pieces of history preserved at Glover Garden.

Also, we got to dress up in Victorian-style costumes! Yay old-timey clothes and old-timey pictures. I’m expecting a few more pictures from Ayako, including one of me in a pin-up pose! Oh my!

On the way back down the street outside of the gardens, were many good souvenir shops. But only ONE had a bunch of crazy and joke gifts. That’s where I found the perfect souvenir for Amy. No, Amy, you still don’t get to know what it is. We also got mild electric shocks from a joke can of beer and the store owner showed us a card trick. We followed up all the walking with dinner and karaoke!

On my last day, Ayako, her mother, and I went to see the Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan. During the period of seclusion, the emperors performed searches of the country for Christians in hiding, asking them to stomp on images of Christ and the Saints. In Kyoto, 26 Catholic men, women, and children were found and marched about 1000 miles to Nagasaki (where the biggest population of Christians was believed to be, and the root of Christianity in Japan) over the period of a month. They arrived through the snow in early February and were crucified high on the hillsides of the town, children included, on the fifth of February. Later the martyrs were canonized by the church and a memorial was eventually erected. Pope John Paul II visited the monument in 1981. There is a museum dedicated to the memories of the martyrs and the movement of Christianity in Japan behind the monument.

There was just not enough time for me to see everything in Nagasaki, especially having to take a sick day. It was really great to see the history of a place as unique as Nagasaki, and to visit it with Ayako, a great friend of mine, and a native of the beautiful city. Next post will be what it was like to stay with Ayako and her family and all the awesome food I had!

Current Music : Night Drive, by Jimmy Eat World

Flickr

2006-04-07T10:17:00.001+09:00

I want to share more photos with you. Blogger is just not the right place to do that. So, I finally gave into the urge to join yet another online community, Flickr. I can post bunches of pictures online that you can see easily.

Current Music : Give It All Up, by The Corrs

Image best fitting me right now:

Nara Prefecture and Kyoto: Day Two (of two)

2006-04-07T01:02:00.000+09:00

Woke up and had a nice breakfast in the hotel, then climbed in the bus for an hour or so to Kyoto.

We started off the morning at Rokuon-ji Temple. It’s better known as Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. We were there around 9:30 am and the mid-morning light was perfect for photographing and viewing this famous and breathtaking building.

There was a great feeling of peace at the pavilion and the surrounding area, which climbs up a slope behind it. On the grounds are monks’ quarters, other shrines, a gift shop, and beautiful ponds and sculptures. After many hours on the bus the day before and knowing there would be more in the evening, I really enjoyed strolling around the grounds, soaking in the scenery, talking to Ayako, and taking some pictures. I picked up a nice postcard in the gift shop. As though the Golden Pavilion weren’t enough of a landmark, one of the large hills behind the temple is marked by a huge kanji, I believe in stone. (Think of places having a big letter on the side of a mountain or hill in the states.)

I mentioned taking a lot of pictures here, because I so much wanted to capture the simple and natural beauty of the place. There is a large bond surrounding the temple building called the mirror pond because it’s perfect satiny surface. The trees, the temples, the stones and hills are all exactly duplicated, upside down, in its still waters. Around all the outbuildings, shrines, statuary, and ancient walls (for which I have a bit of a weakness), the trees, moss, and grasses silently grow. I don’t recall the sound of any birds or the rustling of small creatures in the leaves, but I didn’t notice their absence at the time. But the feeling I have in my memory is one of an unstirring serenity.

The next stop was an other temple, Kitano Tenman-gu.

Their the plum trees actually were blooming. We took our big tour group picture here. I’m a big sucker and bought one! The guide walked us around and told us some things. I don’t know what said things were, because it was all in Japanese. My Japanese friends here have an amazing ability to translate mostly what I was actually able to pick out of what was said, but leave the rest out. I think it’s likely because those are the quickest and easiest things to translate between to very difficult languages. (I also think it’s very funny, if you ignore the part where I rationalize it.) He even walked us out a back exit and into the surrounding neighborhood to where the traditional Japanese fan dancing studios are, and an area that, I believe, used to house the geisha. On our way back in, we caught a glimpse at a couple coming into the temple for a traditional wedding ceremony. (I kept searching for them again, but no luck.) Then we had time to wander around the temple ourselves. What most caught my eye and the attention of my AA battery sucking camera (but really, thanks sincerelyAyako) were the plum blossoms, the great turnout of visitors (thanks to wonderful weather and the blossoms), and the orange color of many of the buildings’ trim.

I also managed a couple of photos of young girls in full kimono. Ayako then shared with me the detail that if you wear a kimono in Kyoto, you get a 10% discount everywhere, even if you’re gaijin (a foreigner). If only I had known. Over the shoulder the girl on the left you can see that she’s taking a picture of the plum blossoms with her camera phone. These are the kinds of contrasts I’m hoping to get good pictures of before I leave!

From here we hurried on, just as the rush of visitors was getting ridiculous, to a pickles shop. Now, pickles here means any kind of pickled vegetable, root, etc. We had set up a pickle tasting with complimentary wine. It was obviously a good deal for the shop, as I watched the slightly liquored up women buying loads of souvenir pickles here. (Everywhere in Japan is famous for a number of kinds of food. Food is the most popular souvenir.) This was also a very famous shop, and they obviously make their money, because the two story (at least) business looked like it used to be an art gallery, and the company decided not to renovate. It was beautiful and strange. And across the street from a former palace that we didn’t have time to go to on this trip.

The last temple we visited was Kiyomizudera, the Pure Water Temple. It was very big, and is famous for a sacred cleansing spring.

It is built on the side of a large mountain, and much of them main temple is supported by stories of scaffolding.

Large platforms allow you to look out at the city and down the paths to the other shrines below. One of the shrines a bit above the main temple is Jishu Shrine, dedicated to the deity of love. If you can walk from one end of this shrine to the other with your eyes closed, without stumbling (or running into people, I assume) you will find luck in love. I learned this by almost being bumped into.

A short note on good luck: Having good fortune, is, of course, very important. At shrines you can buy charms to bring good fortune (accompanied by virtues like hard work, of course) for so many things: passing examinations, safe driving, marriage, long life, conception, good health, love, love chance, love knot (not sure what this one meant), against disaster, and (at this shrine) your astrological sign!

Below the temple, are narrow streets lined with shops. Here we found face paper, soft serve ice cream (I got green tea and sakura leaf twist!), and curry for lunch. On the way up the hill to this temple, we had stopped near another tour bus for the guide to explain to us what was going on. Near the bus were standing two American young college-age guys (from Texas) who didn’t notice me at first. When our guide was done talking, they asked where we were going and were pretty much ignored. Then one of them noticed me. After a strange and somewhat rude conversation with him, I decided I should have answered him in French or Japanese! I’m starting to wonder what it will be like to adjust to living back home, or if it will be much of an adjustment.

On our way back to Tokyo, there was a lot of sleeping and resting. We hit some really nasty traffic trying to get back into Tokyo’s outlying areas on a Sunday night and were pretty late getting back home. When I got back to my apartment, I packed up and prepared to catch a plane the next morning to Nagasaki, to visit my friend from college, Ayako! (Obviously a different Ayako than the former student of mine who took me on this trip.)

Kyoto was fantastic and I think I’ll have to try to visit again before I leave; probably without the help of a tour group.

A Note: Picture-heavy blog posts are a pain in the rear for everyone. I'm setting up a flickr account so you can see lots more of my pictures. I'll keep you posted. Next up: Nagasaki

Nara Prefecture and Kyoto Day One (of Two)

2006-03-21T17:27:00.000+09:00

The first weekend in March my friend Ayako from Shirayuri took me with her on a bus tour for Japanese tourists to Nara Prefecture and Kyoto. Kyoto was the seat of the Emperor before the government seat moved here to Tokyo (then called Edo) as recently as 1868.

After a long drive in the bus (past Mt. Fuji, Fuji-san where I got some awesome pictures—I’m really looking forward to visiting there in a couple more weeks), we arrived in Nara prefecture, but were running too late for our first stop to see the orchards of blooming plum trees. It wasn’t a big loss because they hadn’t started blooming yet, though some in Kyoto had.

We continued on to Nara Park. It is home to the Todaiji Temple, many shrines and another Daibutsu (a giant representation of Buddha).

I learned the next week that the Japanese would never call a representation of Buddha “Buddha” because there are many different versions of Buddha symbolizing different things, but none of them is Buddha; he was a man. This confusion of terms (we only have the one in English) led to a bit of a tense moment visiting Ayako’s (from BC) house in Nagasaki. But I think we got that worked out in the end. In any case it was dropped with no hard feelings. . .

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this Diabutsu, let alone go inside him. I had a dinner date to keep. We were guided through the park and then left to wander with some extra time before dinner near a narrow street lined with shops (no time to see the giant Buddha, but 30 minutes for shopping before dinner. . . right) on one side and a strip of park on the other behind which rose a great steep hill. Here in this strip of park were wandering some of my favorite, and yet most confusing members of the park. There are hundreds, hundreds, of relatively domesticated deer running around in this park. The merchants sell “deer cakes” and people feed them and pet them and take pictures with them. (It seems that a buck had been some sort of figure of authority or power or maleness to some emperor for whose sake the temple for Buddha had been made.) So, though I felt it was really strange and kind of wrong, but I’d always wanted to be all Disney Princess in the woods making friends with the forest creatures, I gave feeding the deer a shot. I bought some deer cakes (little flat rice cakes) from a local vendor after watching him feed the deer some bread. He was much better with the animals than I was. It helped that he was taller than me. Also, he gave me half a loaf of stale bread to feed them after I bought the cakes.

There I was, halfway in the street, halfway up some stairs leading to the strip of park, and surrounded by 7 young bucks (no antlers though—none of them had them) who all wanted each piece of bread or cake I was giving out. This was when I remembered why I thought this was kind of wrong. Wild animals are unpredictable. They’re supposed to be, you know, wild. One of the guys was particularly insistent and would butt softly (for a big hard-headed wild animal) at my hip or elbow every time I tried to feed the other guys. It was a lot like a dog or cat nudging at your hand or arm to be petted, but with a lot more power and assertion behind it.

After running out of the half loaf of bread (mostly you hand feed them, which is pretty cool), we decided to walk away and hope not to cause them to stampede after us to give another group some attention.

We had attracted (and well fed) most of the deer currently browsing around the area, but we spotted a small doe a little ways away. She looked really timid. Really timid. So I took my time approaching her, and once I got as close as I dared just stood there still with my hand out offering her some of the food. Eventually she came up to me, but not any closer than to reach the food if I really outstretched my hand and she her neck. After a couple of pieces of the deer cakes this way, she moved a little bit further, but not too much. She was really sweet.

About 6 of the other women on the tour had also elected to buy the tour dinner at a nearby restaurant, so we all ate together at a long low table on a tatami mat. I was asked a bunch of questions in Japanese, none of which I was able to answer very well. They were simple questions that I new the answer to, in Japanese, but there are many different ways to ask “where are you from” and “how old are you”. Then they complemented me on using chopsticks, which is pretty common, because they expect us to have no skills at it. Dinner was pretty good. See:

And I ate everything, see:

After dinner it was a brisk walk to the main temple area, which we were visiting just at the right time of year to see a particular festival of that temple. It’s the running of the flame ball!

Just after dark, 10 monks run 10 balls of fire across the front of the temple. Before shaking it at the other end, and letting down a beautiful rain of glowing sparks on the people who got their really early to get front row seats! It was the 1,255^th time this ritual had been completed!

From there was the long walk back downhill to the bus. We climbed on board and drove to Osaka and to our hotel to shower, eat ice cream, and bunk down for the night.

A short post on holidays

2006-03-17T15:12:00.000+09:00

I promise a much longer post is coming soon on my trips to Kyoto and Nagasaki, but first I want to talk a bit about March 14 and March 17, as celebrated in Tokyo.

March 14 is White Day. On Valentines day in Japan, women give chocolates or other presents to men, whether they be friends, colleagues, or something more romantic. Then, they wait for a return of affection, thanks or warmth on white day. That's right, the candy corporations here get two hollow holidays to sell their goods! Valentines Day is said to have been imported to Japan in 1958 by a confectioners, and White Day invented by a Japanese marshmallow company during the next decade. It has also been said that White Day was created in the 1980's to assuage the obligation men feel to the women who gave them chocolates a month previous.

March 17th is St. Patrick's Day in the states. While most people in Japan don't know about St. Patrick's Day, Tokyo is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its St. Patrick's Day parade this Sunday (not exactly on the day, but close) sponsored by Irish Network Japan, a non-profit organization bringing a bit of Irish culture to Japan, for the purpose of advancing knowledge or Ireland and Irish culture in the minds of the Japanese as well as connecting foreigners from Ireland who are living in Japan. What it means for me is that I won't have to give up St. Patrick's Day just because I am living outside the States. I am going to an Irish pub with friends tonight for Guinness and fish and chips and will go to Sunday afternoon's parade. And wearing green of course.

Current Music : The leprechaun song! (This one's hilarious, have me send it to you, if you don't already have it.)
Current Mood: Becoming more genki after being sick for about week (Genki is Japanese for being in good spirits and health. Asking if you are genki is a way to ask "how are you" in Japanese.)

Semester Break

2006-03-01T01:49:00.000+09:00

I don't think that I've mentioned it yet in this blog, but right now I'm on semester break. Yes, semester break from February through March.

Here in Japan, the school year begins in April. The first term goes until mid-late July and school starts again in September. The second term ends at the end of January and there is a two or three week winter holiday around Christmas and New Years.

Also, although the school year ends in January, graduation doesn't actually happen until the end of March. This gives recent graduates one last holiday before they start their careers.

This way the school year and their careers begin in the spring, natutally a time of beginning (and beginning again). This connection to the seasons is deeply rooted in Japanese tradition. Even the fiscal and business years begin in April.

So, that explains why I didn't come until the end of September and I don't return until late July. This made the transition into my job a little bit difficult, as many college classes are 1 year long as opposed to 1 semester long, so half of the course had already passed and I came in in the middle. Also, with American schools starting earlier and earlier in August, it will make for a rushed return and prepartation for my first year teaching when I get back.

Current Music : Dia de Enero by Shakira
Current Mood: tired, headache, but makin' it -- after all, it is semester break!

A note to Erika

2006-02-18T01:22:00.000+09:00

Recently my friend Erika, who is currently in Benin, Africa serving in the Peace Corps wrote a blog post telling about what attending mass is like there. I left her a comment, since I had a recent mass story I wanted to share as well. Here is my note to her:

Erika,

I totally know what you mean about having mass in the local language. Most Sundays I go to mass in Japanese at the convent here at the college (at 7:30 a.m.) Some things are just a little different and, as well as I thought I knew the mass before I left, sometimes I get confused if they are doing the Holy, Holy or the Our Father--I just haven't picked up that much Japanese yet. Luckily, I have the opportunity to go to mass in English sometimes at the Franciscan Chapel Center a train and a subway away. But most weeks, I just sit quietly and try to listen to the readings and homily, and then scurry back to my computer to look the readings up online.

Two weeks ago, the priest (new priests are always coming to the convent to serve the sisters) noticed that someone in the congregation was a.) not habited and b.) not Japanese. True there were three other lay women there for mass, but I was the only one who had no idea what he was saying. He decided it was a good idea to talk to me during his homily. He took me so much by surprise that, although I should have been able to understand and answer his question in Japanese, the sisters had to answer for me. Then he asked me another question a little more slowly and after I answered (in Japanese) he had the same reaction that all Japanese people have when they hear me speak their language the first time, "Kawai, ne?" Which roughly translates to, "That's so cute, huh!?" That was just a twinge embarrassing.

Then, at the end of his homily he proceeded to say something in English, pointing out that it was just for me, that just didn't make any sense to me why he would say it. In Japanese he said something about America, December, and Christmas (Christmas time, I'm guessing). (He may have been talking about the movie Love Actually, but I just don't put a lot of stock into that supposition.) Then he said, "There is no greater thing that to love and be loved in return," looking at me for approval. I smiled and nodded (I do this a lot) and he moved on. It was a good statement, and it was great to get a bit of the homily, but where America and Christmas came into it, I don't know.

This is a very long comment indeed (that I will probably put in my own blog also), but I thought I'd share my mass story with you as well.

UPDATE: After my mom's comment I decided to add that I have recently come to understand why Japanese people always say "Kawai" when I speak Japanese.

I was watching tv sometime last month trying to catch a new drama that was starting, but instead, on my tv, appeared Cyndi Lauper. In Tokyo. In places in Tokyo I've been. Not 80's pink hair singing for the Goonies Cyndi, but still-recording today Cyndi. Cyndi was supposed to meet these two Japanese women (a famous model or actress and the host of the talk show that this was for) for coffee. She got there early and had to wait for the other two girls (cameras rolling of course) and ordered her coffee in Japanese (she knows a tiny bit, kind of like me). My first reaction to her saying "cafe latte kudasai" was, "Awww, Kawai, ne?" I honestly said that out loud at the tv. And then I was like, oh crap. Well, it is cute when we speak Japanese. I am still not exactly sure why (although everytime she tried during the rest of the show, it was still cute) except maybe that we are making a good effort to do something difficult. In the end, I suppose it's not that strange. We think just about anything a Japanese girl does is cute, so. . .

Current Music : Whiskey in the Jar by Sean McRactagan
Current Mood: Tired, but pretty content-ish. My toes are cold.

Kanami, Professor Kohmoto, and SUSHI

2006-02-17T23:30:00.000+09:00

So, I've been really lazy and didn't write this post for a long time. More than a month, long time. tee hee. Today, all pictures that I did not take are links to the full-sized picture. Also, today, asides are in italics.

On Friday night, January 13th, I went out with Professor Kohmoto, his wife and son, and Kanami for sushi and (after enough beers with our sushi) karaoke. I didn't realize until just now that I went and really tried sushi for the first time on a Friday the thirteenth. I walk on the wild side.
Technically, I had eaten a little bit of sushi in December. Two pieces to be exact: one with boiled shrimp and one with raw tuna.
We met Professor Kohmoto at the station near his house, and took a taxi to a cross street near the sushi bar. Then we walked the short way there, passing "Colorado Cafe" a coffee house that we just didn't have time to go to that trip. Twisting down one side street and then another, we found the Kohmoto's favorite sushi place, and went in. Mrs. Kohmoto was there already and had a corner saved for us, so we put up our coats and sat down. This was where the dread built up. The last time I had gone out to eat with the Kohmoto family, they had talked me into trying jellyfish, abalone, and shark fin. I had no idea what I was in for. But I was not afraid to say no. They knew already that I just didn't want to eat eel (I think they even eat it raw) or squid/octopus. I am going to need more time to build up the courage to eat the snakes of the deep (I know they aren't really biologically related, but that's just what eel seem like to me) and there was the one time when I turned 12 that I had calamari and I got sick. Maybe I'm allergic, maybe it was a nervous reaction to the stress of that evening's plans.
(Warning, this aside is about spewing. Don't read it if you are weak of stomache. It wouldn't have been the first time I'd stressed myself out to the point of ejecting previously eating foods. [The first time was when I started a new school in 2nd grade and went to orientation night after a big spaghetti dinner. Man, barfing half-chewed long spaghetti noodles across a classroom is an interesting experience.])
Anyway, I didn't want to eat those things. I suppose I should have been more adventurous this night, but I have more time to try more things. And, I grew up in the middle of the US; the majority of the seafood I had eaten before coming to Japan came frozen in a bright yellow box. In the form of sticks. Fish sticks we called them. It's a big step to eating raw fish. And I can totally do it without making a face. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself.

The sushi bar: patrons sit along a low bar. There is about 9-12 inches of bar in front of you, then a higher level about 4 inches deep, where the sushi-chefs place a big banana leaf with some vegetables, pickles (picked vegetables, not dills), and your sushi. Past the banana leaf is a pane of glass showcasing all of the fresh, raw sushi toppings you can chose. Above and behind this are your chefs.

The beer on the left is mine. The beer on the right is Kanami's. You can see that my chopsticks are placed in my little sushi bowl. Strictly, they should probaby be on their paper holder, but, chopstick ettiquette, like many Japanese traditions, is changing with the times. Between the beers is a white towel. That's a steamed towel to clean your hands before eating. Tokyo has great customer service!

We started the night off easy. Maguro Sushi: vinegared rice and a tiny dab of wasabi topped off with a piece of raw, red tuna. This is the lean part of the tuna.

Raw tuna and raw salmon actually taste very good (especially with a bit of wasabi). It's the texture that is difficult for me to get used to.
When eating sushi at a Japanese sushi bar reach up to grab your sushi (Wow! It's acceptable to use either fingers or chopsticks; I used chopsticks.), dip the meat part of the sushi into the soy sauce in the small dish in front of you, then eat it up, yum.

Next Kohmoto-sensei and I had Meguro toro sushi. This is the more expensive cut of tuna, because it's more delicious. What makes it more delicious? It's fattier! MMMMmmmm fatty tuna.

Here is my Maguro Toro sushi.

On the far left, on my leaf-plate is a Japanese plum--these are crazy sour. Then some very thinly chopped mostly flavor-less vegetable, then some sour picked radish. In the little dish is probably more picked radish, but a sweet. I think. Do you see the fishy staring at you from under her plastic sheet behind the glass?

Here is a professional picture of Maguro Toro sushi.

Professor Kohmoto ordered for himself some Hirame sushi (I think) which is raw halibut. I tried one of them, and it was also good.

Kohmoto-sensei kind of tricked me next, suggesting that we all get a grilled fish. Ooohh! Cooked! I thought, sure, that sounds fantastic. Little did I expect a whole fish to be plopped in front of me, nice and grilled, head, eyes, fins, guts bones, and all!
I stared at it for a long time after everyone else had eaten theirs. See, you don't eat the back tail, just everything else. Which meant starting by eating its head. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but as a child I was relentlessly baited by my dad singing, "Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!" The idea of eating fish heads grossed my siblings and I out to no end, despite my dad's needling us with claims that that was the best part of the fish. And on this particular evening I just could not get past my childhood revulsion at the idea of eating that fish head. Evnetually, I teased Kohmoto-sensei enough, asking if he was going to get rid of this fish's head for me, that his son, Raymond, leaned over and snipped it right off with his chopsticks. Well, I didn't know that was allowed! I also probably didn't have the skill with my chopsticks then, though I might be able to manage it now. I ate the rest of the fish (bones, guts and all) and it wasn't that bad. Though not my favorite Japanese food, or thing I ate that night.

Then. . . then came quite a triumph for me. Professor Kohmoto, at his wife's urgings, ordered everyone a nice, big, raw oyster.

It took some convincing myself. Afterall, it was a raw oyster. Flavored with soy sauce and negi negi (green onions) or not. It was, raw. And an oyster. They live in thier own slime. Like snails and slugs. It seems strange for me to eat that. But, I convinced myself. And I ate it.

That night, I also enjoyed some ebi, boiled shrimp sushi, and some small sushi rolls.

Finally we all went out to karaoke. Kohmoto-sensei and his wife each sang some beatiful Japanese songs and Mrs. Kohmoto sang a Barbara Streisand song. Raymond sang some Green Day and helped me with something by Blink-182. I also sang Elvis Prestly and (as part of a deal with Kanami) Britney Spears. I sing one of my pop stars, and she sings one of hers. While Kanami sang one of my favorite Japanese songs (I have it on my iPod now--which I bought the next day. Kohmoto-sensei insisted on me upgrading my choice to the biggest memory model, by pressing into my hand a generous contribution to the Shannon wants cool toys fund), the late hour (and beers) caught up with Professor Kohmoto, and he fell asleep.

It was a memorable Friday night for all involved.

Current Music : All my Loving by the Beatles, covered by Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies
Current Mood: I'm hungry
Image best fitting me right now:
My tongue is red from eating candy.

Kamakura

2006-02-02T18:46:00.000+09:00

In the first week of last month (sorry I have been waiting--and am still waiting, but no worries--for more pictures), I went with my friend Ayako (Tokyo Ayako) to Kamakura, an area on the Southern/Eastern coast of Japan, not far from Tokyo that is another of the ancient seats of government. (Mini-Japan lesson: Edo (later renamed Tokyo), Kyoto, and Kamakura have all been the seat of government for Japan over the course of history.) We went to Kamakura to sightsee and spend a relaxing vacation day. The area has lots and lots of temples and shrines. AND one of the biggest statues of Buddha (Daibutsu at Kotokuin temple) in the world! After lunch (very good soba and tempura at a nice little restaurant with great service), the big buddha was the first thing that we went to go see.

Wow, he was a big buddha!

See the little people in black and red standing in front of the big buddha? That's how big he is!

It is 37 feet tall and weighed a whole lot and is the second largest in the world! He has survived a bunch of earthquakes and has recently been restored to be made even stronger. For something like 20 cents, we were able to. . . go inside the giant statue of buddha.

Ayako said, we can go inside him if you want.
What!? I replied, continuing, We can go inside the big buddha!?
Yeah, Ayako looked a little worried about me.
How many people do I know, well do I know at home, who have said they have been inside a giant buddha? None. That's how many! Let's go inside!

Inside the buddha was pretty dark, and the stairs were pretty steep. There were some windows in Buddha's back that let in some light. It was neat to see how solid this ancient creation still was. But mostly, we looked around, I tried to get some pictures, but it was too dark.

But, have you ever been inside a big buddha?!

Next we went to a temple. It was near the top of a mountain like, sea-side geographical feature, with the other buildings belonging to it trailing down below it, along with a small stream, which gathered near the entrance and was the most beautiful koi pond I have seen yet. Near the pond was a building with big windows making up most of the walls, inside someone was re-copying the books of buddha, so they would never be lost. Behind this building was the entrance to a small cave, carved into the rocks of the cave were small figures of buddha, chapels (for lack of a better word) of antiquity used by monks, a thousand years gone, for meditation.

Climbing up and up the stairs rewarded you with the sight of a large beautiful temple, golden figures surrounding an image of the Nirvana-seeking man just visible through the enormous, opened doors. In front, incense sometimes billowed and sometimes danced up towards the cloudy sky. To the right was the giant bell they had rung for new years just a few days before. To the left was a small building that was filed with a wooden and glass box, lumbering in circles under the weight of ancient paper and scrolls, the writings of buddha. Archaic tradition says that if you walk the box once in a circle, you can gain the knowledge of reading all the words.

(There was also a nice looking restaurant.)

Then, we began walking up the steep path to get a great vantage point of the Pacific Ocean! I loved the short hike; Ayako says that my walking quickly until it's hard to breathe must make me feel alive, like thunderstorms and earthquakes do.

I took some pictures and watched some local art school looking kids working on some great sketches. I wished there was some way to capture the grey sea and sky, the green hills, the feeling of an age past, and all the bright-colored quaint-seeming roofs and homes. The whole huge landscape of it. To the far left, more tall ridges grew out of the low-lands, so green they seemed to be alive themselves. In my periphery, on the left, were the building of the temples, where tourists, worshipers, and the in-between wandered together, all fairly quieted by the presence of the spirit of "Past." Across the expanse of civilization was a pale beach, mottled with
driftwood, and the quiet grey ocean, deep cold and silent. Enfolded between these commanding presences were more buildings than you might think possible, each cuddled close to the next, allowing only the minimum distance to let people or cars pass between them, as though they had settled there themselves, growing up rather than out, straining for the best view of the sea and the hills. Most were bright colors or an unobtrusive cream, so as to make each distinguishable to the rest. Perhaps someone looking from the temple could pick out home when she made her offerings and prayers; perhaps someone out on the sea could pick out his roof, and smile at home.

Then we climbed down; we laughed and talked, and looked for somewhere to get coffee. I bought a nice green scarf and we wandered toward a very small and very ancient shrine, where I may have received a bad omen from a black bird, if I was to put stock in such things.

We eventually decided on the convenience store Lawson's to bring us out of history into the present with hot drinks, chicken nuggets, and koala cookies. We sat on a concrete retaining wall and looked out at the beach and the sea. Then we ran out to the edge of the water, which I leaned over and touched, with just the tip of my finger, before selecting a couple of shells and heading back toward the train station. It was nearing sundown and was time to head home.

One of the stops along the way had a gorgeous view of the sea, right from the stop. So we stopped their to take pictures of the sun setting into the Pacific. (I know the sun sets into the west, not the east. But you see, Kamakura is on a peninsula which defines the western-end of Tokyo Bay, so it is possible. It confused me too, until I checked out some maps.) We got back on the train and decided we were hungry and would go out for Italian food on the way home. (It was really good.)

All in all, I got on something like 12 different trains that day! (One because I got on the super-express because I wasn't paying attention when I was supposed to be getting on the local. That was funny and actually made me less tired. Because it's hard to laugh at yourself and be really tired. At least at the end of a good day it is.)

Current Music : Otis Reding, Dock of the Bay (nice coincidence)

Pictures from New Years

2006-01-21T21:20:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures that Ayako gave me from our New Year's meals at her house:

The top photo shows Ayako and I and her brother. In the second are Ayako and I and her mother. In front of us in each picture you can see the meal we had on New Year's Eve. Nabe is the stew in the big pot in the middle. On the woven plates in front of each of us are soba noodles. Tempura, fried foods, are in front of each of us also.

Ayako's father is pouring me herb-infused sake for the New Year's Day meal.You can see the three-tiered boxes which are the Osechi Ryori. (See New Year's post and the picture below.)

We are all anxious to start eatting!

Current Music :Beverly Hills Weezer
Current Mood: Sleepy!

A day walking around

2006-01-04T18:19:00.000+09:00

After a week and a half of winter break, doing not much more than sleeping in, then sitting in front of the computer most of the day (under a blanket next to the space heater), today I decided to take advantage of the fact that most stores had re-opened after the New Years holiday.

I took the train to Shinjuku and headed directly for the book store, Kinokuniya (that's the book store with the pretty good foreign books section---aka books in English), to buy a calendar. Yeah I know, a strange reason to travel into Tokyo proper and fight First-Day-After-New-Years-Sale shoppers, but I had to get out of my house. And a calendar was the only thing I actually needed and was prepared to buy.

I was torn between a cute, sarcastic modern calendar and a Norman Rockwell print calendar. The Rockwell didn't have any of my favorite prints and was more expensive, so the cute sarcastic one came home. (Please see my regular blog for excerpts.) Also, after visiting it for months, I finally decided that my relationship with From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz had blossomed to the point that I brought it home, too. (Please see my book blog for info.)

After leaving the book store, I didn't feel like turning around and coming back home (and I had to leave the book store before I spent myself out of my train fare home), so to the streets I went. After browsing in a couple of stores, I decided I was pretty much done fighting the Sale crowds, and kept to the streets. My stomache (and the slightly light-headed feeling from only having had crackers and cheese to eat so far that day) led me to search for somewhere to eat. But mostly I was enjoy exploring new parts of Shinjuku. I thought I had seen just about everything that had traveled over the wide Pacific from our country to theirs, but that assumption was proved incorrect, as I beheld a Barneys New York and, yes, the Circle K (within a block and a half of eachother, I might add).

This is the bar? restaurant? club? that was right next door to the Circle K. If you can't read from the picture, the place is called "Neo Tokyo Fooding Bar Mysterious". Nice.

Finally my wanderings needed to come to an end. I was getting tired, the sun was beginning to sag, and exhaust fumes were aggravating my head. I headed toward a KFC, but as I approached, decided against it. That's when I saw it. The Haagen-Dazs. My first instinct was along the lines of "ice cream is not a good lunch/dinner" and "KFC has too many calories, but rich ice cream is okay?" However, these petty arguments were easily overcome by the thought, "I ate at the Haagen-Dazs in Paris. It would be cool if I ate at one in Tokyo, too!" (I did eat at one in Paris, too. I got pear sorbet. It was incredible.)

So, in I went. I ordered what I thought was a nice combination of Japanese and Western and what was probably pretty particular to Tokyo Haagen-Dazs, a single scoop of Royal Milk Tea ice cream in a cup. As I payed, I realized, hey, this is Fool on the Hill, by the Beatles. As I stood along the wall, eating my ice cream (it was good, too a nice, creamy, concentrated flavor of the milk tea that comes in a powder form that I have a few times a week) I realized the next song was also the Beatles (it may have been The Night Before, but I didn't get my notepad out in time). So, I savored my ice cream and the music until they were both gone. (The rest of the songs were Baby You're a Rich Man, Anytime at All, and the German version [appropriately enough being that I was in a Haagen-Dazs, but don't think the utter fabulousness of that truth was missed by me] of I Wanna Hold Your Hand.)

I didn't even get lost and I made it back to my apartment in plenty of time to wait for the mailman.

Just goes to show, not all who wander are lost. And sometimes they find Haagen-Dazs.

Current Music : Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) Bright Eyes
Current Mood: a bit sleepy, but ready for tomorrow's adventure to Kamakura

New Years

2006-01-03T16:21:00.000+09:00

Happy New Year!

New Years is traditionally the biggest and most important holiday in Japanese culture.

Of course, I wanted to learn as much about this holiday and it's traditions as I could. Luckily for me, my student and good friend Ayako invited me to her family's house for the night. I met her at my train station in the afternoon of December 31, and we traveled on two trains to a station near her house where her father met us with his car. After a very short (but winding through many very small side streets) drive, we arrived at her house where I met her mom and older brother.

Her mom has been studying English at a conversation school and was able to talk to me a bit. Graciously, Ayako translated between her family and I most of the time, though. Together we all sat together for tea and apple pie. We talked a little bit about their dogs, but mostly talked about Kyoto, an old city in Japan with many many temples and shrines, that I hope to visit with Ayako later in the winter. I saw some pictures from their last two trips. Ayako and her mother and grandmother have gone the last two falls, it seems. Autumn is the best time to visit Kyoto because of it's fantastic display of the fall colors.

I spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and talking with Ayako in her bedroom. Well, it was a sleepover after all.

The silly girl giggling and secret-telling was interrupted by dinner. And so wonderfully so. Mmmm Dinner. We had Kiritanpon Nabe, Tempura (shrimp, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and lotus root, each deep fried), Toshikoshi Soba (long soba noodles, for long life), rice, and red wine. It was all so delicious! We talked about the States and Denver and Japan. After the meal, everyone leaned back and said, "Ounakai pai" (I'm full--directly translates, I have had enough).

Music and more talking and story telling occupied the time until midnight! We went downstairs a little before the hour to watch the bell ringing at temples all over Japan on TV and to see the fireworks set off at midnight.

Shortly after we wished each other "Happy New Year!" Ayako, her parents, and I walked to the nearby shrine. As we wandered through small streets and walkways, we could listened to the banging of a large drum and the ringing of the bells growing louder with every twist and turn. The first thing I saw when we got there was the waving lights from the bonfires that were lighting the shrine's square and keeping people warm. Then I saw the line. The line extended out of the shrine and down the block. We couldn't see the end of it until we were right up on it. Luckily it moved very quickly. Luckily, because we were cold! As we got into the square, we warmed up and I got my first look around at what was going on, what we were here to do. There was a booth to one side that was distributing hot Otoso sake (a sweet thick sake) to keep everyone warm. There was a very large drum being beaten by anyone who wanted to give it a try. On the right, was a building in which the shrine was selling different charms, but the most popular item seemed to be a blunted arrow to kill the evil within us.

The large line was waiting to pay a small devotion of 100 yen, give reverence to the shrine, ring the bell, and say a short prayer for the new year. Finally, to one side, people could buy a New Year fortune to see what kind of year you were likely to have. Then most people tied their fortune to the small low branches of a nearby tree. (I kept mine as a souvenir, as that was how I saw it. If you are curious, I got the best possible fortune, saying I would have a small trouble in the beginning of the year that would turn out to be nothing. Then everything would be wonderful after that.)

After taking our turn at the front of the line, we each got a small cup of the sake. While sipping at them, I took a turn at the drum, Ayako and her family talked to some neighbors, and I got my fortune. We tarried in the warmth of the fire a moment more, and then made the short walk home to get ready for bed.

The next morning, Ayako and I slept late, until about 11 am. (The black out sliding doors and windows on her room had fooled me into thinking it was still night time.) By the time I was dressed and downstairs, the table was beautifully set with gorgeous lacquerware and the special New Years knots and other decorations. Red and White are the colors of the day. Just before we ate, the family gave me a present, which was very sweet of them to do, of a Japanese kimono-silk purse. I learned that it is common for children to get gifts of money on New Years morning from their parents and friends of the family. Then it was time for the traditional New Years Day meal.

I think this is a good time to mention that in a traditional Japanese daily menu, there is little difference between what is set before you at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, except to say that breakfast and lunch are the larger meals, while dinner is smaller. But the selection of food is about the same. I should note that many people in modern Japan, with it's embrace of Western influences, have cereal or pancakes, or the like for breakfast now.

A traditional Japanese New Year's Day meal starts with a small amount of (very tasty) herb flavored sake. Then a box about 1 foot square is set on the table. This is called Osechi Ryori.

It is three tiers of the same size and a lid. In the bottom tier were boiled potatoes, a kind of yam, carrots, green beans, lotus roots, and some thick noodles. In the middle tier held prawn (Ayako's favorite), roast beef, sour flavored fish, sweet flavored fish, more fish and some more fish. The top tier had all kinds of sweets: gelatins, rolled sweets, and sweet beans.

As the meal ended, Ayako's family read the nengajo they hadgotten in the mail. Nengajo is the name for special cards sent before the holiay that the post office delivers special on New Year's Day. (I should have written many, but you know how holidays tend to sneak up on Americans, or at least on me.)

Later Ayako and her mother taught me how to play an easier version of a New Years card game called bouzumekuri. We played about 3 times while drinking tea and eating a few chocolates. I really enjoyed spending the time with Ayako and her mom.

Not too much later, it was time for me to go home. The family insisted that I come to visit them again. I am sure I will, as long as they do me the honor of coming to eat at my apartment sometime, too. Then, Mr. Kobayashi was very kind and drove me home instead of my having to navigate the trains, which didn't run as often on the holiday.

The next two days, January 2nd and 3rd, are extended New Years holiday and are mostly days of visiting relatives and resting in Japan. Most shops and businesses are closed.

Current Music : This Could be Love by Alkaline Trio
Current Mood: Rested, very well rested

Christmas

2005-12-30T16:17:00.000+09:00

I was talking to a professor recently who put it very well. Japanese people must appear to an outside observer to be very strange as the year ends and the new one begins. On December 25, they celebrate Christmas. On the 31^st they go to the Buddhist Temple to ring a bell 108 times to rid themselves of the 108 human desires. On January 1, they go to the Shinto shrine to pray for a good year.

Of course, most Japanese people celebrate Christmas similar to many people around the world; they celebrate the Santa Claus holiday. Some, though even most of these are non-Christian, go to Catholic Mass or other Christian services in the few places around Tokyo where they can on Christmas or Christmas Eve.

In America, Christmas is a time to be spent with family. People travel all over the country to be with their families. We have traditions of decorating a tree, so that we have a festive place to gather with our relative to open presents and celebrate in general, complete with a big meal, or at the very least, lots of food. But in Japan, Christmas is a holiday for romance. Christmas is spent with your boyfriend/girlfriend if you are young (and dating) and with your friends otherwise. Think first kiss of the New Year in the States. That’s the emphasis put on romance for Christmas.

In Japan, New Years is the holiday to spend surrounded by family and traditions, again complete with a big meal. (More about this holiday in a few days!)

My Christmas in Japan was very good. I went to a crowded Christmas Eve mass in Japanese here on the college’s campus, which was followed by a little tea party thrown by the sisters with some cakes, tea, and soda. There were lots of happy little kids running around and the sisters were very hospitable.

I woke up very early and excited on Christmas morning. (I had presents, and even a stocking, waiting for me in the other room that my family had sent to me.) I woke up too early on Christmas morning. I woke up at 5:30 on Christmas morning. I told myself, “Self, you are not 5. Go back to sleep.” I woke up too excited on Christmas morning. I kept trying and trying to go back to sleep; but for about an hour and 15 minutes, I woke up every 10 minutes. Then at 6:45 I mercifully fell back asleep. My alarm went off at 7:30. I was expecting a call from home and had things I needed to get done before running across town for Mass in English. I should get up. But I couldn’t for the life of me drag myself out of the warm bed into the cold room where the presents were. Nope, couldn’t get up. Just 5 more minutes, ma! I turned off my alarm and turned off the snooze and fell back asleep. I woke up to it going off again at 8:15. This time it was my family calling!

I answered and my mom knew she had woken me up. She always knows. I run over to the other room to open presents, and, on speakerphone with my whole family, drop a couple of f-bombs because the room was so so freakin cold. My mom gives my still sleeping brain of taking the presents back to bed with me, and I quickly obliged. We all talked for awhile and I opened my presents and they opened the ones I sent them. Eventually we said goodbye. I got out of bed again and put on lots more warm clothes and made myself some mixed berry pancakes for Christmas breakfast, while chatting some more with my sister online.

I made my way across Tokyo to Roppongi where I met Kanami. We went to Mass there in English and it was nice. We had a bit of time, so we went to a café and had some coffee while chatting and people watching. Back in Shinjuku, we went our separate ways. She headed home to her family, and I rushed home to get everything ready for dinner. I had three students over, including my friend Ayako, to have a big American Christmas dinner feast. And that we did. I still have leftovers to finish, though I sent some home with everyone.

I got lots of cards and e-mails from all you dear people back home, and that made the holiday so much better! It was difficult to be away from home, but it is so worth it to experience the holidays somewhere else! Next, New Years!

Current Music : I'll be True by Dashboard Confessional---Thanks for the Mixed CD Sammi
Current Mood: Ashamed it's taken me so long to post. . .

Nabe, Shopping, navigating the trains/subways

2005-12-05T08:11:00.000+09:00

On Friday night, my student and friend Ayako came over and made a traditional Japanese cold weather food: nabe. It is an "all in one pot" dish usually with vegetables, meat, broth, and mushrooms.
Ayako made Hakusai-nabe with Chinese cabbage (Hakusai), pork, cooking sake, and two kinds of mushrooms. Serve in a bowl, pour over a little soy sauce, eat with rice and mmmmmm, delicious dinner.

On Saturday, I met Kanami in Shinjuku for Indian food, karaoke, Starbucks, and Christmas shopping. We got there just after noon, and didn't end up leaving until after 10:30! It was a long, but incredibly fun day! I found a couple of Christmas presents, and a cd and book for myself. Karaoke was great as usual. We sang a bunch of Christmas songs, and I learned a Japanese one that is in English, Winter Song, by Dreams Come True. It's kind of sad, but I really like it. We decided that, though the Indian food was delicious, the restauarant was better for dinner. Also, I finally ate at a Wendy's here. Kanami and I were in Shinjuku for so long we had to get dinner here too. I introduced her (and possibly Japan) to french fry+frosty=amazing salty sweet combination. It is only the 4th time I have been to an American establishment in 2 months and 3 weeks. Twice to Starbucks, and once to McDonalds (Makudonarudo). It was a great, but ultimately exhausting day.

Sunday morning, I woke up right was mass was starting at the convent (7:30 am). So I decided that meant it really was time to find my way to Roppongi on the train and subway system of Tokyo to go to mass in English at the Franciscan center. I got there no with absolutely no problems. (It only involves one line change, but Shinjuku is the biggest station in Tokyo and it can be easy to get turned around. I'm still incredibly thankful the signs are in English/Romaji!) Mass was nice. It was comforting to have songs I know and prayers in my own language.

Now it's already the next weekend. I have been slacking off blogging lately. I'll try not to let this week's adventures wait to be posted until next week!

Thanksgiving

2005-11-26T18:28:00.000+09:00

After a lot of going back and forth on the subject, I eventually decided that I loved Thanksgiving dinner way, way too much to just make a couple things and eat alone feeling sorry for myself. Being thankful for my new friends and neighbors, I invited Marion, Perrine, and Marie to share the special holiday. I even made cute invitations, because around the holidays some Martha-Stewart wanna-be occasionally takes possession of my body. And it was Sunday afternoon and I was bored.

I had intended to have our dinner on Thanksgiving day, but because of schedules, we decided to eat on Wednesday, our day off, instead. On Wednesday morning/early afternoon, I went to almost every grocery store around Sengawa station and the international food store in search of everything I needed for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. I had to settle for chicken instead of turkey, and got the opportunity to learn how to make stuffing and gravy entirely from scratch!

The menu: Salad, corn, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken with chicken gravy, cranberries, rolls, Japanese oranges (which Marion brought), pumpkin pie, apple pie (thanks Marie), and Coke to wash it all down (from Perrine).

I think we all ate until we were totally stuffed. At least, I know I did. I over-bought on purpose so there were plenty of leftovers for me to send with my friends and keep for myself.

Mmmmmmmm Thanksgiving leftovers. My second favorite meal, after Thanksgiving dinner of course.

The next day I made a "Moistmaker" sandwiches [you know the sandwich in Friends that sends Ross off the edge, making him yell at his boss and sending him into anger management--Turkey (in this case chicken) with a tiny bit of gravy, cranberries, lettuce, mayonnaise, and butter on white bread] for Kanami and I to have for lunch. She had been wanting to try one ever since she saw that episode. I had been making a variety of them for myself for a year or two before it.

I think I'll do it all over again for Christmas.

Current Music : "Tonight, tonight" Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness, from dawn to dusk by Smashing Pumpkins
Current Mood: A little hyper, I think I consumed mostly caffeine today

Wednesday off, Tuesday night out

2005-11-23T14:42:00.000+09:00

Wednesday this week was the Japanese National Holiday Labor Thanksgiving Day. So, Kanami and I had the next day off of work. It was time to go back to karaoke!

I wanted to get either Indian or Thai food for dinner, so Kanami suggested Maharaja in South Shinjuku. We each had a large beer and a sampler platter with beef curry, vegetable samosa, another dish I am desperately looking up, tandoori chicken, saffron rice, and nan.
It. Was. So. Much. Amazing. Food.
The delicious meal was followed by the other parts of our platters: mango pudding and milk tea. We were so full that we really took our time with dessert. Full and distracted by chattering to eachother. We are very quickly becoming close friends, having a lot of things in common. I learned some of the differences between me and my predecessors, for example, I am really diving into my Japanese lessons (I'm so eager to learn as quickly as I can!) and I am the first to really befriend Kanami. The other girls before me had gotten along with her well, but Kanami and I love to go out together and have to force ourselves to work instead of chat.
After another two-and-a-half hour dinner, we headed to karaoke. We reserved a room for two hours and rushed to the third floor. After sliding into the booth in our room, I quickly started flipping through the books, looking for the English language section, and just as I was considering ordering drinks before choosing our first songs, Kanami asked what I wanted to drink. She decided what she wanted as I launched into the first song of the night. Two hours of songs were just right. We got to sing much more than in the single hour last time, and we were done just as was about to lose my voice! Some of what we sang: Can't Take My Eyes off of You; Can't Get Enough of Your Love, by Barry White; Can't Get Enough, by Bad Company; Mandy, by Barry Manilow; Only in Dreams, by Weezer; Uptown Girl, by Billy Joel; I Will Survive, by Gloria Gainer; Staying Alive, by The BeeGees (This song, if you pay attention to the words is just as surprisingly depressing as the movie!); Lucky, by Britany Spears; Get Back and Act Naturally, by the Beatles; Complicated, by Avril Lavigne; You Oughta Know, by Alanis Morrisette; She, by Elvis Costello; and some Japanese songs, including Cutie Honey again. We looked for Sakura, a Japanese song I learned in second grade, but it doesn't look like they have it.
We had a good, if tiring night. Everytime I think of food now, I wish I was still eating delicious curry.

Current Music : Tonight was Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies followed by the Beatles, 1.
Current Mood: I should be sleepy, but I'm not

Friday Night Out

2005-11-22T23:54:00.000+09:00

Last Friday night I went out to eat with Koomoto-sensei and his family. He is the professor that I work with here primarily. The plan was to have dinner and some drinks, and then, rather than trying to get me the forty-five minutes across town that night, I would just stay in a spare room at their house. At the house I met his son and daughter. His wife met us at the restaurant. His son is my age and finishing college and his daughter is 19.
We went to a Chinese restuarant near Meguro station. Everything was family style so we had a lot of courses. We had: shark fin soup with crab, prawn in chili sauce, sweet and sour fish, beef fillet, lemon fish, pork fried rice, and abalone with jellyfish. I had Japanese beer, Chinese wine (that tasted a bit like scotch), and Jasmine tea. For dessert, (because there is always room for dessert) I got coconut jello.
His wife brought a present for me when she arrived for dinner. They gave me a wreath for my door and a Santa Claus with little ornaments for my table.
After dinner we went back to his house, where Koomoto-sensei and I were going to discuss work. But we were tired after so much food, so he went to bed. I talked with his kids for awhile about school and what they want to do, and music. His son is into a lot of the same music as me (not pop like many Japanese people), but punk and rock and emo. Right now his favorite is Green Day and he got to see them in concert this summer, I think. I am planning on sharing Dropkick Murpheys with him soon.
Then I spent my first night on a Japanese futon. It was very warm and comfortable. The family was very hospitable and made sure I had everything I needed before we went to bed.
In the morning, we went to Meguro station and had breakfast at Starbucks. Koomoto-sensei explained to me how to get back on the trains, and I was home in no time. I had a great time with his them and am so grateful to get to spend a little time with a Japanese family.

Thursday night out

2005-11-22T14:23:00.000+09:00

On Thursday I went out to dinner with Kanami. We went back to Shinjuku and wandered around until we found a good Japanese restaurant. It was an exciting combination of modern and traditional Japanese cultures. We sat at a normal height table in booths, but checked our shoes into cubbies at the door. We had salmon sushimi (raw salmon) with soy sauce and wasabi; salad with eggs, small fish eggs, and a delicious Japanese sweet mustard dressing; and yakitori (meat on a stick). Everything at dinner was delicious. We spent a couple of hours over dinner and a couple beers, talking and laughing, and comforting each other.

Next up on the night's schedule was karakoe! We decided to do just one hour, but this was a mistake. By the end of the hour we felt as though we had not had anytime in the room at all! In one hour, you don't get to sing many 3-5 minute songs.We decided we would have to go back soon. Being that the following Wednesday was a holiday, we decided to go the next Tuesday (tonight!) Songs we sang (and danced to) include: Imagine, by John Lennon; Toxic, by Brittany Spears; 3 Maroon 5 songs; and a Japanese song called "Cutie Honey".

Current Music : You and I, by Jason Mraz, from Megan's Sweet Reverie mix
Current Mood: excited, a little sleepy, relaxed

Asakusa (Lots of pictures--tourist mode)

2005-11-07T12:10:00.000+09:00

On Sunday I went to Asakusa with some of my students, Etsuko, Akane, and Azusa. They are preparing a presentation on Asakusa, for foreigners, for an English class and were kind to invite me along.
Asakusa is an area in Tokyo where many parts of traditional Japanese culture are easily seen. Traditional foods (especially sweets) and clothes, temples, and rikshaws are some of the area's features.

First, we went to a soba restuarant, Namiki Yabu Soba, where half of the tables are low tables on tatami mats, with cushions to sit on. Whenever you step on a tatami mat, you take of your shoes. I guess my boots weren't the best choice, but it turned out okay. After another enjoyable meal of soba, we headed back toward the gate of the temple. I had to smile as we were passed by many tour buses filled with Westerners, proud of myself for having the opportunity to explore Asakusa with locals, (all three of the girls were born in the area).

There are 3 ancient temples in the area. We went to NANI shrine, which is right next to the subway station and is probably the most popular of the three for tourists. After passing under the gate, there is a long row of shops and stands. They sell everything from Japanese souveniers, including katanas and a ninja costume for children, to food like yakisoba and assorted meat on sticks(beef, chicken, sausages), to delectible sweets. The girls are focusing on sweets in their presentation of what Asakusa has to offer, so we planned to eat many.

We saw young boys and girls in traditional kimonos (there are male and female styles of this formal wear) and my guides explained to me that 3-, 5-, and 7-year-old boys and girls visit the temple in formal wear as part of a ceremony.

As we got nearer the temple, we walked under another gate, and passed a tower, that is part of the temple, on the left. Walking up to the temple entrance, ahead of us billowed incense smoke, on the right, were boxes filled with fortunes, 100 yen each, which the devotee buy, reads, and the folds and ties onto a small wall of them (like this one inside the temple), and, on the left, shops sold charms for all sorts of good luck.
Inside the temple, it is customary to throw 5 yen over the heads of those in front of you, into a large collection grate in front of the image of Buddha, and then say a prayer.

The space for visitors is wide and open but the shine on the other side of the wall is filled with decoration, offereings, and other devotions to the deity. The wood is dark cherry and ash and while inside the attention is well focused to the shrine. The temple is lit by candles which reflect of the beautiful golden images and sunlight which filters in through open doors and around thick pillars. Though it doesn't seem wanting for light inside, even the misty light of cloudy Tokyo seems bright as you leave.

After we left the temple, our stomachs had settled enough after lunch and the sweets were calling. So the research really got going. The first were mizuame,they are like lolipops which aren't allowed to harden the all way; so they are very chewy. They rest in ice until they are bought. Etsuko and I each chose one with a strawberry inside. The fruit inside is how they get their flavor; the candy outside is just sugar, very sticky, sweet, and delicious!

We also had: agemanju, which is deep fried dough (Etsuko's green one is macha flavored, green tea) with anko (sweet bean paste) inside; ningyoyaki, which are small spongecakes in cute shapes filled with more anko; imokin, sweet potatoes with cinnamon and sweet potato powder on the outside; and dango, soft processed rice balls with sweet black seasame, sweet soy sauce, or other similar flavors on the outside.

We wandered away from the shrine and to the more modern section of Asakusa in search of puricula. The girls wanted to take a few pictures in these booths and then edit them with graphics and text, and I was more than happy to comply.

The end of our outing consisted of relaxing at Starbucks. Yes, within one week's time I managed to patron both of the worldwide giants. I sipped my chai latte and worked on my hiragana (one of the Japanese alphabets) flash cards, while the girls enjoyed thier frappuccinos and lattes and went over their day of research's finding.

Back on the subway, we began our treck back to this side of the city and the whole way they helped my study my flashcards. Thanks again girls for the wonderful day.

Current Music : "Naked and Famous" by PUSA from Rachel's Random Happy New Year Mix, disc 2
Current Mood: rested and studius

Favorite

2005-11-05T20:25:00.000+09:00

So I have a favorite food here so far. Fried noodles in a delectible sauce, Yakisoba. I had it for dinner the last two nights in a row, because to look at it in my refrigerator and say no was just impossible. It is sweet and spicy and you can add chicken, pork, carrots, cabbage, whatever you like and it's always delicious. The problem is that I eat it so quickly, because the noodles are long and stick together. Then, even though I'm full, I want another bowl. or five! Luckily they are single serving packages so far. Just wait until I get a recipe for it and can make it myself!

Current Music : God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistoles
Current Mood: full happy stressed about learning one of the Japanese alphabets

dinner

2005-11-03T19:07:00.000+09:00

Alas, Makudonarudo

I finally succumbed to the calling power of McDonalds.

Current Music : "All Together Now" by the Beatles playing in my head after reading Dave's Blog
Current Mood: but there are so many

update

2005-11-03T16:33:00.000+09:00

Who's a bad blogger?

Okay, you give up?
It's me. Today I updated you with a week of goings ons. My deepest apologies. I will make up for it with one more post that you have to read. HAHAHAHA.
But really, today I have the day off for Culture Day, another Japanese National Holiday. It's appropriately named enough that you should be able to guess what it celebrates.
I am still really loving working here. I love working with language. Just as I was really starting to yearn for literature, I got invited to a poetry circle on campus.
I've been exhausted for days because I had such a busy weekend. But I recooperated today!
I started Japanese Lessons!!! By Monday I am supposed to know the hiragana alphabet (recongition and be able to write them). I am also picking up a couple more words or phrases every week from talking with people. Language is so exciting.
Current Music : Sludge by The Grooves on Psychedelicatessen
Current Mood: Linguistic (otherwise happy)

Yokohama and Halloween

2005-11-03T12:50:00.000+09:00

On Monday, Halloween, I went to Yokohama with my student and friend Ayako. We went to see Chinese Town, have lunch, and see the sea.

We got to the Chinese area and picked out our lunch, nikuman. They are bread balls with delicious meat filling, like what's inside of egg rolls. We also got desert of similar litte sweet bread balls, more like dough than bread though, with sweet seasame or coconut on them and filling.
We took our lunch a park on the sea side to enjoy it and the view.
That was when we met Mr. Hawk. Mr. Hawk was circling above us. Mr. Hawk began eyeing Ayako's nikuman. We didn't see Mr. Hawk watching us. Suddenly, Mr. Hawk swooped down over Ayako's shoulder, hitting her in the back of the head with his impressive wingspan, and grapping her nikuman. He dropped it, still in the bag, about 5 feet in front of us. Perhaps he wasn't expecting to get all of it, or for it to weigh so much. Ayako and I recovered from our shock, and we decided whether or not she could still eat her lunch. We ripped off the part that touch the ground, and the part that Mr. Hawks talons may have touched. And she continued to eat. We continued to enjoy the view of the harbor, and chatted as Mr. Hawk began circling again. I was watching him, but he is a master predator, and I am not used to being prey so we were unprepared as suddenly he swooped down again! Successfully stealing what was left of Ayako's lunch! Twice he attacked her! As the pidgeons began surrounding us (in a creepy "The Birds" way) to pick up the crumbs Mr. Hawk dropped, we moved to another bench. Ayako watched over my shoulder as I finished my lunch hunched over it and holding it close to my mouth (in a very "squirrel" way). I did offer her some, by the way. We watched as Mr. Hawk began circling over a young mother who was eating noodles and playing with her little boy. Ayako hurried over to warn her about Mr. Hawk. We didn't want him taking out a kids eye or anything.

The next stop on our visit, and we hurried there, was Minato Mirai, another city area with a big shopping area, a skyscrapper, and a ferris wheel.

I found a Wendy's! But we didn't eat there of course, having just eaten. Then we took the long train ride home, to get ready for a Halloween party.

I just couldn't not celebrate Halloween, despite being in Japan. So I invited over Perrine and her boyfriend, Marie, Marion, Ayako, and other students who couldn't make it. We had kind of a potluck dinner (I made tacos. Thanks Sarah and Thy!) wore costumes, and carved apples pretending they were pumpkins. Marie was a ghost; Perrine was a rocker; her boyfriend, Tristan, was a Japanese girl in a Hello Kitty (Kitty-chan) kimono; Ayako was Minnie Mouse; Marion was a chinese girl; and I was an Ipod commercial dancer.

Current Music : To the Rescue (Ode to a cop drama)
Current Mood: a little sleepy, it's afternoon nap time

School Festival

2005-11-03T11:13:00.000+09:00

Too much food. . .
so much delicious greasy good food.
so full.
Here's the rundown:

Saturday:
fried soba (noodles)
churro
lemon churro
sausage on a stick
sweet bean soup
chocolate covered banana

Sunday:
Pancake with sweet bean paste
fried chicken on a stick
baked potato with butter, mayonaisse and black pepper

So what is the school festival? It is essentially like a fall festival celebrating the school. It is like part Homecoming, part school/church festival and part Discovery Day (with presentations of what they've learned or studied lately.)
I also got to watch the English speech contest (for which I had been busy helping students prepare for a couple of weeks.) They all did very well and I was very proud of them. Congratulations on spectacular speeches!
I got to see one of my students perform at the cheerleading show. They were fantastic! Seriously, very good. They could have competed with top American squads. They played versions of Hey Mickey, YMCA, and the strangest version of Saturday Night(I think originally by the Bay City Rollers) you've ever heard. Appearantly, the Japanese guy who sings "Pecori Night" dresses up like a cheerleader for the video and dances around.
I also went to a dance show for the college's hiphop dance show. The girls were very good! It was kind of like watching a music video being filmed, except it was all Japanese girls. I was surprised when the show was an hour and a half long! I hadn't expected it to be so long, but it was still very good and I enjoyed all of it!
Finally I went to the final festival show. The professor I am working with, Eugene Kohmoto, got me the tickets. I knew that the reason the show was so popular this year was that there was a famous Japanese actor who was to be there to be interviewed, Hiroki Narimiya, and that he is supposed to be very attractive. When I got there I realized that there were almost no males in the audience. I thought, "Kohmoto-senesei what have you gotten me into?"
The show was very enjoyable though. Even though it was in Japanese, there was another dance show, a funny MC, the famous guy, and the culmination of the Pure Lily competition (like Miss Shirayuri). I met up with some of my students at the end, so I had people to chat with while we waited forever to file out of the gymnasium.
I really enjoyed the festival and I was glad I was able to see so much.

This is a picture of me with one of my freshmen students, Ayumi.

Current Music: Norah Jones, Come Away with Me
Current Mood: Relaxed (this blue smilie is supposed to look cool or relaxed, but suddenly I think he kind of just looks blind.)

Akihabara

2005-11-03T10:36:00.000+09:00

Last Friday I went to Akihabara with Kayo, Marie, and Perrine.
Akihabara is where to go in Tokyo to find electronics.
Perrine was looking for a digital camera; Marie wanted a pocket dictionary; and I was hoping to find a USB port speaker/microphone adapter. (Yes, it's clear who the geek is.)

I really liked the area, just like most of Tokyo. But we were a bit disappointed when we didnt find what we needed. If you don't find it in THE place to go electronics shopping, then where do you go?

Didn't stop be from taking a few pictures though!It's hard to tell but this one is a big billboard that says "Yellow Submarine" and has a picture of the Beatles Yellow Sub on it.

Current Music : "Favorite" by Liz Phair
Current Mood: cheerful

El Toritr

2005-11-03T09:41:00.000+09:00

Mmmmmm. . . Mexican food and beer.
On Wednesday night of last week, I went with Kanami-san and Suruga-san to El Torito in Shinjuku. El Torito is a Mexican restuarant frequented by my predecessors and lots of Japanese people and Westerners. We ate family style, having chorizos, taco salad, a cheese sauce covered fajita burrito, and each sampled the Mexican beers they had available.

I will probably return once or twice with them while I am here.
Also, I got to see the lights of Shinjuku at night, which was nice.

Current Music : Music from Psychadelicatessin by Dave
Current Mood: groovy

Shinjuku

2005-10-25T19:33:00.000+09:00

On Sunday, Marie and I went to Shinjuku. She wanted to go to the bookstore I went to on my last trip, Kinokuniya, to see if what books they had there in French. After we got to Shinjuku, it was up to me to find the bookstore.
Understand that Shinjuku station is so large and major a station there are 6 exits, and I didn't even know by name whic exit we should take. But, by intuition and sight memory, we walked directly to the bookstore. Lucky me! Marie was disappointed by their French book selection, but I was once again, and as usual, enthralled by the choices I had in the English book section. After picking out three books, I was unsucessfully searching for another, when I decided I needed to curtail the enthusiasm a bit and go for the essentials only. So I bought a couple postcards and a Tokyo subway guide.

We left the book store and headed to the Tokyo metropolitan city office building (or something along those lines) because they have an observation deck in the top of one of the towers where you can see all of Tokyo and Mt. Fuji. I did get my first glimpse of the famous mountain (and the rest of the mountain range southwest of the city) but it was through only one squinting eye and my hand shading my face. Because it was so close to sunset (and it seems that the sun sets almost right behind Mt. Fuji), we were unable to get any good pictures. But we've decided to go back some morning when the light will be right. On the observation deck were a couple shops, mostly with toys, including godzilla, a rock-em sock-em robot-type game, power rangers, and hello kitty.

The picture to the right is a sign which tells what businesses are in the building next to the city building. One of them is a well-known American restuarant. I now know where a Sizzler in Tokyo is, in case that information ever becomes useful.

Current Music: Ok Go "A Million Ways" video on ifilms
Current Mood: sleepy

the opportune moment

2005-10-23T10:58:00.000+09:00

I set up Saturday for myself as a day of retreat. In other words, I had decided to spend the day in bed relaxing, catching up on my reading, and being disconnected from the internet . (It's been a bit of an obsession lately.) Also, I had been beginning to feel like I was pretty much alone in the whole hemisphere of a planet, and knew I needed a day to myself to be cuddled and curled up with lots of pillows and some chocolate and books.

After a day in bed reading, thinking, listening to soft music, and working some stuff out, (and a nap), I found myself feeling a bit better, and kind of lazy. I just barely heard a knock on my door and rushed to answer it. I almost missed the postman (because they are still making deliveries at 6pm on a Saturday here!) who was delivering two packages! I knew I was eventually expecting some brochures from Sarah Fox and the international programs office at Benedictine, but wasn't expecting so many. As I opened the first boks, I understood, laughed, got a little weepy (in the good way) and scolded them for being silly and sending a care package. Between the two boxes were (and here it goes, 12 Days of Christmas style) 10 packets of BC information, 3 1lb boxes of Cheez-its, 3 cheesy easy-to-make American meals, 2 hearfelt cards, 2 BC stickers, 2 cds, 1 BC t-shirt, 1 variety pack of Kellog's cereal, 1 Mallow-Magic flavored microwave popcorn, 1 bag of muffin mix, and 1 St. Benedict card. The packages were not only from Thy Yang and Sarah Fox, but included the well-wishes of my former employers/co-workers Andrea, Megan, and Steve, and other people thinking of me and praying for me at BC. I remembered that with them, and the rest of the people I miss back home, thinking about me. I could never really be alone.

I popped in the cd, expertly mixed by ASloan and MMmmmmCassidy opened a box of Cheez-its, and started singing along. Quickly I realized that going out tonight, maybe to karaoke, I was enjoying singing along so much, sounded great and maybe my neighbors would agree. I took the Cheez-its downstairs to share, only to find that there had been an e-mail waiting for me all day asking if I wanted to go to Karaoke at 7. It was 7 right then and I wanted to go! I ran back upstairs to change, and off we went.

Karaoke in Japan is different than in America. Rather than having to climb up on stage in front of a bunch of drunken idiots and belting your heart out, each group of friends gets their own little private room, free soda, meals delivered to your room and two microphones to sing and laugh into. We sang songs in English and Japanese (well I didn't sing in Japanese, but maybe I'll be able to eventually), including U2, Bad Company, the Friends theme, the Beatles (Twist and Shout, just like I do at home with Mom n Sam), and YMCA in English and then again in Japanese! Here are some pics from the night (Mostly from YMCA)

Current Music:Dream Girl by Dave Matthews, from the ASloan~MCassidy cd
Current Mood: relaxed and groovy, rededicated
Image best fitting me right now:

Language Immersion

2005-10-21T19:59:00.000+09:00

This week has been so exicting, well for language nerd me. I have adopted a few Japanese words and phrases into my regular use. 25 points for immersion!
This week I began regularly and easily using: oishi--delicious, hai--yes (I use this almost constantly--just like the Japanese), sugoi--great! (probably my second most often used), and Ohayo gozaimasu--good morning.

I have been regularly using sumimasen--excuse me or I'm sorry, and Arigato gozaimasu/gozaimashita--thank you.

I am working on adding:
itadakimasu--a before meal thanks
Gochisou sama deshita -- after meal thanks
Tadaima--what you say when you return somewhere, similar to "Honey, I'm home"
Okaeri--welcome back
Ittekimasu--to say when you leave
Itterashai--to say when someone is leaving
ichi, ni, san, shi, go--1,2,3,4,5

Onigiri

2005-10-19T19:34:00.000+09:00

Onigiri is a very popular Japanese food--Rice balls! I really love them so far.
Onigiri is exactly what is sounds like, balls of sticky rice with a filling or stuffing that is usually wrapped in toasted nori sheets (seaweed). My student, Ayako, took me out for onigiri when we went to Shinjuku and last night helped me to buy the ingredients.

Tonight I made onigiri to eat later this week with lunches. They are remarkably easy to make, especially with the great cookbook I bought. Mine are filled with grilled salmon (yes, I am learning to cook fish, too and I did a fine job!) and the heads of buttered asparagus spears. Mmmmm. . .
The onbe on the top is the first one I made, it's kind of falling over, and the stuffing is coming out. Not enough rice, too much filling. As they progress, I think they get better. The last one is the biggest to use the rest of the rice, and needed more nori, so is wrapped all the way around. Both ways of wrapping the nori are common.

Another better view of a single rice ball

Earthquake

2005-10-16T16:07:00.000+09:00

I just experienced my first earthquake in Japan. It only felt like a little guy. At first, I thought it was just my washing machine kicking into the spin cycle. That impression didn't last long however. Everything in my kitchen was shaking, and looking outside I could see the powerlines shaking, too! My spices all got knocked over in the cabinet, but it seems everything else stayed just where it was.

It was kind of a strange sensation, but nothing too out of the ordinary, I guess. It was like a very big truck rumbling the floor of the house. . . but just a bit too much.

Earthquakes are so common in Japan because it is located on, and was formed by, 3 major tectonic plates, the Pacific, Eurasian, and Philippine plates.

The Japanese use a different system for measuring the magnitude of an earthquake, the shindo scale, in addition to the Richter scale.

As I was writing the post, information was posted about the earthquake on the internet. Its epicenter was located off the coast of Japan. At its epicenter it had a magnitude of 5.0. It didn't feel like anything that strong here however. I don't see the shindo scale listed anywhere yet. But I will update the post when I get that information.

Updated, Wednesday October 19 at 10:20 pm
Since this post, there have been two more earthquakes. One on Monday, which I did not feel, and one of a magnitude of 6.5. Again, not scary, just thrilling. As Ayako, my student, says, "They make you feel alive!" The last link listed above will take you to a page which displays info for the most recent earthquake in Japan.

Chili Dinner

2005-10-16T15:48:00.000+09:00

Last night I cooked an American meal for my neighbors (the French girls, Marie and Perrine, and the Taiwanese girl, Marion) and a Japanese friend, Kayo.

It took me awhile to decide what to make. But last week I decided on chili (with vegetables, sorry Hellmer.)

It was a little difficult finding the kidney beans, but I got them. (The grocery stores here are set up a bit differently.) I even found cheddar cheese and good sized chili bowls!

The chili was able to simmer for about 2 hours before we sat down to eat. It had just a bit of kick to it, and I really have to thank my predecessor for having left me hot sauce and chili powder, along with the other spices. Here's my serving:

Everyone loved the chili, especially with Ritz crackers.

The biggest hit, though, was the dessert! I wanted to make rootbeer floats (not too much more American than that) but couldn't find any rootbeer for any price. So I made iced coffee floats instead. Here is Marie enjoying hers and saying "cheese" for the camera:

Monday: Ueno

2005-10-12T21:30:00.000+09:00

On Monday, Marie and I ventured out into Tokyo without a Japanese guide! Luckily Marie has already learned some Japanese and had a much better subway map and Tokyo guide than I do.

We had decided that we wanted to go to Ueno. (Yet another major subway stop in Tokyo.) There was a lot there we wanted to see. Some good cheap shopping districts (appearently, though we didn't really look/find any) and Ueno Park. Okay, I understand that this sounds like only 2 things. But let me tell you about Ueno Park. First, it is similar to City Park in Denver, in that it is the home of a zoo, a large lake, and two (or three? or four?) museums. Also, there is a concert hall on one end and there is a temple and vestiges of the Japan of the past, a pagoda, shrines, an old bronze, and similar artifacts. The on and off drizzle didn't make us hesitate. That's what rainjackets, hats, and umbrellas are for right?

But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The first thing we did once we arrived successfully in Ueno (on the first try thank you high-tech and English speaking subway line. . . and Marie's brilliant guidance) was look around (and around and around) for somewhere we wanted to eat. Before we found a restaurant we wanted, we found pidgeons! We had each noticed Tokyo's appearent lack, and I even blogged about it. But pidgeons have found their way to Japan after all!

After having no luck at any Japanese places to eat, we found "Becker's: burgers and croissants". We looked back and forth at each other and found ourselves, an American woman and a French woman standing in front of a place selling hamburgers and croissants. We were intrigued and, after looking at the roadside menu, went inside for lunch. Marie got a cheeseburger, but I, refusing to succumb to the burger-tempation quite yet and eager to have more good fish (I am from Denver we don't get it so often) got a tomato and tuna sandwich on flat bread. I hear from Marie that the cheeseburger was good, and she thought it tasted pretty American.

Then, well-fed, we headed back in the direction we thought the park was. On the way, Marie asked a policeman for directions and bought a crepe! She was disappointed. She thought the whipped cream was of a low quality and there was too much of it and the chocolate sauce wasn't very chocolaty. It was Hershey's syrup. I explained that it kind of has a flavor all it's own and is more of a chocolate flavored item than an actual chocolate item. But the bananas were good and the actual crepe was okay. She ate most of it! ;-)

We got to the park and began looking around. We saw more pidgeons and some great fountains. A big bronze statue told us where in the park we were on Marie's map and then we spent a lot of time taking pictures of and around a Buddhist temple.
The Kanei-ji temple is at the top of this hill. The sun was filtering through the clouds and rain giving it the cool misty look.
(Unfortunately, since Monday I have deleted half of my pictures on accident!)

Our ears led us toward some big band/jazz music. I hoped that we managed to catch some kind of Health-Sports Day free concert, but no luck, just free listening drifting over the lake and across the park from the concert hall at one end. We were shocked to realize that 2/3 of the lake was covered in very tall lily-pad type plants! You could scarcely see any water and couldn't see across. It looked more to me like a field in Kansas than a body of water.

We walked around the lake trying to find some part not covered in the plants. They rent small paddle boats and rowboats in the park, so we knew somewhere had to be navigable at the least.

We found a map for the park at one of the entrances. It was in English as well as Japanese and had an interesting translation for "You Are Here".
The Present Position.

In a very roundabout way, this walk lead us around the outside of the zoo (the petting zoo is viewable from the street, by the way) and to the Tokyo National Museum. This museum was a large reason we had wanted to come to Ueno, and a reason we will go back. They exhibit art and artifacts of Japanese and Asian history. Caligraphy, pottery, architecture, textiles, noh and kabuki theatre, weapons and armour, and paintings are all on display.
Guys, I took a picture of a katana just for you. It was amazing. So perfect and deadly looking, with amazing characters on the handle, and back when Eurpeans were using axes and broad swords. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! ;-) )
After the museum closed, we were exhausted. (We only got through one building, but we think we can get back in on our tickets!) So, we headed back towards the train station. On the way the most fantastic sign caught Marie's eye. It was a perfect bookend for a day during which we had befriended a few pidgeons. (Marie, who went to school in Paris, misses her friends the pidgeons.)

The Japan Racing Pidgeon Association!

Japanese National Holiday: Health Sports Day

2005-10-10T19:13:00.000+09:00

October 10 is a National Holiday here in Japan (which means I don't have work. . . ha ha). The purpose of Health-Sports Day is to make the nation aware of physical and mental health and fitness. It commemorates the 1964 Olympics held in Japan on Oct. 10, the first Olympics held on Asian soil.

October 10 was chosen by meteorologists, because it traditionally is sunny and not subject to typhoons, or rainy weather like autumn in Japan often is. Unfortunately it was rainy and drizzly all day.

Many school have athletic competitions and tournaments on this day. Even before Health-Sports Day was created in 1966, schools and even some businesses had traditional sports days, similar to American elementary schools' field day, in spring and fall.

Sunday--to Shinjuku

2005-10-09T20:31:00.000+09:00

One of my students, Ayako, took me out to Shinjuku, another area here in Tokyo. These areas are shopping areas (malls, departments stores, small shops and boutiques, restaurants, etc) based around a major train and subway station. Like Shibuya, it looked like stereotypical Tokyo. Lots of people, walkways at different levels, neon signs, American and Japanese stores, and big television screens.

The first thing we did in Shinjuku was stop in a small restaurant that serves Onigiri, rice balls, for lunch. A rice ball is white rice packed around a small filling. This can be anything from wasabi and fish or vegetables, tuna and mayonnaise, caviar, salmon, chicken, etc. The rice ball (often a pyramid or triangle shape) is then wrapped in seaweed or kelp. Ayako and I split two rice balls , one salmon and one chicken, and each had vegetables and miso soup. (We chose simple and unintimidating flavors for my first two. They were both very good, but the salmon was fantastic!)

Ayako chose to take me to Shinjuku specifically for an enormous book store there, Kinokuniya. I, of course, could not help but buy something. Or three somethings. Full story from inside the store in my book-lover blog. On the way to the store, a guy from Texas (we never caught his name) was relieved to hear us speaking in English, or so he confessed when he surprised us to ask for directions to the very store we were headed to. On the way we talked to him a little. He is also here to teach, but elementary school. He knows a bit more about the train/subway system than I do: he has to take the train an hour and a half to school everyday. I am very lucky to be able to walk! He is also out in the blogging world, but not with my zeal/obssession, it seems.

The next thing I did was get gelato. I never thought it would be so easy to find italian ice cream in Tokyo, but there it was!

After talking so much about food with Ayako, a passion of each of ours it seems, I revealed how much I miss cheese. (Being fairly new here, the kinds I am used to are not readily available here.) She took me to a cheese specialty counter at a department store, but I still didn't find any American styles of cheese. . . it's all European or Australian . . . the only American cheeses -- at the specialty counter--were low-fat cream cheese, cream cheese, and pepperjack. . . even the cheddar they have is "British red cheddar" just like my local grocery store :-( . Oh well, I'll make due on a low cheese diet for 10 months.

Despite the cheese dissappointment, I had a great time in Shinjuku. I'm sure I will go back many times. For gelato and books.

Saturday--Shibuya

2005-10-08T21:56:00.000+09:00

Today, I went to Shibuya, an area of Tokyo. Marie, the French exchange student, and Sayaka, a French student who also speaks English and a tiny bit of Spanish, went with me. At Marie's suggestion, we took our bikes to Sengawa station where we would get on the subway. So, on my bike I got, for the first time here (and probably in about 3 years), with an audience. But it went okay.

When we arrived in Shibuya, we were probably about 10 floors up and met with large windows that supplied a great view of the huge intersection below, with about 3 major and 2 or 3 minor streets meeting. The whole intersection was filled with people walking in every direction. Above them stood tall buildings hung with neon signs and jumbotron screens.
This was the Tokyo I had seen in books, on tv, and in my imagination.

Down below, we met with a bronze image of a dog named Hachiko. Hachiko used to meet his master when he got home from work at Shibuya station every night. One night his master never came home. Hachiko never gave up looking for his owner. Everynight for 10 years he returned to the station and sat and waited. (A cat would never do this. ;-) ) He is the most loyal dog in Tokyo.

The first stop was a late lunch for Marie. When I saw and smelled her bowl of Gyu-don, similar to mongolian beef on rice, I had to get my own bowl! It was great!

We began wandering the streets and shops near the station. We quickly found a few with a questionable nature (ask me if you want to know about them--Amy, you want to know about them), and the giggling began. If you know me, you know there was no end in sight. They were only embarrassed by the loudly laughing American girl a couple times.

We found a bunch of booths where you can take your picture and make stickers out of them. Of course we stopped to do it! (This is actually less touristy and more an authentic cultural experience. All of the Japanese girls do it with their friends!)

I was able to take a few pictures of busy night/evening tokyo and found Guinness Record Store, and got a pic. I also started taking pictures of funny English misspellings or signs that didnt make sense.
The first is hard to read. It is a french bakery. Marie said all of the french is wrong, but you will notice, "Sandwitches."

This is the name of a men's clothing store.

Shirayuri & its students

2005-10-05T20:59:00.000+09:00

with 3 short bonus stories

I am incredibly glad that I came to Japan. Everyone at Shirayuri has been so nice, generous, and helpful. They know that I need a lot of support and assistance and are willing to offer whatever I need. Many of the students are so eager to exchange ideas and information about the two cultures.
I know that the girls want to come talk to me, but don't feel comfortable enough to yet. I think I might start offering some kind of extra incentive or hand out conversation idea sheets, to encourage everyday quick exchanges. A lot of them have a real talent for language and/or have had extended stays in English speaking countries. A little daily practice would really help. Shirayuri knows this. That's why I'm here.
The program that they have set up, in having a TA is so beneficial on both sides and runs so smoothly. It's been so easy for me to adjust to the job and living in Japan so far, thanks to their help and their guidance.

bonus stories

1. Yesterday, I found out that there is a school trip to Mt. Fuji that I will be going on. The whole English department goes, students, faculty, and staff! Woohoo! One less excursion I have to plan on my own!

2. Last night, after work, I walked over to Sengawa station with a particular purpose in mind. I wanted a crepe. There is a little crepe stand in the shopping district near me and ever since I saw it last Friday, I haven't been able to stop thinking about crepes. I walked there and got a strawberries with chocolate sauce and whipped creme crepe for dinner. Maybe I should have gotten a tuna filled one (looks really good actually and I might have to do that next week), but I just couldnt take my eyes off of the desert crepes.

3. Today one of my students wore just the most magnificent shirt I had ever seen. It said "Philosophy All-Star." It looked like any other gap/abercrombie/old navy/target ripoff fake athletic wear t-shit ever, so it took a little while for it to sink in for me. Philosophy All-Star...only in Japan. I love it!

Bonus story bonus...while google image searching to see if I could find a picture of this fab t-shirt, I found this appearently these trading cards come from the back of a book called, Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media. I think the concept is marvelous.

Bowing

2005-10-05T16:34:00.000+09:00

_________________
Bowing is a very important custom in Japan. Like all traditions here, it dates back centuries upon centuries.

From what I've researched, learned, observed, bowing is a greeting, like a handshake. The custom is taught at a young age. It can be used to say, or for respect while saying, Hello/Goodmorning/etc., Thank you, Thank you very much, I'm sorry, Goodbye, I'm sorry for bothering you, etc. How far you bow depends on the situation, casual, formal, very formal, and the status between the people. The person lower in whatever social heirarchy may apply (age, gender (sometimes), work or family relationships)will bow lower.
For example, this sweet little girl:

I don't really bow too much, but that's because I am always behind on when to do it. So I bow a little late, so they bow again, so then I think I am supposed to be bowing again, so we just keep bowing and then I don't know when to leave, so I dont bow very often. Maybe I'll figure it out later.

I'm not too worried, though as I am learning that this happens to Japanese people as well. According to Wikipedia, "The etiquette surrounding bowing, including the length and depth of bow, and the appropriate response, is exceedingly complex. For example, if the other person maintains his or her bow for longer than expected (generally about two or three seconds), it is polite to bow again, upon which one may receive another bow in return. This often leads to a long exchange of progressively lighter bows."

If you are totally intrigued and want to learn more, here's a great resource.

Shopping near Sengawa station...

2005-10-03T20:16:00.000+09:00

...with a tangent about cell phones

This weekend, I went shopping at around Sengawa station (the train station about 10-15 minutes from me walking) twice. Late Friday afternoon, four of my freshman students walked me there (to show me how to get there) and showed me all of the stores and places I would need to know. They also helped me buy a few things from the 100 yen stores (dollar store equivalent), grocery store, and to get a cell phone. So now people here are able to reach me! I got the free with plan phone, but it's a camera phone with e-mail, c-mail (text messeging), and FM radio. In Japan, everyone has at least one charm on their cell phone. I mean everyone. Serious grown up men, cute tiny little old ladies, everyone. Some of them are very functional like little usable pens. Most are purely ornamental. They can match your phone and show off your personalitly. Most of the ones that I have seen (being on an all girls campus) are glittery or jingly or charmy. Does my cell phone have a charm? No. It has two already. I put one on because it was functional: a little pen. I'm still new with cell phones/my cell phone and don't think I could handle entering someones info into my phone while talking to them and not hanging up. Functional. The second was brought to me as a gift today from my students who took me out on Saturday. You don't not use a gift like that. She even specifically told me it was for my cell phone, so I couldn't claim ignorance. It's purple (they don't even know that's my fav. color yet) and is a little flipflop with palm trees and a hibiscus (you know the tropical flowers) that she bought in Hawaii this summer. So yes, with two charms, I have embraced the cell phone culture here a little more thoroughly.

Many people come to the Sengawa area to shop and to take the train, from all over the surrounding area. So there is a narrow street in the shopping area with bicycles parked two or three deep all up and down the street! And while you are walking around the outskirts of the area, you are constantly dodging around parked bikes, people on bikes, little old people, other shoppers, and tables set out in front of shops. It's great!

There are a lot of American stores in Sengawa. I found McDonalds (called makudonarudo by the Japanese), KFC, Dominoes, and even a Claires. There is also an international imports food store for me to go to when the budget fits it and I am in need of real home foos (or amazing Eurpean chocolates).

The rest of the street is a mix of barber shops/hair salons, dry cleaners, boutiques, stores you expect to see in a mall, restuarants, flower shops, arcades, and a crepe stand I have been thinking about since I first saw it (I haven't gotten anything yet).

The result is a feeling of a small european market that is cosmopolitan at the same time.

Dreaming in Japan

2005-10-03T19:10:00.000+09:00

Most of the dreams that I have and remember are based on my day. So far here, and especially on weekends, very little of my day is spent actually having conversations with people in English. Most of my day is in Japanese (or French, if I am spending time with Perrine and Marie, the French girls) or with no verbal conversation at all. Also, though I get to talk to a lot of people on instant messenger, I don't get regular face time with people that I know well. Everyone here is like a stranger, though that's fading already and won't last long.

For these reasons, there is very little that my subconscious is familiar with to use to make my dreams. Because of this, it has been falling back on strange things. I've had three separate dreams now with characters from tv or movies. Last night, I was hanging out with the characters (not the cast but the characters) from Friends! Just like they were real people and were friends of mine. I think Chandler even got up oon my face about something, hoping that I would believe him, or something. If they get really weird, I'll start keeping a dream journal. But for now, they are normal weird, just different.

6 Short Films from Tokyo

2005-10-02T20:30:00.000+09:00

1. Attn: 1 major city missing pidgeons.
I have never been to a major city without pidgeons, but I don't think I have seen a single on yet here in Tokyo. Perhaps I have been to busy looking at other things to notice them yet, but that didn't stop me in Europe. The only satisfactory explaination I've found yet is that because Japan is an Asian island, pidgeons must not be indiginous here. I suppose they came to America by boat, kind of like in An American Tail (Fievel) .

2. Speaking of childhood memories, does anyone else remember the little chocolate-filled, koala shaped cookies that came in a little hexagonal box? They are made by a Japanese company and are everywhere here. I love it! They even come in really big hexagonal boxes, which is what I'm going to buy next time. Because my little box is already gone.

3. I have begun to assimilate myself to Japanese culture. While in America and in loud clicky heels, I would march around with pride at hearing the "hey, shut up the teacher's coming" steps following me. Here, however, I am careful to try to walk mostly on the balls of my feet to make as little noise as possible and be as least disruptive as possible.

4. Hai is Japanese for yes. People say it a lot. They are not saying, "hi!" I'm getting used to that.

5. When you open a bank account in Japan, you have to have a stamp, or seal that is officially yours and proves that you approve what ever goings on with your account you are dealing with. (Most bills are taken right out of the account, because Japan is still largely a cash culture.) My name, especially my last name, is particularly difficult in Japanese and there is no character for anything resembling my name. What Kanami Tanimoto, the office manager for the English dept., found to use for me just happened to mean "Blue Mountain"! I thought, hey! That's fantastic! I love the gorgeous blue rocky mountains. When I expressed my excitement, she felt much better about the whole situation.

6. I think one of the supermarkets in my neighborhood is secretly owned by Walmart!
I first notived the rollback tags. Then I saw great value brand peanut butter. I was like, hey I used to have that brand of peanut butter. Wait, that's Walmart brand. Walmart brand AND rollback tags. This is no longer a coincidence or adoption of western oddities.
Then, what really blew my mind, was great value brand seaweed.
I have encountered the international conglomeration right here in my own neighborhood.

well, it's not mythbusters or junkyard wars, but it's not bad

2005-09-29T20:17:00.000+09:00

Today while watching Japanese TV, I found a really interesting simple engineering show. The participants have to design and create a simple machine powered by rubber bands. Then, they have to get it approved by judges or compete in some kind of challenge. All of the machines are essentially useless and made from hooks, spools, lumber (or occasionally metal), and rubber bands.
For one challenge, they had to design and build a rubber band gun. Instead of creating a commercial/infomercial and presenting to judges (the goal of about half the challenges), the engineers used them to shoot little statues of sumo wrestlers on wheels to make them fight. Whoever's sumo wrestler wins, won the challenge. It was awesome!

I marked down when the show was hoping to catch it again next week!

How to get hot water from the tap

2005-09-29T16:49:00.000+09:00

For the first two and a half days I lived in Japan, I had no hot water. I didn't know if I needed to turn some switch somewhere (everything is, of course, marked in Japanese) or if some water heater needed to be turned on or fixed somewhere. So, cold showers it was.
When I went into work on Monday (the college owns the apartments), I was able to ask how to get hot water from the tap. For each room (kitchen and shower), there is a small control panel on the wall that looks not unlike a thermostat. I knew my apartment did not have a central heating or cooling system, but I though perhaps they were wired into the strange ac/fan type things that are in the wall. It seems this controller is for the hot tap water for that room. It can be used to adjust the temperature of the hot water and must be turned on for there to be any accessible hot water at all.

The exciting thing about this is, that when you push certain buttons, mine will talk to me in Japanese! (What it is telling me is another matter.) One of these buttons will make the hot water controller in the other room plays a little musical tune! I think perhaps it is a like warning that the hot water will now be used in another room. Because I am living alone and my shower opens off of my kitchen, this feature is somewhat useless. I like to push the button anyway, just because I think it sounds beautiful. ;-)

A general warning against the dangers of Airline Food

2005-09-28T16:28:00.000+09:00

On the flight from San Fransisco (the race through the airport was my first visit to California) to Tokyo, the first meal choices were chicken stir fry with white rice or, as the speaker's voice had described it, "old fashioned American meatloaf with mashed potatoes."
I chose the meatloaf, less out of a preference or even any desire to eat it and more as a symbolic goodbye to the culture, comforts, and home I was leaving.
The second meal choice was Italian pasta or beef stir fry--I chose the stir fry as a parallel symbolic hello.

None of it was very good---It was airplane food. . . :-P

"International Adventures" & a bonus story featuring Shirayuri's president

2005-09-28T11:28:00.000+09:00

(Some of my posts will be cut and pasted from e-mails with friends and family--in fact one or two already have been. Inspiration and reflections come from my own thinking and my responses/expressions to others. So if it looks familiar, sorry :-D.)

It's interesting to think about all of the other people who have had similar experiences to me; but no one can tell me what specifics to expect. Just generals. For everyone who lives abroad or travels extensively abroud, we must experience it on our own, fresh without the experience of others (except for tips, advice, and help from people with similar expeiences and from guide books and phrase books). But, then again, that fresh and individual experience--that adventure--is exactly what motivates people into foreign lands. The anxiety, strange experiences, fear, and mistakes are the adventure.

Also, yesterday I met the President of Shirayuri College. In talking with her, I assured her that if I could teach mean Kansas farm boys, that nice Japanese girls, while different, should be well within my scope of ability. I'm not sure if she understood my serious joke, but I think she appreciated my enthusiasm. How American is that? ;-)

It gets dark SO early already!

2005-09-27T18:06:00.000+09:00

The most difficult part of adjusting to Japan time/getting over jet lag, has been the difference in sunrise and sunset here.

The sun rises at 5 am and sets around 5:30 pm. Which means, at 6 pm, like right now, it's already dark in Tokyo. So I am thinking, gee, it must be closer to bedtime then I thought. Oh, no. I haven't had dinner yet. It's dinner time. It's still way too early to go to bed. If I went to bed now I would totally screw up my sleeping schedule. I'll stay up.

But getting up early has been no problem so far! :-D

a plus

Commercials on Japanese TV

2005-09-27T14:11:00.000+09:00

I have kind of been watching Japanese TV. I say "kind of" because I mostly leave it on in the room while I am reading or at the computer. It is, of course, difficult to watch TV when you don't understand the language, especially if you have never seen the program before. (That makes it unlike watching a familiar movie in Spanish.) I am beginning to follow the commercials however. They are the most intriguing, and rely on appeals to people at our most basic levels, often as well as on other levels, so are easier to understand.

What I find strange about them, as would probably be true of American commercials to a foreigner as well, is that they tend to employ over-used American and other International songs as a soundtrack to their product. Some examples

The Carpenter's song Close to You was in a car commercial I think. (You know the song, it goes, "Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?")
The classic "Danke schoen, Darling, danke schoen." An instrumental only version is played for the majority of the commercial, the lyrics come in at the very end, and are cut off in the middle of a sentence.
The Cars Magic, Oh oh, it's magic, you know. . . I can't even remember what commercial this is in, but, being that it's in American commercials as well, I guess the only weird thing is that suddenly there's English coming out of Japanese tv.
Now the best one, and I saved if for last, is a scratch tickets commercial. .. Where they yodel. Yodelling apparently sells Japanese scratch tickets. Who would have guessed?

Everything is "Just my size"

2005-09-26T22:00:00.000+09:00

Having always been short in America, finally, everything here is just the right height for me. The kitchen table in my apartment is perfectly low, coming up to my upper thigh. The counters are just above waist height. My bed is low to the ground, and easy to fall into to sleep. When I went out to eat on Saturday afternoon, the table wasn't embarassingly high, so I didn't have to sit on my leg to be tall enough to eat at it. (I have to do this at some tables in American restuarants, and whenever I sit in a booth at one.) Here in Japan, I really do feel tall, or at least grown up! :-D

sounds of tokyo

2005-09-26T11:20:00.000+09:00

I've noticed, living here in Tokyo, that there are some new sounds and sounds that I appreciate more, now that they are rare.

New Sounds

I keep hearing and seeing these large, loud and resonant crows. Honestly, these crows (ravens?) sound like they're cawing into megaphones!
While the typhoon was threatening off the coast of Japan on Sunday, Tokyo saw a lot more wind than the gentle breezes I had been enjoying pulling through my apartment. As the wind blew between and around all the buildings it ocassionally made a sucking sound, like a giant vaccuum cleaner!
The area that I live in is relatively quiet, because it is off of main roads a bit and the city I live in, Chofu, is technically outside of "official" Tokyo. So very few "city sounds" disrupt my little apartment. However, I do hear sirens now and then. These are different than the normal fire, ambulance, and police sirens from home. I think they sound like the French police sirens, which sound kind of old fashioned, and you know, funny.

English!

I have been listening to a Tokyo radio station, 81.3 am, which plays some English music. It's DJ's occasionally say a phrase or sentence in English and the commercials have the random short sentence in English or familiar word: "I'm lovin' it!" or "Starbucks." (Actually, one of the first businesses I saw in Tokyo was in the train station area underneath the airport terminal. It was a Starbucks. I was equally saddened and comforted. I didn't shop there, though. Instead, I got a Melon Soda (by Fanta) at a stand upstairs, with the help of Osamu, who picked me up.)
"Hi I'm Johnny Depp. I hope you like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." When these words came from Japanese tv out of the mouth of no other but Johnny Depp, I was enthralled. It was only a preview for the movie, with Johnny Depp wishing that his Japanese audiences would enjoy it, but it was in English. And it was a face I recognized! At the end of the commercial, Johnny was back on and he did a little wink and maybe a cool "guns" thing. I just wish I could have watched it with my Depp-fan, little sister. Sammi, I am considering trying to tape it for you, but I've only seen it once so far. . .

Grocery shopping

2005-09-25T08:19:00.000+09:00

Late Saturday morning, at 11 am, I went out into Tokyo for my first time. Osamu, one of the English professors, and his wife Tomoko, who spent time in England getting her PhD and has a British accent, were kind enough to take me out essentials shopping and for lunch.
I was very lucky and grateful to have their help. My first grocery shopping experience I bought paper towels, frozen pizza, a large bottle of water, Raman noodles, crackers, milk, apple juice, butter, bread (which I may not buy again, expensive for only a few slices), and a bunch of miniature bananas.

Being out and about in Tokyo was an interesting experience because everything was equally the same and different from what I am used to. Driving in a car was the same, except they drive on the opposite side of the road, so right turns are very strange. Almost all of the products being sold are the same, but I can't read everything. I can't read almost anything. I am also a type of person who is constantly reading. While I eat my cereal, I read the box, while driving (or riding) down a road, I read all the signs, while walking through the store, I read all of the labels. Not being able to read everything is a notable, though not unnerving, change for me.
Also, metropolitan life moves very much the same in Tokyo as it does in American cities. On Saturday the mall/grocery store were full of families.
The food court, where we ate lunch, had Japanese places, including one we ate at which sold Japanese noodles and another which sold squid balls, a Chinese noodle place, an Italian place, a Baskin Robbins, and a McDonald's. The McDonald's fries smelled exactly the same.
The other sense of things being different is an underlying sense that I am different. I can't speak or read the language. I don't look the same, or dress quite the same. It's not a feeling of not belonging there, just not exactly jiving with the rest.

Traveling to and Arriving in Japan

2005-09-25T00:02:00.000+09:00

The whole time I was flying here, I felt as though I were headed toward a void, a world of the absolutely unknown. I have no idea what the next 10 months will be like, what they will require of me, what I will gain from them, or whether or not I'll be happy, or find happiness here. Even now that I'm here, it seems unreal. (That could be made worse due to the dreamlike quality everything gets when you haven't slept.)

I am here in Tokyo and safe and in one piece, as is my luggage. The city I am in in Tokyo is Chofu. I have been up for just about 24 hours, because i only took two very minimal naps during my flights.

I think that it still hasn't hit me how different life is going to be, nor have I rationally realized how the same it is going to be.

I'm not even really sure how to use my toilet here (the apartment has one of the fancy ones that also has a bidae, and flushes two different ways, and may play music. . . ) I guess that's what the experience is about, though.

This is my toilet in Japan. You can see the controls for the special functions at the bottom and the sink on top that works when you flush!

I already know the kinds of things I will need help with for a long time here, paying bills and banking, and the kinds of things I should be able to pick up pretty quickly, simple grocery shopping, etc. The trains are going to intimidate me though. I think I will just have to mentally tackle them before I start going on my own--figure out where they are going, which one is which, and how to buy a ticket, before I even get to the station. And, not be afraid of making mistakes. Even mistakes that get me lost.

who I am and why I'm going

2005-09-14T04:20:00.000+09:00

In May of 2005, I graduated from Benedictine College (BC) in Atchison, Kansas with a BA in English and Secondary Education. I had planned on teaching high school English in the Atchison area for a year, when I was offered a position as the English department teaching assistant at Shirayuri College. Thy Yang, the BC International Programs Director, recommended me to Eugene Kohmoto.
After accepting the position, I got to work renewing my passport (a lot of work :-/) and applying for my certificate of eligibility from Japan. The certificate is used to gain a work visa and entry into the country. Basically, it states that I do have a legitimate job waiting for me in Japan and that they should give me a work visa.
Yesterday, I went the the Japanese Consulate in Denver to apply for my work visa. They took my application, my picture, my passport, and my certificate and I hope to get my important documents back Monday with a shiny new work visa. Then they'll let me into the country.
On Thursday, September 22, 2005, I leave Denver International Airport at 11:20 am. I am due to arrive in Tokyo (after a 1 hour stop in San Fransisco) at 4:30 pm Friday September 23.

Current Music: The Killers / Hot Fuss / Andy, You're a Star
Current Mood: energetic

Pictures

2005-09-09T16:41:00.000+09:00

Snow falling at Ayako's house

Winter at Shirayuri

Kamakura
my Kamakura post

If you look carefully at the above picture, you can see the temple at the top of the hill.

This is a shot of Shirayuri's campus through my office window (thus the dark color). Below you see a garden instead of a classic American open quad. The trees are beginning to turn colors. More gold and orange leaves every day, by small numbers so far though. More pics of beautiful campus coming some sunny day.

Look! Mini bananas! They are pictured next to a regular cd. No, I wasn't, like many tourists are, conned into buying them for their novelty. They were cheaper. And, I only like bananas a little, so little bananas are for me!

This is a picture of my desk set. Unfortunately, I do not have a digital camera capable of capturing the words underneath the brand u-ni-son. It says, "I will enjoy your space combining various items." You gotta love Asain language-English translations!

My Garbage Schedule. I am allowed to throw away certain kinds of garbage on certain days. I keep separate trash bags for burnable (orange days) and non-burnable (blue days) garbage.

a Godzilla toy!

Makudonarudo (McDonald's) and Starubo (Starbucks)

Puricula *Print Club*

katana

Onigiri

"Under the Wave of Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai

Funny English

2005-09-04T23:17:00.000+09:00

Here are some things that translated just a little bit, well, funny.

Everybady?! On a store overhang.

It's very hard to see, but sandwiches is spelled sandwiTches.

A men's clothing store. . .

Creap, one of the two most popular powdered creamers.

Pocari Sweat is a very popular brand of sports drink. Like Gatorade. It is supposed to be good for when you sweat. But it's an opaque white-ish clear-ish color. It looks like sweat and it's called sweat. I don't care how good it tastes. I don't ever want to try it. Sweat. not for me.

If you like these try http://www.engrish.com/.