Today my mum left after visiting me here in Japan for almost 4 weeks. Last night, at the dinner my colleagues had in her honour (!), I learned a new Japanese word: sabishii. I thought it meant 'to miss someone', but now that I look it up, it actually means 'lonely, solitary, desolate'. I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm desolate (no more than usual, anyway.. hehe just kidding), but I WILL miss her. As I told her, I wasn't that sad to leave Australia and embark on this adventure they call JET... but somehow, when someone visits you and stays for more than a couple of weeks, they become part of your life again. And then, when they leave, it feels like something's missing. This is the first time I've lived alone, and although it's been way easier than I expected, there was always something slightly off about it. I guess it's me adjusting to living by myself. Not necessarily sad or lonely, but definitely different.
Anyway, I have many mementos of mum's visit- mostly domestic things! Since she arrived, I have acquired: a table (aka earthquake shelter); a curtain divider for the shower area; pictures for the walls; a Japanese paper umbrella; a newly-cleaned carpet; a NEW futon; and a new frying pan. Oh, and I've been cooked for countless times, had numerous items of clothing and bedding laundered, and the mould cleaned out from a closet or two! Don't get the wrong impression- it's not like I was living in squalor before she got here... far from it. My neighbour commented on how clean my apartment was. But I guess I haven't exactly developed my mother's zest for cleaning!
But far better than these things are the memories of our trips to the Nakasendo (specifically, our hike between the towns of Magome and Tsumago), Matsumoto castle, Takayama, Ise Shrine, Mikimoto Pearl Island, and Nagoya (Neko Maho cafe). Oh, and the memories of me nursing her back to health after she came down with a severe cold halfway through the trip! Which reminds me that I have also acquired a bottle of Vicks VapoRub, some cough medicine and some throat spray...
Now, I better go work on consuming some of that mysterious stew concoction she prepared yesterday, which is apparently supposed to feed me for the next 3 months...
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Insert Seoul/Sold/Soul pun here
I made it back safe and sound from the wilds of Korea. Yep, in the past few weeks I've shed my skin flakes all over eastern Asia. Seoul was cool, but I can't say it was the trip of a lifetime. Food was great, onsen was nice, the company was good, but something about the trip fell a little flat with me. I'm cautious saying it, but I think I've become a bit 'Japanized'. I think that after only a few months of living in Japan, even the most hardened foreigner will find themselves adopting (at least to some degree) the impossibly discerning attitudes towards cleanliness, 'politeness' and aesthetics of the Japanese.
Granted, Seoul is a huge, bustling metropolis, whereas I currently live the suburbs of a fairly small city... actually, full-on inaka (country-side) according to the Japanese (but then everything except Shinjuku is inaka to them!) But Seoul came across as kind of dirty, too busy and annoyingly chaotic. I don't know if there was a garbage collection strike while we were there, but you couldn't help but notice the piles of garbage bags, many half-open, on every street corner. There were also people trying to sell you (low-quality) stuff EVERYwhere. Oh, and we got lost trying to find a castle, so we walked all over Seoul (which, by the way, must be one of the world's hilliest cities) looking for the bloody thing.
From the top of a hill after failing to find the castle.
When we finally found the castle (aided by the directions of a very friendly parking attendant), the gates were closed. By that point we had exactly 15 minutes to make it back to our hostel across town for the next activity.
...Which actually happened to be the highlight of the trip- a Korean public bath. Yes, that means you get naked with strangers, something I am well acquainted with now, having developed a fondness for Japanese onsen. I can't say I was a huge fan of the 55 degree sauna, or the hessian bags they placed on our heads before we entered (?!). But the washing and the scrubbing and the being massaged was pretty relaxing. And exactly what we needed after a day of what was for me, sort of disappointing sightseeing.
The day before (just to give you the story out of order), we took a tour of the DMZ, the 'demilitarized zone' between North and South Korea. Unfortunately the tour we took didn't actually go inside the DMZ, like some do, but we got pretty close to it and it was interesting to learn about the situation. The most interesting thing was the way that South Korea presents the situation to tourists. If you were to believe their hype, North and South Korea are about to reunite any day. It's great that they're optimistic, and I'm no expert on the politics, but I couldn't help feeling that it kind of denies the gravity of the conflict.
Oh, and of course the day we visited the lookout point that allows you to see across a valley into North Korea, it rained cats and dogs. The fog was so thick you could barely see a few meters in front of you. The view from the observation deck was a sea of white. So much for binoculars!
I can say that the people in Korea were, overall, really helpful and friendly (the hostel lady, random people who helped us out with directions, the waiter who brought us the best meal ever, the tour guide, the onsen ladies...). Let's just try to forget the old guy on the train that came up to my friend, GRUNTED to her to get up, and took her seat. Our last meal in Korea was absolutely, amazingly delicious, and extremely spicy, of course.
We were wary of the after-affects, namely the "ring 'o' fire" that would strike, possibly while we were on the plane back to Japan, but decided it was worth it. (I was spared the suffering, but my friend wasn't so lucky.)
Pretentious disclaimer: The above is just an account my my own reactions and experiences on a quick, 2-day trip to Seoul. It is by no means representative of Korea and any trip anyone else takes there, and any future trip I might take there, will bear little resemblance to what I experienced this time. I know there are many many amazing cultural and social aspects to Korea that I have no idea about and would love to discover. The negative things I've talked about shouldn't be a reflection on Seoul or Korea in general; they're mostly just a result of the shortness of our trip, the rainy weather on the first day, our slight lack of planning, and my now Japanese-influenced cultural perspective!
Granted, Seoul is a huge, bustling metropolis, whereas I currently live the suburbs of a fairly small city... actually, full-on inaka (country-side) according to the Japanese (but then everything except Shinjuku is inaka to them!) But Seoul came across as kind of dirty, too busy and annoyingly chaotic. I don't know if there was a garbage collection strike while we were there, but you couldn't help but notice the piles of garbage bags, many half-open, on every street corner. There were also people trying to sell you (low-quality) stuff EVERYwhere. Oh, and we got lost trying to find a castle, so we walked all over Seoul (which, by the way, must be one of the world's hilliest cities) looking for the bloody thing.
From the top of a hill after failing to find the castle.When we finally found the castle (aided by the directions of a very friendly parking attendant), the gates were closed. By that point we had exactly 15 minutes to make it back to our hostel across town for the next activity.
...Which actually happened to be the highlight of the trip- a Korean public bath. Yes, that means you get naked with strangers, something I am well acquainted with now, having developed a fondness for Japanese onsen. I can't say I was a huge fan of the 55 degree sauna, or the hessian bags they placed on our heads before we entered (?!). But the washing and the scrubbing and the being massaged was pretty relaxing. And exactly what we needed after a day of what was for me, sort of disappointing sightseeing.
The day before (just to give you the story out of order), we took a tour of the DMZ, the 'demilitarized zone' between North and South Korea. Unfortunately the tour we took didn't actually go inside the DMZ, like some do, but we got pretty close to it and it was interesting to learn about the situation. The most interesting thing was the way that South Korea presents the situation to tourists. If you were to believe their hype, North and South Korea are about to reunite any day. It's great that they're optimistic, and I'm no expert on the politics, but I couldn't help feeling that it kind of denies the gravity of the conflict.
Oh, and of course the day we visited the lookout point that allows you to see across a valley into North Korea, it rained cats and dogs. The fog was so thick you could barely see a few meters in front of you. The view from the observation deck was a sea of white. So much for binoculars!
I can say that the people in Korea were, overall, really helpful and friendly (the hostel lady, random people who helped us out with directions, the waiter who brought us the best meal ever, the tour guide, the onsen ladies...). Let's just try to forget the old guy on the train that came up to my friend, GRUNTED to her to get up, and took her seat. Our last meal in Korea was absolutely, amazingly delicious, and extremely spicy, of course.
We were wary of the after-affects, namely the "ring 'o' fire" that would strike, possibly while we were on the plane back to Japan, but decided it was worth it. (I was spared the suffering, but my friend wasn't so lucky.)
Pretentious disclaimer: The above is just an account my my own reactions and experiences on a quick, 2-day trip to Seoul. It is by no means representative of Korea and any trip anyone else takes there, and any future trip I might take there, will bear little resemblance to what I experienced this time. I know there are many many amazing cultural and social aspects to Korea that I have no idea about and would love to discover. The negative things I've talked about shouldn't be a reflection on Seoul or Korea in general; they're mostly just a result of the shortness of our trip, the rainy weather on the first day, our slight lack of planning, and my now Japanese-influenced cultural perspective!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The best laid plans...
I've just completed the mammoth task of deciding what to do with my mum when she visits. The possibilities were endless: what to do when you you've got Japan at your doorstep, one Japan Rail Pass, 3 months worth of pay and 5 days off work? I felt the pressure to show her the best Japan could offer. Finally, after weeks of prodding her for ideas- and receiving varying suggestions such as "somewhere warm", "somewhere we can't go on a weekend", "anywhere, really" - I took the plunge and booked us a 2 nights at two different minshukus (family-run inns) in the Kiso Valley, Nagano prefecture. After making the commitment to invest time and money in these places, I spent the rest of the day convincing myself I had made a good choice. The Kiso Valley is home to the Nakasendo road, a 'post road' (whatever that is) from the Edo period (1600-1868). Many of the towns along this route have been preserved as they were in the Edo period, even to the extent where no aerial wires are allowed. You can walk a 9km trail past woods, farms and old inns between two of the towns (Magome and Tsumago). The minshukus we're staying in were apparently resting spots for travellers back in the day. Anyway, it'll probably be pretty damn cold, but I'm looking forward to 'stepping back in time' for a couple of days, and seeing 'the other Japan', as one travel website put it. So much for "somewhere warm"!
PS. My bedroom has just reached a high of 18 degrees after I broke down and turned the heater on for the first time. Yep, winter's definitely approaching, and they're predicting a not-so-mild one.
PS. My bedroom has just reached a high of 18 degrees after I broke down and turned the heater on for the first time. Yep, winter's definitely approaching, and they're predicting a not-so-mild one.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Let's play catch (up)
Whoops. It's been over a month since my last post and I didn't even write anything about my trip to Shirakawa-go, or Nara, or Halloween, or Hida, or... or... So, time for a quick run-down:
Shirakawa-go
I got to spend a weekend in a UNESCO World Heritage-listed village in the mountains of Japan. AND, I got to appease all my senses by witnessing traditional festival celebrations. AND, did I mention this was a SAKE festival?! It's called the 'Doburoku Matsuri' and it's named after a type of unfiltered sake. Unlike the clear sake you might be familiar with, it looks more like oatmeal because the rice grains haven't been completely filtered out. Doburoku tastes a whole lot more bitter than the mainstream version. Actually, it was hard to get down but it didn't take us long to acquire a taste!
Basically, the weekend looked like this: Me and a couple of other JET friends from down south (Gifu) took a 3 hour train north to Takayama (an incredibly beautiful town in itself, dubbed 'Little Kyoto') where we were picked up by another friend who just happens to live in one of the most picturesque villages in all of Japan. (Nice to have friends like that.) Unlike his predecessor though, who was the 'experienced woodsman' type, I don't think Jordan particularly enjoys the 'roughing it' aspect of his situation, which involves things like helping the townspeople thatch the roofs of generations-old houses, and in winter, digging a tunnel through the snow to his get to his car. ;P Anyway, from what I can tell, his situation looks like the 'storybook JET experience' and I hope he realises how lucky he is.
So what's all the fuss about Shirakawa-go? Well, it's home to 'gassho-zukuri' houses, which have a 'prayer-hands construction' style. To put it in English, the houses look like cute little gingerbread-house woodsy-mountainy village houses that you'd find in the Swiss Alps. They're actually designed that way so snow can't accumulate on the steep roofs in winter. The upper part of the building was traditionally used for things like producing silk, so the silk-worms lived up in the attic. And my friend's students live there!
Back to the festival: We followed the parade (involving a lion/dragon, a drum, a red devil, a green devil, lots of boys in white, rainbow streamers and a respected elder riding a rickshaw) up to the village temple, watched a lot of lion dancing, and tasted sake. We were impressed when the officials laid down two long mats in front of the temple and let everyone sit down on them before they came by with pots of sake and served us all-you-can drink proportions. Needless to say, most people were dead to the world on the bus-ride back to Gifu...
Halloween
I have to say I am getting a little annoyed at the Japanese versions of American holidays. And I haven't even lived through Valentine's Day yet! The Japanese don't know much about the REAL meaning of any of these holidays. Of course, most holidays have lost their significance in the West as well, what with commercialization etc... but in Japan, the sole reason they adopted these holidays is because they think the decorations are cute. I don't want to sound like Scrooge, but it makes me feel a bit sick. The minute Halloween was over, out came the Christmas decorations. And if you think it's overkill in America or Australia, you'd better not set foot in Japan. The malls and supermarkets have been playing Christmas carols since the first week of November. And I'm not particularly religious, but the whole Christmas thing being completely devoid of any references to Jesus, Mary, etc, is a bit wrong, I think.
Having said all that, Halloween was fun. The ironic thing, though, is that despite the plethora of Halloween merchandise available in Japan, the Japanese people seem to have a big problem actually wearing any of it come Halloween-eve. My friends and I went to the 'Nagoya Friends' Halloween party- supposed to be a chance for 'foreigners' and Japanese people to have fun together. It was 80 percent 'foreigners', and the Japanese that were there wore cat-ear headbands (girls) or the work suits they had been wearing all day (men). The Japanese guy we talked to said he had come as 'the British PM'. Because he was wearing a suit. Ha. I guess I can see their point in not dressing up. It can be chotto embarrasing. My friend Julie and I decided to go as Hello Kitty and My Melody (another similar character, a pink rabbit). Seeing as all we had to do was buy a headpiece and gloves for 20 bucks, it seemed to make sense. Except unfortunately for me, Halloween evening happened to coincide with the official bankruptcy of Nova, Japan's biggest English language school. This story was huge in the Japanese media. Nova's mascot is a pink rabbit. Who looks a lot like My Melody. And I was wearing a pink rabbit costume on the night of the day Nova went under. JET is like the 'rival' way (and I must say, the superior way) to go teach English in Japan. Anyway, lots of people thought I was making fun of Nova. So I felt bad, but not until the next day when I was sober enough to work out what all those Japanese people had been saying: "Nova usagi!" (Nova rabbit). That night we had fun trekking back to our hotel for 45 minutes, bringing joy to groups of Japanese businesspeople and traffic officers along the way.
Nara
It might not have been the best plan to go to Halloween festivities the night before a big trip to Nara, one of Japan's cultural and historical capitals. But it turned out ok anyway. Except for the fact that we made the mistake of actually taking advice from a train conductor, and ended up spending 6 hours on trains when we only meant to spend 3. Note to self: never ask for advice if you think you know what you are doing. Inevitably, it will throw you off course. I'd spent a good hour online planning which trains we should take, etc, and it was all undone by the advice "the other train will get you there faster". We got there in the end, with enough time to meet the deer and see the Todai-ji and the Daibutsu, a huge Buddha statue. Yes, that's right, meet the deer. They're left free to roam all through central Nara because they're considered messengers of the gods according to Shinto beliefs. They're cute, especially the young ones, but some can be pretty aggressive in their search for treats. We also got to see Kasuga shrine, where the deer seem to be more peaceful, perhaps because they're more religious. This shrine has lots and lots of lanterns and is really beautiful. To finish off the trip, we considered buying omiyage (souvenirs) to take back to our colleagues, but I wasn't game enough to buy the 'deer dropping' cakes! (chocolate, of course)
Hida
Two weekends ago I was lucky enough to be a special guest of the Hida Tourism board. Along with 4 other JETs and other 'foreigners' (there's that word again), I experienced an all-expenses paid overnight tour of northern Gifu-ken. I feel it's my duty to now convey to all my friends and family how wonderful Hida is as a tourist destination. And it really is; it's a very traditional, mountainous area of the prefecture, where a lot of old crafts are still practiced. We had to fight our survival instincts to actually board the tour bus, having read the itinerary stating that the tour will require "ten foreigners to execute". Our first stop was an apple orchard where we did some pickin'. Unfortunately, because it had rained a little that day, the 'Country Walk' was cancelled (for me, it felt like a frustrating example of Japanese-ness, but that's probably being unfair). Instead, we got to see a town called Kamioka, which had some beautiful autumn leaves and a funny-but-not-really sign on a bridge that said "Think again. There's a brighter future" in Japanese. The guides told us, through their laughter, that it was there to stop people committing suicide, since it commonly happens on that bridge.After the strenuous hike, we were dropped off at an onsen to soak our aching muscles. I love onsen but I don't think my body is quite used to being immersed in 50-degree-celcius water for minutes on end. Finally, it was off to the hotel, and a beautiful traditional Japanese dinner with local delegates. My friend and I were seated with the Head of Tourism for Hida (I think that was his title, anyway), and of course, managed to drink enough sake to help him confirm every misconception of 'foreigners' he ever had. Actually, it wasn't me who was so drunk, but my friend, who was christened a 'champion' at the end of the night. Oh, and by the way, I overheard one of the delegates commenting on how we 'ate everything' (zenbu tabeta). To which the other replied, 'their bodies are big' (karada ga ookii). Of course they must have thought we couldn't understand, but I did! The delegates also treated us to a couple renditions of the Hida song and taught us the Hida dance. You must understand that in Japan, whenever alcohol is offered, it's expected that people will drink until they're making fools of themselves.
The next day we had our choice of soba noodle-making, paper-making or lacquering. I chose to lacquer, and of course, you can't do that in two hours, so we only got to do the first layer. Our bowls will be sent to us when they're done. After a tour of Furukawa town and another amazing meal, we only had to spend half an hour filling in a survey and we had 'paid' for our trip. Of course they served us coffee and snacks while we worked on the surveys, to make us feel even more guilty.And that's what I've been up to, fun-wise, over the last month or so. Next time I'll write an entry that's more representative of my daily life!
Shirakawa-go
I got to spend a weekend in a UNESCO World Heritage-listed village in the mountains of Japan. AND, I got to appease all my senses by witnessing traditional festival celebrations. AND, did I mention this was a SAKE festival?! It's called the 'Doburoku Matsuri' and it's named after a type of unfiltered sake. Unlike the clear sake you might be familiar with, it looks more like oatmeal because the rice grains haven't been completely filtered out. Doburoku tastes a whole lot more bitter than the mainstream version. Actually, it was hard to get down but it didn't take us long to acquire a taste!
Basically, the weekend looked like this: Me and a couple of other JET friends from down south (Gifu) took a 3 hour train north to Takayama (an incredibly beautiful town in itself, dubbed 'Little Kyoto') where we were picked up by another friend who just happens to live in one of the most picturesque villages in all of Japan. (Nice to have friends like that.) Unlike his predecessor though, who was the 'experienced woodsman' type, I don't think Jordan particularly enjoys the 'roughing it' aspect of his situation, which involves things like helping the townspeople thatch the roofs of generations-old houses, and in winter, digging a tunnel through the snow to his get to his car. ;P Anyway, from what I can tell, his situation looks like the 'storybook JET experience' and I hope he realises how lucky he is.
So what's all the fuss about Shirakawa-go? Well, it's home to 'gassho-zukuri' houses, which have a 'prayer-hands construction' style. To put it in English, the houses look like cute little gingerbread-house woodsy-mountainy village houses that you'd find in the Swiss Alps. They're actually designed that way so snow can't accumulate on the steep roofs in winter. The upper part of the building was traditionally used for things like producing silk, so the silk-worms lived up in the attic. And my friend's students live there!
Back to the festival: We followed the parade (involving a lion/dragon, a drum, a red devil, a green devil, lots of boys in white, rainbow streamers and a respected elder riding a rickshaw) up to the village temple, watched a lot of lion dancing, and tasted sake. We were impressed when the officials laid down two long mats in front of the temple and let everyone sit down on them before they came by with pots of sake and served us all-you-can drink proportions. Needless to say, most people were dead to the world on the bus-ride back to Gifu...
Halloween
I have to say I am getting a little annoyed at the Japanese versions of American holidays. And I haven't even lived through Valentine's Day yet! The Japanese don't know much about the REAL meaning of any of these holidays. Of course, most holidays have lost their significance in the West as well, what with commercialization etc... but in Japan, the sole reason they adopted these holidays is because they think the decorations are cute. I don't want to sound like Scrooge, but it makes me feel a bit sick. The minute Halloween was over, out came the Christmas decorations. And if you think it's overkill in America or Australia, you'd better not set foot in Japan. The malls and supermarkets have been playing Christmas carols since the first week of November. And I'm not particularly religious, but the whole Christmas thing being completely devoid of any references to Jesus, Mary, etc, is a bit wrong, I think.
Having said all that, Halloween was fun. The ironic thing, though, is that despite the plethora of Halloween merchandise available in Japan, the Japanese people seem to have a big problem actually wearing any of it come Halloween-eve. My friends and I went to the 'Nagoya Friends' Halloween party- supposed to be a chance for 'foreigners' and Japanese people to have fun together. It was 80 percent 'foreigners', and the Japanese that were there wore cat-ear headbands (girls) or the work suits they had been wearing all day (men). The Japanese guy we talked to said he had come as 'the British PM'. Because he was wearing a suit. Ha. I guess I can see their point in not dressing up. It can be chotto embarrasing. My friend Julie and I decided to go as Hello Kitty and My Melody (another similar character, a pink rabbit). Seeing as all we had to do was buy a headpiece and gloves for 20 bucks, it seemed to make sense. Except unfortunately for me, Halloween evening happened to coincide with the official bankruptcy of Nova, Japan's biggest English language school. This story was huge in the Japanese media. Nova's mascot is a pink rabbit. Who looks a lot like My Melody. And I was wearing a pink rabbit costume on the night of the day Nova went under. JET is like the 'rival' way (and I must say, the superior way) to go teach English in Japan. Anyway, lots of people thought I was making fun of Nova. So I felt bad, but not until the next day when I was sober enough to work out what all those Japanese people had been saying: "Nova usagi!" (Nova rabbit). That night we had fun trekking back to our hotel for 45 minutes, bringing joy to groups of Japanese businesspeople and traffic officers along the way.
Nara
It might not have been the best plan to go to Halloween festivities the night before a big trip to Nara, one of Japan's cultural and historical capitals. But it turned out ok anyway. Except for the fact that we made the mistake of actually taking advice from a train conductor, and ended up spending 6 hours on trains when we only meant to spend 3. Note to self: never ask for advice if you think you know what you are doing. Inevitably, it will throw you off course. I'd spent a good hour online planning which trains we should take, etc, and it was all undone by the advice "the other train will get you there faster". We got there in the end, with enough time to meet the deer and see the Todai-ji and the Daibutsu, a huge Buddha statue. Yes, that's right, meet the deer. They're left free to roam all through central Nara because they're considered messengers of the gods according to Shinto beliefs. They're cute, especially the young ones, but some can be pretty aggressive in their search for treats. We also got to see Kasuga shrine, where the deer seem to be more peaceful, perhaps because they're more religious. This shrine has lots and lots of lanterns and is really beautiful. To finish off the trip, we considered buying omiyage (souvenirs) to take back to our colleagues, but I wasn't game enough to buy the 'deer dropping' cakes! (chocolate, of course)
Hida
Two weekends ago I was lucky enough to be a special guest of the Hida Tourism board. Along with 4 other JETs and other 'foreigners' (there's that word again), I experienced an all-expenses paid overnight tour of northern Gifu-ken. I feel it's my duty to now convey to all my friends and family how wonderful Hida is as a tourist destination. And it really is; it's a very traditional, mountainous area of the prefecture, where a lot of old crafts are still practiced. We had to fight our survival instincts to actually board the tour bus, having read the itinerary stating that the tour will require "ten foreigners to execute". Our first stop was an apple orchard where we did some pickin'. Unfortunately, because it had rained a little that day, the 'Country Walk' was cancelled (for me, it felt like a frustrating example of Japanese-ness, but that's probably being unfair). Instead, we got to see a town called Kamioka, which had some beautiful autumn leaves and a funny-but-not-really sign on a bridge that said "Think again. There's a brighter future" in Japanese. The guides told us, through their laughter, that it was there to stop people committing suicide, since it commonly happens on that bridge.After the strenuous hike, we were dropped off at an onsen to soak our aching muscles. I love onsen but I don't think my body is quite used to being immersed in 50-degree-celcius water for minutes on end. Finally, it was off to the hotel, and a beautiful traditional Japanese dinner with local delegates. My friend and I were seated with the Head of Tourism for Hida (I think that was his title, anyway), and of course, managed to drink enough sake to help him confirm every misconception of 'foreigners' he ever had. Actually, it wasn't me who was so drunk, but my friend, who was christened a 'champion' at the end of the night. Oh, and by the way, I overheard one of the delegates commenting on how we 'ate everything' (zenbu tabeta). To which the other replied, 'their bodies are big' (karada ga ookii). Of course they must have thought we couldn't understand, but I did! The delegates also treated us to a couple renditions of the Hida song and taught us the Hida dance. You must understand that in Japan, whenever alcohol is offered, it's expected that people will drink until they're making fools of themselves.
The next day we had our choice of soba noodle-making, paper-making or lacquering. I chose to lacquer, and of course, you can't do that in two hours, so we only got to do the first layer. Our bowls will be sent to us when they're done. After a tour of Furukawa town and another amazing meal, we only had to spend half an hour filling in a survey and we had 'paid' for our trip. Of course they served us coffee and snacks while we worked on the surveys, to make us feel even more guilty.And that's what I've been up to, fun-wise, over the last month or so. Next time I'll write an entry that's more representative of my daily life!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Seeds and Sweat
I've just returned home from my first deliberate exercise session since being in Japan. I say deliberate because I'd rather forget the times in August when I naively rode my squeaky bike around Kakamigahara in 35-degree heat and 90% humidity in pursuit of a sightseeing experience. This latest physical exertion has resulted in what I predict will be a very sore hamstring muscle by tomorrow, a few scratches and a bedroom floor littered with prickles and seeds. Sound interesting? You too can have such an experience, merely by venturing out for a jog along any creek or rice-paddy in Japan. I decided it was too complicated to ride my bike half an hour to the nearest gym, sign up, and go through a 2-hour induction session in a foreign language simply to get my heart rate above 100 beats per minute. Why do that when there are several perfectly-good gravel paths (albeit a little overgrown with grasses and weeds) just a couple of blocks from my apartment? Anyway, after observing several old ladies walking their tiny dogs and eliminating the possibility that I might be trespassing onto some Japanese farmer's land, I decided to start my first jog. Half an hour and several laps of the same stretch of gravel later, I finally felt like a human being again instead of a lazy lump of gaijin flesh. Nevermind the hundreds of seeds that had attached themselves to my lower limbs, the red welts on my arms from who-knows-what weird and wonderful plant, or the suspicious glances from little old Japanese farmers' wives taking their daily constitution...
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The Return of Jeshika
Ok, something has to change. I need to write in this blog more often... maybe short entries more often are better than long-winded crapping-on sessions twice a month.
Anyway. So how are things? Well, I guess it's safe to say I've settled in to some semblance of a life here. (Although having said that, today one of my friends here told me to 'get a life by Sunday'. She's from New York and thinks that gives her the right to talk tough ;) I am yet to find a form of regular physical exercise, though. I think I'm going to have to take the plunge (literally) and go swimming soon, or maybe use the indoor running track near here. With my new-found language deficit, however, I've been reluctant to attempt signing up for anything that hasn't been absolutely essential to daily life. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and twice-daily 15 minute bike rides (70% of which is coasting) just don't cut it for 'exercise'.
What else? Well I'm quite proud, actually, that I've been managing the ins and outs of daily life completely by myself... for the first time in my life, at the ripe old age of 24. Bills are getting paid, cleaning is being done, and semi-healthy food is being eaten. It's all a lot easier than they lead you to believe growing up, as you may or may not know. And this is all happening in a foreign country where I don't speak the language. Then again, there was that time I attempted to do a money transfer via the ATM - ALONE - and ended up freezing my account. At least it was only temporary. I've come to the conclusion that Japan really is discriminatory towards anyone who isn't Japanese. You can do EVERY other function on an ATM (withdrawals, deposits, balance inquiries etc) in English, but if you want to transfer money (which is essential for things like paying rent, buying plane tickets, etc), forget it. Anyway it worked out in the end, and now I have paid for my 3-day trip to Seoul, Korea, in November. Yay!
'Teaching' is going pretty good, too. Well, at least as far as I can tell. It's hard to know when the JTEs (Japanese teachers of English that are supposed to 'team-teach' with me) don't engage in feedback. Or planning, for that matter (with one or two exceptions). Oh, and when the students, 90% of the time, stare at me with blank faces. I have never come across a catatonic person, but I don't think they can be any less responsive than a class of 16-year-old Japanese students. I seriously doubt I will ever feel socially awkward again after being in (especially after teaching in) Japan. It's like trial by fire. I'm not kidding. Then again, whenever I feel like a freak, I remind myself that 'they think you're weird anyway, as a foreigner, so whatever you do won't change that'. Back home, you KNOW when you're acting against social codes, and can't fall back on the excuse, 'I'm a foreigner!'.
(*I know the word 'foreigner' might sound weird, but officially and unofficially, that's what non-Japanese people are called in Japan; there's no getting around it, so I use it freely now.)
Meeting the students outside class can be a different story, though. Some of them actually like to chat with me and Khaleelah (the other ALT at my school), and they sure like yelling 'Bye bye!' or 'See you!' at the end of the day. The other comforting thing lately has been that for the past 2 weeks, we've had 13 Australian high school students (from a sister school in Queensland) on exchange. It makes me feel a little more 'valid' as a person when they're around: "See, I'm not the only pigment-deprived individual in Kakamigahara!" They've been pretty friendly too, but for some reason insist on calling me 'Miss' which freaks me out and grates on my nerves every time they say it. I just picture this spinster teacher in a black dress with a bun, carrying a whipping cane. Hmph. Brisbane. What more do I need to say?
I would love to provide further witty commentary of my working day but am too tired right now to attempt that. I promise I will soon, though. Instead, an anecdote. Today I had to attend a seminar for Speech Contest judges in Gifu City. (That's right; I am qualified to judge a Speech Contest merely because of the fact that I am from an English-speaking country. I feel a bit guilty every time they bestow me with this kind of power, which I seem to have only by default. It's almost like if the authorities said, "Hey, you're healthy! Prescribe medicine!").) I took the train to the venue with one of the JTEs from my school, but then, once the seminar was over, I realised my stupid bike had been left at school. SOOOO once I got back to Kakamigahara, I had to walk 40 minutes from the train station to school. On my travels, I took a 'shortcut' (really just an alternate route... a random side-street that led to god-knows-where, at dusk).... where I encountered a factory worker, in overalls and all. Who walked alongside me for a few meters, looked me up and down, and said something incomprehensible in Japanese. Expecting the worst, I replied "Wakarimasen" ("I don't understand"), and walked quicker. "Kuni wa?" ("Your country is...?") To which I replied, "Oosutoraria". Upon which he told me, in Japanese, that many of his co-workers came from different countries, like Brazil, Korea, China... "Sou desu ka" ("Is that so?"), I replied, like a native. And that was it. We parted ways. Anyway, it might not seem like a momentous event, but it kind of sums up how things are going here. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, something comes up, I expect the worst, but it works out, and ends up being an interesting memory. And none of that ever would have happened if I hadn't forgotten my bike at school.
You can take whatever you want from that.
Anyway. So how are things? Well, I guess it's safe to say I've settled in to some semblance of a life here. (Although having said that, today one of my friends here told me to 'get a life by Sunday'. She's from New York and thinks that gives her the right to talk tough ;) I am yet to find a form of regular physical exercise, though. I think I'm going to have to take the plunge (literally) and go swimming soon, or maybe use the indoor running track near here. With my new-found language deficit, however, I've been reluctant to attempt signing up for anything that hasn't been absolutely essential to daily life. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and twice-daily 15 minute bike rides (70% of which is coasting) just don't cut it for 'exercise'.
What else? Well I'm quite proud, actually, that I've been managing the ins and outs of daily life completely by myself... for the first time in my life, at the ripe old age of 24. Bills are getting paid, cleaning is being done, and semi-healthy food is being eaten. It's all a lot easier than they lead you to believe growing up, as you may or may not know. And this is all happening in a foreign country where I don't speak the language. Then again, there was that time I attempted to do a money transfer via the ATM - ALONE - and ended up freezing my account. At least it was only temporary. I've come to the conclusion that Japan really is discriminatory towards anyone who isn't Japanese. You can do EVERY other function on an ATM (withdrawals, deposits, balance inquiries etc) in English, but if you want to transfer money (which is essential for things like paying rent, buying plane tickets, etc), forget it. Anyway it worked out in the end, and now I have paid for my 3-day trip to Seoul, Korea, in November. Yay!
'Teaching' is going pretty good, too. Well, at least as far as I can tell. It's hard to know when the JTEs (Japanese teachers of English that are supposed to 'team-teach' with me) don't engage in feedback. Or planning, for that matter (with one or two exceptions). Oh, and when the students, 90% of the time, stare at me with blank faces. I have never come across a catatonic person, but I don't think they can be any less responsive than a class of 16-year-old Japanese students. I seriously doubt I will ever feel socially awkward again after being in (especially after teaching in) Japan. It's like trial by fire. I'm not kidding. Then again, whenever I feel like a freak, I remind myself that 'they think you're weird anyway, as a foreigner, so whatever you do won't change that'. Back home, you KNOW when you're acting against social codes, and can't fall back on the excuse, 'I'm a foreigner!'.
(*I know the word 'foreigner' might sound weird, but officially and unofficially, that's what non-Japanese people are called in Japan; there's no getting around it, so I use it freely now.)
Meeting the students outside class can be a different story, though. Some of them actually like to chat with me and Khaleelah (the other ALT at my school), and they sure like yelling 'Bye bye!' or 'See you!' at the end of the day. The other comforting thing lately has been that for the past 2 weeks, we've had 13 Australian high school students (from a sister school in Queensland) on exchange. It makes me feel a little more 'valid' as a person when they're around: "See, I'm not the only pigment-deprived individual in Kakamigahara!" They've been pretty friendly too, but for some reason insist on calling me 'Miss' which freaks me out and grates on my nerves every time they say it. I just picture this spinster teacher in a black dress with a bun, carrying a whipping cane. Hmph. Brisbane. What more do I need to say?
I would love to provide further witty commentary of my working day but am too tired right now to attempt that. I promise I will soon, though. Instead, an anecdote. Today I had to attend a seminar for Speech Contest judges in Gifu City. (That's right; I am qualified to judge a Speech Contest merely because of the fact that I am from an English-speaking country. I feel a bit guilty every time they bestow me with this kind of power, which I seem to have only by default. It's almost like if the authorities said, "Hey, you're healthy! Prescribe medicine!").) I took the train to the venue with one of the JTEs from my school, but then, once the seminar was over, I realised my stupid bike had been left at school. SOOOO once I got back to Kakamigahara, I had to walk 40 minutes from the train station to school. On my travels, I took a 'shortcut' (really just an alternate route... a random side-street that led to god-knows-where, at dusk).... where I encountered a factory worker, in overalls and all. Who walked alongside me for a few meters, looked me up and down, and said something incomprehensible in Japanese. Expecting the worst, I replied "Wakarimasen" ("I don't understand"), and walked quicker. "Kuni wa?" ("Your country is...?") To which I replied, "Oosutoraria". Upon which he told me, in Japanese, that many of his co-workers came from different countries, like Brazil, Korea, China... "Sou desu ka" ("Is that so?"), I replied, like a native. And that was it. We parted ways. Anyway, it might not seem like a momentous event, but it kind of sums up how things are going here. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, something comes up, I expect the worst, but it works out, and ends up being an interesting memory. And none of that ever would have happened if I hadn't forgotten my bike at school.
You can take whatever you want from that.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Kyoto Khaos
The past two weeks have been fairly easy, work-wise. It feels like I’ve spent more time doing interesting Japanese-y things than working, which is great, but believe it or not, I am actually ready to start ‘real’ work, 2 months into the job! Japan has had two long weekends in a row, thanks to ‘Respect for the Aged Day’ and ‘Autumnal Equinox Day’. By comparison, Australians really shouldn’t get so excited about their one or two slack ‘do we really need this?’ public holidays- the Melbourne Cup and Queen’s Birthday. Japan is the world leader in those kinds of days off… a sample from my diary: Health and Sports Day; Culture Day; Coming of Age Day; Vernal Equinox Day (and it’s on a Thursday!); Emperor’s Birthday; Greenery Day; Children’s Day; Marine Day… etc.
Anyway, the last few days at work have been taken up with high school exams. I think they have them every couple of months or so. I actually had to write one of the tests for the 3rd grade class (Year 12)! That was interesting, given that I hadn’t even taught them the material they were going to be tested on. Oh well, somehow I cobbled together a few questions using the textbook. I also had to mark the tests, and freaked myself out because the first 5 or so were terrible- like 20 out of 50. I thought I had made the test too hard, until I found a few students who managed to get in the high 40s. Phew! “With great power comes great responsibility.” ;-pBut the main thing that’s blog-worthy this time is my trip to Kyoto ! I went last weekend with 4 other people (all doing the same program as me). Kyoto, in case you didn’t know, is the cultural capital of Japan . It wasn’t bombed during WWII, so many of Japan ’s oldest and most famous temples are there. AND, it’s only a 2 hour train ride (only around $20) from here! I knew Gifu was good for something… getting away!
Saturday, September 22-
Wake up early and try to discreetly (i.e. through much banging of pots and pans; turning taps off and on; opening and shutting doors) force my friend Sandra to wake up and get moving because we can’t miss the train! Arrive at the station on time, but receive a call from the other three, saying they’re gonna miss it. Decide to go anyway- screw them, they can get the next one. (hehe) Are surprised when they step on the train one stop after us; they made it after all, but had to do a last-second car park in a weird spot. We all pray the car is still there in two days time.
Arrive in Kyoto, ravenous. Must eat before we can sightsee. Wander the station for half an hour and finally get a meal in an ‘Italian’ restaurant. After eating, realize we need bus and sightseeing info. Find the tourist info office, but unfortunately, it’s only for Japanese people. A sign informs us that foreigners must go to the 9th floor. “Apartheid!”, we protest. 2 hours after arriving at Kyoto station, we manage to exit it. Get the bus to our first destination, Nijo-jo (Nijo castle). Buy an entry ticket from machine (yeah, why DO we need ticket booth attendants anyway?) Enter the glory that is Nijo-jo. Marvel at the architecture, straight out of a samurai movie, and the sheer number of middle-aged French tourists. Marvel again at the ‘nightingale’ floors- the floorboards are arranged so that when you walk on them, they squeak and sound exactly like birds twittering (designed so that intruders could be detected).
Take the bus to the hotel, Orange Inn, chosen by yours truly. Check in and flop on the bunks. But realize we must soldier on. Take the train to an out-of-the-way, but reportedly incredibly awesome, shrine: Fushimi Inari Taisha. It’s a Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari, the god of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes and industry (according to Wikipedia!). Her spirits, or messengers, are foxes, which supposedly hold the key to rice granaries in their mouths. I just like the bit about the foxes. Anyway, behind the shrine, there are hundreds of red gates (torii) lined up like dominoes, which are very impressive and picturesque. If you come to Kyoto , you must go.
Take bus to Gion, the old ‘geisha’ district of Kyoto, with visions of geisha dancing in our heads. Fail to spot a geisha but are too hungry to care. Eat okonomiyaki at a traditional-looking restaurant near a very beautiful stream and bridge.
Go to bed early, with plans to rise early to make the most of the day.
Sunday, September 23-
Miss the alarm; sleep in until 10. Abandon all hope of getting out early, knowing the reputations of two of our crew (they like to groom). Eat a combini (convenience store) breakfast on the way to first sight: Kinkakuji. This is the most well-known landmark in Kyoto . It’s a temple coated- COATED- in gold (Kin means gold). It’s a bit smaller than I imagined but absolutely stunning.
Take bus to second site, Ginkakuji. Gin means silver. But alas, it’s not coated in silver. The intention was there, but it never happened. Instead, (cue pretentious language) this temple has become an example of the wabisabi aesthetic- basically an idea of beauty that’s not about perfection, but about seeing beauty in imperfect, impermanent, incomplete things. The gardens surrounding the temple are beautiful; so cultivated- every branch and rock has been pruned or placed just-so, but it still manages to look natural. Personally, I found Ginkakuji just as, if not more, impressive than Kinkakuji, but in a different way.
…Continue our temple-crawl- onwards to Kiyomizudera (It means ‘clear water temple’. Little did we know, it was to live up to its name in an unexpected way). Anticipate the most breathtaking view in all of Japan , perhaps the world (the view has just been declared one of the new 7 wonders of the world, or something). Walk for 30 minutes through a cemetery, slowing developing the suspicion that we’re going the wrong way. Eventually arrive at the temple. Confirm that it’s beautiful. Look up as the heavens open and the first of many, many raindrops hit us. Look around at all the Japanese tourists, huddled under the sheltered parts, staring gloomily out. Decide we might as well look even weirder than we already do, and run through the rain to the temple. Look out at haze. Wonder if the view really is nice and decide we may never know. Get even wetter, running from one pagoda to another. Get separated. Call each other with instructions for how to find each other. Don’t find each other. Get literally pushed into the rain by grumpy Japanese woman trying to close up her souvenir shop. Leave the temple, this time walking the correct way down the hill, along with 10 000 other Japanese tourists. Finally give in a pay 400 yen each for an umbrella. Walk for another half hour to the bus. End up in Gion again.
Decide an sento (public bath) is what we need. Arrive at sento – boys and girls separate. Fumble around with our lockers et cetera for 10 minutes before we get up the courage to strip off. Enter bathing area, cover certain areas with our ‘dignity towel’. ‘ Wash ’ (whoops, forgot to bring soap!) before getting in the bath. Enter 50-degree water. Turn pink, but enjoy the feeling of having the top 2 layers of skin die. Move to outdoor bath. Notice old Japanese lady in bath. She notices us. She leaves.
After sento, find a random restaurant and eat. Go back to hotel. Fall asleep.
Monday, September 24
Awaken to the sound of loud American and Australian backpackers talking about nothing. Check out of hotel and take bus to Kyoto station. Find omiyage (souvenir) store and fork out 1000 yen for the obligatory edible presents all Japanese work colleagues expect upon one’s return from afar.Take train back to Gifu . Celebrate when we find the car still in the car park. Officially declare the trip a success!
Anyway, the last few days at work have been taken up with high school exams. I think they have them every couple of months or so. I actually had to write one of the tests for the 3rd grade class (Year 12)! That was interesting, given that I hadn’t even taught them the material they were going to be tested on. Oh well, somehow I cobbled together a few questions using the textbook. I also had to mark the tests, and freaked myself out because the first 5 or so were terrible- like 20 out of 50. I thought I had made the test too hard, until I found a few students who managed to get in the high 40s. Phew! “With great power comes great responsibility.” ;-pBut the main thing that’s blog-worthy this time is my trip to Kyoto ! I went last weekend with 4 other people (all doing the same program as me). Kyoto, in case you didn’t know, is the cultural capital of Japan . It wasn’t bombed during WWII, so many of Japan ’s oldest and most famous temples are there. AND, it’s only a 2 hour train ride (only around $20) from here! I knew Gifu was good for something… getting away!
Saturday, September 22-
Wake up early and try to discreetly (i.e. through much banging of pots and pans; turning taps off and on; opening and shutting doors) force my friend Sandra to wake up and get moving because we can’t miss the train! Arrive at the station on time, but receive a call from the other three, saying they’re gonna miss it. Decide to go anyway- screw them, they can get the next one. (hehe) Are surprised when they step on the train one stop after us; they made it after all, but had to do a last-second car park in a weird spot. We all pray the car is still there in two days time.
Arrive in Kyoto, ravenous. Must eat before we can sightsee. Wander the station for half an hour and finally get a meal in an ‘Italian’ restaurant. After eating, realize we need bus and sightseeing info. Find the tourist info office, but unfortunately, it’s only for Japanese people. A sign informs us that foreigners must go to the 9th floor. “Apartheid!”, we protest. 2 hours after arriving at Kyoto station, we manage to exit it. Get the bus to our first destination, Nijo-jo (Nijo castle). Buy an entry ticket from machine (yeah, why DO we need ticket booth attendants anyway?) Enter the glory that is Nijo-jo. Marvel at the architecture, straight out of a samurai movie, and the sheer number of middle-aged French tourists. Marvel again at the ‘nightingale’ floors- the floorboards are arranged so that when you walk on them, they squeak and sound exactly like birds twittering (designed so that intruders could be detected).
Take the bus to the hotel, Orange Inn, chosen by yours truly. Check in and flop on the bunks. But realize we must soldier on. Take the train to an out-of-the-way, but reportedly incredibly awesome, shrine: Fushimi Inari Taisha. It’s a Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari, the god of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes and industry (according to Wikipedia!). Her spirits, or messengers, are foxes, which supposedly hold the key to rice granaries in their mouths. I just like the bit about the foxes. Anyway, behind the shrine, there are hundreds of red gates (torii) lined up like dominoes, which are very impressive and picturesque. If you come to Kyoto , you must go.
Take bus to Gion, the old ‘geisha’ district of Kyoto, with visions of geisha dancing in our heads. Fail to spot a geisha but are too hungry to care. Eat okonomiyaki at a traditional-looking restaurant near a very beautiful stream and bridge.
Go to bed early, with plans to rise early to make the most of the day.
Sunday, September 23-
Miss the alarm; sleep in until 10. Abandon all hope of getting out early, knowing the reputations of two of our crew (they like to groom). Eat a combini (convenience store) breakfast on the way to first sight: Kinkakuji. This is the most well-known landmark in Kyoto . It’s a temple coated- COATED- in gold (Kin means gold). It’s a bit smaller than I imagined but absolutely stunning.
Take bus to second site, Ginkakuji. Gin means silver. But alas, it’s not coated in silver. The intention was there, but it never happened. Instead, (cue pretentious language) this temple has become an example of the wabisabi aesthetic- basically an idea of beauty that’s not about perfection, but about seeing beauty in imperfect, impermanent, incomplete things. The gardens surrounding the temple are beautiful; so cultivated- every branch and rock has been pruned or placed just-so, but it still manages to look natural. Personally, I found Ginkakuji just as, if not more, impressive than Kinkakuji, but in a different way.
…Continue our temple-crawl- onwards to Kiyomizudera (It means ‘clear water temple’. Little did we know, it was to live up to its name in an unexpected way). Anticipate the most breathtaking view in all of Japan , perhaps the world (the view has just been declared one of the new 7 wonders of the world, or something). Walk for 30 minutes through a cemetery, slowing developing the suspicion that we’re going the wrong way. Eventually arrive at the temple. Confirm that it’s beautiful. Look up as the heavens open and the first of many, many raindrops hit us. Look around at all the Japanese tourists, huddled under the sheltered parts, staring gloomily out. Decide we might as well look even weirder than we already do, and run through the rain to the temple. Look out at haze. Wonder if the view really is nice and decide we may never know. Get even wetter, running from one pagoda to another. Get separated. Call each other with instructions for how to find each other. Don’t find each other. Get literally pushed into the rain by grumpy Japanese woman trying to close up her souvenir shop. Leave the temple, this time walking the correct way down the hill, along with 10 000 other Japanese tourists. Finally give in a pay 400 yen each for an umbrella. Walk for another half hour to the bus. End up in Gion again.
Decide an sento (public bath) is what we need. Arrive at sento – boys and girls separate. Fumble around with our lockers et cetera for 10 minutes before we get up the courage to strip off. Enter bathing area, cover certain areas with our ‘dignity towel’. ‘ Wash ’ (whoops, forgot to bring soap!) before getting in the bath. Enter 50-degree water. Turn pink, but enjoy the feeling of having the top 2 layers of skin die. Move to outdoor bath. Notice old Japanese lady in bath. She notices us. She leaves.
After sento, find a random restaurant and eat. Go back to hotel. Fall asleep.
Monday, September 24
Awaken to the sound of loud American and Australian backpackers talking about nothing. Check out of hotel and take bus to Kyoto station. Find omiyage (souvenir) store and fork out 1000 yen for the obligatory edible presents all Japanese work colleagues expect upon one’s return from afar.Take train back to Gifu . Celebrate when we find the car still in the car park. Officially declare the trip a success!
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