It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here. It’s been more difficult to find time to blog in the last month or so because my schedule has become quite busy since the last time I blogged. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have been rehearsing with a local community band in the local fire station building, which is 12 stories high and looks more like an office building. The group is similar to that of Wheaton Band, though the level is lower and the music, so far, has been pops music, like some jazz and familiar anime tunes. They work very hard, and are enjoyable people to work with. I had stumbled upon this gig by meeting one of the members at my welcome party in Asakura, who plays trumpet. He offered to pick me up each time to bring me to rehearsals; Since I was missing playing music greatly, “yes” easily slid out of my mouth, like quickly pouring a bucket of water onto the ground. While, of course, I would much rather be playing with a symphony orchestra or at least a band that performs more serious works, I am indeed grateful for the opportunity that I have here. Who knows, maybe another one will come up in the coming months… We gave a concert today at the Asakura arts and music festival that lasted about 40 minutes long, followed by some free food offered to the band, and some conversation”ish” with one of the other percussion members. I’m confident that all of Asakura now knows who I am, so if a resident sees me crossing the intersection when I’m not supposed to (even if there are no cars around for miles,) they might be able to more easily hunt me down and tell me what a bad japanese person I am…in which I would respond, “amerika-jin desu.”

Halloween festivities were active among us gaikokujin this year. The first activity was with Eri and I at school, having the students submit their jack-o-lantern designs, then her and I choosing the best one to put on the massive pumpkin she obtained. We destuffed and carved it last week at my place while eating pizza. Being here and away from the country where I celebrated these holidays, I am realizing their importance to my substance. Before coming here, I never really thought much of it…*sigh* ohhh, the human mind, the more I know you, the more I don’t…

And no halloween can truly be called halloween without the wearing of the costumes… The ALTs in my prefecture hold an annual costume get-together in Matsuyama. I was a little concerned on finding a costume in this country that doesn’t really do the costume thing (some youth wear costumes when it’s not halloween, though.) Fortunately, I found the local Japanese hippie shop down the street…LOL! Once again, you think you start to know this country, and but then you’re surprised with something new: It’s wonderful! So, feel free to peak down and view part of my costume below. The hilarious horse costume is another ALT’s and I should have more photos of me and others as people post them on facebook. This year, we began with a “konbini-crawl” where we walked around to convenience stores in our large group of gaikoku-jin and talked and allowed the Japanese people to take pictures of us with their cameras and cell phones (the Japanese love to take pictures.) We then proceeded to an awesome music venue where there were live bands (including the ehime-famous ALT group, “The Temptations”) and dancing until early morning. Since I had to be back for the festival today, I caught the 5:07 am train back to Imabari. And on that note, I shall scribble below, work on a lesson for tomorrow, then sssslleeeeeeeeep.

Scribbles

-Fun acting out emotions for my chuugakusei students

-A short sentimental moment when a student personally came up to me after class, looked me in the eye, and thanked me for the lesson by bowing and saying, “arigatou gozaimashita”

-”moony” diapers

-Paul’s bike appearing displaced upon return from matsuyama on halloween

- The discovery of the local Imabari hippy shop.

- Viewing children’s beautiful art with Sechan after bunkasai in Asakura

-Kind of disappointed with Haagen-Dazs Cookies and Cream… it’s not living up to the usual H-D standard.

-Sallie Mae is the ancient ancestor of the devil, but is unfortunately still alive. It deserves to die.

I haven’t updated in a while, and originally I didn’t plan to update tonight, but I just looked at chicago tribune’s website and saw yet another yet more reported homicides; this one was of a family of 5 – the two parents, 46 and 39 and their 3 children, 16, 14, and 11 – all killed allegedly from one man in Beason, IL. There was a fourth child of 3 years old who survived the attack.

Of course, reports of violence on t.v. is no “new news”, but my friend Anurag living back assured me that my observation of increased violence in Chicago lately is indeed true. I needed the confirmation because after the initial thought that violence had increased in Chicago, I stopped and asked myself if maybe the violence frequency was about the same, and it was only because I was in a different country that “amplified” the violence I saw back home. While my observation was indeed valid, I think being here in Japan has contributed to my shock factor of viewing it back home. I’m not saying this Japan is a utopia – far from…but, as far as violence goes, a lot closer to it than most big cities in the U.S or in Europe. I’m not even going to start to guess as to why there is more violence in the states than here; I’ll leave that to the criminologists …but, just for fun, one of my guesses would be that, unlike the U.S., Japan is 98% Japanese. When you have a society that’s been brought up with similar values (in Japan’s case, maintaining social harmony through at least a surface-level of conformation), I think there will be a lot less clashing of ideas and ideals (once again, at least on the surface.) This brings me to an appropriate quotation:

出る釘は打たれる – “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”

Societal scare tactics in Japan? Maybe… but every society has its set of acts that are acceptable and unacceptable. In Japan, if I was slurping my tea or soup in a public area, I would be one step closer to being Japanese; If I was slurping my tea in Chicago, I would likely get some looks of disgust and people might find another seat to go to (so they can study their “GQ” magazine in peace.) So maybe it’s not Japan having more societal standards than the U.S., but they just tend to take them more seriously because the all important societal standard of the one listed above… Of course, as an array of Japanese people from the young to the old I’ve talked have confirmed when I asked, “Times are changing. Things are changing.” All I do know is that, in general, most of the Japanese people I’ve met, although a bit shy with foreigners for obvious reasons, have been very warm, amiable, and very helpful. At the same time, I absolutely abhor generalizations. There indeed have been a few exceptions to those friendly people, but it can be difficult to read people’s emotions here at times…

Back to violence briefly…

We always put the spotlight on the violence. It’s exciting, there are emotions involved, and perhaps we think it’s an indicator of the future. Some people have grim outlooks for the future of this world. Perhaps it will change for the better, and perhaps for the worst…But, if I had to argue for the chances of a better, more peaceful future, I would point to the fact that our very own capacity to recognize violence as violence and not as normal behavior, and the fact that the “fight” for peace is still being fought, is a strong indicator that our future will be a more peaceful one.

I better get started working on my next report of my last several weeks here in Japan…It will be full of goodies, and will include pictures from my recent climb to Kita-Dake, Japan’s 3197m mountain, whose beauty that I wish you all could have witnessed with me.

Until then, and then after that…peace~~~

These last couple weeks have been like the roller coaster that you both want to keep riding but also stop at the same time. Like every day since my arrival, each day of the last week has offered new experiences, varying in their degrees of comfort and enjoyability (many things lacking in joy were due to my lacking of sleep.) Monday completed my attendance at all four of my schools. Even before stepping through door, this school is my favorite due to the expedient 5-10 minute bike ride, compared to my 30-40 minute bike ride to the other three schools. I understand what Aileen meant when she said it feels like a city school, as opposed to my other schools. The children are a lot more active, and aggressive, The first day at each school usually consisted of an introduction to the office in the morning, a larger formalized introduction in front of the entire school. At the two elementary schools, this speech was also followed or preceded by my passing through the hand gates of the students. The larger of the two elementary schools seemed to have a quasi-hazing tradition with the ALTs, for they pumped this English teaching song, “What’s your name”, through the sound system in the gym…and expected me to sing and dance to it! Embarrassing, it was, but possibly therapeutic.) My favorite part of that experience was when I got to clean my hands afterward, since I shook the hands of about 600 students during the song. I give my personal thanks to the maker(s) of hand sanitizer.

Went to Niihama for an overnight beach party this weekend. I enjoyed the scenery more than the people’s drunkenness, but the latter was amusing sometimes, too. The weather was perfect. The campground turned the lights off at 10:30, and our conversations and the ocean were lit by the full moon. Played soccer for a while with some brits, aussies

Things that the U.S. should adapt from Japan:

Faucets over toilets – When you flush a toilet, more water is used to fill the tank back up again, so why not raise the spout for that water above the tank and turn it into a little sink in which you use to wash your hands? The water then falls into the toilet bowl to be used for the next flush.

Grocery stores moving the bagging process to after the register – At the grocery stores around here, your groceries are kept in your basket after you pay for them, the cashier puts a couple bags in your basket, then you walk about 10 ft to a table in which you can put your groceries in the bag. Convenient!

We all love survival, so we all love food. It’s one thing that even the democrats and republicans share, though they would probably hate to admit it…

Boy, how I crave an authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza, loaded with pepperoni, pineapple, cheese-overload, and 2 days worth of calories…

Fortunately, I do enjoy much of what the japanese cuisine has to offer. My typical repertoire of late has been curry (日本語,カレー) , ramen (ラメン）, katsu-don (breaded pork with eggs on top of a bowl of rice – カツ丼, click for me blog entry on this), sushi (which I actually had for the first time on this trip this evening、寿司) and the ever-so-popular ice-cream here in Japan, Häagen-Dazs… mmm!

The Japanese definitely know how to do sweets. The Japanese, in general, are a very youthful-based culture (more on this in a future entry) so sweets and smiles seem to fit naturally in it. To help explain what I mean, here was my breakfast I purchased at the train station the other day and ate on my train ride to Matsuyama…

He looks so happy, despite the fact that you’re about to enjoyably eat him alive!

And here’s a dessert I busied myself with while waiting for the train the other day…

And last but not least… I’m allergic to peanuts (last time I checked, at least) but my favorite type of peanuts are the salted ones… Salt PEAnuts, Salt PEAnuts!

Hey guys, what is up?

Sometimes we become so busy looking up that we forget to look down, back, or to our sides (ok, so maybe the standard line is too busy “looking forward” instead of looking up, but I had to make the transition work somehow!) That has been me in the last couple weeks. However, I went on a solid run this evening in preparation for a couple races coming up, and my endorphins flew to the sky, and I came enthused to shower, eat, and equally important, GET TO WORK ON THIS BLOG I PROMISED EVERYONE!

What has been down?

The last blog was sent while I was still in Tokyo at the massive JET orientation. The Wednesday of that week, July 29th, we all flew out of tokyo (or took a train, boat) to our respective areas in Japan and were met by our supervisors, bosses, teachers, etc. at the airport.

The experience was exciting but very draining at the same time; Most of us were still very jet lagged and sleep deprived upon arrival to our respective cities. Despite this, I still held up a smile on my face to my new supervisor and co-workers upon arrival to at the airport. I even had energy to use my Japanese self-introduction I had been practicing. My boss drove us to lunch (to clarify, I was the only foreigner in the car and the only foreigner/ALT that works in this city office.) We at at a family style restaurant, similar to a Denny’s, but with Japanese food instead of burgers, etc. I had the displeasure of unknowingly picking up a huge chunk of wasabi and swallowing it. This caused me to tear profusely and my supervisor to ask “Danieru?? Are you ok?”. “Yes, just had a bit too much wasabi…sumimasen” After lunch (which my boss paid for) we had to do business and go to register for my Alien Card, and meet the head education dude downtown. This meeting was probably one of the social-anxiety-creating experiences I’ve had because the meeting was extremely formalized. Here’s a quick play-by-play:

1. Walk in a single file line into the large office room, bowing to all the subordinates of the god I was about meet.
2. Enter the god’s shrine office, remaining standing silently with hands placed at sides, looking straight forward.
3. Wait several minutes, in silence, for the boss to come
4. Search pocket for red “Abort Mission” button, realizing that only happens in cartoons.

The boss came in, we did our formal bows (me, remembering to bow slightly lower than him, and holding it slightly longer than him.) He seemed friendly enough, and if memory serves me right, even spoke a little bit of English. This meeting only lasted for a couple minutes, and involved me signing my contract in front of everyone’s probing eyes. Scary!!!

I was then brought to my new home for the next year or more, shown a few things, was invited to dinner by my supervisor (se-chan), then left alone at my place. Of course, the first thing I checked out when I was by myself was the bed! I was in relatively large shock from the exhausting last 5 days I had had, but was too tired to really fire any extra neurons in my brain…After catching up on 2 of my 200 needed hours of sleep, I was picked up and went to dinner with se-chan, her cousin, and her cousin’s son and daughter. They’re both elementary school students and both some of the cutest and heart-warming kids I’ve ever met. We had a private Japanese dining room at this place, sitting on pads around this table on tatami. It was pretty informal, though, and was a nice change of pace from all the formalities from the previous days. We laughed, and drank some sake, and I practiced my japanese, while my supervisor practiced her more-than-passable english ability. In fact, her English is much better than half of the Japanese English teachers at the schools – more on that later. I loved talking to the kids and even taught the boy, toma-chan, tic-tac-toe. He loved it, and several minutes later drew a tic-tac-toe board of 9×9 squares! Ami-chan (the girl) presented me a beautiful drawing of her name in colorful Japanese writing, then wrote my name in a similar style: My heart-melted from the cuteness of those two, and my taste-buds melted in paradise from the incredible food (half of which I didn’t know what it was.) I arrived back at my apartment and crashed on the bed for the night.

Since then, up until last week, I had been riding my bike to work at my work base – the Asakura Local Village Office- until I start teaching at the schools on Tuesday.  It’s about a 30 minute ride, which renders me quite sweaty upon arrival, but it indeed is a gorgeous ride along a seemingly infinite mountains, streams, rice farms, and quaint Japanese houses. And now for something not so completely different: It’s picture time.

So that’s been it up till then. At work, I had started a blog that I never uploaded here due to lack of internet at my place for the first couple weeks. I typed it on my internet-less computer at work. What proceeds is that blog. I apologize for the length, but I promise if you get through this one, the rest from now on will be much shorter, generally. If not, you have my 100% Money Back Guarantee. So, get out your favorite beer, wine, or kool-aid, sit back, and enjoy.

August 5, 2009:

This Morning: Went with Fujinaga-san to put string up signs around town to advertise the local festival coming up this Sunday. Fujinaga-san is great to work with because, despite being Japanese, he is not shy to try speaking English to me. Some of my best Japanese-learning experiences have been with Fujinaga-san in our short trips out of the office. He is also extremely helpful, which is a standard Japanese trait. For example, right before I was about to leave the office yesterday, I asked (in Japanese) Fujinaga-san if there are any good climbing paths in the area. I don’t think I got the most accurate message across, but it worked okay.  For most scenarios like this in America, one would expect a response that lasts 20 seconds to a couple minutes: not so in Japan! Not only did Fujinaga-san stop what he was doing, but everyone in the office (there were 5 of us) stopped what they were doing, and finding an answer to my trivial question became the highest task at hand.  It was as if I was standing in front of a massive machine and flipped a tiny on/off switch that caused hundreds of gears to turn in sync, steam to rise, and noises to be created. Fujinaga san started aggressively digging through his desk for information, Fujiwara-san, normally composed, even promptly began surfing the internet for information, and se-chan even left this building to find various maps in building next door! And of course I could not switch this machine off – there would be no polite way to do that. So, half-an-hour later, after showing me various maps and other forms of information both hard-copy and online, fujinaga-san announced that he would drive me during work today (at the time, tomorrow) to a path through the mountains (which we just returned from.)  Of course I thought this was unnecessary, but I appreciated it none-the-less.  A similar scenario happened last week with my inquiry into the location of an internet café. We stopped off at a home-depot-like store to get rope first, then he took me to the ‘netto cahee’; lost-in-translation as always.  Like I said, though, these rides have a two-fold benefit for me (and, I think fujinaga-san might agree, too.) First, the understanding of each other’s language incrases. The typical exchange will usually consist of one of us trying to make an intellectual observation of a sort, saying it in our native language. Then the other person will ask how to say that in English, or pick a word from the sentence and ask what it means. By the end of that exchange, both of us will have a better understanding of grammar and/or vocabulary. Secondly, our ‘friendship’ improves (due to Japanese indirectness, it’s hard to tell if you actually know a person’s true feelings or not… frustrating, but true.) Despite the language barrier, we’re still able to joke around using various body gestures, etc.

Oh, and I was asked my supervisor if I wanted to teach eikaiwa (adult English class) in 15 seconds… Suddenly, I look out the window of the office into the lobby, and I see a group of 3 older men setting down waiting… “I guess I will!”

-end entry-

So I still have a lot of catching up to do on this blog, but that will come over the next several days.  I look forward to recording and sharing my experiences here, and I’d love for any comments or experiences of your own. Shoot me an e-mail, comment, concern, problem… Mata ne!!

Hey guys
As some of you might know, I’m now in tokyo beginning my year long journey of trying to survive as a worker in Japan. Imabari-shi (city), Ehime-ken (state), Shikoku (the island) is my final destination and place of residence for at least a year. All JETS are flown in to Tokyo and put up in a swanky hotel right in the heart of this ultra-super-megalopolis for orientation, starting on Monday morning going to Wednesday afternoon. After that, we all get shipped to our individual cities.

List of people’s native countries I’ve met in the past two days (in no particular order):
South Africa
Jamaica
England
Scotland
Ireland
Australia
USA

Unlike private companies, JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching – government-run) requires no TESL certification. Their focus is more on cultural exchange rather than strictly teaching English. Because of this, I’ve been fortunate to meet a wide array of people.
some were married and some even had families

A ridiculously small sample of people’s backgrounds:
mechanical engineering
ceramics
economics
international Business
english literature
asian Studies

Yesterday was ultimately fatiguing, for i was facing the deadly “being jet lagged/being incredibly busy for most of the day” combo. I will face that again today, for more lectures/presentations start in half-an-hour. mmm….the breakfast buffet is awesome here… Oh, JET threw us a very formal welcome reception in which the toast was initiated by several government ministers of education. They were very regal, but at the same time, humble, in their disposition and I could sense the pride they took in their work.

now for an attempt to get 10 minutes of rest~ I’ll post pictures and provide more detailed info later on…for those that are remotely (no pun intended) interested.

I began my trip in Tokyo, traveled for seven days throughout parts of the main island that i’m on (Honshu) and am back in Tokyo again, ready to fly back on Thursday.

Traveling away from Tokyo these last seven days has helped me paint the more accurate picture that I’ve been trying to paint all this time. Of course one can only see relatively little of a country in just 7 days, but I’ve had some unique experiences with the people that will send me away with heightened spirits. My apologies for not having updated more often, but lack of internet, or slow internet connections at some of these places, and lack of time have prevented me from doing such. So, please allow me to briefly summarize these last seven days in a several part post. 

 

Tokyo to Kyoto:

I blogged briefly on Kyoto in a previous entry, but I will expound upon my specific experiences in the former capital for my one-and-a-half days time.  

We arrived in the afternoon. On shinkasen from Tokyo, the train ride took about 2.5 hours. Our hostel, Ks House was conveniently located only about 6 blocks from the train station (Kyoto station, which I had blogged about.) After settling into our excellent accommodation, we took a walk in to the eastern part of the city. It’s surrounded by mountains on the North, East, and West sides, shown to the left. This makes it relatively easy to navigate, since you can see the mountains from most parts of the city (…unless you’re inside, or you have your eyes shut outside.) Like many parts of Japan, there are many famous temples and shrines to see and take pictures of. If you have been temple or shrine hopping before, you might have felt some fatigue, for it becomes somewhat monotonous after a while. I enjoy seeing the temples, but many of them cost money to visit, and I find the history behind the temples and shrines more interesting in most cases – which I can read without visiting. If I had a lot more time, I would have love to visit more…We did see a couple important landmarks in Kyoto, though. The first might look familiar to you (shown below.)

Yes, the Golden Pavilion, shining boldly in its glory. It was originally constructed as a villa in 1397 for the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (similar to a very powerful general.) Recalling a teaspoon of knowledge from my asian art class, its construction is unique, for there are several different types of architecture used, depending on the level. The top level is built in a Chinese-inspired style, with its bell-shaped windows. Its second floor is inspired by the housing used by samurai, and is where meetings were held. Its bottom floor (as you can see, not lacquered in gold leaf) was inspired by an 11th century (part of the Heian Period) style. I don’t have my art sources with me, so I can’t provide much more information about this until I get back…It has been reconstructed several times due to the Onin War (2 times) and a monk who burned it down in the 50’s, which is a story in itself…

 

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Part of the Kyoto bliss (Sounds like the name of an okonomiyaki restaurant that should be opened in Chicago – Kyoto Bliss)  is walking down the quaint streets. Of course, this requires some steps outside the Kyoto station area, crossing the Kamogawa River… Once this happens, you see well-preserved streets (though not without a modern twist in many cases) that can be very transformative, in the temporal sense.

 

 

 

We also visited a shinto shrine at the northern end of Kyoto, called Kamigamo. We accessed both this, and Kinkakuji, by way of bus (500 yen for an all day bus pass – ~5.00USD)

 

 

 

You may click on any of the above photos to enlarge them

 

 

 

*scribbles*

being greeted by random dog while climbing mountain in Nikko…later saw the dog in a truck…

pink lemonadish drink by Suntory

maple ice cream

Yodobashi headphone section

hal9000 vision tester at yodobashi

subway machine that spit a free ticket at me when i walked by it

ramen museum in Yokohama

friendly australian woman who gave cally a phone card

“this is my love song” – some song i heard in the hostel while typing this blog

women who handed me a bookmark for peace on train

longing for chicago pizza

japanese pastries – yum

freezing in chicago

job please?

love you, mom!

I’m guessing that when most people think of Japan, Tokyo might first come to mind with its electrifying (no pun intended) vibe due to all the lights, technology, and people that fill the streets….Or perhaps they would also think of Nagano, host of the 1998 winter olympics…Or perhaps they wouldn’t know what to think because Japan is such an enigma in most foreigners’ minds. It is true that there are many cities similar to Tokyo and Sapporo – perhaps not as big, but similar in how the society operates on a day-to-day basis: While this is part of the truth of what makes Japan, it is not the entire truth. I learned this through experience in the last couple days. The majority of Japan is mountainous, forcing the majority of major cities to reside on the shores of the four main islands (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido.) Perhaps this is a reason for why cities like Tokyo are so dense! While in Tokyo, Kyoto, and even Hiroshima, the only food I could really feed my image of Japan with was one of quasi-pandemonium (though not all parts of Tokyo and Kyoto are like this, especially with Kyoto.) It wasn’t till two days ago, Friday the 5th, that my image was redefined, as Cally and I set forth on a short train ride out of Hiroshima to the gorgeous island of Miyajima. By gorgeous, I mean this:

 

I’ll have to leave with this for now, because my internet connection at my current location in Nikko is getting to the point where it’d almost be faster for me to the server and put the photos on myself…But I wanted to at least update you. Once I reach Tokyo again, today, I’ll be sure and finish this post. For now, I hope everyone is well, and that the weather in Chicago warms up past 13 degrees F when I return  

Peace

*Posting somewhat backwards, for the information for Hiroshima today is fresh in my mind. Look for a post on Kyoto and Miyajima tomorrow or the following day *

It’s currently Friday night, about 10:00 pm. It’s been a long past couple of days, for they’ve been filled of traveling between cities, which, in a foreign country speaking a different language than the one from your own, is never simply travel. It consists of figuring out the type of train you’re on, the time your train comes, the track number you’re on, and what car to get into. For example, yesterday, Cally were leaving Kyoto to go to Hiroshima. It’s only a couple hour trip, but it had its complications. The first complication arose in Kyoto at the massive Kyoto Station. I don’t know what the massive train stations in the U.S. are, but I’ve been to the major one in New York City, and the ones in Chicago (which probably don’t count.) Kyoto Station is a different beast altogether. If it were stripped simply to what a train station’s function is supposed to be – a place for trains – then it would still be relatively complicated, simply because there are so many different types of trains each with their own track; I think there are about 20 tracks at Kyoto station: some elevated, some on ground level, and perhaps a couple underground…but kyoto station is a humongous shopping mall, too. This is common to many major and semi-major stations in places such as Tokyo, Hiroshima, and others. I realize this is the case with many places in the U.S., too, but Japan takes this idea and amplifies it 100 decibels or so. It really seems like they designed some of these places using labyrinth maps as a model… I found everything from Subway, Mcdonalds, and high yen sushi shops, to Gucci, Gap, Calvin Klein, and golf stores… P.S. If you ever craved a Footlong Shrimp Sub from Subway, fly over to Japan

One of the benefits of the JR Pass is that you can get reserved seats for free, which means you can get tickets on non-smoking cars. You simply go to the ticket window, show the worker your JR Pass, tell them what trains you want and then receive your ticket(s). When she printed the tickets out, she handed us a 4×6″ graphic that said “This is a quiet car! Please be quiet!” Cally and I were intimidated by the prospect of a quiet car, remembering that most Japanese are extremely quiet as it is when in commute, even on the subway…so we figured that a Quiet Only car would be sensitive to a pin dropping… It turned out that it wasn’t really a big deal, though. There was even a guy talking on his cell phone…anyway, we had to board the Kodama Line, which is a JR train of the Shinkansen type…or perhaps it’s the Kodama train of the JR type of the Shinkansen line… Considering the size of the station, it’s relatively easy to navigate. There are not only signs, but assistants all over. The electronic train time displays alternate between Japanese and English information. Despite this, it still took Cally and I 20 minutes or so to find the right train. We looked up at the boards, but could find neither our train number, or the departure time displayed. After being pointed one direction from a worker, we’d go in that general direction, and then find another worker who would point us in a more specific direction: this eventually got us to our train with a couple minutes to spare.

Our destination was ultimately Hiroshima, but we had to make a transfer in Osaka (pronounced Ohhhhsaka) The first train, to Osaka, was only 25 minutes or so, however once in Osaka, we only had a 6 minute window to get off the train and get on the train to Hiroshima. We somehow completed this with success, but with not a minute to spare. We arrived at Hiroshima Shopping Mall…err, I mean, train station… an hour+1/2 later. 

 

 

Hiroshima. We all know it was the site where the first nuclear bomb was ever used for its intended purposes (aside from tests.) Nagasaki was three days later. Immediately upon arriving, a subtly sick feeling in my stomach was present (which has persisted right up until this post.) This was brought to my full conscious upon both walking through Peace Memorial Park and seeing the dome that the bomb exploded over (also located in the park.) The dome building, whose construction was completed in April of 1915, was built to stimulate the economy of Hiroshima. Its name was changed several times due to change in function. I believe it was last known as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. People have attributed the building’s skeletal survival due to the fact that the bomb exploded not on the ground Standing at the dome, I had never felt a more intense expression of true human nature in both the horrors we are capable of producing, and the peace that I believe we all innately strive for.

I didn’t take any pictures of the dome building or of Peace Memorial Park out of respect. I don’t necessary think it’d be disrespectful to take pictures with the right intention, but there are plenty of photos on the internet already, so there was no reason for me to do so. Also, to be completely honest, I emotionally couldn’t bring myself to take pictures. The weight of the area kept my arms at my side.

Despite the somberness constantly looming in the back of my mind, the present-day Hiroshima (pop. ~1,000,000) is lively and positive. It contains all the clothing stores, electronics shops, restaurants, night clubs, and bars that Tokyo and Kyoto does. At nighttime, the streets are filled with people enjoying visiting stores, chatting on their phones, or sipping sake after enjoying Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. 

 

peace

 

 

 

*scribbles*

more peace

eating hiroshima-style okonomiyaki 

wanting to make okonomiyaki at home

saying “gochisousama* to the okonomiyaki chefs

trying to read the faces

“assfort” and “bar pee” – i’ll explain, at least to the degree of my knowledge, later

comfortable room at k’s house

addictive marimba song at 7-11

small stores, bars

humorous t.v. shows

christmas lights on long hiroshima street

what can be advantageous about a conservative mind for betterment of a less-than-ideal world?

is hard work relative to our own selves, to our friends, family, our country, the world?

hard work hard play

ropeway ride to near-top of miyajima island

dreams of a world where money doesn’t exist and only innate desire to better human society does

beautiful things

 

 

 

I woke up with a fever this morning, but, as the saying goes, “A Dan’s gotta do what a Dan’s gotta do…” or something like that…

 

Cally and I took the Shinkasen to Kyoto today. Bullet Trains are awesome, because

1. They’re extremely fast
2. They have a lot of leg room, even if you’re not in a “green” or first-class car
3. They have a cool name
4. They’re free if you have a JR Pass (described in a previous post)
5. Did I mention they’re fast? They go 285 km, or about 180 miles per hour. It’s about 230 miles from Tokyo to Kyoto, and we got there in almost under two hours. 

 

(While trying to delete the photos on the camera that were already uploaded to the computer, I became “delete-happy” and deleted the several photos that were not yet uploaded to the computer…oops!)

 

 

 

If you didn’t know, Kyoto was the old capital of Japan from 794 till 1868, when Tokyo was deemed the new capital. From my understanding, it wasn’t really touched from World War II, so many temples and shrines remain: a must see if you come to Kyoto. Its layout makes it a lot more easy to get around because it’s very linear and block-like, unlike Tokyo. It’s also enclosed by mountains on the, West, North, and East sides, so they make for good reference points. They were cleaning our room at our hostel when we got here, so we left our luggage there and explored the East Side of Kyoto for a bit…Of course there was one thing that had to be taken care of first: sustenance in the form of edible (and enjoyable) food. This has been somewhat of a challenge for me both this year and last year… Allow me to explain.

So there are several types of places to eat in Japan. First up, we have this type of place, what I will refer to as Foodz A.

 

Foodz A arguably offers the most authentic of all the types, and can’t be found anywhere else in the world. Depending on your tastebuds and willingness to try things, you’re likely to be pleasantly surprised (if not by the food, then by the atmosphere) when visiting these types of places. The prices can vary greatly, but you’ll most likely get what you pay for.The downside to this type is potential lack of comprehension and intimidation. The storefronts for Foodz A restaurants generally look something like this (pardon the blurry image):

As you can see, it has some information on the front, but it doesn’t give you (the foreigner who doesn’t yet know 2000 kanji) much of a clue as to what they offer, how much it is, and whether or not your meal is served by a samurai master who will cut off your fingers to use for sashimi if you don’t follow correct Japanese restaurant protocol. For these reasons, I’m usually pretty intimidated by the prospect of entering these places. This is something I’ve been trying to get over in the last few days.  The problem is that many of the traditional places might not employee workers that speak English. I assume that if a Japanese restaurant doesn’t post a sign outside with at least our familiar system of numbers for prices (1,2,3 instead of lines and other kanji,) it will be much more difficult for a gaijin (foreigner) to successfully complete the experience the restaurant has to offer. Of course, I exaggerate somewhat, but some Japanese dishes are relatively involved. For example, Cally and I went to an okonomiyaki place the other night. At some okonomiyaki places, you’re the essential part of the cooking process. They bring the ingredients to your table, and you have to cook it at the hot plate, flip it, check consistency, add the appropriate sauces, etc. We had a lot of fun, but the initial task-at-hand was intimidating, until we finally reached the task-at-mouth part. 

 

The second type, Foodz B is a bit easier. These places are the best of both worlds, for the obvious reason exemplified in the picture below.

These places are, at least in my limited experiences, very common. If they don’t have the detailed plastic models (apparently there’s a plastic food model “district” in Tokyo somewhere where you can purchase all sorts of food models) in the window like they do in the photo above, they’ll at least have pictures so you can see what it is you have the option of eating. The upside to this is that you roughly figure out what you’ll put in your mouth. The downside is that it makes more difficult to get out of your comfort zone (as the saying goes, “Never judge a food by its plastic display model…”)

 

Foodz C:

Cally and I have visited Foodz C places a total of three times this trip: McDonalds for lunch (they pretty much offer the same things, if a little less, and the drinks are smaller), Denny’s for breakfast (morning menu contains a couple rice dishes, your standard fare of pancakes, french toast, waffles, eggs, though everything is twice as small than in the U.S.), and MOS Burger for dinner yesterday. These places are chain stores, either international or national, and offer a quick bite to eat. It’s your typical “go up to the counter and tell them which meal you want” deal. The food can be appetizing, but it’s probably the most comfortable type of place to eat as a foreigner. MOS Burger can only be found in Japan, and while its menu is similar to mcdonalds, the quality is a bit higher, plus they bring your fast food to the table. Excelllllenttttttt…..~

 

There are obviously more types than I can mention/know that exist, but those are a few general categories. If anyone who has been to Japan has a recommendation of a restaurant I have to visit… I would like to focus specifically on some awesome Japanese foods I’ve had the opportunity to try here, but I have a fever(ish) and have to catch a bullet train to Hiroshima momentarily. I’ll post more about Kyoto tonight and share some awesome pictures I took while exploring the city. Here’s a preview, below, of a Shinto shrine in Northern Kyoto we visited yesterday.

 

 

*scribbles*

bus roller coaster ride from golden pavillion 

giggly kids

sake at zen cafe

met person who worked for JET

sick

breakfast buffet

kyoto okonomiyake experience in uber-small restaurant