The End (for now)

As I gradually cleaned out my room and packed up my bags this week, I unearthed a bag that one of the Doshisha students bought for me this first week we came to Japan. At that time he was in charge of showing me how to get to my house from school (which seemed sooo complicated at the time - that, and using the bus...) and I had been carrying around a notebook and so he bought me a bag at the conibini to carry it around, for it seems as if not carrying anything around without a bag to go with it is taboo. (Japanese love bags. For example, I bought some nicely wrapped mochi the other day which was then put into a little individual bag, which was then put into the store's paper bag, which was then put into a plastic bag (since it was raining outside)). Anyway, as I cleaned my room this week, I found this bag again, scrunched into the dark recesses of my dresser drawer and with the simple sentence "Time flies when you are having fun" on the front. Such a simple phrase, one that is often nonchalantly batted around, but it's so true! And incredibly prophetic for this year.

It has been the most amazing ten months of my life, and time has flown by without me realizing it. Was it really nearly ten months ago when I first arrived in Japan, jet-lagged and baking in the late summer humidity, stunned and exhilarated by the newness of it all? Was it really nearly ten-months ago when Hiro bought me that bag at the conbini and I was taught that it's hip to shorten names like that of the conbini Family Mart to famlyma and Starbucks to Staba? In ten months you can learn a lot. Like how to maneuver the streets on a bike and hold an umbrella at the same time. Like how how to ride buses and subways and all the public transportation systems that southern California and Vermont lack. Like how to see the positive side of everything. Like which brand of Hokkaido milk is the richest and the creamiest and the sweetest. Like how to recognize a cult. Like how to be more considerate. Like the fact that God is with you wherever you go and the thing that people yearn for the most is unconditional love...

Yes, it has been an experience and even if I had been more diligent in updating posts (sorry!) I don't think I would have room for everything that would have happened this year. One thing I've definitely learned is that the most important learning takes place outside the classroom and comes from the scary, and wonderful and exciting and slippery thing called Real Life Experience. haha. Something which, if I ever want to be a writer will become increasingly more important ;)

Some things that I will miss about Japan:

1) The neighborhoods and tiny streets which always have something interesting to offer, a little shop or a cafe nestled amongst the domestic humdrum of life
2) biking around to discover such hidden places and CAFES! I am convinced that Kyoto has the best cafes in the world. Here are just a few...

Sugamachi Cafe

So I don't know many famous Japanese tv stars or actors/singers (or even American ones - I'm hopelessly lost when it comes to pop culture...haha) BUT there is this one travel show that I would watch occasionally with my host parents (usually they watch the news, but at 10 coffee time which they have every morning, this show was on for a while). And on this show I would watch the host (forget his name...) travel around China. Well apparently he travels around Kyoto too, and I saw him at this cafe which is right by my house! I was so excited because I don't really see famous people all the time (or it would be more appropriate to say, I don't/wouldn't recognize a famous person if I saw them probably) and here this guy was - the ONE semi famous Japanese tv person that I happen to know. It was amazing! I wish I got a picture though...

Rum lassi, yummmm =)

Kotoba no Hatori (sp?)

This is a really cute cafe which is set in an old Kyoto house.

The garden is beautiful and there is a nice breeze that flows through it.
The coconut curry was delicious.

Cafe Andante

I just discovered this little cafe over by Kokedera. It is beautiful! The cafe has french doors which open out to a garden with roses and columbines and all sorts of wonderful plants. Inside, the wood is painted a cool sea green, which lends itself to a peaceful atmosphere, and the decor is very cute and flowery. A little bit of quaint England tucked away on quiet lane by a stream.

Quarirengue

From the street, it looks like a little alleyway, but at the end of it is this beautiful cafe.

Sarasa

There are actually several sarasas around Kyoto. This one is by my house and is in what used to be an old onsen (public bathhouse). The walls have really beautiful tiles and outside the dark wooden paneling is nicely set off by the green of ivy. Lots of students come here and study. Lunches here are MASSIVE. I took my parents here and my mom said they have the tenderest chicken she's ever eaten...

Cafe Bibliotic Hello! (yes, the exclamation point is a part of the name)

This cafe is off the little street of nijo-jo and you can identify it by the abundant banana trees out in front. This was a great place to sit down to a nice conversation with friends over good food or coffee.

Seance Cafe

So this place really isn't called "Seance Cafe" (I'm not really sure what it's name is because I forgot to check) and it's actually not really my one of my favorite cafes anymore. I mean, in the beginning I liked it a lot because the decor was really cute and Frenchy, but then after the first time when I got really sour coffee that gave me a stomachache and then after the second time I went when they asked me if I was here for "the event" and I asked "What event?" and they replied "Do you want to know the deeds of your past life?" I didn't really try to go there again...the lady in the window to the left is the fortune teller, past diviner, seance lady person. Luckily, by the time I finished my chocolate cake, nothing really crazy/weird had happened yet ;)

Lily's cafe

Lily's is a few minutes away from my school, Doshisha. It is on the second floor above a dentist office and so it's kind of easy to pass, and thus it's not often very crowded and was my haven of quiet for the past year. I went there often to study. The scones here are really good and one time there was this sweet potato muffin which was super delicious. There were many times when I was the only customer (or if Meli was there, Meli and I), but I do have to say, there was one other guy who must go there really often. It was interesting. He would always come with a bag of groceries, sit down by the window, have a cup of coffee, and then leave after not even ten minutes had passed. A nice way to wind down the afternoon I suppose...=)

And many many others......

And now to continue with the list...

3) milk - it's only whole milk in Japan, which is bad for you I know, but which tastes soooo good. In Hokkaido I even had baked milk! Which is actually served cold and the top is baked (looks kind of like the top of creme brulee) and which has a slight layer of marshmellowy fluffiness underneath which as you eat dissolves into the milk below and sweetens it. yummmmm!!
4) conbinis. Like the name, they are definitely convenient. They are open 24/7 and you can get everything necessary (almost) in life there. Food, shaving cream, magazines, drinks, socks...you can also use the bathrooms there and they are even more ubiquitous than starbucks. I will miss their onigiris (rice balls)
5) Engrish. 'nuff said

So who wouldn't want to visit the Motherland of Geisha Girls??!

Oh really?




No problem. Don't think I could smork even if I wanted to.


um yeah...ew

hmm...yeah i think I'll pass on the flesh tomato sauce.

6) toilets (the "western style" ones and not the "Japanese style", which are basically troughs which you squat over) The western style are similar to our ones back home but way more cooler. By which I mean, I have now become spoiled to the extent that I expect toilet seats to be heated and toilets to not only flush automatically, but to lift their lids automatically as I go in for the approach. The toilets here also have bidet functions and whatnot, but I never really got into that. A little too foreign for me there!

And just in case you're from outer space and don't know how to use a toilet....

7) public transportation. It's too bad that it was only at the end that I realized how entertaining it could be just to ride the subway around and around. There are so many people that you can see and observe that way!
8) sweet potato fries, parfaits, taiyaki, donburi, kaiten zushi, and all the other kinds of food
9) the vending machines that are EVERYWHERE

Vending machine lane at a rest stop

10) seasons (and the flowers that come with them)
11) Japanese bakeries (though I suppose I can always go to Cream Pan back home ;))
12) the temple markets
13) onsens
14) sakura mochi ice cream
15) eating meals together after church
16) the crazy new years sales
17) clean streets and the high standards of Japanese cleanliness
18) Japanese customer service (it's so good, that even going to the airport is like a relaxing experience!)
19) Japanese (the language)
20) Japanese phones and the pictograms that you can send with them. They are so advanced! There is a pictogram (which are often animated) for pretty much everything...emoticons are soo old school...
21) and last but not least, my host family and all the wonderful people that I have been privileged to meet this year!

There are probably a ton of other things, but this will have to do for now...I'd be more than happy to talk about it in person though ;)

For those of you who have stayed with me to the end, thank you and I hope that you got to learn a little bit about Japan through this blog. The end is drawing nearer and nearer (mere hours left!!) and it's hard to believe I'll be back in the states soon...

"Time flies when you're having fun."

Thank you Japan, it's been a fun ride.

God Bless,

Elisse