tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66769458991214153532024-03-13T04:46:46.570-07:00Dispatches From the Near FutureB.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-81374782548838236262011-02-10T15:58:00.001-08:002011-02-10T15:58:58.606-08:00THIS BLOG HAS BEEN ABANDONED! For further posting please refer to http://dispatchesfromthenearfuture.wordpress.com/B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-68976066908895329502010-05-01T23:51:00.000-07:002010-06-24T09:29:41.568-07:00Just A Few Small City Girls in TokyoPictures: the robot from Laputa; Darth Vader in Shibuya; paper dolls made with host mommah; Jenna, host mommah, and me at the farewell party; host mommah and her friend who taught us how to make paper dolls; a girl at a <i>nihon buyo</i> performance; Becky at a champagne and curry restaurant called Le Petit Monsieur; blooming Sakura in Nara; an odd statue of Sakamoto Ryouma in Nara; my mom petting a deer!; cute deer in Nara; lanterns at a sample sale by Shinkyogoku in Kyoto; Wendy kidnapped by the nefarious Captain Hook; host mommah with my parents at our home in Nagaoka!; Katsura Rikyu.<br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90ifJ4grtI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/HkG6iPBHTr8/s200/IMG_5206.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466563441321881298" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90iR__rWMI/AAAAAAAAAk4/XjMR8sEY4k8/s200/IMG_5142.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466563215329286338" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90iQ-yrXDI/AAAAAAAAAko/WYyjft26FMg/s200/IMG_5122.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466563197826456626" border="0" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90iReEabSI/AAAAAAAAAkw/vDaCv1BF7Yk/s1600/IMG_5132.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90iReEabSI/AAAAAAAAAkw/vDaCv1BF7Yk/s200/IMG_5132.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466563206222343458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h-2UCzvI/AAAAAAAAAkg/hDkUWVgGjGM/s1600/IMG_5117.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h-2UCzvI/AAAAAAAAAkg/hDkUWVgGjGM/s200/IMG_5117.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562886312840946" border="0" /></a><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h-fhWybI/AAAAAAAAAkY/hMOPe-Osn4M/s200/IMG_4875.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562880194660786" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h96-YXMI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/wFThcz_whOg/s200/IMG_4682.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562870384286914" border="0" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h9q1EpTI/AAAAAAAAAkI/Pzp5vpNPMF8/s1600/IMG_4548.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h9q1EpTI/AAAAAAAAAkI/Pzp5vpNPMF8/s200/IMG_4548.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562866050278706" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h9EeE64I/AAAAAAAAAkA/o_WA5xLw128/s1600/IMG_4518.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90h9EeE64I/AAAAAAAAAkA/o_WA5xLw128/s200/IMG_4518.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562855753280386" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hlOlZ3BI/AAAAAAAAAj4/fQu-stb_7U4/s1600/IMG_4459.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hlOlZ3BI/AAAAAAAAAj4/fQu-stb_7U4/s200/IMG_4459.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562446151506962" border="0" /></a><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hk1vxC9I/AAAAAAAAAjw/HuynUWzYMxg/s200/IMG_4454.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562439484083154" border="0" /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hjyNwjgI/AAAAAAAAAjg/Ge99Uy9zcoQ/s200/IMG_4366.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562421356269058" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90igoVkFNI/AAAAAAAAAlg/hJXGabxO9P0/s200/IMG_5357.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466563466676671698" border="0" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hjYsIaMI/AAAAAAAAAjY/wkJEac-1Gjs/s1600/IMG_4360.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hjYsIaMI/AAAAAAAAAjY/wkJEac-1Gjs/s200/IMG_4360.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562414504339650" border="0" /></a><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S90hkZGcM-I/AAAAAAAAAjo/cXHkxZc10L8/s200/IMG_4387.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466562431794557922" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The past few weeks have been wrought with stress and maybe even a few shed tears over grades. But enough of that drama! I’m on summer vacation! Needing a break from the pressure of school and being in a tiny program (forty people!), Julia, Kimbia, and I headed off to Tokyo. Just a few Little City girls in the Big City with arching sky scrapers and more train lines than freckles on my very spotted face.</div><div><br />We arrived in Tokyo at around 11, just I time to drop Kimbia’s bags off at her hostel and grab a very Japanese lunch of sandwiches, coffee, pancakes, and pink lemonade at the Tokyo branch of Denny’s. What can I say? Even with only a scant two-week left until our return to the states we were craving a little taste of home! (Admittedly I’ve never had the pleasure of eating at Denny’s before but I can say it was quite satisfactory fast food). Refreshed after our somewhat grueling morning of losing our rather expensive omiyage (gift) of Kyoto tea and missing the first three trains we had hoped to be on, we began a leisurely stroll in the direction of the famed Akihabara. Of course, in such a place—at least in Japan—one finds a plethora of maids beckoning clients into their cafes and stores that cause hapless tourists to either stray their eyes or stare in a combination of disbelief and concern. At the pace of the crowd commanded, we peered down darkened alleyways and enjoyed the general energy of the city, a buzz only found in the shopping hubs of Kyoto. Eventually Kimbia decided to hop-to and begin passing out the surveys for her senior thesis, a study of Akihabara and its lure. This is, of course, easier said than done when researching a group of people that mostly consists of otaku—literally “in the house”—who would rather talk to the Technicolor girls on their gameboys and television screens than a real flesh and blood woman. The first two kids we approached scurried away, one before Kimbia had even opened her mouth to speak! Feeling a big off-put by these kinds of reactions, Kimbia hiked up her pants and got five surveys filled out by the friendlier otaku milling around, one excited to show his friends (and then us!) an action figure he found that he’d been looking for a long while.<br /><br />Eventually Julia and I had to go meet our gracious hosts in Funabashi, about forty minutes from Akihabara on the train. Thus we yakked our way there and were met by Fumiko-san a wonderful chatty Japanese woman who has lived in Tokyo her whole life. She works at Disney Land and lives with her husband Makoto-san, who retired and has been running a little candy shop out of his home for the past ten years. The shop is somewhat off the beaten path, tucked into the alley of a side street, but business seemed busy enough when we arrived at around 5:15 in the afternoon. An absolutely wonderful loving and caring couple, they also host a foreign student every year. They have the pictures of their past students proudly up on the wall in their kitchen and made sure to introduce us to each one, supplying a funny anecdote for each. In this they reminded me very much of my lovely host mother, who does much the same every week, remembering fondly her past students.<br /><br />After stowing our bags in the guest room, a small tatami room usually allotted to their students, Fumiko led us to the kitchen where she fed us tea and asked us an assortment of delicious snacks, including a crunchy banana-chocolate-whipped-cream-pancake snack that would’ve sent my nutritionist mother packing. Then, while we snacked yet some more and enjoyed the end of an episode The Clone Wars in Japanese, she cooked a lovely dinner of gyoza, shumai, miso soup, and rice. After dinner we went through a Tokyo guidebook and picked out what we’d be doing for the next few days. We went to sleep happy with the knowledge that we’d be going to Tokyo Disney Land, courtesy of our hosts.<br /><br />We woke refreshed after sleeping in a little (we’re on summer vacation after all!). After eating a tasty breakfast of eggs, ham, and deliciously warm rolls with butter and blueberry jam, we set off to meet Kimbia once more and shop in Shibuya and cross the giant street there. Whenever you see a movie set even briefly in Tokyo, there is inevitably a shot of this crossing, roaringly busy even at night. Cheerfully skipping across, we ran into some cosplayers of vocaloids and paused to take pictures before continuing into 109, a rather famous Shibuya department store. It reaches upwards for floors, each store boasting its own style and blasting music. The shoppers are a crush of somewhat awed foreigners, the usual Sunday shoppers, and people who seem to simply be out for a stroll, dressed to the nines. After shopping (and getting me a ridiculous hot pink fighter pilot hat with big blue stars) we spotted out beloved Krispie Kreme and scurried over for a doughnut. To our delight, they had the machine running and were handing out glazed doughnuts hot off the press, free of charge! They were absolutely delicious. After enjoying a bit more of the general splendor, we got back on the train and went to Harakjuku, a famous Sunday fashion hub. Before heading into the crowd, however, we headed into the rather austere Meiji shrine, where its namesake Emperor of Japan has been enshrined as a kami (Japanese Shinto god). After the nonstop high energy of Tokyo, the lush forest path felt a great deal more like Kyoto. This gave us the strength to then toss ourselves into the sea of lolitas, goths, gangurous, free hugs, yankees, and somewhat non-plussed foreigners. We ended up ascending to the upper levels of the street, as the most interesting shops are often found there, and into Body Line—a cheap “off-brand” Lolita style clothing store.<br /><br />We finally made our exit, fleeing back to the comparatively tame Tokyo Station for quick sandwiches before heading back to Fubabashi. There we met back up with Makoto-san, who packed us into his cute little blue car and whisked us off with his wife Fumiko-san for a night tour of Tokyo. On the way he played the TV built into the car for our entertainment. Just another day in Japan, really. The first stop was the Rainbow Bridge, which took us past two brilliantly lit Ferris wheels. We then stopped at a roadside convenience store and used their picnic tables, setting out a dinner of assorted onigiri—rice balls—and other small items. It was not only absolutely delicious but great fun to have such an unconventional picnic! Sated on dinner and cookies, we headed out once more to get up close and personal with Tokyo Tower, which is absolutely stunning at night. When we arrived, it was covered in little purple lights but as we photographed it, it turned its usual all orange and white, brilliant against the clear night sky. Twenty minutes later and again we were off to tour the Kabuki Theater and Ginza, the 5th Avenue of Japan. Tiffany’s, Channel, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, all nestled into one huge shopping street where I suspect people do more looking than buying. We then headed home to crash.<br /><br />The next day we slumbering bears awoke to a breakfast of blueberry yogurt, more tasty warm rolls, and coffee as well as a small snack of dough filled with red bean paste, black beans, and covered in kinako—a sweet, very dry, cakey powder. Then Julia, Fumiko-san, and I headed off to Studio Ghibli’s museum in Mitaka. To get there from Funabashi, one must take the express to Tokyo Station for thirty-five minutes before transferring to yet another rapid train for roughly the same amount of time. Though it takes a while, this would be impossible without Tokyo’s comprehensive subway system. Arriving in Mitaka, one feels as though they are back in Kyoto. The town is quiet and the buildings sit low along the train tracks and small river, which is lined with cherry trees, all leading up to the museum. A little bus picks up museum goers every ten minutes or so, but if it's a nice day, a walk is much more enjoyable. The museum is, of course distinctive to Ghibli’s style in every way. From the gentle curves to the tan walls, round windows, and spinning iron cast outdoor staircases, one feels instantly in another world. The entrance leads the visitor past stained glass windows, each inlaid with different iconic Miyazaki and Ghibli film characters. The main building is almost entirely open on the inside, the floors ringing around a central open space. The iron cast encased glass elevator gives a view of the whole central area and is in itself a work of art with beautiful wood paneling inside. The second floor has a bridge across the middle and up the other wall is another iron cast circular staircase, just big enough for Julia and me at 5’ 2” and spacious for children. There are many other delights to be found at the museum, but I fear I’ve spoiled too much already. The museum’s motto is “lets lose our way together”, as is often the case with Miyazaki’s films, and so the museum is designed to get the visitor just a little lost. They also play short films, which can only be viewed at the museum. They played a movie about a girl who leaves the big city to go for a hike in the country, leaving small offerings of apples to kami along the way. She gets stuck in a rainstorm and takes shelter in an abandoned shack in the forest, making friends with the local bugs along the way. The entire soundtrack was done in Japanese onomatopoeias, which was the most charming part about it! After grabbing a bite of pasta lunch at in Italian restaurant nearby, we hopped back on the train to Tokyo Station so that we could get on the train to Tokyo Disney Land!<br /><br />I am twenty-one and before this vacation I have never been to Disney Land. Not even in the states. I cannot express how full of joy, wonder and happiness I was! Our first stop was to take shots in front of Cinderella’s castle. We then wandered around, taking a brief trip to Endor on the Star Tours ride and then watched one of the shows, which included a fantastic number with Maleficent, the Queen from Snow White, and the bad guy from The Hunchback of Notre Dam. Afterwards I rode on my second roller coaster ever, Space Mountain. I LOVE SPACE MOUNTAIN! Just as we exited the coaster, the electric light show was beginning, so we hurried over and took a seat to watch the floats go past. Somehow the cheesy pie music really got to me and I had a blast waving back at Alice, Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Cinderella, and other assorted Disney characters atop their electric thrones. Once the parade ended the crowd dispersed and we ended up in the Old West town, which really was like a ghost town! Eating delicious maple churros, we spotted Pirates of the Caribbean and so dragged poor Fumiko-san, who has been on it countless times, onto one of the boats so that we could sing “Yo-Ho A Pirate’s Life For Me” over and over and over!<br /><br />After meeting with Fumiko-san’s son, who also works at Disney Land and getting Happy Birthday stickers from him—which included singing “Happy Birthday To You” three times in a row, once for each sticker—we were picked up in the car by Makoto-san who took us to a buffet style restaurant for dinner.<br /><br />We woke up to sunnyside eggs before heading out with Makoto-san and Fumiko-san to Asakusa where tons of small stores with odds and ends lead up to a large temple with giant sandals hanging on the walls. Afterwards they treated us to a lunch of tenzaru soba—cold soba noodles dipped in soy sauce with wasabi and green onions with assorted tempura on the side—and then took us to another outdoor market near Ueno Park. Afterwards we got on a rather interesting train to the Panasonic Center. The train isn’t on tracks but on large wheels and the whole line appears to be self-operated. It goes to around to all the scientific museums and companies in the city, winding through and above the buildings. The front car has a fully open window and so Julia and I got a wonderful view of the city, including a close up of one of the Ferris wheels and an idea of just how far the sprawling buildings really go. At the Panasonic center they have a number of demonstrations as well as a Nintendo station where you can play Wii, N64, and DSi. They had a large wall called a Life Wall. It is essentially projected on to the wall and by hovering ones hand near the wall, one can select a number of options including simple things such as the time, background setting, “outside view”—as there is a large window projecting any desired image, but also can be used for communicating across great distances similarly to Skype, but in life size with a more clear picture and sound. We also got to try out the home 3D TV system, which was incredibly clear and exciting!<br /><br />Unfortunately we got there with only an hour before closing and so got back on the train to Funabashi. We had delicious ramen in the station before going back to the house to watch Hook and go to bed.<br /><br />The next day they took us to a fish market and their local shrine before Julia and I got underway, making a quick stop at the Square Enix store in Shinjuku. We got back on the shinkansen to Kyoto and were home before dinner!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>(PS Parents came to visit, it was awesome! But as this blog is mostly for them, I'm leaving it out :3 )</div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-37776445175762657652010-03-27T23:56:00.000-07:002010-03-28T00:16:25.877-07:00Concussions and Ninja Houses and Climbing in Tombs like IndiePhotos: Rakugo performer , cooking class miso and rice, cooking class gyoza, roosters, rocks at Ise Jingu Grand Shrine, the husband and wife rocks at Ise, badgers at the Ninja Village, plumb blossoms, okonomiyaki made by moi in the cooking class, an Angelic Pretty wallet from my darling friends, my birthday cake, my host mom and feast, Matt photobombing uss at my birthday party, bagels, climbing into the tomb, the tomb entrance, a piece of pottery from the Kofun period of Japan at a keyhole tomb, our inn in the woods, going to the hospital with Becky and Megumi.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68A7K1ms3I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/z0eAxk0Bjgo/s1600/IMG_4166.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68A7K1ms3I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/z0eAxk0Bjgo/s200/IMG_4166.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578690290430834" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68A6jb8KWI/AAAAAAAAAjI/pPV53YJb_Uo/s200/IMG_4064.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578679713802594" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68A6Ay5chI/AAAAAAAAAjA/DUN-utojMJg/s200/IMG_4063.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578670414852626" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68A5QGSqTI/AAAAAAAAAi4/PY1vtBe_zDc/s1600/IMG_4040.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68A5QGSqTI/AAAAAAAAAi4/PY1vtBe_zDc/s200/IMG_4040.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578657342859570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AjGtM2kI/AAAAAAAAAiw/q0ulmhUBV0M/s1600/IMG_4030.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AjGtM2kI/AAAAAAAAAiw/q0ulmhUBV0M/s200/IMG_4030.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578276864580162" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AirVB90I/AAAAAAAAAio/cahK1R2_uB0/s1600/IMG_3981.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AirVB90I/AAAAAAAAAio/cahK1R2_uB0/s200/IMG_3981.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578269515446082" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AiPU_giI/AAAAAAAAAig/swpgdjeyPzw/s1600/IMG_3965.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AiPU_giI/AAAAAAAAAig/swpgdjeyPzw/s200/IMG_3965.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578261999092258" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68Ahte5LdI/AAAAAAAAAiY/XiZBPDBadaQ/s1600/IMG_3934.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68Ahte5LdI/AAAAAAAAAiY/XiZBPDBadaQ/s200/IMG_3934.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578252913814994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AhYVRZoI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/gsZxihJX77o/s1600/IMG_3887.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AhYVRZoI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/gsZxihJX77o/s200/IMG_3887.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453578247236314754" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S68AF7_fdfI/AAAAAAAAAiI/8MghaGbs0Aw/s1600/IMG_3880.JPG"><img style="float:left; 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margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_oERblGI/AAAAAAAAAhY/Sg-3FBMDM5s/s200/IMG_3704.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453577262598952034" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_nkSdZqI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/HPvOD5Zzfu4/s1600/IMG_3669.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_nkSdZqI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/HPvOD5Zzfu4/s200/IMG_3669.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453577254013331106" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_nU4I4JI/AAAAAAAAAhI/qZVsUnIgA4w/s1600/IMG_3631.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_nU4I4JI/AAAAAAAAAhI/qZVsUnIgA4w/s200/IMG_3631.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453577249876402322" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_mygFxoI/AAAAAAAAAhA/1l0e_2a9C0s/s1600/IMG_3627.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S67_mygFxoI/AAAAAAAAAhA/1l0e_2a9C0s/s200/IMG_3627.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453577240648730242" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">As usual I have been horribly negligent about my blog. I think this is actually good thing. The more time I spend not updating, the more time I’m spending out doing fun things! Of course I’ve also been negligent about going out and doing fun things in the fashion I was last semester, but there are also merits to this. Everyday I am finally returning to my HOME in Japan instead of just another stressful social situation. The relationship between my host mother and I has gotten better with every passing month and I am going to be very sad to have to let go of her everyday presence when the time comes to leave Japan. Our house is almost always full of our laughter and jokes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So I left off at the Byodoin last time…hmm thus I will begin with Nagano! For winter break in February I hopped on the arduous night bus with Becky, Sam, Adam, and Megumi. It takes about eight hours to get there with stops every two hours at rest stops, but the huge blizzard that overtook the once Olympic village ended up making it more like ten. Finally grumpily exiting the bus, we refreshed in the nearest bathroom and had some sandwiches and cups of coffee. We had been on the bus from about twelve the night before until eight or nine in the morning. The man who runs the inn where we stayed then picked us up. There is no public transportation to the inns, only the hotspots in the town, and so each inn has a little van in which they pick up and drop off their guests right at the slopes. Not only this, but they also provide the wear and gear for the slopes plus breakfast and lunch, meal tickets included for lunch at the either the base or the summit of the mountain. All this for about thirty thousand yen. This is about three hundred dollars, no bad at all! Plus the food was delicious. Anyway so we ladies stayed in a lovely, cozy room with three beds tucked away under a slanted ceiling and about four tatami mats beyond that to sit on. We had a wonderful heater and heaps of blankets to keep us warm.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We crazy kids actually went out the day we arrived, not wanting to waste any precious time despite how tired we were! We threw in the towel early, but headed out bright and early the next morning. After lunch, however, I fell and hit my head pretty hard and so had to trek all the way to the hospital. They determined that I had a concussion, but nothing drastic, and so I was to keep out of the bath and away from alcohol for a few days. This is lame on three accounts. The first is that the bath at the inn was absolutely heavenly and I’m sad to have missed out on it. The second is obvious. The third is that I was unable to go out snowboarding the third day! Alas, I’ll never be Shawn White despite my intrinsic connection to him based on the fact that we’re both gingers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We hopped back on the night bus and I spent the whole day dead sleeping on my face. The next day Julia, Jenna, and I headed out with our Antiquity in Modern Japan professor to check out ancient tombs in the Nara basin. The first one we went to is an unexcavated keyhole tomb where we picked up bits of clay pots, which, at the time of its erection, surrounded it on several tiers. Afterwards we biked off to a tomb hidden away inside a bamboo grove by an organic strawberry farm. It was an absolutely magical experience! We entered the bamboo grove unhindered and the sounds of the town around us melted away. About forty feet in we came to a small jizo statue with a scant few offerings and behind it a small square hole, not two feet by three feet. This, our professor explained, was where it got messy. Skirting the statue, we proceeded to crawl, feet first, into the tomb. Once inside we produced our flashlights and began to explore. There is a stone sarcophagus with a crack in it just large enough for someone my size to squeeze through and then lay comfortably inside. It was a little eerie being inside the tomb, dust the only thing remaining, of someone centuries dead. I, of course, couldn’t help but hum the Indiana Jones theme.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next big event is my birthday! It doesn’t much matter here, but I’m finally twenty-one. Hurrah! Not that I’m a huge lush or anything, but having a glass of wine with dinner out is no longer an affair. The night of my birthday we went bowling, an event during which I bowled over one hundred three out of four times. This is quite rare as I’m somewhat pathetic at bowling. Birthday luck, I think! Afterwards I grabbed ramen with a few friends before heading to our usual fare, Milan’s. There we celebrated with another kid from AKP as well as his girlfriend Akane, whose birthday is the same as mine, and all of her friends. It was somewhat overwhelming in such a small space, but we had good fun. My friends bought me and Jenna, whose birthday is the day after mine, some lovely cake slices.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Two days later I had a few friends over for a feast that my host mom prepared (picture above). There they gave me a lovely wallet from Angelic Pretty, one of my favorite gothic lolita designers! We ate until we were disgustingly full—I couldn’t move at all that evening—and watched Shrek. All this we did whilst sitting around the kotatsu. I think it was to make up for the Japanese childhood I never had. Anyway my host mom produced a delicious chocolate and strawberry cake made out to both me and Jenna, which we could barely eat after the feast plus ice cream and tea.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Soon after the plumb blossoms bloomed and so we trekked off to Kitano Tenmangu, a lovely temple, which is full of plum trees. The same day was also the monthly temple market and so it was also full of people! Though it had been somewhat cloudy in the morning, the sun came out and brightened the cute little blossoms for stunning pictures! I tried some new festival food, these savory fish shaped bread snacks full of warm custard. Delicious!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Two weeks ago my program hosted a group trip to Ise. I think I annoyed everyone by playing “what am I thinking of” a little loudly on the bus, but it certainly passed the time on the way! Our first stop was a ninja village, which is alas less exciting than it sounds. We DID get to check out one rather interesting building in which there is a rotating door like in Scooby Doo, hidden staircases, a drop down ceiling to crush unwanted visitors, hidden hallways with escape routes through wall scrolls, and hiding holes under the fire pits. Excellent! Afterwards we went to the husband and wife rocks. See the picture. Um. Anyway there were a lot of frogs statues there! If you buy a little frog charm there and put it in your wallet, money will come to you. This is because kaeru can mean frog but also to return, so your money returns!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That night we stayed in an absolutely breathtaking hotel in Ise. The staff and professors stayed in the main building, but we were all put in wonderful little cottages with lofts, comfortable porches, and gorgeous wooden everything. There was also a pool and an outdoor bath. I only made it to the pool, but it was great to sink into and float in the water as well as enjoy the sauna and hot tub! The buffet was also excellent, the dining room boasting a stunning view of the mountains and bay, which the hotel was nestled into.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next morning we trudged over to breakfast before heading out for more adventures. We went to Ise Jingu, first to the inner complex and then the outer, which is to the sun goddess Amaterasu. When we went to pray to her, a most incredible thing happened. Waiting in the hustle and bustle of the crowd pushing to give homage to the goddess, the large cloth blocking the rest of the shrine from view billowed up in a gust of wind and presented the long path of white stones, flanked by black ones, all damp from the rain. Directly to the left of the wooden frame of where one prays stood a Shinto priest in pristine white Heian garb and a tall black hat. It was certainly a sight to behold, and the crowd certainly thought so as well, everyone exclaiming “whoa” in unison!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Any finally! On Sunday I headed off to Osaka with Becky and Patrick to see my English language student perform Rakugo. Rakugo is traditional Japanese comedy theater in which the actor sits with a towel and a fan as props. They act out all the parts in a play, changing from character to character in the blink of an eye. They used the fan as chopsticks, a calligraphy brush, a Buddhist ceremonial item, a spatula, and a sword. This I found most interesting. It is simply the manner in which the actor holds the object which determines how it is to be interpreted by the audience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My parents came this week to visit and so I'll be posting about that sometime in the next millennium!</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-73765033150532864992010-02-02T21:41:00.000-08:002010-02-03T16:36:42.175-08:00Stole Photos from Facebook and a Healthy Dose of NarcissismElspeth and I on swings; Kyle and I, at the moon viewing; it was raining, overlooking Shirahama from the top of a mountain; The Purple Ranger, The White Ranger, The Pink Ranger fight their arch nemesis, the villainous Black Ranger, who betrayed them to evil (Re: Halloween); loving pandas at Adventure World; HAPPY!; fighting with Pikachu-mobiles at Adventure World; Carolyn can fly; my claim to fame, chilling with a shinto priest and then getting on TV for it; penguins on tour at Adventure World; this is basically a poster for AKP next year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kPFm9XCFI/AAAAAAAAAg4/H72y64Mb69k/s1600-h/13835_1197416695786_1239540334_30795139_5589695_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kPFm9XCFI/AAAAAAAAAg4/H72y64Mb69k/s200/13835_1197416695786_1239540334_30795139_5589695_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433891014430885970" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 129px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kPFbcdj_I/AAAAAAAAAgw/TC1el_AFN2s/s200/13734_165977170652_650975652_3218621_3806814_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433891011340111858" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kPFDuboII/AAAAAAAAAgo/fdaq51scy1k/s200/9327_154993166995_501621995_3197140_7378361_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433891004973031554" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kPE_LbhvI/AAAAAAAAAgg/QBa2f26BCVw/s1600-h/8216_301469230297_846190297_9454641_7581938_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kPE_LbhvI/AAAAAAAAAgg/QBa2f26BCVw/s200/8216_301469230297_846190297_9454641_7581938_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433891003752482546" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kOvXYISNI/AAAAAAAAAgY/7UobWyo-t5k/s1600-h/17348_400094420267_661935267_10207701_6498185_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kOvXYISNI/AAAAAAAAAgY/7UobWyo-t5k/s200/17348_400094420267_661935267_10207701_6498185_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433890632291076306" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kN-JyioZI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/kGA7UDHrGeQ/s200/19158_1271214855517_1084230427_30811839_3119545_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889786830168466" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kN5BxWhTI/AAAAAAAAAgA/2B9ODSxXqJY/s200/17378_397490685297_846190297_10655320_8324974_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889698778350898" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kN4jW1qEI/AAAAAAAAAfw/SKf6LnH1-tQ/s1600-h/17348_399866705267_661935267_10203695_833394_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kN4jW1qEI/AAAAAAAAAfw/SKf6LnH1-tQ/s200/17348_399866705267_661935267_10203695_833394_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889690614081602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kN4bfshKI/AAAAAAAAAfo/pT1AzQWYMTw/s1600-h/16661_251694664516_714824516_4450350_6070575_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kN4bfshKI/AAAAAAAAAfo/pT1AzQWYMTw/s200/16661_251694664516_714824516_4450350_6070575_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889688503747746" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kNWuChL1I/AAAAAAAAAe4/I8e1QmaVor0/s1600-h/10521_294533150267_661935267_8954998_1108178_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kNWuChL1I/AAAAAAAAAe4/I8e1QmaVor0/s200/10521_294533150267_661935267_8954998_1108178_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889109366091602" /></a><br /><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kNWS7GaII/AAAAAAAAAew/VBxB9pYFpx8/s200/10521_273917720267_661935267_8627439_7111782_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889102087219330" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kNnVHdzcI/AAAAAAAAAfg/IgNtCj4oPrs/s1600-h/16661_251694644516_714824516_4450348_246828_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kNnVHdzcI/AAAAAAAAAfg/IgNtCj4oPrs/s200/16661_251694644516_714824516_4450348_246828_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889394733731266" /></a><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2kNV1xHhTI/AAAAAAAAAeg/jHIlTDuovj8/s200/9327_143382176995_501621995_3109950_7800678_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433889094260720946" />B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-19632548072287468322010-02-02T17:16:00.000-08:002010-02-02T17:37:36.761-08:00Kimomoing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2jPR5ItO9I/AAAAAAAAAdw/6YnsBIMrSVw/s1600-h/10-01-30_002.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 112px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2jPR5ItO9I/AAAAAAAAAdw/6YnsBIMrSVw/s200/10-01-30_002.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433820856724569042" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 112px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2jPRrx9rKI/AAAAAAAAAdo/JIfQZnlY87Y/s200/10-01-30_001.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433820853139516578" />So I totally forgot to post these pictures. I've been taking kimono lessons for the past semester. If you don't know much about them, you might default to "how hard can it be? it's a robe". Yeah, no. It's really hard. It's one thing to go through the movements and another entirely to get the right feeling for when people see you in your kimono. There's definitely a difference in perceptions of aesthetics between myself and my kimono teacher whether it comes to color, shape, or angle.<br /><br />Whenever I think I've gotten something right, she shifts it half an inch before nodding approvingly at her work. Thus part of learning to wear a kimono isn't just going through the motions but adding a certain flair in the small tucks and folds of the fabric. It is also a great lesson in seeing how fabric affects itself in the way it is pulled or pushed. The kimono itself is made up of rectangles and the obi is another very long rectangle. All in all very simple, but the way it can be folded appears to be so much more.<br /><br />Anyway, those are my half-awake thoughts.<div><br /></div><div>KT</div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-85446776125829318122010-01-29T21:36:00.000-08:002010-01-29T21:54:57.523-08:00Pavement Like ButterPictures shown: Battle Stations! Julia's birthday party; the road outside the train station; Julia, Robin, and Becky at the cafe; a menu at the cafe; delicious tart; delicious cake; the notebook and the prompt as I answered it!; a cup of tea near the Byodoin as Uji is famous for its green tea; the Byodoin; green tea noodles in Uji.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PHGJ1qUhI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/vZw9ztnTlE8/s200/IMG_3544.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432404484073083410" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PHFQrY8DI/AAAAAAAAAdI/-BjQnU4yclc/s200/IMG_3553.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432404468729180210" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PHE3q7qXI/AAAAAAAAAdA/-cai_z1LPK0/s200/IMG_3557.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432404462016375154" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PHEdTNkHI/AAAAAAAAAc4/u7gAC_64bwo/s1600-h/IMG_3559.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PHEdTNkHI/AAAAAAAAAc4/u7gAC_64bwo/s200/IMG_3559.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432404454937563250" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGab74C4I/AAAAAAAAAcw/jfaamhQt4Yw/s1600-h/IMG_3564.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGab74C4I/AAAAAAAAAcw/jfaamhQt4Yw/s200/IMG_3564.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432403733016742786" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGZxUrnsI/AAAAAAAAAco/KqzNgKVc5GQ/s200/IMG_3565.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432403721578061506" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGZU8QyZI/AAAAAAAAAcg/0coDB2Wyjyo/s200/IMG_3573.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432403713959446930" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGY0GvjVI/AAAAAAAAAcY/cgOH0SJNNvA/s1600-h/IMG_3577.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGY0GvjVI/AAAAAAAAAcY/cgOH0SJNNvA/s200/IMG_3577.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432403705145036114" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGYbbLlPI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SWc9hRz_xFI/s1600-h/IMG_3591.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PGYbbLlPI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SWc9hRz_xFI/s200/IMG_3591.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432403698519872754" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PJeN9awFI/AAAAAAAAAdg/8h7cpifnFE0/s1600-h/IMG_3576.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S2PJeN9awFI/AAAAAAAAAdg/8h7cpifnFE0/s200/IMG_3576.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432407096519475282" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Like many cities, Kyoto is a bike city. Everyone here rides bikes whether in the glorious countryside with sweeping green fields and arching mountains obscured by fog in the distance or in the crush of the city where buses and other bikes threaten to crush or knock you over. I’ve seen people of all ages riding on bikes here at all hours of the day. The busiest time in my neighborhood seems to be on a Saturday morning just after breakfast, when everyone is heading to the train station or an appointment within the neighborhood. Even when I’m walking home after the last train, cautious of the witching hour shadows, gangs of middle schoolers ride by laughing and shouting “hello!” when they see me.<br /><br />The bikers are fearless, too. They zip through the tiny streets around pedestrians and mini-trucks. They shoot past one another, another inch closer and they’d be grazing one another’s legs and knocking each other off balance. But, having grown up in a large city, I know that the ebb and flow of how we co-exist in such close proximity is to allow your personal bubble to be pressed and sometimes to push it against others while still maintaining that you are the only person on the road.<br /><br />The stern warning we received by police officers at the beginning of the year in a required bike safety lecture regarding keeping to the left side of the road is probably a more dangerous suggestion than anything. More than once I’ve nearly collided with a fellow biker or moped when they decided they wanted to stick as close to the curve as possible and I just wanted to follow those bike laws!<br /><br />The new pavement feels like butter under the wheels of my host mother’s bike on my return trip from my kimono class. I’ve spent the better part of two hours tying and retying a Nagoya Obi. At least that’s what I think it’s called, my kimono teacher talks lightning fast which does wonders for my Japanese aural comprehension, but sometimes I miss a proper word or two. This week we worked on a mannequin instead of on myself, which I’m grateful for as I missed breakfast and spending two hours bending my arms behind my back in angles I never thought possible would’ve been enough to send me scampering back to bed upon returning home.<br /><br />The weather is unseasonably warm, the wind that of one of the more chilling April breezes back on the East Coast. Women stand outside their machiya style homes and sweep whatever leaves and specks of dust may have accumulated overnight. Other bikers sail up and down the back streets, which are so quiet that you wouldn’t suspect the noisy nearby intersections. As I come to the main street, I pass a house, one I pass every day, but today in particular the palm trees strike me as curious. It is January and just yesterday morning, I could see my breath inside my bedroom. But today is beautiful and so I loosen my scarf around my neck. I heard a rumor that, somewhere nearby, the sakura have already started to bloom. To say this is unseasonably early would be a severe understatement. In the next chill that takes Japan, they will certainly die. In fact, we shouldn’t be seeing Sakura until March or April.<br /><br />Speaking of sakura, I have been invited to a sakura viewing party by the woman whom I am currently tutoring. She’s an older woman who makes a study of English through American politics. Once or twice a month we go through Time Magazine and The New York Times together, reviewing whichever concepts, words, and grammar points she does not fully understand. Her spoken English is astounding, which certainly makes my explanations easier to perform.<br /><br />When she isn’t busy outdoing all her friends in English, she is busy as a rakugo performer. Rakugo is traditional Japanese comedic theater using only a fan and a towel as props. She has invited my friends and I to view their English performances, for which I have helped in editing their translations. She also works with a small institution that shows foreigners living in Japan some interesting sights around Kyoto, which they may not have previously known about. All in all she is a very lovely woman who I am glad to be getting to know. And to think all it took to meet her was to be sitting with a friend on the train!<br /><br />As usual these days, I haven’t been up to much. Going out with friends, doing puri-cura, and escaping the cold weather. This week I’ll hopefully get to a few of the temples I’ve been intending to explore. I also sent an email to the Kyoto Costume Institute yesterday in the hopes that they will give me something fun to do with their fantastic collection of Western wear. I’ve been reading their book on fashion from the 18th to 20th centuries since middle school and have been wanting to work there since I first cracked open the pages. I regret not having gotten to them till now, since someone else in my program heard about it from me and not only applied but got the job! Alas, the early bird gets the worm, even if the late bird is going to be right pissed about it. Anyway, hopefully they have something that needs to be done. Maybe they have some bonnets they’re curious about!<br /><br />Going a little more backwards in time, Rachel and I, before I got back to New York, wrote each other a notebook, each page with a new prompt for each day. In that notebook, one of my prompts was to go somewhere new. I wrote a similar prompt for her regarding the places we pass every day and never go in to because we’re too busy (don’t worry Rachel, this isn’t a spoiler). Because of this, I chose to bring a few friends with me to a café I’ve passed a few times, but never had the time or guts to go in to. Let me tell you, I’ll be heading there as often as I have a few extra coins jostling around in my pocket! It’s a little Japanese interpretation of a French patisserie. It has a somewhat colonial feeling with its rustic colors and three wooden tables, two for small parties of three and one large one for a party of six. The smells from the small kitchen in the back are incredible. Between the four of us we got two pieces of cake and a chai each. The chai wasn’t fantastic, but the cake most certainly was and the warm, comfortable atmosphere more than made up for the chai! They have Edward Gorey books in English and Japanese on the shelves next to the door and play a nice selection of music including Frank Sinatra and my main gal Billie Holiday. If you ever find yourself in the Nagaoka-Tenjin station, I suggest going to Café Katemao. Their blog can be found here: http://blog.katemao.jp/<br /><br />Additionally, I was invited by a few friends to accompany them to Uji, a somewhat romantic location, easily accessible from Kyoto Station. We walked across a bridge Yoshitsune also did, which was interesting. We took some historical footsteps! Unfortunately we also took some footsteps straight past the Genji Museum, which I still have a great desire to go back to see. Anyway, we got a chance to check out the Byodoin, which is on the back of the ten-yen coin similar to our lovely depiction of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the American penny. The building itself, as is often so with many famous places around Kyoto, was once part of a larger complex but is the only part of the complex left standing. In its prime, the inside of the Byodoin was painted in reds, greens, golds, and blues. Mirrors were placed all throughout it so that despite its lack of windows, it was illuminated during the day and even had a certain glow about it in the evening. Within the Phoenix Hall, which is all that remains, stands the only remaining Heian period statue from a famous sculptor, whose name currently escapes me.<br /><br />Until next time (hey, lookit that, a fairly timely blog!),<br /><br />KT<br /><br /></div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-91585003582815887992010-01-12T17:11:00.000-08:002010-01-12T17:19:41.733-08:00A surprise trip to New York and back to our regularly schedule programming!Pictures left to right: Pizza, Jenna and Becky...I mean Darth and Storm Trooper, blue cat (Ashley) person and...the girl in the pearl necklace (Rachel), a lone peach, me and my new kittens who are tentatively Sherlock/Sirius and Watson/Dorien<br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00eo1H4CHI/AAAAAAAAAbw/UYey7Z5j2p8/s200/IMG_3471.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426026812855027826" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00ep0sO1HI/AAAAAAAAAcA/H0BOXbUGad0/s1600-h/IMG_3460.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00ep0sO1HI/AAAAAAAAAcA/H0BOXbUGad0/s200/IMG_3460.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426026829918950514" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00epWN6_uI/AAAAAAAAAb4/Ul-n-zFhy2c/s200/IMG_3479.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426026821738757858" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00eotRUnlI/AAAAAAAAAbo/PCMhdt4tANo/s1600-h/IMG_3469.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00eotRUnlI/AAAAAAAAAbo/PCMhdt4tANo/s200/IMG_3469.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426026810747166290" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00eECegAsI/AAAAAAAAAbg/fsk-eGYtsr4/s1600-h/IMG_3518.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00eECegAsI/AAAAAAAAAbg/fsk-eGYtsr4/s200/IMG_3518.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426026180784423618" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <!--EndFragment--> <br /><br />And now we are entirely caught up! Over winter break I ventured back to New York. I did not tell anyone, however, that I would be returning except for my mother and Rachel and so I spent the first few days surprising those close to me such as my father (whose mouth fell open and dropped all his bags on the floor), Madi (who started to yell at me to leave because she thought I was a ghost), Josephine (who let off a high pitched squeal and then proceeded to yell at me for being so sneaky), and my cousin Sierra (who grabbed me and proceeded to stroke my hair as though I’d been rescued from a burning building)! It was wonderful fun and a fantastic nineteen days in which I saw as many people as possible, went to the movies a few times, did a ton of shopping, and generally enjoying New York.<br /><br />I got the chance to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie (three times…) as well as Avatar in 3D. I didn’t get a chance to see The Young Victoria, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, or The Princess and the Frog, but those I can watch on DVD. I also picked up Chaplin and the first season of Fringe on DVD, which I’ll take my time to enjoy on off days here in Kyoto.<br /><br />The day after I returned to Kyoto, school began, and so I spent a jetlagged two days of class. Last night was Julia C’s birthday party and so we went to the new TGI Fridays on Kiyamachi (a truly Japanese experience…really) before heading to our favorite bar Milan’s, where he surprised her with a cake and a bottle of rum. It was wonderful, the amount of people who showed up to celebrate her birthday!<br /><br />As I left my cell phone in New York—it is now en route to Kyoto, though won’t be here till Tuesday due to the holiday on Monday—I suspect that this weekend will be rather quiet. I spent today cleaning, writing, and reading, as well as spending some quality time with my host mother putting the kotatsu (heated table) together and eating Reece’s after dinner.<br /><br />On Tuesday, school will be in full swing, but this semester I have three afternoons free a week, so I suspect more trips will be made to Kyoto shrines and Osaka in the coming months in my spare time. I have five months left in Kyoto and have no intention of slowing down! I want to see and do as much as I can!B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-48565102334730299822010-01-12T16:55:00.000-08:002010-01-12T21:27:35.889-08:00Vacationing in Sunny Shirahama and Other Such AdventuresPictures from left to right: paper cranes at Fushimi Inari, the tori gates at Fushimi Inari, Jenna in the submarine tower in Shirahama, view from the top of the submarine tower in Shirahama, a diver cleaning the submarine tower, sunset from the beach in Shirahama, Jenna and Becky jumping for joy on the beach!, dolphin in a tank, during the dolphin show at Adventure World, Jenna and Becky saving the world, one whale at a time, parrot at Adventure World, Panda at Adventure World, polar bear, flamingo, marina at Adventure World.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00cFcw1QmI/AAAAAAAAAbY/8DRNbk8zApE/s1600-h/IMG_3199.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00cFcw1QmI/AAAAAAAAAbY/8DRNbk8zApE/s200/IMG_3199.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426024005997249122" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00cEp8Zh9I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/axaDbIrEZ6s/s200/IMG_3160.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426023992355555282" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b4AEMYdI/AAAAAAAAAbI/0bLETUuriy4/s200/IMG_3120.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426023774955528658" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b3hVk8tI/AAAAAAAAAbA/r-vViSnbQPM/s1600-h/IMG_3101.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b3hVk8tI/AAAAAAAAAbA/r-vViSnbQPM/s200/IMG_3101.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426023766706942674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b3K2OFSI/AAAAAAAAAa4/vlM-Fjtg2sE/s1600-h/IMG_3110.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b3K2OFSI/AAAAAAAAAa4/vlM-Fjtg2sE/s200/IMG_3110.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426023760669840674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b21RusAI/AAAAAAAAAaw/qI2qEln2xPQ/s1600-h/IMG_3062.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b21RusAI/AAAAAAAAAaw/qI2qEln2xPQ/s200/IMG_3062.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426023754879643650" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b2ZOsbPI/AAAAAAAAAao/1k5VgO997Oo/s1600-h/IMG_3028.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00b2ZOsbPI/AAAAAAAAAao/1k5VgO997Oo/s200/IMG_3028.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426023747350719730" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00bKEBij_I/AAAAAAAAAag/N-4GycUMpws/s1600-h/IMG_2967.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00bKEBij_I/AAAAAAAAAag/N-4GycUMpws/s200/IMG_2967.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022985744158706" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 156px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00bJprW9_I/AAAAAAAAAaY/zlVC44FXUWw/s200/IMG_2953.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022978671802354" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00bH3LaEJI/AAAAAAAAAaA/8nAuIU_v-ec/s1600-h/IMG_2910.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00bH3LaEJI/AAAAAAAAAaA/8nAuIU_v-ec/s200/IMG_2910.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022947936145554" /></a><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00ak_IqqpI/AAAAAAAAAZg/7NZPQ72AF0Y/s200/IMG_2804.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022348776712850" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00amVT6miI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/tkEDAVj4ip4/s1600-h/IMG_2887.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00amVT6miI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/tkEDAVj4ip4/s200/IMG_2887.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022371909343778" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00al_O_pQI/AAAAAAAAAZw/vYYszRx2R9I/s200/IMG_2832.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022365983122690" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00alXu-F9I/AAAAAAAAAZo/uax5_RZlMe8/s200/IMG_2825.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022355379820498" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00akffAa1I/AAAAAAAAAZY/rayho0cMfeY/s1600-h/IMG_2752.JPG"></a><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S00akffAa1I/AAAAAAAAAZY/rayho0cMfeY/s200/IMG_2752.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426022340280478546" /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>As promised, though a month late, here’s the other half of my last post about life in Japan! If you didn’t see it, there’s a final post about my exhibit on bonnets, which is the fruit of my hard work this past summer at Smith with Kiki Smith in the theater department.</div><div><br />So in November, during Fall Break (shush, I know it’s January!), Becky, Jenna, and myself got up at a rather disgustingly early hour and got on a train towards Osaka to catch up with the Panda Train, which stops at several locations in Wakayama Prefecture, last but not least being Shirahama. A few weeks prior, when attempting to figure out what we wanted to do for fall break other than excessive shopping, eating, and touring around Kyoto—which is the usual remedy for school anyway—we procured the idea of staying in a traditional Japanese inn (ryokan). Of course, if you’re looking to stay in a traditional ryokan, including the wooden structure erected in the woods with a magical natural hot spring and far off mountains to contemplate, you certainly can’t do it on a students’ budget. I think it was a yearning to be at Smith in November, when the cold weather is just setting in and the fresh scent of the fallen leaves is fills the air. I digress. We went to the Doshisha Coop where we searched and searched for a ryokan that was affordable, but had a hot spring and some nice, natural surrounding views. This landed us in Shirahama during a November heat wave in a hotel by a small, beautiful beach with soft white sand, a stunning sunset, and a Caribbean blue ocean stretching out to the horizon.<br /><br />We arrived too early to check into our hotel and so, after dropping off our bags, headed out in our fall clothes in summer weather to explore the small, mostly closed shopping area around the hotel. If you’ve been to the Hamptons or Montauk or anywhere on Cape Cod in the winter, when the tourist season has long gone, you can imagine the somewhat ghost town feeling of the area, which is also a summer hotspot for many people in the Kansai and surrounding areas. Pictures of Shirahama beach in the summer show that it is completely covered in those looking to catch some sun and waves. The water is relatively calm and warmer in November than the Atlantic on Cape Cod in August. While the few other visitors still donned their winter gear, the three of us immediately took to removing our shoes and socks and frolicking in the water! We eventually made it in to our hotel room, first spending about an hour marveling over just how nice it was! Entering the genkan, you remove your shoes and find yourself in a small hallway with a mini fridge and a door to a toilet. The sliding doors to the right open to a large tatami room with a small table and four floor chairs. Beyond that is another seating area with comfortable arm chairs and sliding widows that mostly boasted a view of the hotel in front of it, but the beach was visible to the left. In the distance to the right was also a tori gate leading into the forest. (Upon further inspection it lead to nowhere, how disappointing!) To the left was a closet full of bedding and beyond that a small bathroom complete with a cozy wooden bathtub. We were so exhausted from waking up early that we cobbled together the beds as best as we could muster and spent the next few hours snoozing.<br /><br />When we awoke, we ventured out once more to buy some Yellowtail wine at the local Family Mart and went back to the hotel for dinner. The wonderful part of the package we bought was that breakfast and dinner were already paid for and so we ate to our hearts content (really our stomachs fill!) of a variety of foods, mostly Japanese, though some American inspired dishes, including some very rich cakes and custards. We then spent the evening enjoying our nerdy sides and watched choice episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series whilst partaking of our Yellowtail and, in truth, being quite silly as young ladies are known to do.<br /><br />The next morning we awoke just in time for breakfast, which was even more delicious than dinner the night before, and proceeded to walk to Adventure World, a large amalgamation of an amusement park and a zoo. There we were privy to elephants, red pandas, penguins, polar bears, flamingos, pandas, and dolphins to name a few. There was even a small dog park, which I patiently waited outside of while Becky and Jenna lost their minds to wagging tails and drooling tongues. We managed to spend the entire day there wandering about and purchasing precious items such as panda shaped meat buns and polar bear hats. We especially enjoyed the dolphin show and got pretty up close and personal with them (ok, through a glass, but I’ve never been that close to dolphins before!).<br /><br />That night we went to the naturally heated salt-water bath, soaking in the deliciously hot water and letting whatever stresses we had float away. We were also able to sit in the sauna for a while, clearing our sinuses and breathing in the wonderfully hot air. Full and warm, we slouched back to the room to watch some Avatar: The Last Airbender, a children’s show, yes, but terribly fun to watch! The next day we went to the submarine tower, which allows you to view the tropical fish, lured close by food, from underwater. By that evening, we were back at home in Kyoto.<br /><br />With break still in full swing, a few days later I headed off for the first time to Fushimi Inari, one of the most famous shrines in Kyoto, with my friend Megumi. Many people on my program have been several times but it took me until November to finally get there! It was most definitely worth the wait. You start at the bottom of the mountain it is perched against and pray to Inari; you then begin your ascent. The first part is flat, as you traverse the maze of walkways encased in orange hallways made of tori after tori. If you wait just long enough for someone to pass out of sight, you can get a wonderful picture, free of fellow tourists—this is a rarity in Japan. There is an austere air about the place and almost immediately the city sounds disappear. You then make it to the stairs, which seem to go on forever. Climbing and climbing it took us about forty minutes to truly reach the top. Every time you think you’ve gotten there, there’s another set of stairs awaiting you. The tori gates never seem to cease, though they thin out towards the top. The most magical part of Fushimi Inari are the small restaurants that hang off the side of the mountain, allowing those eating their noodles to simultaneously view the fall foliage. The noodles aren’t great, but the view is.<br /><br />That night we ended up seeing New Moon and being obnoxiously loud in the theater, which I only sort of feel bad about. I go out to see movies to connect with the crowd around me, so seeing movies in Japan is very strange for me. Everyone keeps very quiet, even at hilariously funny moments. In New York, for example, even weeks after opening, people come to the movies and make comments, laugh out loud, and generally connect with the rest of the audience. Seeing a movie isn’t just about watching the film, it’s a community experience. If you’re not going to connect, just watch it at home!<br /><br />After fall break, time certainly flew. Two weeks of classes and one week of finals later would see us enjoying winter break! We went on a few field trips, visiting some monks in Mibu, who told us stories about the history of the Shinsengumi. We also went to the Gekkeikan sake factory to learn about the history of the area, which was rife with trade (namely in sake) during the Edo period and is certainly a beautiful part of town. Other than that, school impressed itself upon us and thus the majority of touring must wait until after winter vacation.</div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-83438085192028079722010-01-05T06:57:00.000-08:002010-01-05T07:21:45.654-08:00Bewitching Simplicity and Abundant Grace--Belated Bonnets<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NYNsjTguI/AAAAAAAAAYY/Osmk2R1tyA4/s200/DSCN0447.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275368604992226" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NYOJQRTqI/AAAAAAAAAYo/4KlIm-EnFbU/s1600-h/DSCN0452.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NYOJQRTqI/AAAAAAAAAYo/4KlIm-EnFbU/s200/DSCN0452.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275376309784226" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NYNyV51dI/AAAAAAAAAYg/NXELTDYs-w8/s200/DSCN0448.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275370159396306" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NYNZxQGQI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/fsZtK7sAW9A/s1600-h/DSCN0445.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NYNZxQGQI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/fsZtK7sAW9A/s200/DSCN0445.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275363563215106" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NX_wENHCI/AAAAAAAAAX4/vO4lmDhyi7E/s1600-h/DSCN0442.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NX_wENHCI/AAAAAAAAAX4/vO4lmDhyi7E/s200/DSCN0442.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275129030122530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NX_kLhHhI/AAAAAAAAAXw/CRV64qEfwQQ/s1600-h/DSCN0440.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NX_kLhHhI/AAAAAAAAAXw/CRV64qEfwQQ/s200/DSCN0440.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275125839568402" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NX_TZFa3I/AAAAAAAAAXo/bcf_R9Aapes/s1600-h/DSCN0437.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/S0NX_TZFa3I/AAAAAAAAAXo/bcf_R9Aapes/s200/DSCN0437.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423275121333070706" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So I know I haven't posted in a little over a month and I certainly need to be working on that post which talks about my trip to Shirahama or my sneaky Christmas return to New York City to scare my friends silly (as I didn't say a word about actually coming home from Japan), but as I'm currently applying for a museum studies concentration at Smith, I thought I'd get my post up about my exhibit....only a few months late! I actually ended up losing a lot of the pictures and had a friend go back and take them. They're a decent representation of the completion of my internship with Kiki over the summer.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-85201776886630977262009-12-03T16:55:00.000-08:002009-12-03T17:22:32.686-08:00We Climb Mountains, Yes We Do!<div>Pictures shown: Himeji castle, fall foliage at Himeji castle, fall sakura at Himeji castle, Heian Jingu, twilight view from the top of Mt. Hiei, a child at Nagaoka-Tenmangu, tori (shrine gate) at Nagaoka-Tenmangu, a roof shingle at the Gosho (Imperial Palace in Kyoto), a screen painting of a crane at Gosho, Julia Becky and myself at Gosho, night view from Mt. Hiei.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sxhi5BUuQ4I/AAAAAAAAAXY/Sgx718QWeCM/s1600-h/IMG_2526.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sxhi5BUuQ4I/AAAAAAAAAXY/Sgx718QWeCM/s200/IMG_2526.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411183684033069954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiYOWX0_I/AAAAAAAAAXQ/CQ6uiZjgOk4/s1600-h/IMG_2506.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiYOWX0_I/AAAAAAAAAXQ/CQ6uiZjgOk4/s200/IMG_2506.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411183120593966066" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiXjkfZtI/AAAAAAAAAXI/QNosD4dwBXw/s200/IMG_2499.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411183109110458066" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 158px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiXWVDhEI/AAAAAAAAAXA/v9anI06CduY/s200/IMG_2367.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411183105556055106" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sxhj6eXkGGI/AAAAAAAAAXg/a_iLxKX4TeQ/s200/IMG_2212.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411184808521111650" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiWlx_DkI/AAAAAAAAAW4/CGwcAU7hZh0/s1600-h/IMG_2247.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiWlx_DkI/AAAAAAAAAW4/CGwcAU7hZh0/s200/IMG_2247.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411183092524060226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiWF-XpXI/AAAAAAAAAWw/ULiYTabLmq0/s1600-h/IMG_2235.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhiWF-XpXI/AAAAAAAAAWw/ULiYTabLmq0/s200/IMG_2235.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411183083986068850" /></a><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhfJSJNBJI/AAAAAAAAAWY/WeZsY7_nu7Q/s200/IMG_2145.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411179565379552402" /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhfIlPCGjI/AAAAAAAAAWI/75LX2VY9f1Y/s200/IMG_2098.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411179553324407346" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhfJGg5qZI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/-CoxsDNHZwg/s200/IMG_2100.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411179562257721746" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SxhfKKpXagI/AAAAAAAAAWo/rXIdVy6fyLw/s200/IMG_2223.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411179580546836994" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Well goodness gracious me! I’ve just looked at my last post only to find that the last time I posted was before climbing Mt. Hiei. If that’s the case then I am most certainly lackluster about new posts and this time more so than usual! Once one settles into a routine, it seems, it becomes easy to forget to update ones blog. Alas. Luckily I’ve got plenty of pictures to remind me exactly what I’ve been up to for the past three weeks or so…a month? More? I’m bad.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before ascending Hiei, a few friends of mine and I took advantage of the Imperial Palace across from Doshisha being open to the public. While being foreigners gives us the advantage of being able to waltz in nearly unannounced whenever we please, it was nevertheless enjoyable to crush ourselves into the throng of Kyoto-ites and other such tourists itching to view what lies beyond the somewhat foreboding walls of the Gosho. Once we made it past the somewhat lax bag check, we clamored on in to view the extensive grounds, which seem so much more spacious than what the walls surrounding it suggest. Of course, as it can take a good twenty minutes to walk around them, it is perhaps no wonder.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The interior is well kept, especially for the big event. The pillars are painted a stark red and many scrolls and items of import such as armor or musical instruments were displayed about. Interior screens depicting a number of art styles could also be seen. Simple black lines on white paper suggested cranes and other paintings were similar to those of Nijo Castle, elaborate paint and gold stark against cool colored woods. The gardens are also quite neat, small bridges offset by large, old trees, arching forward over the calm, clear pond waters. Even in the crowd, the entire palace held a certain amount of austerity and quiet. After a little over an hour of wandering about, we had grown tired of the periodic rain and vowed to return on another day to view the extensive gardens we were unable to make time for.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A few days later, on our day off, we made our ascent of Mt. Hiei. Emperor Kammu chose Kyoto as a location for the capital in 795 because of its protective mountains. Not only a perfect Zen capital in the days of Heian-Kyo, the mountains served to protect the prosperous court. Mt. Hiei is one such mountain along with Kurama, which we climbed a post ago! It takes a great amount of time to reach the peak, especially when taking ones time. There has also been a history of marathon monks, who climb the mountain day and night, with only a few hours of sleep in between, for years. Just one climb was certainly enough for me for a while. After starting out on rough terrain for quite some time, one makes it to a series of stairs, which prove even more difficult to climb. It is by far not the most difficult mountain to climb, but perhaps next time better shoes than Converse are in order! Once reaching the top, we enjoyed our lunch outside, freezing our poor little noses off, as it was absolutely glacial, and then heading into the café for some tea and soup. It was, admittedly, a little strange to find a lovely flower garden and café at the top of a mountain, which we had been climbing with vivacity and vigor and dirt and mud for the past few hours, but a little civilization was also a relief.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The view offered from Hiei was absolutely spectacular. To one side is Lake Biwa and to the other one can see Osaka far in the distance. The nice warm watchtower located at the top improves the view. We ended up taking the cable car down, as it was getting dark after we had visited the temples located on the far side of the mountain from Kyoto. In these temples can be found the Zoroastrian eternal flame and very, very cold floors on your sock clad feet! They were quite beautiful—alas no pictures were permitted—and there was a huge bell patrons may ring.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A week or so later a few friends and I then headed to Nagaoka-Tenmangu, another temple located in Nagaoka-Kyo by my house. This temple in particular is known for its relationship to education, and if someone desperately wishes to pass an exam or do well in school, they come to pray at Nagaoka-Tenmangu. As far as size, it is not the most impressive temple in Kyoto I have been to, but its location is absolutely stunning. Set against the mountains and near the Nagaoka-Tenjin stop on the Hankyu, to get to the temple from the avenue, one must traverse a large bridge spanning a clear reservoir-like lake. Passing under a large stone tori-gate, one enters the temple complex. We had gone on a day where parents take their three or five year old children to shrines or temples, dressed to the nines, and pray. Thus there were children everywhere, the girls in flashy furisode and the boys taking cool stances as samurai. They were absolutely adorable!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With a bit of shame I admit that far too many days went by before I took advantage of living in a city like Kyoto. At the beginning of fall break, I headed out with a few friends to see Heian-Jingu. Unfortunately we took too much time in getting there and they were half an hour away from closing when we did indeed arrive, but after a short while there, we decided that it was perhaps a little more kitschy than we were accustomed to. Thus we headed off in the direction of Kodaiji for a temple light up. Light ups are really big in Kyoto during the fall season, the powerful lights meant to accentuate the beauty of both the temple structures and their juxtaposition with the fall foliage. As a result of their popularity, the lines to enter temples during these times are incredibly long, some requiring hours of waiting. Of course, my host mom provided me with four tickets to a temple light up, allowing us to skip past the line! As far as experiences go, it was most certainly an interesting one. While I am prone to taking hoardes of photos at every place I go, taking photos in the dark is particularly difficult, even with powerful lights highlighting the trees and the flash on my camera. And thus I was contented to put my camera away and simply enjoy the beauty of the temple and the amazing flow of people. The most notable moment was when we turned the corner to find the trees standing over a wonderfully clear pond, every detail of the night as clear as a mirror on the pond’s surface. Afterwards we went and shamelessly feasted on Italian food!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Later that week is when the real adventure portion of the vacation begins…but I’m exhausted and this post is getting long! Thus I will write the next three events over the weekend and post more on Monday! Coming up: Vacationing in sunny Shirahama, getting spirited away at Fushimi Inari, and visiting monks in Mibu! There are pandas involved.</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-854847060444663992009-11-01T19:57:00.000-08:002009-11-01T20:17:20.363-08:00Japan is Backwards Land and the Land of What?Photos: Path at Mt Kurama, view of mountains, climbing the walls at Nijo Castle, Nijo Castle, Nara Period princess, Heian Princesses, demon child, success! climbing Daimonji, The Golden Pavilion.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5cFQQ-z-I/AAAAAAAAAWA/I9T2ODLMpVA/s1600-h/IMG_2080.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5cFQQ-z-I/AAAAAAAAAWA/I9T2ODLMpVA/s200/IMG_2080.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399354248599097314" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5cFN4QwlI/AAAAAAAAAV4/H59vOjjUcsE/s200/IMG_2045.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399354247958544978" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5cEmQIa1I/AAAAAAAAAVw/mgY25e59zZo/s200/IMG_2015.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399354237321243474" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5cEfL37rI/AAAAAAAAAVo/08cjSznqCAg/s1600-h/IMG_1982.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5cEfL37rI/AAAAAAAAAVo/08cjSznqCAg/s200/IMG_1982.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399354235424337586" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a2laZsDI/AAAAAAAAAVg/29x0KaBiBPc/s1600-h/IMG_1906.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a2laZsDI/AAAAAAAAAVg/29x0KaBiBPc/s200/IMG_1906.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399352897066086450" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a2DqToGI/AAAAAAAAAVY/PVntLj7ORaE/s200/IMG_1867.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399352888005992546" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a13BYpAI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/d-im6DnfNjs/s200/IMG_1860.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399352884613129218" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a1RSZi5I/AAAAAAAAAVI/f971-soEWJU/s200/IMG_1822.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399352874483944338" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a05wrZtI/AAAAAAAAAVA/oirNRm0_lG4/s1600-h/IMG_1788.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Su5a05wrZtI/AAAAAAAAAVA/oirNRm0_lG4/s200/IMG_1788.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399352868168492754" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Everything in Japan seems to be backwards from America. You get on the back of the bus and exit the front. Everyone drives on the left side of the road. Escalators are never going in the direction you’ve naturally grown to expect them to. They read books from right to left! Anyway, there’s my bit of wisdom for the day. Since I wrote, I’ve fallen madly in love with meat buns from Family Mart. This is a Bad Thing because they’re Very Fattening. Ah, well.<br /><br />So on Monday afternoon two weeks ago Julia C and I headed out from the Doshisha campus, determined to enjoy a thoroughly sunny and warm day. We decided to explore the Golden Pavilion, figuring that it wouldn’t be too full on a week day. Boy were we wrong! I’m assuming that as it’s such a beautiful and famous location, it’s constantly chock-full of tourists. That didn’t stop us from getting the same glorious picture everyone and their mom has managed to snap, free of people in colorful Hawaiian shirts and sun block clad noses. The entire complex is gorgeous to say the least, and does not simply consist of the aptly named Golden Pavilion, which I suppose is really just a very big tea house. It’s been renovated since it was originally built by Yoshimitsu in the Ashikaga period of Japan. The complex originally boasted a great series of buildings, but only the Golden Pavilion stands today. Additionally, it was partially burned down at some point, but has of course been renovated back to its original beauty.<br /><br />Afterwards we hopped on a bus to Nijo Castle, where many a shogun spent his days in the Edo period. Alas pictures cannot be taken within the breathtaking building that is the castle itself, made up of meeting rooms, libraries, arms rooms—though all now cleared. Every room has elaborately painted shoji screens and sprawling tatami floors. Surrounding every room is the famous nightingale floor, which squeaks when walked upon. Unfortunately it’s seen so many tourists and groups of middle schoolers that it no longer has what I’m sure was the amazing effect of catching the footfall of every passerby. That was, indeed, the reason the floor was built, so that the shogun might hear assassins.<br /><br />On Tuesday afternoon I began kimono wearing lessons. I originally had wanted to take kimono sewing lessons, but as that went right out, I opted for the next best thing. I find it’s sort of a kitschy thing for a foreigner in Japan to be doing, but I suppose it’ll prove to be a handy skill perhaps at least once in my life. I am taking the lessons from Mamiko’s host mother, who is a good teacher…though she keeps inadvertently calling me fat and tall…neither of which I happen to be in America! I’ve taken two lessons and can now successfully get everything on except the obi, which she claims is faster than most Japanese people, however I don’t think I believe her!<br /><br />On Wednesday we went to Sanjusangen-do, where I’ve been before to see the 1001 statues of the god Kwannon Buddha. After that we went climbing up Daimonji, the mountain with the kanji for “big” written on it. They set it on fire every August because Japan is crazy like that. Though not a particularly arduous hike, I found myself out of breath after about thirty minutes…guess I need to go running more often! It really was worth it, climbing to the top of the mountain just as the sun was setting. We stayed at the top for about an hour, enjoying the sight of Kyoto at night. It was absolutely breathtaking…both literally and figuratively! Despite the exhaustion the next day, I was absolutely thrilled to have gone, especially after having scared the ever loving you-know-what out of most of the group by hiding behind trees in the dark and screaming at them!<br /><br />Lets see…that brings us to Thursday! Thursday was a particularly exciting day, having both the Jidai Matsuri—the festival of eras, and the fire festival on Mt. Kurama. I had originally intended attend both, but was too sleepy for Kurama. Thus Jenna and I headed off to the Jidai Matsuri during lunch, snapping as many photos as humanly possible. The Jidai Matsuri consists of a huge parade, which begins at Gosho—the Imperial Palace grounds across from Doshisha—and walks all the way to Heian Jingu, a Heian period shrine also in Kyoto. The parade begins with the Edo period, people riding horses in full costume, all the way back to the Nara period!<br /><br />Then I suppose the next order of business is less than a week from then, when our class headed up Mt. Kurama. There’s a lovely story about Mt. Kurama and Mt. Hiei and how the two mountains love each other but are separated by the Kamogawa River…but I’ll save that for after I climb Hiei on Tuesday! Anyway the path up is longer than Daimonji, but not nearly as hard. The weather was perfect and the trees were beautiful, as in that area of Kyoto, they are finally feeling the effects of fall. The day was cool, with patches of warm sun. The view from the top boasted rolling mountains, one after the other. The main shrine at the top is where Yoshitsune supposedly learned to fight from the tengu. In the main temple complex I lit an incense stick for my cousin who is being adopted from Congo. Then I prayed to Yoshitsune higher in the mountains in a place that is supposedly cursed. Anyway the most notable thing about the brochure for Kurama is the second paragraph which reads as follows:<br /><br />“More than six million years ago, Mao (the great king of the conquerors of evil and the spirit of the earth) descended upon Mr. Kurama from Venus, with the great mission of the salvation of mankind. Since then, Mao-son’s powerful spirit governing the development and the evolution not only of mankind but of all living things on Earth has been emanating from Mt. Kurama, and a priest named Gantei received the spiritual transmission.”<br /><br />What?<br /><br />Clearly this Buddhist god is Sailor Venus.<br /><br />Friday was not actually Halloween, but that's when we celebrated it! We went to an all you can eat, all you can drink pizza place. On Halloween I ended up just watching some movies with some friends and eating even more disgusting amounts of pizza.<br /><br />Anyway, this week I played it pretty easy other than the trek up Kurama. Had a few playdates and a sleepover…so mostly just relaxing, which a girl needs once in a while, even if she lives in Japan! Tuesday is a national holiday so our class voted to climb Mt. Hiei that particular day…because we clearly hate ourselves and would rather go mountain climbing than sleep in. Hey, I’m up for it! Friday is shopping at Uniqlo and Teramachi…so culturally important, I know :3<br /><br />Ti-eye-double-guh-err and ta-ta for now!<br /></div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-84755545481932134712009-10-18T18:11:00.000-07:002009-10-18T18:23:37.279-07:00Tokyo and a Genki Sort of MatsuriPictures shown: Flower in Nishi-Muko, Mikoshi in Fushimi, Host Mom singing Chinese poetry, Enterprise toy from Akihabara,crossing in Harajuku, bunny sundae from Madi Cafe in Akihabara, Mt. Fuji from Kamakura, Jenna and Nellie jumping at the Daibutsu in Kamakura, Daibutsu at Kamakura, Bay in Kamakura after the typhoon, Jenna Nellie and Julia on the Shinkansen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-14hRwKI/AAAAAAAAAU4/M-58bjd3YCw/s1600-h/IMG_1774.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-14hRwKI/AAAAAAAAAU4/M-58bjd3YCw/s200/IMG_1774.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394114811620606114" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-1QtclsI/AAAAAAAAAUw/a7ZTbJteHRE/s200/IMG_1728.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394114800934229698" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-fnYopbI/AAAAAAAAAUo/dsgnSTOjGKM/s200/IMG_1712.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394114429063833010" /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-eTP5nRI/AAAAAAAAAUY/r3VSDsiPyNM/s200/IMG_1704.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394114406478617874" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-dzRQjEI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/7LO-ERRqWug/s1600-h/IMG_1700.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-dzRQjEI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/7LO-ERRqWug/s200/IMG_1700.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394114397894380610" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-dIfCGVI/AAAAAAAAAUI/CWRjqgRCn7w/s1600-h/IMG_1695.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu-dIfCGVI/AAAAAAAAAUI/CWRjqgRCn7w/s200/IMG_1695.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394114386409429330" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9gG0Wm_I/AAAAAAAAAUA/HPlk4W9CkEs/s1600-h/IMG_1623.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9gG0Wm_I/AAAAAAAAAUA/HPlk4W9CkEs/s200/IMG_1623.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394113337989962738" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9fqlRXHI/AAAAAAAAAT4/lmJYP8w21zo/s200/IMG_1550.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394113330410511474" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9fHjW7oI/AAAAAAAAATw/ImPW97kWAq0/s200/IMG_1540.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394113321007246978" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9et61T_I/AAAAAAAAATo/ujaE-_4SGJw/s1600-h/IMG_1532.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9et61T_I/AAAAAAAAATo/ujaE-_4SGJw/s200/IMG_1532.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394113314126385138" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9d_hbpmI/AAAAAAAAATg/Yx6vmqN3Z8s/s1600-h/IMG_1525.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Stu9d_hbpmI/AAAAAAAAATg/Yx6vmqN3Z8s/s200/IMG_1525.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394113301671814754" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Failtastic at updating my blog as usual. Last week AKP as a group headed off for our fall field trip. It was touch and go as far as actually going to Tokyo due to a large and rather forceful typhoon that clung heartily to Japan from Kyushuu all the way up to Hokkaido. The night before we were to leave, the typhoon hit Kyoto. Even with the metal storm blinds covering up my windows, I could hear the wind howling and the house shook! It really was quite an impressive show. The next morning I awoke bright and early in order to make it to the shinkansen (bullet train). However, my host family was as pessimistic as they had been the night before, telling me that the trains would most likely not be running and we’d never make it to Tokyo. HA! I showed them. Prepared to brave the crazy winds we felt at the Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center, I lugged my suitcase out the door to discover that the typhoon was all bark and no bite!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Shinkansen eventually left—only ten minutes late, actually—and we were off not only towards Tokyo, but towards a weekend of impeccable weather, which I hear generally follows a typhoon. As soon as we left Kyoto we were privy to gorgeous fluffy clouds, clear blue skies, and a whole lot of sunshine. Exiting the shinkansen, we got on a group bus and headed—very slowly—to Kamakura to see the daibutsu, the third largest statue of Buddha in Japan (the largest is in Nara). Afterwards we headed off on our bus to Yokohama for dinner in Chinatown before finally getting to our hotel in Ikebukuro, which is right by a very large and convenient train station in Tokyo. The station also boasts the two largest department stores in the world.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first night there mirrored our very first night in Kyoto. We arrived in the evening and were to go find dinner for ourselves, however this time we all knew each other and were, somehow, much more ready for bed than when we arrived in Kyoto after nearly twenty hours of travel! Tokyo feels very much like New York. It’s crammed full of people who all know where they need to be in the next ten minutes but have thirty minutes left to get there. It’s much dirtier than Kyoto and the fashions are most notably different. It was also, interestingly enough, much more difficult to find a Family Mart or Lawson convenience store! </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So to tell the truth, I spent the entirety of my time in Tokyo shopping! While many people went off to see the historical sites such as shrines, temples, and museums, I opted for the modernity Tokyo offers and had a great time! The first day I went off to a small department store in Shinjuku with an entire floor devoted to Gothic Lolita style. There I purchase a beautiful pair of pink combat boots from a famous designer label Baby, The Stars Shine Bright.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The second day Elspeth, Kyle, and I headed off to Akihabara to be a little creepy. We first went into Yodobashi Camera, a somewhat famous nerd emporium. This store has almost anything you can think of. Cameras, dishwashers, computers, everything. This includes an entire floor devoted to things of the nerdy persuasion. After emptying our purses of coins at the gashapon (small capsule toys) machines, we went off in search of a maid. They stand on the streets and hand out advertisements for the cafes they work at. So yes, Elspeth, Kyle, and myself, went to a maid café. For me at least it was a little creepy, but when we entered the café and found that it wasn’t chock full of gross old men there to be pervy at the super adorable maids, I got a bit more comfortable. It’s hard to exactly describe what a maid café is other than it’s a café…with cute maids! They take care of your every need and pay close attention to your likes and dislikes. The maid that lead us to the café had been talking to Elspeth about Evangelion and thus played the theme song from the show as soon as we sat down! At first a large group of friends were a little wary of we foreigners, but warmed up to us the moment they realized the song was for us. Anyway so I ordered a coffee and a bunny sundae. When the coffee came, our maid poured in the milk and sugar and had us sing a song to make it delicious! They do this with everything you order.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Afterwards we went to Shibuya for some quick shopping before having to hop back on the subway to make it in time for the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. We only had a day and a half to explore Tokyo so I’m hoping to get a chance to head back there and actually historical. I had a chance to go up in the Tokyo tower, but the elevator freaked me out, haha.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyway so the next day, despite my exhaustion, I went to see my host mother sing Chinese poetry. She’s incredibly good and looked so pretty in her kimono! The event was a neighborhood event for people to show off what they’ve been practicing, but she’ll be in a competition next month, which I’m looking forward to. As I emailed my friend during the event, our old people in sit around playing bingo and in Japan, they sing poetry! Ok, so that’s not true of everyone. In fact, my old people (hi grandpaaaa) are pretty BA and travel the world. But, hey.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After her event, I hurried to the train and met Julia, Mamiko, and Kyle for a matsuri (festival) in Fushimi. It’s the first night festival I’ve been to and I absolutely loved it! We walked around a bunch, purchasing random foods. First I had half a corn, slathered in butter and grilled to perfection. Next up were candied strawberries. Then a chocolate strawberry crepe and some takoyaki! It’s a wonder I’ve lost 5 lbs. We then headed off to see the mikoshi. A mikoshi is a large wooden structure which houses kami-sama (god). Every festival, lots of genki (energetic) men work to carry the mikoshi, which weighs a ton—literally—from on place to the other, chanting the whole way. The mikoshi is a huge procession of those switching off carrying it, those chanting and dancing, and those watching. All walk towards the temple, where they then replace kami-sama until the next festival! The mikoshi is covered in bells so when they walk and jostle it, it makes a wonderful loud rhythm to chant to. The energy of the crowd is absolutely electrifying and most definitely contagious. We then went for dinner at Julia’s house, which was delicious!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday we went off on our usual weekly field trip to a few temples and a gravesite which I have of course forgotten the names or significances of…One was a shrine of the Hata Clan which has a possible Christian relation due to the three Tori connected in a triangle. At that shrine I prayed to Inari and not two minutes later found a pretty little bracelet on the ground. My host mother says it’s a gift from Inari and whether or not that’s the case, I’ve been wearing it every day!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The rest of this week I’ve been trying to get in some relaxation and I’m still sleeping quite a bit, recovering from Tokyo adventures! Yesterday was lazily spent getting a haircut and then watching movies with Mamiko. Getting a haircut was certainly a harrowing experience. I hardly speak hairdresser in the United States, let alone in Japan! The hairdresser is only four houses down from here and it’s so homey that despite walking by it every day, I had no idea it was there! It is run by a older couple who, after considerably mental stress, I decided know what they’re doing, even though Western hair seems to have perplexed them! The woman was absolutely lovely and really knew how to handle a customer. She didn’t even blink an eye at me when I entered with my host mother. Her husband on the other hand was somewhat taken aback by seeing a foreigner in his shop, which I can totally understand. How many foreigners can they possibly get in a small shop like that? After chatting with the husband about Japanese food in the US and how I had been to the Onshukai, he disappeared into the back before appearing once more with an absolutely gorgeous red lacquered fan in hand, which he then offered to me as a gift! Every so often I find myself getting annoyed with the somewhat awkward treatment of foreigners in Japan and then someone will do something so surprising… Not to say that gifts are necessary to make amends, but I suppose the gesture was the same as chatting with the couple at Daikakuji a week or so ago.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This week we’re supposed to be climbing Daimonji AFTER our usual field trip around Kyoto, so there are sure to be some adventures to write about next weekend! Plans for next weekend are tentatively: Nijo Castle, Nara, The Tale of Genji museum in Uji, Fushimi Inari.</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-39305792908063845472009-10-04T21:48:00.000-07:002009-10-04T22:02:54.469-07:00Longest Entry Yet pt.2Pictures: first dance (maiko), screen in the theater close-up, 1/3 of the screen.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl9yFwgb1I/AAAAAAAAATY/VAMxcUZ-gg0/s1600-h/IMG_1429.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl9yFwgb1I/AAAAAAAAATY/VAMxcUZ-gg0/s200/IMG_1429.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388976728618069842" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl9xo9fl4I/AAAAAAAAATQ/gZUiC8Frb1g/s200/IMG_1428.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388976720887912322" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl9xOmW-JI/AAAAAAAAATI/OXqSrnCb5IA/s200/IMG_1415.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388976713811556498" /><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">This event is, for the maiko and geiko is an advertisement for customers, and as a result, pay to be in the event, not the other way around. Every maiko and geiko in Gion is taught under the tutelage of one teacher and one style of dance, which allows them to dance in the same event, despite being from different houses. The patrons are also greatly varied. With tiered pricing, we poor college students were in the back, where ten patrons squish into small cushioned platforms. The section before that is reserved seating on the second floor. Then there are the orchestra seats and balcony seating. Though it may at times be difficult to see from the very top, it was a great experience to not only view those dancing, but also those watching. Some patrons brought geiko and maiko as their guests. One man even brought three maiko and one geiko with him. Lizzy suggested that this practice is simply to show off wealth, and I’m quite inclined to agree. Once in a while I would glance over at the women to see if they acted any differently when they thought no one was looking, and once in a while I thought I’d caught them, but to no avail! It was adorable, though, to see them drinking little juice boxes when the lights were out!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The first act was all maiko and I’m pretty sure served the purpose of simply showing off the dancers’ beauty and skill in simple graceful movements. They all wore the most formal of maiko dress, black kimono (furisode to be exact—long sleeves) with varying golden patterns at the hem of the garments as well as beautiful flowing gold patterned obi. I managed to snag two pictures of this act before the man next to me started yelling at me to stop in Japanese, haha!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The second act was (I think) made up of geiko. They were dressed as fisher women in blue kimono with red kimono underneath. This was a very aggressive dance and probably was my favorite. Never before have I seen color, motion, sound, and music match up in quite this fashion in Japanese theater. The women stomped their geta (wooden sandals) in time with the music and waved long white cloth strips. All the music in this production was played or sung by geiko, by the by.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The third act used a similar set, but suggested a different season by the addition of sakura trees. What surprised me the most was that one of the geiko was dressed as a man! Her motions were incredible, mirroring those of a man in a Kabuki setting, but also including the grace of a woman, suggesting the actual gender of the dancer. The plot was something along the lines of a fisherwoman with her boat sees a couple coming along. They talk and pray to Buddha (Pure Land Buddhism) and the sky begins to rumble and darken, a demon is coming. Eventually a kitsune (fox) comes along and impersonates the female of the couple, confusing the fisherwoman, the man, and of course the young woman. The couple is overcome with grief as the man cannot figure out who the real woman is. He finally figures it out and as they try to leave, the fox keeps them apart. At this point the fisherwoman brings out a scroll with…a picture of a fish on it. I have no clue why there was a fish on it, but I’m guessing she invoked Amida, which repelled the fox. In an amazingly quick costume change on stage, the woman’s hair goes wild, and her red kimono underneath is revealed. After she is quelled the first time, the fox returns in yet another amazing costume change, this time off stage and incredibly speedy. She returns and is again quelled by the power of Amida.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The fourth act took quite a different turn. Whereas the second and third acts were reminiscent of Kabuki, this act was decidedly Noh. The set mirrored that of a Noh stage, a beautiful multicolored silk curtain billowing up and down with every entrance and exit; two smaller pine trees leading up to a large, beautifully painted pine tree on the wall suggesting the spirit world. This time there were two geiko playing men. I thought at first that it was a play called Izutsu, but now I’m sure it’s not…I’ll have to do some quick research on that. I know I’ve read the play they did before, I just can’t remember what it’s called! Anyway the costumes were very reminiscent of Noh and the womens’ costumes were almost identical to those of the actual Noh play. The props were minimal, a stool for the priest character and a large frame to represent a well, which was brought out and then taken away by a single geiko. The most interesting part for me was to see the difference between a Noh master performing the proper way to walk and someone attempting to do it without the necessary years of training. I finally got to see and also appreciate the subtlety of motion in Noh. The faces were also a wonderful part. Every maiko had her face painted like a Noh mask and they kept their faces so still that I forgot they weren’t wearing masks a few times!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The fifth act was most definitely not my favorite. This could’ve been because my knees had begun to hurt or sitting through Noh, even if they play is sped up by about three hours, is tough. Anyway it was a solo, and the maiko was so nervous her hand was shaking! She did very well despite the nervousness, though. She was in a very simple set, rice paper doors behind her and a spotlight on her suggesting the moon. She read from a scroll and her motions all indicated her sadness, most likely at losing her lover.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The sixth and final act was entirely of women in men’s costumes. If you can’t tell, I had a serious field day with that. In all my (fairly limited) experience with Japanese theater, the closest I’d found was Takarazuka, all female cast revues. This dance took place towards the end of the Edo period and concerned the Shinsengumi. Though the costumes were more feminine interpretations of the classic blue coat of a Shinsengumi member, the dye color and red lanterns they held upon entering immediately brought the image to mind. The dance was very detailed, involving an impressive number of props including the red lanterns, dragons, cloths, and fans.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">With the exception of the solo and Noh segments, I noticed a lot of opposing motion. Alternately in a row, some women would stand while others crouched and they would quickly switch off. When utilizing their more flowing cloth props, they would wave them in opposite directions.</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-70457955477403607042009-10-04T21:42:00.000-07:002009-10-04T22:03:40.163-07:00Longest Entry Yet pt. 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl8pHt5nsI/AAAAAAAAATA/iw8Rp9OkRoo/s1600-h/IMG_1518.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl8pHt5nsI/AAAAAAAAATA/iw8Rp9OkRoo/s200/IMG_1518.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388975475013557954" /></a>Pictures: Moon from Daikakuji, Screen inside temple, traditional women's Heian dress, temple at Daikakuji, train stapler!, maiko>geiko fans in cafe in Gion, crossing the Kamogawa!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl8orBytKI/AAAAAAAAAS4/M5ZgR6qfJbc/s1600-h/IMG_1496.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl8orBytKI/AAAAAAAAAS4/M5ZgR6qfJbc/s200/IMG_1496.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388975467312362658" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl8oeRJopI/AAAAAAAAASw/4_dUf_up234/s200/IMG_1493.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388975463887118994" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl7FiAJnLI/AAAAAAAAASo/Zx5g8HHAxcw/s1600-h/IMG_1463.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl7FiAJnLI/AAAAAAAAASo/Zx5g8HHAxcw/s200/IMG_1463.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388973764082506930" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl6uGzgvgI/AAAAAAAAASA/xj8ONgG3qDg/s200/IMG_1399.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388973361644748290" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl6v3GiAjI/AAAAAAAAASY/e5j99j54mP8/s200/IMG_1411.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388973391789294130" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl6uqv9kTI/AAAAAAAAASI/niONY69WfLc/s1600-h/IMG_1400.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Ssl6uqv9kTI/AAAAAAAAASI/niONY69WfLc/s200/IMG_1400.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388973371293536562" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So the past few weeks since writing my last blog entry (which are roughly a week longer than I’m willing to admit!) have been somewhat dull, and blissfully so. Due to rain on both Wednesday and Friday, we were unable to make our weekly field trip in The History of Kyoto and instead watched an…interesting movie (re: glorified slash fan fiction) on the Shinsengumi, the police force of the Bakufu during the Edo period. Interestingly enough, they were actually stationed at Komyouji temple, where Jenna, Kyle and I went not a few weeks ago! It was completely unbeknownst to us—this is not a fact the temple likes to promote—and so we fully intend to return in the spring and take appropriate photos! Interestingly enough, the steps we walked on were actually in the film. The three of us were excited to say the least.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Friday held the usual lazy festivities. We went to a restaurant called Donguri, which has mostly okonomiyaki (Japanese “pizza”) but I ended up having sukiyaki, which was equally delicious! I suggest this restaurant to anyone going to Japan simply for tourism, especially if you don’t really speak Japanese. Though Kyoto is a tourist city, not every restaurant is English friendly (obviously, and why would we expect them to be?). Anyway, their staff doesn’t speak English, but they have an English menu!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Afterwards, our group headed off to Lipton, a tea and cake restaurant somewhat further down Karasuma, but Becky, Patrick and I went to the Kamogawa River and sat on tarps (it had rained considerably that day) until we got tired and went home! Nice and relaxing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Saturday was incredibly busy once more! Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing too much, but I always feel fine after a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home. Anyway, first stop was the Cosmopolitan Club, a club run by Doshisha students who want to make international friends. Unfortunately for their international friends who want to make Japanese friends, there are far more international students than Japanese students. The club proves to be fun anyway!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Before adventuring, we all got lunch at the convenience store by the Kamogawa River near the Keihan railway and hopped across the river stones to the middle for some tasty food! I was wearing tights but stood for a while with my feet in the river. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the water felt wonderful!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Anyway, so the Cosmo-Club explores cool places in Kyoto and yesterday we went to Sanjusangen-do, a temple which houses one thousand and one statues of Kannon Buddha. On paper it sounds impressive, sure, but not nearly as impressive as actually being in their awe-inspiring presence! They stand in an equally impressive temple, which is nearly as old as they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The original collection was built in the 1100s, during the decline of Buddha. Buddhism has three stages and the decline happened in the Kamakura period of Japan (this is after the Heian period and before the Ashikaga Muromachi period). Kyoto especially felt the wrath of this decline, experiencing earthquakes and devastating fires throughout the period. In one such fire, the majority of the collection was either damaged or fully burned away and was rebuilt or restored in the 1200s along with the temple. The temple, too, is impressive. Built like any other temple or pagoda in Japan, the slats of the roof are built to slide and rock with the motion of an earthquake, thus protecting the national treasures within.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">But what is most fascinating yet is that I did not learn any of this from the pamphlets or plaques, but from an ojii-san (old man) who called us over while we were walking through the temple! He has been studying English for five years and he told us all about the temple, it’s reconstruction, the Kannon Buddha’s, etc. Firstly he urged us to remember, if anything, two facts. The first is that the name of the god is Kannon Buddha. The second is that the oldest of the collection—the ones which survived the fire—are eight hundred and fifty years old. They are made out of Japanese cypress and were constructed separately. He told us that because some of them are hollow, more than a few carry sutras, hidden away inside their stomachs. I am constantly amazed at what you can learn if you really pay attention!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">I had to jet out not forty minutes after arriving, however, because I was to meet up with Lizzy, a friend of mine from Smith who is studying at Nanzan University in Nagoya—about an hour by bullet train from Kyoto—to attend the Onshukai in Gion. This event is held once a year, each year with a different theme, and mirrors the Maiko Odori in the Spring. Maiko and Geiko perform a number of dances or plays. Unfortunately English separates the two and so it can be difficult to imagine, but in Japanese theater, the two are very closely related. If you know anything about Noh, Kabuki, Bunraku, Kyogen, Bon Odori, or a combination of any of these, you know that there is at least a little bit of dancing, if not dance movement in them, as well as elements of plays and ancient stories.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Part Two--details of the Onshukai-- can be found here:http://agingerinwonderland.blogspot.com/2009/10/longest-entry-yet-pt2.html</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">After attending this performance there’s no way I can’t at least try to get tickets for the Maiko Odori in spring! There are seriously juicy tidbits regarding the invention of that particular event, so I suppose…look forward to it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Anyway, since doing only two cultural things in one day is clearly not enough, Lizzy and I met up with Carolyn and Julia and headed off to Daikakuji Temple near Arashiyama for the Tsukimi Matsuri (moon viewing festival). The temple has a large lake on which they have boats with little red lanterns for moon viewing. Very Heian period. Anyway the line for the boat was way too long so we instead explored the temple. First we grabbed some takoyaki (octopus inside a dough ball…mmm), yakisoba (pan fried soba noodles with meat), and dango (sweet chewy dough balls). All were absolutely delicious!! After that we explored the temple complex, which is absolutely gorgeous and dates back to 876AD. It was the palace of Emperor Saga and he eventually designated it as a temple for the Kobo Dashi sect of Buddhism. The building itself has actually been moved to its current location. The complex is absolutely gorgeous at night, especially lit up at night during a special festival!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">It took us a while, but we eventually found the moon! It was a perfect night for moon viewing with somewhat mysterious clouds covering it up once in a while. The air was cool, but not brisk, and I managed to find some nice gifts for my host family, which they really seemed to like.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall it was a wonderful but absolutely exhausting day. I ended up sleeping until 11:45 the next day, today, that is. So far my current plan for the day has been holding fast: DO NOTHING. I’ve been sitting here writing my blog and soon I’ll get some studying in if I feel like it! Other than that, I’m going to be as much of a lump as I can.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Thursday we are heading off to Tokyo so there will most likely be another large post the following Monday if I’m not too exhausted to actually write it!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Also, still famous. A woman at the little café Lizzy and I went to in Gion recognized me from NHK. HAHA.</p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-77746055034351954802009-09-28T19:06:00.000-07:002009-09-28T19:28:20.255-07:00Five Day Weekend Fun! (Guess who sucks at updating in a timely fashion!)Pictures: Bamboo masonry on street dating back to the Muromachi period, Sakura manhole cover, Miyazaki land, Miyazaki land field, crane, trees at Yasaka Shrine, view of Kiyomizu and Kyoto Tower, view of Kiyomizu Temple, Geiko in Gion, Matcha soft serve (nom!), Geiko in Gion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFu4dWofDI/AAAAAAAAAR4/Cashbip7Hto/s1600-h/IMG_0955.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFu4dWofDI/AAAAAAAAAR4/Cashbip7Hto/s200/IMG_0955.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386708545543109682" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuwStgOgI/AAAAAAAAARw/QkHJeVS4DyU/s200/IMG_0956.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386708405247293954" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuvxnBJyI/AAAAAAAAARo/jG05otFTDDA/s200/IMG_0982.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386708396361721634" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuvTvLCRI/AAAAAAAAARg/QLXvhi12Ids/s1600-h/IMG_1006.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuvTvLCRI/AAAAAAAAARg/QLXvhi12Ids/s200/IMG_1006.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386708388342860050" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuuz4ZjhI/AAAAAAAAARY/bWysQtLtGN0/s1600-h/IMG_1012.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuuz4ZjhI/AAAAAAAAARY/bWysQtLtGN0/s200/IMG_1012.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386708379791625746" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuuSnSaLI/AAAAAAAAARQ/y-jjBfpBo8s/s1600-h/IMG_1037.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFuuSnSaLI/AAAAAAAAARQ/y-jjBfpBo8s/s200/IMG_1037.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386708370861484210" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtxf2RkzI/AAAAAAAAARI/u-laZZ2IDt8/s1600-h/IMG_1064.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtxf2RkzI/AAAAAAAAARI/u-laZZ2IDt8/s200/IMG_1064.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386707326441984818" /></a><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtw-AwunI/AAAAAAAAARA/SVwkUG03eoE/s200/IMG_1106.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386707317359164018" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtv7-T-UI/AAAAAAAAAQw/haszW0I14Tc/s200/IMG_1123.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386707299632150850" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtwTvBUSI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/c0GU3h5tNAw/s200/IMG_1116.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386707306010464546" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtvR5I33I/AAAAAAAAAQo/aCPi_NJp3xc/s1600-h/IMG_1124.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SsFtvR5I33I/AAAAAAAAAQo/aCPi_NJp3xc/s200/IMG_1124.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386707288336162674" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> The weather being sunny and warm, we headed out on Wednesday afternoon with David, our History of Kyoto professor, to see the sights and learn about them historically. We first went to the Yasaka Shrine which is in Gion, the district of Kyoto most associated with Geisha, or as they call them in Kyoto, Geiko. We saw two girls who, at first, appeared to be maiko—lower ranking geisha—but their kimono and hair turned out to be incorrect. Thus we wandered away from Yasaka Shrine and trekked first up to Ryozen Kwannon, A Tribute to The Unknown Solider. It is a (somewhat kitschy) World War II memorial with a large Kwannon statue that looks like stone, but is actually metal and hollow. One can walk through it and view small statues of each of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. In another building is a collection of note cards written in Japanese and English of the names of American and Japanese soldiers as well as those who died in work camps during World War II. From there we walked to the Kiyomizu Temple, a large temple propped on the side of a mountain. The view is incredible to say the least. From there you can see both Toji Temple and Kyoto Tower as well as a large expanse of the city and the mountains on the other side. Kyoto is surrounded my mountains so it seems to me that a decent view is to be found as just about every corner.<br /><br />After leaving Kiyomizu, Jenna, Kyle, and myself met up with Lizzy, a friend of mine from Smith who is currently attending Nanzen in Nagoya. With her we met the “usuals” who geisha hunt. Essentially these people come by after work or whatnot and snag pictures of geiko and maiko on their way to appointments. Some are more intense than others, such as the self-proclaimed geisha paparazzi, a man who gets closer than necessary to get the perfect shot. He apparently has a website somewhere. Anyway, some of the maiko and geisha are happy to have their photos taken, however, others are less than pleased to be followed by the cameras. I managed to get a few pictures, but once the sun began to set, getting a shot of quality becomes difficult; the flash cheapens the vibrant kimono colors.<br /><br />Friday night everyone was feeling a little homesick and so we set out to find an Irish Pub. Kyoto certainly delivered and we found a pub with Guinness on tap, beef stew, and apple pie. This of course created our new phrase, “when we’re feeling homesick, we’ll come here…to Ireland!”<br /><br />Saturday we headed to a shrine near Doshisha for a festival. It was somewhat small and because we had missed the opening ceremony, wasn't as hopping as we thought it might be. In addition the Kyogen theater wouldn’t be till the next day. Ah, well. We were treated to a practice round of the archery competition that would come later in the day.<br /><br />Today we went to the Toji Temple market, which occurs once a month. Tons of vendors show up to sell fresh vegetables, delicious smelling octopus balls, handmade wares, old dolls, kimono, obi, and other such whatnots. While I went to find old dolls, I ended up only getting kimono! One is a gift so I won’t be posting a picture of it, but the other is above lookin’ sexy. I call it my Tim Burton kimono. It was cheap so I have no problems with turning it into a bustle! I also got two obi. One is red with a nice pattern and I intent to display it on my dorm room wall next year. The other is an obi that matches the Tim Burton Kimono in no way at all, but I’ll be wearing them together anyway. It is my David Bowie obi because the colors and fabric remind me of Ziggy Stardust. Hopefully there will be more dolls on display next month!<br /><br />Weather permitting we’ll be heading off to Arashiyama for the day on Wednesday. This weekend we’ll hopefully make it to Nara to chill with the Daibutsu and the squeaky deer.<br /></div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-49829774065671765302009-09-16T22:06:00.000-07:002009-09-16T22:41:13.580-07:00Exploration and EarthquakesPictures: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHLC7sSX1I/AAAAAAAAAP4/AFoGPK6m2D4/s1600-h/IMG_0935.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHLC7sSX1I/AAAAAAAAAP4/AFoGPK6m2D4/s200/IMG_0935.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382306280928075602" /></a>Man in fish tank in Umeda Station, Osaka; Pokemon Center in Osaka; strong wind room at the Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center; Earthquake experience room at the Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center; Jumping at the Imperial Palace, Kyoto; Officer Jenny teaching us a bicycle workshop; View of mountain from the Imperial Palace, Kyoto.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHLCRQK5JI/AAAAAAAAAPw/HyaD-qCNMns/s1600-h/IMG_0930.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHLCRQK5JI/AAAAAAAAAPw/HyaD-qCNMns/s200/IMG_0930.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382306269535855762" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHLB--1GDI/AAAAAAAAAPo/zqFr86eYpTQ/s1600-h/IMG_0928.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHLB--1GDI/AAAAAAAAAPo/zqFr86eYpTQ/s200/IMG_0928.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382306264631285810" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKnHVMqJI/AAAAAAAAAPY/b8VlJlGWN9w/s1600-h/IMG_0894.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKnHVMqJI/AAAAAAAAAPY/b8VlJlGWN9w/s200/IMG_0894.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382305803016120466" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKmloACrI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/isXghjEqJJU/s1600-h/IMG_0878.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKmloACrI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/isXghjEqJJU/s200/IMG_0878.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382305793968179890" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKmJcy1NI/AAAAAAAAAPI/1UGRmoJU4tc/s1600-h/IMG_0869.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKmJcy1NI/AAAAAAAAAPI/1UGRmoJU4tc/s200/IMG_0869.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382305786404984018" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKlUTO8DI/AAAAAAAAAPA/nKHolgOwiRU/s1600-h/IMG_0856.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKlUTO8DI/AAAAAAAAAPA/nKHolgOwiRU/s200/IMG_0856.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382305772137803826" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SrHKnmDwKaI/AAAAAAAAAPg/sKvph-Clrko/s200/IMG_0898.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382305811264448930" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Again my blog is updated belatedly, but this time it’s my fault! It’s easy to get caught up in life and not write anything immediately after the fact, especially if the fact happens to be a long day of walking, exploring, and general adventuring. These three things, especially the last, can result in a certain degree of discomfort. With the walking—especially when one becomes to dressing as though it’s February in August per appropriate Kyoto female attire—comes the sweating. Kyoto in September, which resembles a particularly warm New York mid-August, can be sunny but cool on some days but the next be cloudy and muggy. Kyoto residents of course do not seem to notice or perspire.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Exploration requires a pair of cushy shoes. Again in an attempt to emulate the residents of Kyoto, who appear to have a never-ending supply of beautiful and perfectly arranged clothing, I have forfeited, say, sneakers. Instead I prefer a slouchy pair of boots, which, for the most part, keep my feet content despite the humidity. Admittedly, a comfy pair of old sneakers would most likely better suit my tendency for temple tromping, but I digress </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Adventuring is my favorite bit, but can also be the most awkward, uncomfortable, and at times humiliating aspect to study abroad and especially life for a foreigner in Japan. No matter how hard one tries to keep quiet on the train or walk on the left side of the street, certain habits, as in any culture, are ingrained in the mind. An American is always taught to use their please-and-thank-yous, whereas in Japanese culture, greetings are more important. Sometimes it is even more important to know when to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">not </i>use them. One of my professors explained today that in France it is customary to greet the owner of the establishment you are entering as a means of thanking them for their service. In Japan, it is the other way around. The clerk is there to take care of you, and you must show them respect by allowing them to greet you. In Western culture, please-and-thank-yous focus on the individual goodness. By being polite, you are bettering yourself. By greeting others in Japan, it is for the comfort of others, not your own. Of course I am now painfully conscious of the number of times I have thanked or greeted clerks in Japan since my arrival!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once in a while, I admit, it is fun to play the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">gaijin</i> card. Just today I bypassed a line to go up the stairs on the left by plowing through on the right side! I of course do not intend to make a habit of it, but once in a while it is nice to earn the stares I get.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On to events! Thursday afternoon we headed off to the Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center as our language professors graded our language placement exams. The Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center was (if I remember correctly, which is always a gander) created after a huge earthquake struck Japan in the 90’s, taking many lives and homes with it. In the center, visitors are trained in how to deal with earthquakes, fires, typhoons, and Godzilla. Ok, so not Godzilla…but the running-away-from-a-large-sea-dwelling-dinosaur-simulation would be epic. The first simulation my group did was the earthquake simulation. In the simulation you sit at a table in a typical Japanese kitchen. When the room begins to shake, you leap under the table, latch on to one leg of the table with one hand and cover your head firmly with the other. Once the tremor subsides slightly, you go and turn off all the electronics in the room and open all available doors. You then leap back under the table and hold on until the quake is over. I took a video, but as the internet at Doshisha is somewhat wonky, I don’t think I will be able to post it for a while. Anyway, after that we went to the strong wind room where one dons goggles and experiences wind up to 33 km/hr winds similar to those of a typhoon. After that we headed up to a small set they have that resembles the hallways of a hotel. They fill the room with non-toxic smoke (that is, it has no carbon dioxide) and actually smells of chocolate and vanilla. You follow the exit signs, but make sure not to go near the fires. All the while you hold something cloth to your mouth and use the wall to find your way until you come out the other side. After this they taught us how to use fire extinguishers, which we got to actually use on a simulation screen of a fire! While we were all a little nervous before each simulation, I know I at least ended up having a wonderful time!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friday marked the first day of The History of Kyoto, which I can already tell I will love. (Tomorrow we have our first scheduled weekly field trip.) We ended up walking all over the Imperial Palace, which is across the street from Doshisha University. The area holds history from many periods but perhaps most advertised is the birthplace of Emperor Meiji. Tourists may enter the palace for free by showing their passports and are then given another day to come back. With any luck, I can coax my friends in to joining me for a weekend excursion to the palaces of which there are two! In the complex is also a Shinto shrine and a free museum, which gave a distinctly Heian Period feel while walking on the outer walkway of the building, which, if I understand correctly, has been preserved from the Edo Period.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Saturday took a distinctly modern pace as I hopped on the Hankyu to Umeda Station in Osaka, about 30 minutes from where I live. Several AKPers wanted to pick up the new Pokemon games (remakes of Gold and Silver) and I absolutely wanted to tag along for the ride! I ended up purchasing some school supplies and gifts for people from the US. The most notable of the purchases is probably Pokemon jam. Adam is calling it Snorlax jelly, which makes it sound utterly inedible. In fact, it looks rather delicious! One is strawberry jelly with Snorlax on it with Pichu sleeping on his belly and the other is peach jelly with…wow I can’t remember it’s name, the orange one that flies. Dragonsomething. Anyway Pichu is sleeping on his back! CUTE. I also got a Pokemon Halloween themed folder for my Japanese language whatnots. We also headed to the Disney store where they actually had Beauty and the Beast as well as Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh memorabilia, which is somewhat impossible to find in the US.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sunday passed quietly, watching The House Bunny in a TV room in the Doshisha library with Kyle, Krystal, Jenna, and Adam. Monday after school, Jenna, Kyle, and I went to a temple within walking distance from my home. While the complex is rather massive, the majority of it was under construction and so we were only able to see two buildings. What we saw, however, was absolutely beautiful! Of course, taking pictures was not allowed, so I only got a few blurry shots! I will, obviously, post them anyway. After going to the temple, we hit up my local Book Off, where I was able to purchase about 10 books for $10 (the price of one manga in the US) for reading comprehension practice. One series has no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">furigana</i> (hiragana over the kanji), so I hope to use that to my advantage and get good at either figuring out kanji by their radicals or using my kanji dictionary.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thus that has been the past few days of my life in Kyoto. Please enjoy the pictures, despite the blurriness!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Likely to come: Kyoto Art Festival, field trip to somewhere delightfully historic, Arashiyama, Toji Temple market, trip to temple with host mother and her entire (and I mean entire) family, hanging out with the Kyoto Cosmopolitan club.</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-75445906483634832762009-09-09T19:12:00.001-07:002009-09-09T19:19:30.981-07:00Pictures of Room<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhfbmOIKI/AAAAAAAAAO4/FDzOmKquo3g/s1600-h/IMG_0804.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhfbmOIKI/AAAAAAAAAO4/FDzOmKquo3g/s200/IMG_0804.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379656947505963170" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhYSKIzzI/AAAAAAAAAOw/sdojk-XIpII/s1600-h/IMG_0795.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhYSKIzzI/AAAAAAAAAOw/sdojk-XIpII/s200/IMG_0795.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379656824713170738" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhSYJLqzI/AAAAAAAAAOo/k5yXt6jYLdQ/s1600-h/IMG_0789.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhSYJLqzI/AAAAAAAAAOo/k5yXt6jYLdQ/s200/IMG_0789.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379656723240561458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhMlr46QI/AAAAAAAAAOg/jx4LC0zF_E0/s1600-h/IMG_0788.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhMlr46QI/AAAAAAAAAOg/jx4LC0zF_E0/s200/IMG_0788.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379656623796578562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhHKyUGjI/AAAAAAAAAOY/-eeaqiZoyTo/s1600-h/IMG_0787.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhHKyUGjI/AAAAAAAAAOY/-eeaqiZoyTo/s200/IMG_0787.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379656530676423218" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhB2dWAQI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/DmHKqFk9qqQ/s1600-h/IMG_0786.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhhB2dWAQI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/DmHKqFk9qqQ/s200/IMG_0786.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379656439320412418" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Wow! Two updates in one day. I know I talked about my room the other day, but today I didn't get a chance to update my pictures!!! Thus....picspam!<div><br /></div><div>Pictures: View from room, view of room, close up of curtain outside room, whole curtain, detailing on door, detail of the top of the wall. </div><div><br /></div><div>I discovered a Heian court scene behind my bookshelf which I'll take more pictures of this weekend!</div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-58567403342421387582009-09-09T18:59:00.000-07:002009-09-09T19:11:39.266-07:00School Finally Begins, a Bit of History Nerding, and, of Course, ShoppingPictures: Kabuki Kitty, beautiful gifts from host mom, phone charms, phone, view near home, giant crab on restaurant in Oppa at Shijo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sqhe9Aw99iI/AAAAAAAAAOI/SqxWAC_qZ1M/s1600-h/IMG_0824.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sqhe9Aw99iI/AAAAAAAAAOI/SqxWAC_qZ1M/s200/IMG_0824.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379654157164475938" /></a><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhejAZL5QI/AAAAAAAAAN4/l_YqmGG1di0/s200/IMG_0821.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379653710388126978" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhewwyeRuI/AAAAAAAAAOA/DNYO9b2i3QY/s1600-h/IMG_0822.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqhewwyeRuI/AAAAAAAAAOA/DNYO9b2i3QY/s200/IMG_0822.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379653946717390562" /></a><br /><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sqhd-BLYaFI/AAAAAAAAANg/BR-Wel_D2EY/s200/IMG_0815.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379653074943502418" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqheItVyvqI/AAAAAAAAANo/eVnO6fUhlQQ/s1600-h/IMG_0817.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqheItVyvqI/AAAAAAAAANo/eVnO6fUhlQQ/s200/IMG_0817.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379653258597023394" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/Sqhdr--80OI/AAAAAAAAANQ/58FY4JXl0MI/s200/IMG_0809.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379652765116846306" /></div><br /><br /><br />So, if you can’t tell from the extensive updates, I finally had internet yesterday! Of course, I didn’t have time to take out the notes-to-self or add in the pictures of my room, so I’ll hopefully get a chance to do that sometime today! Any other mistakes you notice, send them my way!<br /><br />Yesterday after the first morning of class, we headed over to Shijo station from which we walked to Oppa, which is an enormous shopping district. The stores go on for a long while, curving off to the right out of sight. More streets still spring from the main shopping avenue—free of cars. There appears to be a lot of fashion there. I don’t just mean being sold. Everywhere you look there’s another amazingly dressed young lady with impeccable hair and perfect make-up. Large groups of school kids, mostly middle school and some high school, thumb through clothing whilst chatting with their friends. Starry-eyed foreigners such as myself wander in and out of stores displaying impossible to wear heels and hair extensions. In most of the stores you will hear the usual いらっしゃいませ!( welcome!) but sometimes the clerks are too cool to say such a thing to a foreigner or sometimes not to anyone at all! Walking in to one particular store by the name of Spinns, Jenna and I knew it was for us. Upon entering they played a track of a Japanese man yelling in random English to the Star Wars theme. Immediately following was The Beasite Boys. Of course, it also helped that an impossibly adorable young woman greeted us upon entering. Anyway, we danced like the gaijin…lunatics that we are despite the odd looks we received from the other shoppers. Totally. Worth. It. I ended up purchasing a skirt and dress (which makes me look pregnant sans belt) for $25. Japan is expensive, but not if you look in the right places!<br /><br />My host mother handed me more lovely gifts today! Three handkerchiefs from Takashimaya. Everything she has given me has been so amazing! I don’t know how I can ever properly thank her in the end. My room is wonderful, she does my laundry and folds it every day, she vacuumed my room today, she makes every meal for me when I am home, and she in addition gives me beautiful gifts. I think the three ice cream bars I brought home today for dessert might not quite say “thank you” enough!<br /><br />We are still reviewing for our placement exams, which begin on Thursday with an interview and then the written test on Friday. The schedule is a little unclear for the next few weeks. After a few weeks of sit down language instruction, we move on to other useful instruction such as how to cook in Japanese or how to read a news paper. Today, however, I began my first English taught class. I will be taking the Doshisha Joint Seminar. This means that for the rest of September, my class will be just AKP students. Starting in October, however, we will be joined by a roughly equal number of Doshisha University students. I am looking forward to meeting them very much. This years seminar is on common knowledge in literature (and how it makes people who they are), mostly pertaining to children’s stories comparable between Japanese and American culture. Our professor has encouraged us to drop the ideas of there being two cultures (she believes the Japanese have “orientified” themselves which I believe, in part, is true); but how many Americans do you know have read anything by Natsume Soseki or The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter? I certainly hadn’t even heard of Soseki until taking a Modern Japanese Literature course in college. Of course, I cannot generalize, as I’m sure it is by far not the least well-known Japanese written novel in the United States. (My professors have certainly heard of it!) Anyway, we will be comparing literature including some of my absolute favorite children’s stories, authors, and fairytales. For example we will be comparing Aladdin and Doraemon—a children’s cartoon about a boy with a magic robot cat who can produce just about anything the boy can think of. Sound like anyone you know? (If you thought “genie”, you get a cookie. An internet cookie…which means you probably want to erase it soon, anyway.) Bad jokes aside, I really cannot wait to meet the Doshisha students!<br /><br />My other class, which I begin today, is on the History of Kyoto. Being in Kyoto, I suspect we will be going on a significant number of field trips. As I am still about six-years-old at heart, I am enthralled! In addition, I have always been a little bit in love with history, though not enough to ever before really sit down and study it. I have a feeling, however, that in the case of studying Kyoto, I will devour it. I have always held a particular fascination (as, I suspect many people have) with the Heian period in Japanese history. The name “Heian” refers to the Kyoto back in the day when it was called Heian Kyo. At the time, Kyoto flourished considerably, chock full with nobles weeping on their sleeves; and taking considerable time to write about it (for which I am grateful). It was the capital of Japan then, which was only just beginning to twinkle with national consciousness.<br /><br />Also, here is my crazy keitai:<br /><br />If you thought “Oh, man…is that Kabuki Kitty?” Then, yes. IT IS. Kabuki Hello Kitty! Hurrah!<br /><br />Tentative plans for the weekend: Nara, Osaka, Kyoto Art Festival. We’ll see what actually happens!B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-29956195246716759712009-09-08T00:54:00.000-07:002009-09-08T00:57:17.020-07:00Just Like Fruits (Final Delayed Update)<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">First a note! I'm sorry that the layout is a little strange right now. I currently have a rather...interesting internet connection, so I'm happy just to be able to post! Please excuse it for the time being. I will be editing the layouts as soon as I get a connection that doesn't die every five minutes.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Walking around and seeing all the amazing clothing in this city is wonderful. The Japanese truly know how to layer clothing. Especially on the weekends, everyone is dressed to the nines. The shoes in particular are especially nice! I will most likely splurge on a pair of nice shoes around Christmas time! However, with the way they’re dressed, you’d think it wasn’t 90 degrees with humidity! In addition, behind every well dressed young lady in Kyoto is a hard working <span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family: "MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language:JA">お母さん</span>. I am quickly learning this as I sit here watching my host mother assiduously iron my favorite button down shirt. Every inch, including the thin straps that keep the sleeves rolled up to the elbow have been pressed to perfection! I was very glad when she allowed me to help clean up after dinner by drying and putting away the dishes after dinner. After only two days I feel very much a part of the family. Yesterday I spent settling in, putting my things away and cleaning my room (shocking, I know). Today I slept in before having a quick breakfast with my host mother and brother before heading out with my host brother to inner Kyoto. First I take the Hankyuu, which is similar to Metro North, but much cheaper. Then I transfer after a few stops to the <span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family: "MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language:JA">地下鉄</span> (subway) for a few stops to <span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language: JA">今出川</span> (Imadegawa) which is where my college is. Today, however, I exited the train at Kyoto Station to meet with a few friends (Julia, Kyle, Krystal, Sam, and Becky) for shopping and snacks. Afterwards I decided that I wanted to try getting home by myself. Boy was that a disaster! Taking the trains was easy, as I’m already accustomed to taking the subway. However, after exiting the train and first going in the right direction, I turned around and walked in the complexly wrong direction for about twenty minutes before calling my host mother and brother for directions. Still lost, I finally managed to make it back to the station to meet my brother, who took me in the right direction. I certainly got a lot of walking done today!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tomorrow review begins before we have our language interviews on Thursday and our exams for class placement on Friday. Lucky me, we don’t have to be there until 10:45 and I don’t have any afternoon classes! I told my host mother that I’d be home, but I have a feeling that I’ll be exploring if I have the energy (and actually posting this to my blog)!</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-41413044778891208462009-09-08T00:51:00.000-07:002009-09-08T00:54:42.481-07:00Shimogamo Shrine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNslnfgVI/AAAAAAAAANI/K7eL8nwSS7g/s1600-h/IMG_0756.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNslnfgVI/AAAAAAAAANI/K7eL8nwSS7g/s200/IMG_0756.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001864603795794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNnwiUZQI/AAAAAAAAANA/KVeK4ZaA_fs/s1600-h/IMG_0741edit.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNnwiUZQI/AAAAAAAAANA/KVeK4ZaA_fs/s200/IMG_0741edit.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001781635540226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNi1d3LFI/AAAAAAAAAM4/ZuG_fELPJE8/s1600-h/IMG_0729.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNi1d3LFI/AAAAAAAAAM4/ZuG_fELPJE8/s200/IMG_0729.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001697059679314" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNfK3eFPI/AAAAAAAAAMw/P-ldJB3FgRc/s1600-h/IMG_0722.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNfK3eFPI/AAAAAAAAAMw/P-ldJB3FgRc/s200/IMG_0722.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001634084754674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNW16zEUI/AAAAAAAAAMo/pH6FG6X9nYY/s1600-h/IMG_0709.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNW16zEUI/AAAAAAAAAMo/pH6FG6X9nYY/s200/IMG_0709.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001491022614850" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNTem0-TI/AAAAAAAAAMg/032Ow8i8HAs/s1600-h/IMG_0703.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNTem0-TI/AAAAAAAAAMg/032Ow8i8HAs/s200/IMG_0703.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001433225230642" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNP__50bI/AAAAAAAAAMY/7AH_5MEEXV0/s1600-h/IMG_0696.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNP__50bI/AAAAAAAAAMY/7AH_5MEEXV0/s200/IMG_0696.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001373469299122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNKpBCdHI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/daHVrK40vjI/s1600-h/IMG_0693.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqYNKpBCdHI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/daHVrK40vjI/s200/IMG_0693.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379001281400697970" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal">During orientation, AKP took us to Shimogamo Shrine in order to pray for a good year. There are two words for such religious establishments. The first <span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-bidi-MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language:JAfont-family:";">お寺</span> (otera) refers to Buddhist temples while <span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-bidi-MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language: JAfont-family:";">神社</span> (jinjya) refers to Shinto shrines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You first take your shoes off, as much of Shinto pertains to cleanliness. Padding through the wooden hallways, we first went to sit and the priest did what I think was a cleansing ritual, however it was in Japanese, which, if you can’t tell, I so far have a limited knowledge of. The second was the ritual to pray for a good year. They asked who wanted to sit in front and, as usual, my hand shot up on its own, so I hunkered forward completely unsure of what I was supposed to do! I sat in front of the group, which sat on benches behind me. Towards the end of the roughly five minute ritual, the priest came over and had me kneel before a small table and then handed me a sprig of laurel with folded white papers often used in Shinto. He gestured for me to bow my head to it, turn it, set it down, and bow a few times. He spoke some words that I again did not understand and we bowed some more. I then stood and sat back down. The whole time, NHK (one of Japan’s major television networks) had been filming and afterwards interviewed me! They asked about why I was interested in Japan, how long I was saying, and what I thought of representing the entire group in the ritual. To tell the truth, it was overwhelming! It was, of course, the one day I decided to not put on any make up or give any thought to my appearance. One of the AKP staff members actually saw the program on TV! Next step, idol.</p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-83424917518217851462009-09-07T22:50:00.000-07:002009-09-07T22:51:17.856-07:00The Magical Combini<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">I have had many friends, when telling me of their travels in Japan, attempt to explain the combini to me. Combini is simply a Japanese-ified term meaning “convenience store”. The combini, however, is not at all like the 7/11 of America. While there are of course the aisles of prepackaged, high calorie, somewhat perplexing is-this-food food, combini also has meat buns (and pizza buns…think hot pocket but in a plush, bread-like substance…very strange), onigiri (rice triangles with tasty surprises within, wrapped in nori—dried seaweed), and even full meals; All this for incredibly cheap prices. Japan is expensive, often stunningly so, but food doesn’t have to be. In fact many restaurants here serve dishes less than half the price of New York City. Everything I have tried at the combini—most without knowing exactly what it is—I have enjoyed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This brings me to money. As always, it is difficult to convert to another monetary system. (I also have to convert to military time, Celsius, and, of course, the dreaded metric system) Just when I think I’ve got it, I mess something up. For example, I was shocked when I thought my new phone charger cost $115 when in fact it was only $11.50. Of course, this isn’t surprising when the cheapest phone offered at most companies is upwards of $200! They even play it off like they’re giving you a deal, though I suppose comparing with most other phones, which are $500 or more on sale and up to nearly $900, they are. Getting a cell phone (<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language:JA">携帯電話</span><span lang="JA"> </span>keitai denwa) is rather difficult for a foreigner in Japan. You need to provide every single form of ID you have (alien registration, health card, student ID if you have one, passport, visa, anything else you can think of? Bring it.) and even then they might give you trouble! (This is mostly because I only had the receipt for my alien registration, as the actual card doesn’t arrive for another few weeks.) While it is becoming more and more common in the United States, I still find it incredible that I can surf the web on my phone. In addition the internet is incredibly fast, faster than I’ve seen any iPhone move. Furthermore, Japanese cell phones have infrared technology (like the iPhone) which allows you to simply beam your number (and all associated information) to someone else’s phone within seconds. I live in the future!</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-52950647513515354012009-09-07T22:49:00.001-07:002009-09-07T22:50:39.402-07:00Walking and Walking and Walking and Walking<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">AKP does their best to spoil its students as much as possible. As such, we are privy to 1 to 2 student guides who not only help us get from school to our homes, but they also help us go sign up for our alien registration and health forms as well as getting cell phones and showing us a shrine nearby the hotel. Of course, Kyoto is a rather confusing city to walk around and as a result, my student and I got hopelessly lost! Unfortunately that rather long day of taking train after train, walking to my house, awkwardly meeting my host mother for the first time, and doing an epic amount of walking to the registration center doesn’t make for the best story, but it was nice to meet Bamboo (my Doshisha student guide) and explore!</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-20622008674539356202009-09-07T22:48:00.000-07:002009-09-07T22:49:23.251-07:00銭湯 Adventures<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">That evening we decided to take Resident Director Ogawa’s advice and took our free public bath (<span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝"; mso-bidi-font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language:JA">銭湯 </span>sentou) tickets and tromped off for an adventure in the basement of the hotel which also has a small shopping mall and a bookstore located within. It must have been strange to see the group of us, all foreigners, going to the bath, where I suspect few Americans venture due to the nature of it. We certainly got enough stares—not that this is at all uncommon as I am quickly learning—to suggest so. Three of the boys from the program (Kyle, Ben, and Patrick) came with us (too many fabulous ladies to mention), but obviously tromped off to the men’s bath. It certainly is an interesting bonding experience, getting naked with new friends for the first time. In fact I can’t recall having been fully naked with most of my friends ever, even the very good ones. I digress. When you enter the baths, you hand your ticket to a friendly clerk who then hands you a small washcloth. You then remove your shoes in the entrance hall (<span lang="JA" style="font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language: JA">玄関</span> genkan) and place them in a small shoe locker from which you lock and remove the key and slip its strap on to your wrist. Padding through the cotton doorway which reads in a large kanji <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-fareast-language:JA">女</span> you proceed to another set of lockers in which there are baskets for your clothing. Once fully disrobed, you enter the baths through a glass sliding door, steam billowing out when you do so. In the center of the room is a large bath in the ground and around the walls are mirrors, buckets, and small stools. Before you enter the bath, you must fully wash off. Water in Japan is expensive, however, so in between scrubbing and washing off, you must turn off the water. Only once you are completely clean and free of soapsuds can you enter the bath. The water is very warm so it’s difficult to stay for very long if you’re not used to such hot water, but it instantly relaxes all the muscles in your body, which is wonderful after a long day of walking and sweating in the hot, humid Japanese summer. Despite my previous apprehension, I ended up having a wonderful time and felt fully refreshed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US">After the bath, we decided to use our other free ticket for Kyoto Tower, which gives our hotel its name. On a clear day you can see Osaka from the tower—about an hour drive—but we went at night and were rewarded with an absolutely stunning view of our new home. The entire city is lit up all around and from the tower you can see Toji and the mountains Kyoto is encased in. Beyond the mountains must be more towns because they are lit up from behind in the most beautiful and stunning tiered silhouettes. That night I fell asleep watching an Arashi variety show and talking with friends. A day well spent indeed.</span><!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-76600262702229092182009-09-07T22:47:00.000-07:002009-09-07T22:48:24.008-07:00Belatedly Posting Blog Entries!<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Where to start? The past collection of days has been a whirlwind of new places, new friends, and most certainly new experiences. (stick email to everyone from first day here, make sure to edit for a few things)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Though most of Japan is me-sized (I am 5’2.5”), sometimes even I feel like I’ve eaten the wrong side of the mushroom and have grown too tall to fit through the door to Wonderland<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>(or rather, in the shower in Wonderland)! It is unusual for me to feel tall (or be able to reach the ceiling in the bathroom!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The day after we went to orientation, which ended at around 3:00PM and thus gave us time to wander around. Realizing we’d quickly lose one another in such a large group without cell phones, a group of us headed off to the Soft Bank store in Kyoto Station just across the street. In broken Japanese we explained what we wanted and in slow, easy Japanese, the clerk replied that we would first need to be registered aliens and have our health cards, which we were to do the following day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, a small group of college students (four in all and all female) stopped us in two groups and proceeded to ask us questions about where we’re from, why we were in Japan, how long we were staying, etc. for a group project. We ended up conversing with them for about two hours, I being there on and off whilst attempting to get a phone and going off in search of snacks within the station. A few of us eventually exchanged numbers and email addresses with them so that we could exchange the group photos we took. Once they send them to Matt and he sends them to me, I will, of course, be posting them. Matt is particularly confident in Japanese and seems to make many acquaintances easily—it really is amazing to watch!</p> <!--EndFragment-->B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676945899121415353.post-83126290374325516862009-09-07T22:46:00.000-07:002009-09-07T22:47:08.251-07:00Arrival in Japan, Typed on a Japanese Keyboard<div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqXsovdlERI/AAAAAAAAAKo/fgLPYCqWgVU/s200/IMG_0631.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378965514643378450" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqXs2eIlx_I/AAAAAAAAAK4/-BsFsZlPTyU/s200/IMG_0645.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378965750510110706" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqXsxwo3icI/AAAAAAAAAKw/zFZePe8HufU/s200/IMG_0632.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378965669577984450" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqXtH973I6I/AAAAAAAAALI/HvNwPabLsHU/s1600-h/IMG_0677.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqXtH973I6I/AAAAAAAAALI/HvNwPabLsHU/s200/IMG_0677.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378966051104433058" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></a><div><br /></div><div><br /><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WwKNnYDwXT4/SqXtAn-jvsI/AAAAAAAAALA/0HGNshcqfvg/s200/IMG_0661.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378965924951080642" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /><p class="MsoNormal">For my Japanese friends and my Japan enthusiasts, I beg your forgiveness, as some of these recollections will be explanations of things you most likely already know such as the workings of a public bath or what a combini is. Please feel free to skip over them (though there may yet be juicy tid-bids within!)</p></div><br />The flights went without a hitch. The first flight from JFK to LAX was about six and a half hours. The flight from LAX to Tokyo Narita was around ten and a half hours (I slept for about six of those and chatted for the other four) and the flight from Tokyo to Osaka was a blissfully simple two hours. Getting from the arrival gate to the domestic departures in Tokyo was interesting to say the least. We had to go through immigration, grab our bags, go through customs, and then check in and check our bags and go through security again. We then got on a bus and drove to Kyoto, which takes about an hour. We arrived at the Kyoto Tower Hotel at around 10PM and they split us alphabetically into rooms of four. Thanks to Dan, my last name is at the end of the alphabet and therefore I was fortunate enough to be in a room of three. I'm with a nice girl from Middlebury named Laurel and Jenny, who goes to Smith. We each have a comfy separate bed. I entered first and therefore snagged the one closest to the large window with a stunning view of Kyoto Station (Grand Central and Penn will never seem impressive again in both style and size), which also reflects the lights off Kyoto Tower (located right atop the hotel). Because it was Becky's birthday, we forfeited the showers and teeth brushing we had dreamed of for hours and tromped out into the cool night in search of a decent meal. We finally found a lovely and shockingly reasonably priced restaurant called Donburi which, contrary to the title, actually serves mostly okonomiyaki. The waitress found us pretty funny and got us a nice private room with two large tables around which theres a small cushioned platform to sit on (You have to take your shoes off!!). It was pretty close quarters, but very nice. I ended up having shrimp okonomiyaki and we all toasted Becky's birthday (hurrah!)<br /><br />After that (it was about midnight by then), we headed back to the hotel and everyone went to bed. We then got up at 8ish this morning, grabbed breakfast upstairs in the hotel and we headed out on the train to Imadegawa from Kyoto station on a PINK TRAIN. PINK. Anyway, we sat in a daze through the first part of orientation before they led us to the school cafeteria. I ended up having the food I spoke of at the top which came to a grand total of $5 because it seems that Japan is expensive, but the food isn't!</div>B.C. Nofnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12700175985135176306noreply@blogger.com0