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.
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.
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
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 not 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!
Once in a while, I admit, it is fun to play the gaijin 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.
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!
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.
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.
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 furigana (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.
Thus that has been the past few days of my life in Kyoto. Please enjoy the pictures, despite the blurriness!
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.
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