Silver Week

Due to a fortuitous confluence of holidays (which apparently only happens every six years) this past weekend was "silver weekend" and we got five days off from school, which gave me the opportunity to do a little exploring in Osaka, a city about an hour away from Kyoto, and to hang out some more with my host parents. On Friday I went with Max, Adam and Meli to see "Buranden" (a friend of Max's) sing in a concert in Osaka. It was at this snazzy place called The Pink Flamingo and at the beginning it seemed as if we would have the place to ourselves, but eventually more people started to come in. What's interesting is that Branden is actually from Texas and he isn't Japanese but he's trying to make it as a j-pop singer in Japan. Here's a link to his music video if you want to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzhj2eLq3uU.

I have to say, Japanese people - or at least the ones at the concert - are a tough crowd to please. As we were moving along to the songs, I happened to look at the others in the room and they were as stoic as if they were watching c-span. It was kind of weird, and the songs weren't even bad or anything! During the next two groups, however, everyone seemed to perk up a bit. The last group was pretty funny. They sang all American songs like Poker Face by Lady GaGa and Umbrella. At one point the girl, who was in three inch heels and a shiny tight little skirt, attempted to do the moon walk while singing Billy Jean in a bad accent.

The Pink Flamingo

On Sunday I went with my host parents for a hike in the mountains around Lake Biwaco, Japan's biggest lake. It was a gorgeous day and the mountain air was incredibly refreshing. The green hillsides were covered with susuki, or japanese plume grass, which have long slender stalks that flair into a burst of soft whitish-silver sprigs at the top, kind of like horse tails. They were quite beautiful and it was nice taking a break on the side of the mountian and watching them sway under the ski lifts as we ate melon milk candy.

One thing I love about hiking in Japan is that there are little statues everywhere of gods, one of the most prevelant being Jizo, the guardian of paths and children, and the one that helps you find your way in the afterlife. Despite signifying places where people have died, I didn't find the little Jizos to be creepy or anything at all. There, stoically biding their time through the years and the weather with their little bibs tied around their necks, watching ennumerable amounts of visitors pass through, they seem to me little pockets of stability and quiet calmness that then reminds me of the anchored strength of the surrounding mountains. It's comforting, to bear witness to something so solid and unperturbable, or at least, in comparison to the ephemeral quality of human life...

Me and my host parents after lunch

For lunch we sat by this little lake and ate rice balls and drank tea. It was cute. And so incredibly peaceful.

Other than that, my host dad has been taking me around the city to various shrines and temples. Like I've said before, my host dad is fit! He just zooms around the streets and it's hard to keep up with him, especially since I haven't had much experience biking around in a city. There are so many hazards with people and cars! Today I actually collided with another biker, but nothing bad or anything happened; we were just both a bit surprised.

Anyway, my Otoosan is really into making a "Kimie-chan in Japan" Album and so gets a kick out of making me take pictures at every opportunity. Today, he thought it was incredibly funny that this other Japanese couple asked if we wanted our picture to be taken, because they probably thought that I was his granddaughter, which, naturally, has never happened before when he's taken other study abroad students around.

Syokokuji Temple

Well that's it for tonight, until next time then, oyasuminasai!

Kamigamo Shrine

Today we visited Kamigamo Shrine for a field trip for my Shinto class. It's said to be the shrine for poets, so I decided that I'd write a poem. So here it is along with a couple of pictures!

Kamigamo Shrine

Beneath eaves of shadows
and murmuring trees
we ponder the vermilion bones

of worship holding the sky
with prayer-stiffened shoulders:
an offering to the god of thunder

who scalds the soul
and purifies the heart
with lightning.

The heavens shine back at us, smooth
and sleepy, uncurling lazy golden
tongues; yawns snapping through leaves:

today there is no such violence
of heat and incandescent terror.
Today, the white messenger horse of the gods

rests in its pasture; the wooden stages
stand silent with polished composure;
by the stream, paper fortunes knot bamboo

the way bracelets festoon flesh
until slowly pried loose by the fingers
of children and wind and rain.

The bells are quiet.
Our footsteps shush the birds,
and you can hear nothing

but the sound of sunlight
and running water:

the sound of kami breathing.

Mos Burger, Wind Tunnels and Waffle Scented Smoke

Yesterday I had a Mos Burger for the first time ever. For those of you who don't know, Mos Burger is a Japanese fast food chain that sells the Japanese version of a hamburger. Translation: the buns are made of rice! How crazy is that! My particular burger was a kinpira burger, so its patty was made of burdock root - which is a vegetable kind of similar to a sweet potato - and its buns were made of slightly toasted rice. All together it was delicious!



The burgers are actually pretty small, so even though the buns are made of rice, it's not as bad as it sounds! Unlike America, Japan has manageable portions.

Yesterday, I also went on a field trip with the rest of the AKP group to the Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center, which was actually a lot more fun than it sounds, believe it or not. They had simulation rooms where we got to experience a 7.0 earthquake and winds of up to 32 meters/sec. While I've always wanted to be in a wind tunnel, let me just say that I NEVER want to be in a typhoon with winds blowing that hard. As we were being blasted with air a screen right next to us was showing a real typhoon scenario and ceramic tiles and trash and large objects were flying everywhere. Scary.

The Wind Room

The next simulation we had to do was to find the exit in a building that was on fire. Of course, there wasn't actually a fire, but we did have to go through a mini obstacle course with passage ways filled with fake smoke that smelled like waffles and syrup (yummm).

There we are (symbolized by the green squares) trying to find our way out of the burning building and avoiding death by fire (red dots).

And finally, we got to play around with some fire extinguishers. This was actually super helpful as I have never actually set off one before!

All in all, now I feel better prepared should a disaster befall Kyoto, but I pray a day like that will will never come!

Settling In

It's hard to believe that it's been just a little over a week since I've been in Japan; so much has happened in a few days! I'm just starting to settle into my new life over here and, with the purchase of a cell phone and the "white plan" (is the name coincidental? I'm not sure, but it's what all the foreigners get!) and my handy dandy denshi jisho (electronic dictionary) I'm pretty much set to start my exploration of Japan in earnest.

With a couple of friends, I've already started to do a little tanken (exploration) around Doshisha. On Tuesday, we went to the imperial gardens and walked around a bit. The grounds are expansive and to go inside we have to get reservations ahead of time, so we stuck to the gardens. It's a pretty impressive area that covers a lot of ground and, once again, it's crazy to think that something this old has survived in the midst of modernity's ongoing rush...Though I did notice that in one corner of the map there were a bunch of tennis courts, which I thought was kind of random.

Don't we look like one of those old Cingular commercials? From left to right: Meli, Me, Max and Adam at the Imperial Gardens.


A temple in the imperial palace compounds.

Then yesterday, Adam and I went exploring between classes in the other direction. We found this cute little shop that had the most amazing notebooks! They were all hand made and hand bound and had vintage/"retoro" (retro) pictures on the front. Upstairs, there was this quirky little art gallery. Here are some pics:

Yes, that's right, those pants don't have bottoms! They're seamless too!

Siamese shirts

Besides exploring with friends, I've been getting to know my family a little better. Last Sunday I went biking and running with my Otoosan (host dad). He's 71 and in the time he ran 6 miles, I ran under 3 miles...yeah, it was pretty pathetic and I was completely wiped out for the rest of the day! But it was a lot of fun. We ran along Kamogawa, the Kamo River, which is a really beautiful place; the river is lush with vegetation and white herons fish serenly amongst the reeds. The water is so clear that I could see minnows swimming in it from almost 15 yards away, and these really pretty black dragonflies were floating everywhere with motions so fluid it was as if they were inscribing calligraphy in the air! A lot of people jog and walk their dogs (which are all really tiny and toy-like and sooo cute!) along the river and, as the gap between me and my Otoosan gradually got wider, I occupied myself with observing the people around me...I now understand how Japanese women are so white. It's because they run in full body suits! Even though it was blazing hot (upper 80s, 90s?) they were wearing dark long-sleeved shirts and pants and jogging around. I don't see how they don't have heat stroke! Even though it seems like putting yourself through unneccessary discomfort, however, I guess in the future you won't get skin cancer that way...and also bug bites. Which is another thing - I have come to the conclusion that you can tell who the foreigners are by the amount of bug bites they have. It seems like none of the regular Japanese have bug bites and their skin is flawless! Sigh, it's just another one of their innumerable mysteries...

One last thing before I finish up - my host parents have a piano!!! Which is fantastic because it seems as if pianos are hard to find and there are no practice rooms (that I know of) at Doshisha. I was kind of concerned before coming that I wouldn't have access to a piano and so wouldn't be able to play, but I got soooo lucky! Since the houses are really close together and it's pretty quiet, sound really carries in the neighborhood. Thus, the first day I played the piano, Coharu, the little girl from next door, begged her mom to let her come over and listen. She is the most adorable little girl ever! As pretty much all the little Japanese babies are (this, by the way, is the consensus of the AKP group, and so I'm not presenting biased views here). But really, she was incredibly cute and after I finished she proceeded to bang on the piano and giggle in pure delight...I only wish I was better with kids. As some of you know, when it comes to kids I'm at a loss at what to do, and it's especially hard when you're trying to interact with a kid who speaks another language and you accidentally start speaking to them in polite form (which is reserved for speaking to strangers or people superior to you in age or station). Anyway, Coharu, though adorable, started wailing when she had to go back home for dinner and refused to be taken away from the piano. I felt kind of bad, but it was amazing how utterly entranced she seemed by the piano and it makes me wonder if I'm witnessing the beginnings of an amazing musician! But that's just me dreaming my idealistic dreams.

Anyhow, it's getting late now and I'm still slowly recovering from jet lag, so until next time, take care! Oyasuminasai (goodnight)!

Chilled Plum Blossoms

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer. Actually, scratch that, it's a huge misnomer, because 1) Kyoto is far from cool at this point in time (it's actually super hot and humid ), and 2) there are no plum blossoms in bloom and there won't be any for a very long time. That being said, let me explain myself: "Kambaikan", roughly translated as "Chilled Plum Blossoms" is actually the name of a building that is part of the Doshisha campus - the school that I'll be commuting to for the next nine months - and I thought it was one of the most elegant and poetic names that a building could have. Isn't is beautiful? It's like a haiku in a name! Now why can't American buildings have names like that?

Now that the initial flurry and hurry of orientatioin week has died down and I've finally moved in with my host parents, Japan and the fact that I'll be staying here for a year is starting to feel more real to me. It's been an interesting week, to say the least, and I've gotten a taste for what's to come - both the trials and joys that will be in store on what looks to be an exciting adventure.

First of all, my host parents are amazing. There are the sweetest couple ever and have lost no time in making me feel at home. My Okaasan (host mom) is a wonderful cook and is so patient with me when I struggle to express myself and my Otoosan (host father) is seventy three and yet still plays tennis, soccer and runs, and apparently when he was seventy he ran a marathon in Hawaii! Crazy! They've hosted ten AKP students before and so they're pretty much pros at what to expect from foreign students and it's great because their house is only ten minutes away from school by bus.

Neighborhoods in Japan look totally different from those in the U.S. American suburbs are really expansive compared to the neighborhoods in Japan. The houses are really close here and the streets are very narrow. What I really like about here, though, is how there are shops and restaurants that are mixed in with the houses, so you never know what surprises you might find around every corner! Like the temple and shrine a few steps away from where I'm living!

Among the many things that are different from the U.S., the sounds in Kyoto are really striking. When you're in a quiet place, like in a residential neighborhood or at "Happy Terrace" which is at the top of 6 elevators in Kyoto station, you'll often hear the soft chime of a bell, or the clack of wooden sandals against the street; even the recycling truck has a sound, or rather a voice (it talks to you, telling you, presumably, to recycle your things and save the earth).

I think one of the most interesting aspects of my time here will be the fact that I'm completely Japanese and yet I'm just a foreign as the rest of the exchange students. It's a double edged sword. On the one hand, I blend in more and so I'm able to observe Japanese culture without the added distraction of suspicious/curious stares. However, on the other hand, I guess you can say that the expectations are set much higher and that I'm held up to assumptions which I cannot meet. For example, when I'm walking with other foreign students, they all get the English pamphlets while I'm handed the Japanese ones; in stores, sales people will address me rather than others (who might be more fluent). While I get a kick out of that, it's also kind of embarrassing when I open my mouth and out comes a halting string of words which may or may not be correct. Oh well. It's kind of funny, though it does make me feel like a poser sometimes! hehe.

So in order to prevent this post from getting too long, here are a few quick bullet points of the pros and cons of Kyoto so far.

Pros:

1) delicious food
2) sitting in chairs and being able to put my feet flat on the floor
3) the "cult of cleanliness" - Japan is super clean, for example, the streets are swept every day (literally with brooms and dustpans) and the subways are vacuumed
4) the plethora of incredibly kawaii (cute) clothing stores
5) Doshisha students (super kind and thoughtful)
6) eating salads for breakfast (which may or may not be a pro depending on who you are, but I personally find it kind of refreshing)
7) drinking cold tea on a hot, muggy day

Cons:
1) there usually aren't napkins at restaurants, and if there are, then they're more like blotting papers than napkins. Also the trash cans are tiny and few and far between. Like, I don't get it, what do Japanese people do with all their trash? And how don't they get food all over themselves???
2) mosquitos
3) the weather