Roadtrip 365: Life in Japan

Nephew Heading off to High School

2007-04-21T02:44:00.000+09:00

My nephew came by and stayed with us for two nights on his way to moving into the dorm at his boarding school. We went for dessert after dinner and he opted for a triple-decker Baskin Robbins. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy his treat : ). I hope he's doing well at the high school...

Kyoto with three of the "N" family members.

2007-04-15T20:41:00.000+09:00

For about 6 months, I used to live with the "N" family in Salt Lake City. I was totally stressed out with all sorts of stuff at the time and so the "N" family welcomed me into their home.

The kids were much younger when I used to live with them, but when I met up with them in Kyoto a few months ago, they were SO big! Kids sure do grow fast.

First, we went to Nijo-jo Castle. The floor was so freezing cold! I wonder how people kept warm back in the days.

Then we went to the Eigamura. Sort of like a Japanese version of Universal Studios, except, no rides and just sets they use for Jidaigeki movies.

It was so nice to see them!

Why would you want to....?!

2007-04-15T20:28:00.000+09:00

Sometimes(actually, more like MANY times), you stop and scratch your head over what in the world people were thinking when they gave their businesses a certain name in English.

This one...a store called "Starvations". Now, what do you suppose they sell?

They're actually a brand of kids clothes!! It really doesn't make any sense. WHHHHY did whoever started up the business think that "starvation" would be a great name for a children's clothing line??? Apparently, it's a hip brand and parents don't think anything of it, but if I were a parent, I wouldn't be interested in a line of clothes that advertised starving. But then again, I guess in Japan, like in so many situations, the message sent out in English doesn't have to make any sense. It's just considered "hip" to have the English alphabet written, regardless of what the content is. Weird.

Strange thing about sports clubs.

2007-01-30T02:23:00.000+09:00

You know, I noticed something very very peculiar about sports clubs here. Everyone works out in silence. No one seems to talk to each other and if you happen to talk too loudly with a friend, then the club staff come and ask you to keep your voice down. Very strange.

Why is this? In the States, if there's a person standing near you, whether you know that person or not, conversations just pop right up. Why don't Japanese people have conversations with strangers? Is it considered rude?

Just for you!

2007-01-30T02:10:00.000+09:00

I have a friend who's in love with the Doraemon character and used to collect anything that was Doraemon. Although I realize that by now, since she's finishing up grad school and about to start med school, her interest in it must've waned, but I still find myself quickly wondering if I should get the Doramon stuff for her or not whenever I spot them in the store.

After seeing this Doraemon thing at the drugstore, I commented that I ought to get it for my friend since she would probably like it. But then the friend I was with said "You're going to send her shampoo??" and it dawned on me that maybe sending a bottle of Doraemon shampoo all the way to the States didn't make much sense. But I still thought it was cute so took a picture of it instead for her to enjoy.

Japanese Strawberries!!! Mmmmm

2007-01-30T02:00:00.000+09:00

Strawberries in Japan are to die for! They're not tart and "crunchy" like the ones in the States. Here, they basically just melt in your mouth the moment you take a bite. They're really soft and have a sweet smell that just immediately draws you to them. Since they're so delicate, you won't find them in those green baskets like you do in the States. They come neatly arranged in rows and in plastic containers. The downside is, they're quite expensive like everything else in Japan, but once in a while, it's nice to splurge :).

Museum somewhere in Kobe

2007-01-30T01:36:00.000+09:00

I think this is the first time I went to a museum in Japan. Actually, that's not quite true, I'm sure I must have gone on field trips to museums while I attended school in Japan, but that period of my life I consider a black hole and I don't remember much from it.

Anyways, I love museums. Back in my P.U.C. art major days, we'd sometimes go over to San Fransisco and spend the whole day gallery hopping or visiting museums. It was great. I love reading autobioghraphies and biographies since you get to experience what unfolds in the book...I think looking at art is a similar experience. It's like you get to slip back or forward in time and have a conversation with the artists.

Whenever I see artwork, I love to get up really close and see the brushstrokes. When I do that, I feel like I can sense the artist's presence right there.

One of my favorite museums is the Paul Ghetty Center in Southern California. I really fell in love with the architecture. I think I could spend the whole entire day there just walking around and gazing at the architecture. Oh, I wish I could do that! I want to visit more museums here in Japan, but getting to the museum and paying for the entrance fee all adds up so it's a bit difficult. That's one thing I like about the States. You can enjoy culture without having to pay a fortune. Wish it were like that here too.

Tons of cookies

2007-01-30T01:23:00.000+09:00

I haven't done much cooking lately, but last x-mas, I suddenly decided that it'd be fun to make cookies for all the students at the school I'm working at.

I'm not much for planning ahead for these things, so I quickly looked for a cookie recipe online, jotted down the ingredients, randomly decided that doubling the recipe would be enough and went out to buy the ingredients.

I went to the store and started putting whatever was needed into my shopping basket, and reached the last item on the list...butter. I didn't know that butter cost so much, and with my limited budget, I was tempted to substitute it with margarine, but after making a call to my mom to see if it would taste different, I decided I had to go with the real stuff.

Once I mixed all the ingredients and made the cookie dough, I was surprised at how much was sitting before me. I realized I'd need help cutting out all the cookies and baking them, so I asked a friend from work for help and we ended up making cookies for most of the following day! The cookies turned out great and the kids were quite happy with them, so it was well worth it. But I probably won't attempt the same thing again...

Two tomatoes for sale!

2007-01-26T01:30:00.000+09:00

Whoa! They wrap tomatoes and put them on styrofoam trays over here! I know this shouldn't surprise me since I've already been shocked that they individually wrap and protect apples, pears, and other fruits here so that they can even withstand earthquakes or whatever natural disaster that might come their way. Food is really important in the Japanese culture...

So much attention to details...

2007-01-26T01:13:00.000+09:00

I ate a small cup of instant udon noodles the other day and was surprised to find small fish cakes(?) in the shape of flowers in the soup! I think eating must be an art form here in Japan. This mini-cup-of-udon was something like a hundred yen, but yet they still paid attention the presentation of the udon. Amazing, don't you think? In the States, you buy 10 packs of ramen for a dollar and there's absolutely no concern over how the noodles will look to the eye(or taste, for that matter...).

Christmas cake...

2007-01-26T01:02:00.000+09:00

Cakes in Japan are SO fancy and cute. They're so delicately made that I almost think they're meant to look at and not for eating. This was a christmas cake my friend ordered for her family.

In Japan, the purpose of christmas seems to be to eat these really really cute cakes made especially for christmas. People pre-order the cake of their choosing and get in long lines to pick them up on x-mas day. Interesting.

This cake on the right, it was a surprise birthday cake my friend's family ordered for me 2 years ago(maybe it was last year)...but I have this vague memory that I didn't get to eat a single bite of it because I was really sick on my birthday and I couldn't eat anything. So I took a picture of it instead.

Interesting drinks in Japan

2007-01-26T00:41:00.001+09:00

I haven't updated my blog in such a long time! My digital camera is having a fit these days, so I need to take it apart and try to fix it again. To my big surprise, I took it apart this one time when it wasn't working, then managed to put it together again fairly sure that it wouldn't make a difference...but to my surprise my camera came to life afterwards!!

Well, that's not what I wanted to write about today. I wanted to say that I finally figured out how to transfer pictures I took on my cell phone to my computer, so now I can write stuff again :).

Anyhow, I have a backlog of pictures I've been taking on my cell phone to write about.

The first one is this "BEER" for kids I found in the grocery store!! They actually have bottles that look like beer, it even SAYS "BEER for good kids!" Can you imagine?! Of course, it's not alcohol. It's apple cider or some sort of juice, but still, why would you want to imitate beer and sell it to kids? Personally, I think it's a bad idea they're trying to sell something that looks like beer to kids. Sends the wrong message...

Another interesting drink I found while grocery shopping was a tiny can of Coke! It fits in the palm of your hand, so if you take like 3 gulps (maybe 5), then you've finished the drink. Cute, huh?

Mystery of Slippers

2006-12-22T02:35:00.000+09:00

Slippers. If you ever visit a home in Japan, they always offer them to you the moment you enter their home. I get this sense that people actually feel ashamed if they don't offer slippers to you...as if their homes were not clean or something??? (I don't know why offering slippers is a MUST here.)

Anyways, at the school I work at, they also have slippers for students who want to wear them. Most kids don't seem to even register the slippers existence, so they just step on them and go up to the classrooms.

To me, the whole wearing of slippers custom is a mystery. First of all, people ALWAYS take their shoes off at the front door, so no one ever walks into the house with shoes....so the house is clean, in terms of having dirt from shoes get all over the house.

The house is clean, but people wear slippers. In the winter, this makes sense since it gets pretty cold (due to no central heating in most homes in Japan) and any extra warmth is much appreciated.

What I don't understand is...these slippers are meant for indoors, so my logic follows that we ought to be able to walk anywhere in the house.

But in reality this isn't so. There's usually a "Washitu" or a Japanese style room in most homes here...early on I found out that we were NOT supposed to wear our slippers into these rooms! Me, not ever having been accustomed to wearing slippers in the first place, felt no hesitence at all walking into the washitsu with slippers on (after all, it's all indoors, right?!).

Every time my boss spotted me freely walking in and out of the washitu with my slippers on, she would look at me funny...but not say anything. I didn't know what that was about, but I think it finally irked her so much that she said "You're not supposed to wear slippers on the tatami (straw mat flooring). " After many similar reminders, I'm happy to say, I've finally grown into the habit of remembering to take off my slippers when entering the washitsu =).

Another place in the house where we're supposed not only take OFF our slippers but also CHANGE them, is the bathroom. This unspoken rule (of which there are many many MANY in Japan it feels like), doesn't seem as strict. I've noticed that some people change their slippers, and some don't.

Again, I have a hard time comprehending by what sort of rules these taking off/changing of slippers gets decided. It must not be a simple indoor/outdoor thing, because if it were, we'd be able to walk anywhere in the house. I haven't yet grown into the habit of changing my slippers when using the bathroom (except in public bathrooms that have these plastic sandals that OBVIOUSLY are meant to be used) since it's not as strictly enforced.

Maybe one of these days the mystery of slippers in Japanese homes will become a little more clear to me. Until then, I will probably continue to wear the wrong slippers into the wrong rooms. Actually, I still often FORGET to wear slippers, and if I do happen to remember, I forget them in some room or under a desk and have to go about in search of them.

How do they measure tsunamis?

2006-11-16T01:14:00.000+09:00

Today, it said on the news that a tsunami would hit the pacific ocean side of Japan due to a 8.1 magnitute somewhere. Then later on, it was making announcements that a 10cm, 40cm, 50cm, and 1 meter tsunamis either "hit" this city or that.

Whenever they make tsunami announcements, I often see these really low "tsunamis". I thought a tsunami was a huge wave...so I have a hard time comprehending why they make warning announcements for a "10cm tsunami". If a boat passes by, that alone would cause more than a 10cm wave, right?

Any ideas on why they call a 10cm wave a "tsunami"?

Shower Bathroom?!

2006-11-15T00:10:00.000+09:00

I went into a high-end department store the other day to use the bathroom and saw a sign that said "shower bathroom." I felt anxious poking my head into the stall not knowing what to expect! I mean, what exactly is a "shower bathroom"? Why would they combine a shower and a toilet? Why would anyone take a shower at a department store?

....I cautiously opened the door and found...a regular bathroom! Well, you wouldn't call it "regular" in the States 'cause it's one of those fancy wash-and-blow-dry type of toilets, but I was still relieved that there were no surprises.

The surprises with bathrooms are never-ending over here. What will they think of next?!

Finding my way around in Tokyo

2006-11-14T23:50:00.000+09:00

Why don't they have street signs in Japan? I look to my left, my right and I see...skyscrapers, skyscrapers, and MORE skyscrapers. BUT no street signs.

I think people over here find their way around by remembering landmarks....my friend Santi once said the same thing to me. He was amazed that people gave directions like the following "When you see the McDonald's next to the Mitsubishi Bank, then turn left, keep going until you see Kinokuniya, then turn right into a narrow path once you pass the Starbuck's Coffee...etc. etc." Uhh...confusing?

For those accustomed to this method of finding their way around, it probably works fine...but I seem to still look for addresses, which isn't a smart way to find your way around in Tokyo. After many many episodes of getting lost, I've figured out that they have little metal plates with the zipcode-like information on the electric poles....so now whenever I get lost, I walk around looking for power poles and inch my way closer to the vicinity of where I'm heading. It works pretty well =).

Another sudden hike.

2006-11-11T01:02:00.000+09:00

My classmate from Jr. High was suddenly in town, so we decided to go hiking. It was my second time at this place, my friend's first, and neither of us had any idea where the trail lead or how long it would take, but we went anyways .After walking through several tunnels, we came across a bridge that said "Bridge closed-Do not enter"...but luckily there was a narrow walkway to the side so we walked across.

We were pretty high up and there was a river down below....I could see it through the cracks on the walkway so I was a bit scared.

It was an overcast day, so it felt a bit gloomy, but being surrounded by nature felt good.
We kept walking and walking not knowing how far the trail would lead, but eventually we reached a town. I found this traditional Japanese house, so I had to take a picture of it! I always feel like I've slipped back in time when I come across these traditional homes.
We didn't want to walk another 2 hours to get back to where we started from, so we took the train back and went on another short trail that lead to a hot spring. The hot spring wasn't that great, but it still felt good. It might have been anywhere from 5-10 years since my friend and I last bumped into each other...can you believe the first thing he did when we met up was laugh and say "You haven't changed one bit!"? But what can I say, I really haven't changed one bit, probably someone who last saw me when I was 3 years old will still recognize me in an instant after 27 years. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know.

Halloween Party from last month

2006-11-11T00:27:00.000+09:00

Thursday's Halloween Party.

Friday's Halloween Party.

We had our annual halloween party again this year. We always start off with self-introductions since some of the kids don't know each other. Some of the kids bring along their little brother or sister to the party and it's really cute watching all the kids squirming in their seats as they wait their turn to say "My name is xxx and my favorite desert is xxx."

Once we get through that, we sing a halloween song that they've been practicing every week. Then come the treats! For the staff, this is where all the chaos starts. All that sugar.

After pouring drinks, we start with the english-related educational games. Bingo, memory, pin-the-pumpkin's-nose, twister, etc. Once we tally all the points they've scored for the games, they take turns choosing their prizes. It's funny how the big brothers or sisters "order" their little brother or sister to take certain prizes. Cute, cute.

Now, to get through the Christmas party at the end of December!

Had to rub my eyes and do a double-take.

2006-11-05T22:53:00.000+09:00

I saw the strangest thing today. I was about to drive out of the condo's parking lot, but I saw an old couple with a carriage walking past in my back mirror, so I waited for them to pass by. Then, when I backed up enough to see WHAT was in the carriage...I just couldn't comprehend what I was seeing!! A long-haired chihuahua!!

I've seen dog's with sweaters, hats, paw-shoes, and even a raincoat for rainy days...but this was the first time a saw a dog being taken on a walk in a CARRIAGE. My mind couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. I thought the purpose of taking a dog for a walk was so that the dog could actually GO FOR A WALK. What is the dog supposed to do sitting in a in a carriage??

While waiting for the light to turn green, I kept looking at the couple through my rearview mirror, and finally at some point they let the dog down so it could do its own walking....but I still just had to scratch my head and wonder about the logic behind the whole thing.

"Analyze Me"

2006-11-02T11:37:00.000+09:00

Watched another movie last night. It's pretty old, but I was craving comedy, so went out and checked another DeNiro comedy out. I watched "Meet the Parents 2 " recently, and DeNiro was hilarious in that one, so I went with another one last night.

The intensity of how DeNiro plays his characters makes the movie all the more funny, because generally DeNiro seems to play hardcore tough guy movies, so the gap in character generates more laughs I think.

I also love Robin Williams movies...he generally plays off-the-wall hilarious characters, so when he plays serious roles, he makes that much more impact and those serious drama type of movies shine out. For example, "Patch Adams," "Dead Poet's Society," "Awakenings," and "Good Will Hunting" were all great movies.

"Touching the Void"

2006-10-28T01:14:00.000+09:00

Whenever I find a movie or documentary about climbing, my hand automatically reaches out for it and I have to watch it. So tonight, I watched a movie called "Touching the Void."

It was about two men climbing this mountain in Peru (I think it was) and how they had an accident that forced them to make life and death decisions. It was an inspiring story.

I don't know why, but I'm always drawn to these mountaineering topics. I've seen quite a few of these types of movies, all of which seem to tell near-death stories. I think I've been drawn to them ever since I saw Mt. Everest when I went to Nepal before.

For 2 weeks, every day we carried bricks and laid them for the clinic we helped build, we had full view of Mt. Everest and it was amazing. There's something majestic and moving when you see such grand nature.

Some day, I wish I can climb to the base camp of Mt. Everest. I wonder if that dream will ever come true =).

No Refills

2006-10-18T11:12:00.000+09:00

I went to Subway the other day. It was the first time in Japan where they just gave me the cup and I could fill the cup with what I wanted. I thought to myself "oh, what a surprise, never been to a fast-food restaurant where the drinks are self-serve with free refills!"

But...I was wrong. They asked me what drink I wanted...I don't know why, since all they do is give me an empty cup so I can fill it myself.

Then, they added "Please remember that you can fill the cup only ONCE...no refills." And they had stickers saying "NO REFILLS" on all the drink machines.

So much for the free refills...I don't understand why they do it like this. Strange.

Sushi Trains

2006-10-18T10:53:00.000+09:00

Sushi is very popular over here. They have what are called "kaiten zushi" restaurants over here...the ultimate fast-food sushi restaurant basically. What happens is, a never-ending round of different sushi comes around on small plates on a conveyor belt that goes around and around the whole restaurant. Typcially, each plate is priced 105 Yen, so you can keep track of your bill.

I'm vegetarian (sort of), so you probably wonder why I'd go to a sushi bar, when most of it is raw fish, right? Well, when I go to a sushi bar, my pickings always consists of: natto, egg, corn, shrimp-avocado (I pull the shrimp out!), and whatever else is edible, which doesn't consist of something that used to be alive. You probably think what the point of going to a kaiten zushi is if I'm not going to eat actual sushi, right?

Well, you see, I think kaiten zushi is entertainment in a way. Where in the States can you find a place where sushi just keeps coming and coming and you have to keep your eye out for whatever is heading your way, while you have your mouth full, and also remember to grab the next plate as it passes by you? It's really funny. It feels like a race in a way...at least I only have to keep my eyes out for about 4 different types of sushi, but for those of you who can eat real sushi, then it's a busy experience.

I went to a kaiten-zushi restaurant recently where for every 5 plates of sushi you send down the shoot, the electronic order screen starts beeping and a slot machine type of game automatically starts...if you win a little toy comes rolling down! It's entertainment, right?

Such a cool group of people!!

2006-10-16T01:00:00.000+09:00

So, like I said, the conference is over. These, and a few others are the core members of the organizing committee that did the nitty gritty work of putting the details together. There were art therapists (hurray!), music therapists, clinical psychologists, dance therapists, drama therapists, and one guy that had superb organizational skills that saved us all from falling apart and quitting midway, since we had some internal problems.

It was hard work, but these people made it all worth it. It's so awesome, when complete strangers can come together, set their heart on accomplishing something, and a year later something great comes out of it. I've definitely gained more friends for life through this experience.

You know, I was reflecting on how this experience meant a lot to me and realized that throughout most of my adult life, people I've met through volunteer experiences have greatly influenced the decisions I've made in my life.

For instance, I went to Ebeye for a year of volunteer work...met the Loeaks, and a few years later they decided to move to the States, so I moved down from Sacramento to Loma Linda, where I'd have a wider support network of people to help them adjust to a new life.

Then, they decided to move to Washington, so I picked Oregon over California, to get my art therapy degree, since it'd be closer to Washington and I could go visit more often. I don't have family in the States, so basically, wherever I decide to call home, is home. In the end, my family from the Marshall Islands decided to stay in CA and I still chose to go to Oregon since I had always wanted to live there at some point.

Then in Japan, I met my current boss when I volunteered at some International Education Conference, and before I knew it, I was working with her.

And now, I met a group of really cool people who all happen to live up in Tokyo...I'm thinking maybe I'll give Tokyo a shot and see where that leads after April...I've never regretted the decisions I've made in terms of where I put my heart....don't know yet though. We'll see where things lead.

I'm off to bed now. Night!

Moving the gods

2006-10-16T00:52:00.000+09:00

One day I heard a lot of people shouting outside, so I looked through the window and saw these group of people saying "washoi washoi!" What are they doing you ask? I wondered the same thing.

I asked my friend and she explained to me that they were moving the gods from one shrine to another all through town. It was raining pretty hard this day, so they have the thing carrying the god covered with plastic, and the monks (?) are also holding umbrellas.

I wonder if they are moving ONE god from one shrine, so it can visit all the shrines throughout town, or if they are moving many different gods from one shrine to another, like changing roommates or something.

It's amazing. You live in a modern world in Japan one moment, then out of nowhere, centries old traditions just pop right into your life like it's absolutely normal. The past and present coexist peacefully. It's pretty cool.

Policeman on a motorbike

2006-10-16T00:46:00.000+09:00

In Japan, they seem to have many ranks of police. This guy on his motor-bicyle, I think he's probably the lowest, which is the guy at the ko-ban. They carry guns, but I've never heard of police in Japan actually using their guns, which is a good thing. I think these guys are considered somewhat at the same level of of postal delivery person...they seem to just sit around all day and run paperwork back and forth between who knows where.

Police in Japan are non-threatening, and they don't seem to carry much authority. Most of them are very helpful if you ask them for directions. I've only seen this type of police officer so far.

Visit to my grandma's back in August

2006-10-15T21:13:00.000+09:00

My grandma! She usually lives with my aunt, but when I went to visit her, she was at the day-care center so I went to surprise her there. She had a stroke several years ago, so she can't move the right-side of her body now. She was so happy to see me she immediately started to cry. She immediately recalled my name and that almost made me cry. I love you grandma!!

View from my grandma and Aunt's apartment. The elementary school that my dad used to go to is straight ahead. I once went there for 2 months during summer vacation when I was visiting my relatives in Japan...had a TERRIBLE time there.

Another narrow path that my grandma used to always walk through to reach her office. My grandma has lived her whole life in this city of Sasebo.

The road that my grandma always walked on when she was able to go grocery shopping.

The liquor shop my grandpa and grandma used to own. There's a sad story behind it and why it didn't stay in the family, so I won't mention it here.

I'm not sure, it might be bad luck to take pictures of "obutudan," but I thought it looked really cool, so I snuck a picture. This is a little alter to pay tribute to my grandpa. My aunt places tea and rice in front of it ever morning. I'm not buddhist so I don't necessarily believe that my grandpa's spirit rests here, but I do feel "something" when I'm standing in front of it.

Just Three Stems!

2006-10-15T21:04:00.000+09:00

I took this picture in the grocery store several weeks ago because it just struck me so funny that they would actually sell just THREE stems of asparagus. They were really tiny too.

How do you cook just three stems of asparagus?

Funny, funny.

The Conference is over at last!!

2006-10-11T01:43:00.000+09:00

Hey guys, the International Creative Arts Therapy Conference that I've been working SOOO hard on for the past few months is finally over and it was a great success. Yesterday was the final day. The presenters from overseas commented on what a great exeperience it has been for them, how it's meant so much to them, and how well it was organized, so I was very happy. The general participants were asking if this will be held again next year, that they really enjoyed the conference, and that it meant a lot to them, so all the effort our team put into this for months and months and months, paid off.

NOW, I can have somewhat of a normal life back =). I'll actually be able to SLEEP! Hurray!

Today, I was so exhausted I didn't wake up when the train reached it's last stop, and if I hadn't woken up in the nick of time, I would have gone back to where I had gotten on again. I almost dozed off while standing in the train, but I caught the pole in time so I managed not to go down head first =). Then on my next stretch, I fell asleep again and woke up in a panic, thought I reached my destination, so I exited the ticket gate and had to buy another ticket again. After getting on again, I once again didn't wake up at the final stop and woke up before the train was about to head back to where it had come from. When I finally reached my brother's place, I just instantly fell asleep on the tatami and didn't wake up for several long hours.

Well, more updates later. I'm gonna go to bed now.

Robyn

Been lazy with the blog lately

2006-08-16T16:14:00.000+09:00

As you can tell, I haven't uploaded my blog lately. I started making a Ebeye blog page to put all my Ebeye trip pictures up, but I took so many pictures that I got overwhelmed and got stuck on organzing the pictures. Iwill try to get to it soon though...

In the meantime, I added a link for My and Jer...nice to see close friends building their new families up. Oh I wish I could see my Ebeye SM buddies!

Tokyo and Yokohama

2006-05-16T23:36:00.000+09:00

During the Golden Week Holidays (first week of May where there are several consecutive national holidays), I went up to Tokyo again for meetings. I only had a day of meetings, so the other two days, I kinda kicked it with my nephews or was out and about trying to find my way to one place or another.

Tokyo, boy oh boy, every time I go up there, I think that I could never survive there. TOO MANY PEOPLE.

I don't remember if this picture with a bunch of people crossing the crosswalk was in Shibuya or Shinjiku...I just remember it started with a "Shi". I think it's a famous place, because I often see it on TV.

I met up with a friend in Yokohama and we went to this placed called "Yumeland" or something like that...there was something about a "dream" in the name of the place, but I don't remember what exactly it was called. He explained that the Tower Skyscraper was the highest in Japan. I don't know how many floors it had, but it was definitely high! I don't think I'd feel comfortable working in such a high-rise.

After stopping by the bookstore where they had lots of English books (hurray!), we went over too Chinatown since it was famous. This Chinatown was definitely different from the one in S.F. or L.A. Just about every single store was FOOD FOOD FOOD. In the States, the Chinatowns aren't all filled with Chinese food, but here, that seemed to be the main thing.

I thought Chinese food would be the same everywhere, but NO. Chinese food in Japan was not what I was accustomed to in the States. The food here seemed very exotic(i.e. I couldn't eat the stuff!). I was imagining fried rice, fried eggplant, egg-drop soup, etc....

Chinese food in the States is usually pretty cheap, but here, it's quite expensive. The price, in combination with me not being able find anything that seemed edible, didn't work out, so we went back to the city and ended up eating at El Toritos! It was good!

I've got more pictures to post from my trip up to Tokyo, but I'll post those next time.

Spontaneous Exploration: Takedao

2006-05-15T02:21:00.000+09:00

One day I was on the train returning from a meeting that ended earlier than I had expected, so I had a free afternoon. I suddenly had the urge to get off at a train station that I had been wanting to explore since I'd often seen hikers get off at that station. I got off on impulse and started to walk around. I didn't know what was at this place, so I asked a security guard where a good place for a walk would be....but the lady didn't know. So I just kept walking about.

I started finding some pretty flowers and kept walking, with no idea where I was headed. There weren't many people around either since it was a weekday. At one point, I seemed to be going in the wrong direction since I only saw homes, so I turned around and found my way back to what I thought must be the hiking trail.

Sure enough, I found a trail and started walking down it. The scenery was breathtaking and I felt like I was walking into a different world.

Time felt like it just stopped and I could hear the sound of the river, birds singing, the leaves rustling, and it was so peaceful.

I had picked up a few things at the convenience store for lunch, so when I found a nice flat rock I could sit on to eat, I gazed out at the mountain and the river flowing and had my lunch. Wow, it was really good!

Once on the trail, I was amazed that someone would go through so much trouble just to make such a nice hiking trail....there were rows of wood buried into the ground that made up an even trail. As I was walking along it, I didn't realize they were railroad tracks until I passed through two tunnels.

At this point, I began to think "Now why would anyone even go through the trouble of building a huge tunnel JUST for hikers?!" As I walked through the tunnels, I kept thinking to myself, "this almost feels like a railroad."

Then by the time I hit the 3rd tunnel, it suddenly hit me...DUH! It WAS a railroad track! Of course, trains were no longer running on it, but I couldn't believe it took me so long to figure it out. On the other hand, I guess if it took a train for me to figure out that it was a railroad track, I'd be plastered onto the tunnel wall by now, huh?

I walked through the first two tunnels because I could see the light at the other end, but the 3rd tunnel, I saw absolutely NO light and there was a cold, damp breeze coming out of the tunnel and it spooked me, so I turned around and started heading back.

I got really sleepy walking back since it was so nice and warm, so when I found another flat rock, I layed down on it and took a nap for about 30 minutes I think. Probably that wouldn't be the best thing to do when you're alone, but I figured it's Japan, it's safe, the occasional people I came across on the trail seemed friendly enough, so I went ahead and took a nap. IT FELT GREAT!

That was my day. I felt totally refreshed. I should go there again, but this time with a flashlight so that I can go explore what's beyond the 3rd tunnel!

Pouring cement down the side of a mountain....

2006-05-15T02:16:00.000+09:00

I often see mountainsides cemented in by the road, which I find odd. It's fairly common to find mountainsides covered by concrete. The purpose seems to be to prevent mudslides and falling rocks, but it seems like such a drastic measure.

Japanese Restaurants

2006-05-15T01:53:00.000+09:00

This picture is back from March when my family had a special treat to get together with a family friend from the States. They came to attend their daughter's graduation and took time to spend an evening with us.

I've known this family since I was 5 years old when our family first moved to the States. Our friendship has lasted all throughout these years and I'm still really close to them. They've got two daughters that I basically grew up with so we're like sisters. But all three of us have COMPLETELY different personalities, but strangely enough, we enjoy each other's company and like to joke around non-stop.

This restaurant we went to was in Kobe, called "Ume-no-Hana" which means "Plum tree flowers" (I think). It's on the high-end of restaurants, but the level of service and extreme details to presentation is well worth it.

All the food came in millions of tiny dishes and the waiter wearing a kimono kept bringing more and more food! All the food had such an artistic touch to it, that I almost felt bad eating it.

If you ever come to Japan, I'd recommend going into one of these traditional Japanese food restaurants, although it's a bit pricey, the process of having your dishes served and the overall presentation of the food makes it seem like it's an artistic performance.

Sound Effects in the bathroom?!

2006-05-13T00:44:00.000+09:00

As strange as this may sound, they have little machines in public bathrooms that makes a flushing sound for you when you're using the bathroom. I just find this so funny because as much as I'd rather not have people hear me going to the bathroom, that's what bathrooms are for, so why these machines that help you hide the fact that you actually ARE going to the bathroom?? These sound machines don't sound like the toilet is flushing, it sounds like a waterfall or a gorge overflowing. They're pretty loud, so in case you're REALLY concerned that people are going to hear you pee in the bathroom, don't worry, these machines will definitely drone out the sound for you!

Whao! Electronic Stores...

2006-04-22T00:35:00.000+09:00

Whenever I go to this one electronic store called "Yodobashi Camera," it makes me feel crazy.

It's called "Yodobashi CAMERA," but it's an electronic store that sells ANY ITEM that uses electricity probably! That's not why it makes me feel crazy though.

From the moment you walk in, you have people shouting ads about this or that product, and EVERY inch of space is COVERED with advertisements or product descriptions. THAT makes me feel crazy.

I love looking through electronic stores and finding out what's out there, but this store....I can only be in it for so long. I don't understand why people don't feel crazy going to this store...there's just TOO MUCH information all at once.

Cherry Blossoms!

2006-04-21T23:35:00.000+09:00

During the month of March and April, cherry blossoms bloom all over Japan. They bloom earlier in warm places and once in bloom, they only last for about a week, so catching a glimpse while they are in full bloom is crucial.

In Sanda where I live now, I think the cherry blossoms were in bloom last week. Ooooh, they are so pretty! The cherry trees often line the side of roads or rivers, and when they are in bloom, you can see miles of pink cherry trees. It's an amazing sight.

Days or weeks before the cherry blossom season, news stations start forecasting when the blossoms will be in full bloom, as knowing the EXACT date of when the blossoms will be in full bloom seems to be critical here.

It seems to be the custom here for family/friends/co-workers to go on a picnic under the cherry blossom trees. That's why they need to know the exact date of the full blossoms, so that companies can plan their picnics and make sure someone makes a mad dash to stake the best spot for the picnic, waaaay early in the morning.

The funny thing is, you'd think that if people are willing to go through so much trouble to get the best view under the cherry blossoms, they'd be environmentally aware and try to take care of the nature surrounding them. But instead, they eat their picnic "bentos" and drink alcohol, get completely drunk, thrash the area, and leave all their litter scattered about. How sad is that, huh? Sometimes, the irony that exists here is mind-boggling. Of course, that's what I see on the news, so I know there must be plenty of other people who also really enjoy the nature and leave it as they found it.

Other than the irony of some of the customs of cherry blossom viewing, there are some beauties of it that I've recently discovered. The cherry blossoms really are pretty during the day too, but more so than that, I've found that they are even more amazing at night, when they're lighted up from the foot of the tree. It's as if the whole tree is glowing and looks like it's "alive" in a way.

So these cherry blossoms, they're only in bloom for about a week, right? Well, towards the end of the week all the petels start to flutter away when the wind blows. THAT is a sight to see. It feels like you're in a dream of some sort, with cherry blossoms gently fluttering by. Time stops and you get caught in the beauty of the moment. I wish you could experience it.

When you look in the river, you can see a lot of cherry blossoms floating on by. Even that's pretty. At first, I was surprised that half the river seemed to be full of soap suds...but then my friend pointed out that they were cherry blossoms and it looked pretty once I realized that.

What might this be???

2006-04-20T14:45:00.000+09:00

A student smuggled this fruit(?), vegetable(?) back from the Philipines on a recent trip. He gave it to us to try, but I've never seen anything like it before. What do you suppose it is?

Hey, My or SM, you guys have been to either the Philipines or tropical islands...what is this thing?

My curiousity got the better of me and so I cut it open, not knowing what to expect. Well, it was all yellow inside. Hmm, still had no idea what it could be so I smelled it, took a tiny tiny tiny piece and tasted it, but the piece was too small so I couldn't taste anything. I wasn't even sure if it was ripe.

After much poking and proding, I just stuck a spoon in and tried a scoop of it! I've never tasted anything like it before! It was really pastey and didn't have much flavor, but it was good. So far, I don't have a stomachache either, so it must've been ok to eat. If you happen to know what this might be, can someone tell me?

BON JOVI ROCKS!!!

2006-04-11T01:25:00.000+09:00

Boy, I haven't had this much fun in who knows how long! I went up to Tokyo with my friend and met up with another friend at the Tokyo Dome. It was the first time for me to go to Tokyo Dome, so I was surprised at how big it was.

The concert was an absolute blast. I went to their concert once in Portland, which I thought was even better than the Tokyo one since they talked in between songs and the stage set was better, but the Tokyo concert was still amazing. I sang, shouted, clapped, and stood for the whole 3 hours so I just about lost my voice and was surprised when I discovered that my palms were bruised from clapping so much! I didn't even know that was possible!

Anyways, going to the concert made me miss home! In Japan, I feel like something is missing, but in the States, I feel alive. I think it's all the unwritten/unspoken rules of the land here. I don't understand them or I simply don't know what they are, and so I feel like I'm second-rate and not part of whatever is going on.

People don't really understand why, as a "Japanese," I wouldn't feel comfortable here. But people also don't know that in my own way, I went through hell here when I attended part of jr. high and high school here in Japan. I died here once. I think that's why in a way, I'm never going to be able to accept this place as "home." For me, my memory of this place, it's as if it were a concentration camp. I think the reason why I'm still here is so that I can come to terms with that experience. I'm still fighting it. Don't get me wrong though, no one ever laid a hand on me. But then again, violence isn't the only way a person can die.

Paranoid about train ticket stubs.

2006-03-24T11:20:00.000+09:00

Whenever you take the trains or subways over here, the ticket machine spits out this little stub.

You have to stick these tickets into the magnetic ticket reader gates, and I used to always get a heart attack every time I had to go throug one.

Nowaways, I'm doing a tad bit better with the gates, but until a while ago, all the exits looked the same to me, so I would stick the ticket into the first ticket reader I saw...and BAM! the gates would shut on me!

I couldn't figure out WHAT I did wrong. My logic was that I had a ticket in my hand, I got off at the right station (whew!), I see an exit before me, so that must mean I need to stick my ticket in to get out. Over time, I've learned that not all the gates are "exits" but instead "transfer gates" to get onto different lines. Personally, I'm not very good at telling the difference between a real exit and a transfer exit. They both look the same to me. I guess I should look a little closer to what the signs say, but even when I look, I still don't seem to be able to tell what the difference is.

My heart still beats fast whenever I have to put my ticket through the ticket gates. I'm always nervous about the gates slamming shut on me. I feel a huge sense of relief when it doesn't shut on me and I get to walk right through =).

Another thing that I get paranoid about, is losing the ticket. I stick it in one pocket or another, and then panic when I get off, 'cause I can't find my ticket. Sometimes I really can't find the ticket 'cause I put it away somewhere "where I won't lose it".

These days, just so I don't give myself a heart attack, I just hold onto the ticket the whole ride, like I'm doing here in the picture. It's working, 'cause I don't panic anymore when I get off the train!

Yowsers!

2006-03-24T11:15:00.000+09:00

Some of the things they sell in the grocery stores over here, I just don't understand WHO would possibly buy them.

For instance, this fruit basket....I think the price was somewhere around 2980 yen, which comes out to about $35. Each fruit is wrapped in foam and protected. They must be for gifts...but it's cheaper to buy a whole box of one kind of fruit, rather than these fruit baskets.

Another thing that completely blows my mind is the price of melons in Japan!!! See this melon with a pink ribbon and a cushioned box? Youwon't believe how EXPENSIVE it is. It's a whopping 4980 yen...i.e. $60!!!

How many do you think you can buy with that $60?! ONE...that's right, just ONE! Of course, I did sneak a shot of the nicely wrapped expensive fruits, but still....they wouldn't sell them like this if no one bought them, so that must mean SOMEONE buys them, right?

I think it's insane. One melon for $60 bucks?! Gosh, I think you can probably buy 50 for the same price in the States! Mind you, these expensive melons DO taste good. They're not crunchy like the melons in the States. Japanese melons MELT in your mouth basically. They're super sweet too. I should add that they do have cheaper melons too.

Like I said before, food is REALLY IMPORTANT here, so that must be why such expensive fruit exists. I'm not used to food being so expensive, so even when I see some that I want to eat, I look at the price and my craving for whatever I was reaching for subsides.

College graduations in Japan

2006-03-19T02:55:00.000+09:00

I attended my "sister's" graduation today. It was the first time for me to attend a Japanese college graduation. My "sister" and I were laughing at how different graduations were from the States.

Here are some things I was surprised about the graduation:

1. Unlike in the States, college graduation wasn't a celebration for all the hard work and completion of a major milestone in life. It was more of just a formality! No cheering, no student names called out, no mood of "celebration" detected.

2. The professors, or "important people" were the focus, not the students. All the "important" people were up front on the stage and they had to make sure each person's status and position was repeatedly announced and stated. Maybe the "important people" ought to just hang a sign from their neck's stating "I'M IMPORTANT!!!" so that all that time into making such a big deal of the professors' status doesn't have to be spent.

3. It felt like the people up front on the stage felt superior to the audience. Can you believe they actually made announcements like "we would like this to be a meaning gathering, so please be quiet." It's like they think the graduates are little kids or something!

All in all, the graduation ceremony was quite different from the States. In the States, graduations are a MAJOR celebration and people are PROUD for what they've accomplished. Families, relatives, and friends all join in the celebration and we make a lot of noise. Not so in Japan I've found. It's kinda sad I think. Why isn't everyone happier and proud of what they accomplished?!

My "sister" commented that college in Japan was a joke. She told me it felt like she went back to high school and that she didn't gain much in 4 years. Maybe that's why there's not such a mood of major accomplishment and celebration. I often hear that in Japan, for the majority of students, it's for partying and not studying. That's too bad. Why invest 4 years of your life if you're not going to study your butt off? But then again, that's how the system is set up in Japan and employers want students with a degree, but don't want you to have your own ideas about things, so it works out good, huh?

I have a really intense distaste for education in Japan since I totally hated it when I was FORCED to go to school here for a while, hence my major pessimism when it comes to Japanese education systems.

Instant Noodles can be a science.

2006-03-03T10:47:00.000+09:00

Instant Noodles. How hard can they possibly be to make, right?

Well, I made instant yakisoba noodles the other day. The directions made it sound like making instant noodles was a science and it made me laugh.

So here's what the directions said:
1. Open the lid from A to B and take out the three seasonings.

2. Empty the dry-freeze vegetables into the container.

3. Add hot water up to the line inside the container.

4. Close the lid.

5. 3 minutes later, pull the lid on the other side to line C. DO NOT pull it past the line.

6. Firmly hold down the lid where the stars are, then slowly drain the water from side C of the lid. Please don't burn yourself.

7. Open the lid all the way. Mix in the sauce and seasoning and eat.

Isn't it amazing??? I think it would be less complicated if I didn't look at the directions next time!

Dental Appointment

2006-03-02T00:17:00.000+09:00

I went to the dentist today. My appointment was at 11:30. Guess what time I got called in?? 1:00! I know any doctor's office you go to, they make you wait no matter when your appointment time is, but waiting for an average of 2 hours past your appointment time feels waaay too long.

The dentist had 5 chairs going at once, so one moment he'd come by to check something, give orders to his assistants, then the next moment he'd be gone. And several minutes later, he'd come back again. Having to see 5 patients at once, he kept having to go back and forth...so it took a total of about an hour for my treatment to be over with. I don't think this is the case with all dentists over here, but the dentist I go to has a good reputation, so I have to live with the long wait.

If you go to a doctor's office, even if you have an appointment, you still wait for couple of hours...so better be prepared to use half the day if you're ever going to the doctor's office or dentist's office here!

Although, come to think of it, once when I went to a free clinic in the States, I had to wait like 4 hours until I was seen.

Ghosts of the past.

2006-03-01T00:55:00.000+09:00

I did this for one of my art therapy classes during grad school. We had groups that met throughout the whole school year and our assignment was to spend something like at least 2 hours per week to work on our own art.

I really learned a whole lot about myself in this class. You could dive in as deep as you wanted or keep things on the surface. I wanted to take full advantage to dig deep, so I dove in whole-heartedly without any idea on what I'd find. It was a scary journey, but it was also amazing. If any of you out there are looking for ways to take a look at yourself and what's going on in your life....doing artwork for yourself is an excellent way to do some soul-searching.

It's not the end-product that matters...there's deeper meaning in the process. Sometimes you'll see things you like, sometimes you'll see things you don't want to see. If you're not ready to see whatever it is you're not ready for, you probably won't see it anyways....not until some time passes and you're ready to see things you didn't notice before.

As for what this piece means to me, I did it when we were on the topic of "the miracle question" for a different class. I was personally working through a lot of things during this time, so you can see a lot of it in the art. I think I was trying to deal with the ghosts of the past. It has a lot of meaning, but I won't go into that now. Maybe another time.

Umbrella stands with locks

2006-02-21T22:49:00.000+09:00

The moment a drop of rain falls, people over here whip out their umbrellas! It's pretty amazing that everyone seems to have a tiny umbrella with them at all times. People really seem to hate getting wet over here. What a big difference from California...people walk about in the rain like it wasn't raining.

If you happen to have forgotten your umbrella at home, no worries. Just make a stop at the closest convenience store like seven-eleven and you can buy a cheap disposable umbrella. By the way, you can find a convenience store every few blocks here.

The other day, I went to the gym and saw this umbrella stand. Have you ever seen an umbrella stand with locks?! Only in Japan, right? You put your umbrella in and pull the lock out. It's free. Maybe people constantly get their umbrellas stolen over here for something like this to be made. Who knows.

Disneyland and Disney Sea

2006-02-15T00:42:00.000+09:00

Yup, that's right. I made a two-day trip to Tokyo with several friends and had a blast. I've never been on such a jam packed schedule for leisure purposes before!

We left at 5:50 in the morning to catch a plane to Tokyo, so that we'd arrive by 9am or something like that. I didn't know really know what was going on, so I made sure I didn't lose sight of my friend taking us all around. I did't want to get lost on the Tokyo subway system.

I've been the the Disneyland in L.A. more than I can count, but it was the first time for me to go to Tokyo Disneyland. My impression was that the Disneyland in L.A. was easier to get around in and more welcoming. Of course, the temperature was close to zero te day we went and we all froze our butts off. I'm sure my impression of Tokyo Disneyland will improve, if the temperature isn't so freezing cold.

I never knew stage shows existed in Disneyland. I usually did the rounds with all the rides except for anything that spins in circles up to now. Well, this time around, the main attractions were the shows and we hardly went on any rides. We went from one show to another to another. They were pretty interesting. I was kinda dumbfounded by it all because I really didn't know much about the show aspect of the place.

The second day, we all went to Disney Sea. It's another Disney themed amusement park right next to Disneyland. It wasn't as cold as the day before, so it was a lot more enjoyable. I liked Disney Sea better than Disneyland. More open space. The setting was cuter.

What's a blog without my little humorous observations, right? So here are a few things I found funny during my Disneyland trip:

1. All the trash cans said "Please Waste" on them! Do they say that in the States too?!

2. Whenever any of the Disney characters came out for the public, they got MOBBED!

It was pretty funny. They were getting mobbed, mostly by adults, not little kids, which made it even more funny. Everyone was quite frantic to get a picture with the Disney characters. I noticed that the Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty characters were popular with people over here, but when Mary Poppins walked by, no one knew who she was supposed to be!

Mexican Food in Tokyo!

2006-02-07T14:28:00.000+09:00

I've been craving Mexican food for a while now. This past weekend, I went up to Tokyo for a meeting and stayed over at my brother's place. We stopped by a Mexican restaurant before my overnight bus ride back to Kansai. I was SO happy to finally find Mexican food in Japan, and an El Torito at that too, since that's one of my favorites.

They don't have any Mexican food around where I live, but Tokyo is the capital and they have a variety of ethnic food available. Most of the ethnic food over here has been changed in some way to fit Japanese people's taste though, so it doesn't exactly taste like the real thing, but it's close enough.

El Torito wasn't bad at all. When I think Mexican food, I usually think big portions, but the dishes were Japanese portions. The nachos didn't exactly taste like they were supposed to, but what can you expect when the people cooking the food have never tasted real Mexican food.

On my trip down, it started snowing like crazy. I don't know where we were passing through, but it sure was snowing hard. The 10 hour bus ride wasn't all that comfortable, since the woman sitting next to me kept leaning on me. I wished she'd lean towards the window instead of me.
I think maybe I'm getting too old for the grueling overnight bus rides, but since it's the cheapest way, I don't have much of a choice.

My top 3 shockers of teaching English in Japan

2006-02-04T01:44:00.000+09:00

As most of you know, I'm "teaching" English conversation here at the moment. (I feel more like I'm just "talking" instead of "teaching" though). I teach kids from age 5 and up to adults.

Top 3 shockers for elementary through high school kids:

1. Many of them don't know what their dad's do for a living!

They answer "he's a salaryman" meaning, their father's earn a salary for a living.
Hmm...yes, thank you for letting me know that, but that really doesn't shed any light on what your dad does. Makes me wonder how much kids here communicate with their dad's.

2. Many of the kids don't have dreams about what they want to do.

Maybe they're being modest and all of them want to be doctors or something, but whenever I ask "so what do you eventually want to be?" most of them answer "I don't know." I ask them "well, how about when you were a kid? Did you ever want to be superman or a princess?" I just get blank stares, like I just landed from Mars. Why is that? Is it that strange to ask about dreams?

3. I've yet to meet a single student who claims to like school.

No one likes school over here. No one seems to enjoy it. This, I can understand....schools seem totally uncreative and they never ever ever bend rules.

One more that I remembered.

4. Most kids go to cram school on top of school.

This is the most baffling one of all. Most students go to a private tutoring school after school, so basically students are studying ALL DAY LONG. They hate school, but they go to the tutoring schools. Most of them have no problem keeping up in school, but they go to tutoring schools. I don't understand the irony in this system. Why don't kids just PLAY here in Japan? It's study, study, study, but yet they don't have dreams they're chasing after. It sure is puzzling.

Point System Everywhere I Go.

2006-02-04T01:27:00.000+09:00

There's a point system for every store you ever visit in Japan.

Every restaurant.
Every drugstore.
Every grocery store.
Every donut shop.
Every gas station.
Every clothing store.
Every shoe store.
Every hair salon.
Every ........
....basically ANY store that you spend money at.

I find it quite annoying. All these stores give me a stamp card/point card, so I have a whole entire wallet FULL of stamp cards. I can never find the right card for the right store at the right time.

It's the Japanese way of trying to build faithful customers. If you spend enough money at these stores within a certain period of time to fill your stamp card, then you get a small discount.

Do I want a wallet full of stamp cards I can't keep track of, much less gather enough points within the given period of time, in hopes of getting a small discount or a cheap gift? Nope! Not anymore!

At first, I thought I was supposed to keep all the cards and my wallet kept getting bigger and bigger. Well, I've finally realized that I never can get enough points by the designated period, so I've started to just decline the stamp cards to begin with. Shoppings gotten easier since. The cashiers ask me "do you have a point card?" and I just say "no...,oh no thanks, I don't want to make one."

What was I thinking?!

2006-01-29T01:49:00.000+09:00

If you happen to know me well, you already know that I "occasionally" make rash decisions out of the blue. I happened to read an article today about President Bush planning to cut back on Army Reserve spending, and it made me recall one of those rash decisions that I ALMOST followed through with.

When was that? I was about a year away from finishing college, was working on an art degree, but didn't know what exactly I wanted to do with that. I never had intended just the art to be what I ended up with, and was in the midst of contemplating what else I wanted to stick my foot into.

I had several options. One was accounting, since I figured that was as practical as I could get. I thought that'd let me do art on the side but also help me get by financially. So I started taking accounting classes and found it pretty interesting...but the moment I took an economics class, it TOTALLY went over my head and I knew there was no way I could make myself get interested in that stuff. So, I threw that idea waay out the window.

Another option was special education. I've always had a soft spot for people with disabilities, especially those with developmental disabilities. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I've been repeatedly told from my parents that the doctors had told my parents, that even if I happen to survive as a premature baby, I'd definitely have severe disabilities, including blindness and mental retardation. Well, God must've pulled lots of strings for me, because as far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty sure I'm clear of both.

I went to get my transcript evaluated to see what classes I would need to add that on, and it turned out I'd basically have to redo college, so I didn't think that was worth it. I'd taken a lot of science classes though, so I was told I'd only need a few more classes if I wanted to get a secondary teaching degree in science, but I wanted to do elementary education, so that didn't work out. I did pass some sort of basic test for being a substitute teacher, so if ever wanted to be a sub in California, I could do it...but of course, I don't plan on doing that.

This is the point where my crazy idea came to mind and I suddenly acted on it without much thought. I figured I had tons of students loans from having gone to a private college the first two years and thought "now wouldn't it be great to gain a skill AND have the army pay my loans back for me!" SO, I got sucked into the whole army reserve recruiting process. I went and got my physical with a bunch of other recruits, took some sort of skills test, passed both, waited around to pick an occupation that would allow me to do the "one weekend a month, 2 weeks a year" thing, and couldn't decide between something like "generator mechanic, fast boat operator, and blood bank technician, etc.".....then the computers froze, so I was asked to return the next day to pick and sign papers.

THAT night, I had major second thoughts about the whole thing, since it meant a 6 year commitment. I decided I didn't want to sign on for 6 years and become government property. It's hard to imagine that I'd be in the army reserves now, probably in Iraq, if the computers hadn't crashed that one night. Whew, that sure was a close call. I really don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wanted to really cut away from my past and totally build a new life. I don't know. I sure am glad I didn't take that route.

Instead, I went up to Portland and got my master's in art therapy. I'm something like 70,000 dollars in debt because of that and college, but it was well worth it. I get to pay student loans every month for the next 25 years....yippee?!

Why all the food?

2006-01-25T22:40:00.000+09:00

The significance food carries must heavily be influenced by the country's history. I've definitely noticed that food here carries more meaning than in the States.

I might have commented on this before, but people here send fresh vegetables, seafood, and anything else that's edible through the mail to their friends and relatives. For instance, my relative who lives in Kyushuu, sends my mom a box of potatoes and other vegetables from time to time. I look at that, and although I think it's really nice of my aunt to send them, a part of me wonders what the point is. I mean, you can BUY vegetables at the local grocery store. Why do people send food back and forth, when you can buy the same thing at a store? It seems odd.

Another custom over here is, when you go visit someone at their home, you're supposed to bring some sort of food as a gift. There must be some kind of rule about the whole thing, but for someone ignorant like me, it seems like we're just bringing food back and forth to each others homes. I keep forgetting about this food exchange practice, so people here probably think I'm so rude! Maybe this food exchange thing is to keep people from visiting each other. Maybe people think "oh, I haven't bought any food to take over, so I can't go visit so and so."

Food is almost like money here I think. Exchanging food as a gift is involved with everything that goes on. During the summer, people give food gift boxes as a "summer greeting." In the winter, they give "winter greeting" packages of food. I'm pretty sure there are other times that you give and receive food as a gift, but since I'm not accustomed to it, it feels like people are randomly giving me food left and right, all year round. I can't figure out the WHY of it, so when it happens, my eyes get big andI think to myself "ok, let me think, what's this for again? What am I supposed to do? Give something in return? Just say thank you? Uh oh, what am I supposed to do?"

Since food is so important here and it's used as a gift all year round, stores sell a lot of VERY neatly packaged food. YOU WOULD BE AMAZED. You'd think stores were selling gold from the looks of the packaging. Oh yeah, train stations always sell a variety of food gift packages, because god forbid, you'd show up at someone's house without a gift!

One of these days, I'll write about fruit in Japan.

But I don't know you....

2006-01-21T01:15:00.000+09:00

Often when I answer the phone either at home or at work, the person on the phone says "Itsumo osewa ni natte imasu." This roughly translates into "Thank you for your continued support."

Now, if someone I actually know said that to me, I wouldn't feel weird. BUT, these telemarketers, I've NEVER once before talked to them or even heard of them. So whenever someone I haven't talked to before calls and says this to me, I immediately start wondering "Why is this person saying this to me? I don't even know this person. Why do you say that to someone you've never met before? Why? Why? Why?" and I miss most of what the caller has just said and only catch the last part, which usually is some sort of sales pitch. So I just say, "sorry, I'm not interested" and hang-up. I keep wondering though, why people say that over here.

There's a lot of other things people say over here purely from custom or out of habit, that I don't know why they say because it totally doesn't make sense to me. I keep wondering why people say certain things over here, when from my perspective, it doesn't seem to be serving any purpose. If I could see the point of the greetings being used, I'd be able to make sense of things, but for now, I'm just confused. There's lots of words being spoken, but I don't understand what it's supposed to communicate.

I thought words were supposed to communicate SOMETHING....I guess sometimes it doesn't work that way.

Interesting Flower? Plant?

2006-01-21T01:06:00.000+09:00

I don't know what this plant is called, but whenever I see it, I want to stop and just gaze at it. It's so cute.

This one happened to be blooming in our neighbor's concrete yard, so I snuck a picture.

The plant has a bright orange balloon-like hollow ball hanging from it. I took this picture in the fall or sometime before that, so it's no longer in our neighbor's yard. I think they must have pulled it out.

Ebeye in May!!!

2006-01-21T00:45:00.000+09:00

I went to Ebeye, Marshall Islands as a volunteer for a year and taught 4th grade back in '97-'98. Myla, you remember how crazy that year was! Anyways, I just made a reservation today to head over there in May for my students' senior graduation! It's hard to believe...I didn't think it would really come true, but as long as the travel agent doesn't call me back and tell me I can't use my mileage points to go to Ebeye, then the itinerary says I'm heading over there. I'm REALLY going to head over there! Wow. I think I'll be checking my reservaton every day to make sure it's still there!

Although my students drove me nuts back then, I know I LOVE them! If I can see even ONE of them go on and hopefully go to college and make something of themselves, I'd be SO happy. I wish I were doing better financially so that I could sponsor one of my former students and get them through college...unfortunately, I haven't reached that point in my life yet so that little dream of mine will have to wait until who knows when. One of these days though, it's going to happen. I know it. My dream to attend their grad is about to come true, so my dream to see one of them graduate from college might come true too, with enough time and patience.

Beginner and Seasoned Drivers

2006-01-18T00:48:00.000+09:00

They have an interesting driver skill system over here. If you're a beginner driver, you put the green and yellow "leaf" on your car. If you're a "seasoned" driver, you put an orange and yellow "autumn leaf" on your car.

The purpose of these stickers is to let other drivers know that you might make unexpected turns, swerves, drive slow, or suddenly stop....in other words, you BETTER WATCH OUT!

These stickers aren't required by law, so people put them on their cars at their own discretion. I think the benefit of having these on your car is that everyone passes you or avoids you on the road from the start, so no one has to bother with tailgaters getting road rage...they already know better not to follow you.

Now, I wonder, if someone had BOTH of these stickers on their car...what would that mean? You're a senior citizen AND a beginner driver so...better be extra careful?!

New Year's Decoration

2006-01-18T00:20:00.000+09:00

Every year around New Year's, I see odd decorations being sold at the grocery stores. Here's one of them.

It's called a "kagami-mochi." In my head, the translation comes out to "mirror-rice-cake." That sure doesn't make any sense, so my brain is most likely misunderstanding something. But every year, instead of bothering to find out the meaning behind these decorations, I keep wondering what meaning they must hold.

So this kagami-mochi, it has two layers of rice cake, with an orange on top. Sometimes, I think it also has dried persimmons on the top too. There's a ribbon in the shape of a crane around the rice cake.

This one is a bit fancy I guess, because it has a fan at the very top, leaves and paper hanging in front.

So what's my guess as to what this means? Hmm. I think I once heard someone explaining that you to let the rice cake dry out and crack, then put it into a special New Year's soup to drink and it's supposed to bring good luck for the year. If the rice cake doesn't dry out and crack and you use a knife to cut the rice cake, then it's bad luck or something.

New Year's Holidays.

2006-01-09T01:42:00.000+09:00

New Year's in Japan feels like Christmas in the States. Over here, Christmas is only a day to eat a special Christmas cake and if you're of dating age, it's a day you're supposed to go on a date with whoever you are in a relationship with.

So Christmas doesn't have that special feel to it like it does in the States. But New Year's, wow, it's a major major holiday here! Just about EVERYONE in Japan celebrates new years from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. They eat special meals, put up special decorations, and spend time with family. It's pretty nice.

I got to spend time with my family this New Year's too. We went to Sasayama, which is about 45 minutes or so from our place. Sasayama is a really old town and has a lot of traditional things.

I found the dried persimmons hanging at the storefront interesting, so I took a picture. They were selling steamed red bean paste buns fresh off the steamer here, so my parents bought two. I'm not that big of a fan of red bean paste, so I passed. It looked good though.

After we looked around at several stores, we stopped by a shrine. The Noh stage was open since they had done a play at midnight the night before to celebrate the New Year. It was neat to be able to see the stage so up close. Usually, we can only peek at it through a tiny tiny opening since the stage is normally closed.

Although Japanese people aren't religious for the most part, regardless of beliefs, most people seem to go to shrines or temples for special occasions, such as the New Year's holidays. They make wishes and pray for a good year.

I found a dagashi store (kind of like an old-fashioned candy store) and thought it was cute, so I got a picture of it. All round things hanging in front are paper balloons.

While I was looking through the dagashi store, my parents found a booth selling takoyaki, so they were both eating that when I turned to see what they were up to.

Judging from the way my mom was going at the little takoyakis, I think she was secretly trying to eat more than my dad.

It sure was a good holiday.

Sudden Ski Trip on the 31st

2006-01-09T01:12:00.000+09:00

It's been at least 10 years since I last skiied. After seeing all the snow the previous week, I had a strong urge to go skiing again, so I called my friend up to see if his family had any plans of going. I think they were planning on going in February, but since I had asked, they suddenly decided to go on the 31st of December, which is a special day in Japan.

It was SO fun! It was basically the first time for me to go skiing in Japan, so I was surprised that the ski resort was pretty big. The slopes were mostly beginner level, but I still had fun. I did find one slope that was a little steeper than the rest, and had a blast screaming my way down.

The scenery while on the slopes was amazing. I wanted to capture it on camera, but the only "camera" I had with me was the one on my cell phone, so I couldn't quite capture what I wanted.

My friend was a snowboarder, so I got to try a little of that too. I went down the slope twice, but I ended up tumbling most of the way down since I don't know a thing about snowboarding. Next time I go, I think I want to try snowboarding so that I don't have to land on my butt every time.

I sure did have a good time skiing. I hope I can go again.

Record Snow

2006-01-09T00:58:00.000+09:00

It normally doesn't snow much where I'm at, but the week I got back from Hawaii, the town had record snow. It was really pretty. Decided not to step out though, since it was way too cold for me, especially after my week away in Hawaii basking in the sun.

We had a christmas party planned for the children's classes the day it snowed in, but since most of the moms don't drive in the snow here, we canceled the party and decided to have a new year's party instead.

I had to go drop something off at the post office and on the way, I saw some of my students trying to make a snowman, so I watched for a while.

Maui: Judina + Domique!

2005-12-23T23:04:00.000+09:00

After the wedding on Oahu, our wedding party flew over to Maui for a few days. Oahu was nice, but there were a lot of tourists, especially Japanese tourists. There was a bit of crazy feel to it.

But on Maui, wow, it was so different. Instead of feeling like I was visiting a busy tourist spot, it actually felt like I was out in a resort area, purely to enjoy time SLOWLY passing by. The natural beauty of the island was better preserved too.

The best part of my visit to Maui was getting a visit from Judina, whom I met on Ebeye when I was out there volunteering. She happened to be living on Maui so she made a 2 hour drive with her boyfriend and came out to visit me!!

While my friend Shino and I were waiting out by the sidewalk for Judy to arrive, we were recalling how we both had ended up in places we never expected.

Shino ended up getting baptized in Salt Lake City, she went to Costa Rica for a year to volunteer, and she's visited me in just about every place I've ever moved to, which is quite a few places.

I, on the other hand, went to the Marshall Islands for a year to volunteer when I least expected, ended up living in Salt Lake City for 6 months all because of a 12 hour drive I made just to watch Patch Adams with Shino, and I ended up going to grad school up in Oregon because Inokko had said she'd move up to Washington!

Well anyways, Judy told me all about what she's been up to. It was really great to hear about how happy she was with everything in her life now. It makes me so happy to see someone from Ebeye making it out in the real world.

It was the first time for me to meet Dominque, Judy's boyfriend. He was pretty shy, but I could tell he was a nice guy and that he took good care of my friend. Judy said he's not into the party scene, which I think is pretty rare for a guy from the Marshall Islands. I hope their relationship keeps getting stronger and that one of these days I'll get to go to their wedding, wherever it may be!

Rest of my Hawaii report!

2005-12-23T21:41:00.000+09:00

Here are my Hawaii pictures! It was nice and warm over there.

My friend, whom I've known since she was a baby, had her wedding there. Everything was picture-perfect!

As you can see, I'm having problems with the picture placement... no matter how much I tried to fix it, the computer has a mind of its own, so I'm going to just forget about it. At least you can see the pictures, right?

Day 2 in Waikiki

2005-12-13T06:09:00.000+09:00

While I'm waiting for the wedding party to arrive in a bit, I think I'll write more. Last night, I was so tired from walking all day, I went to bed a 12. There was another girl who arrived yesterday and she also fell asleep around the same time.

Yesterday, as I was walking about, two tall guys were having a smooch...BIG TIME, right in front of me. Um, I must say, although I have nothing against gays, it did make me feel a bit akward.

More on my roommates. Staying at a place where you room with strangers is great. You get to know new people. 5 out of the 8 that were in the room were travelling solo. Great, huh? I didn't realize it was so common to travel solo. I used to not feel so comfortable jumping into a crowd of strangers, but this time around, it didn't feel akward. Although I have to say, when some of the girls started going into detail about their birthcontrol pills and their escapades, I decided it was time for me to read instead. I'm not THAT comfortable about opening up with people I just met =). The Japanese part of me is surprised that complete strangers can get together and just jump right in and join in on whatever converstaion that is going on and make it seem like they know each other. I love it. I doubt that'd happen in Japan much. Everyone keeps to themselves.
Hey TF, after walking for miles, I bumped into a Wal-Mart and got the calendars you asked for. I still need to make it to AAA to renew my international driver's license, find a Bank of America, and hopefully go to Costco to buy gifts for the students in bulk. I might not get a chance to go to the education store.

Oh yeah, I tend to forget to eat when I'm totally absorbed in doing something. Yesterday was one of those days. By the time I reached Wal-Mart, I felt dizzy and realized I hadn't eaten or drank anything in 12 hours. Made a stop at Jamba Juice (yummy!) and felt better afterwards.

I woke up at 3 am last night and couldn't go back to sleep for couple of hours. I tossed and turned and shook the bed so I was worried I'd wake the girl on the bottom bunk, but she said she couldn't sleep either, so whew. Speaking of bunk beds, the bed had no side rails, so i was a bit worried that I would roll right over. I'm happy to say I found myself on the bed when I woke up this morning and not on the floor.

Walked to the beach this morning. Everyone is wearing bikinis here. It's WARM here! It feels really good.

GOtta go.

Made it to Hawii!

2005-12-12T15:44:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm not sure how long my flight from Kansai Airport to Honolulu was, but I made it. The plane wasn't that crowded, so I had two seats to myself. I didn't feel that good on the plane 'cause my heart kept beating weird and it made me feel nauscious. There was a boy sitting behind me that was coughing throughout most of the flight. I think a lot of people were sick on that plane!

Once we landed in Honolulu, the ground agents hadn't expected us I guess, so we had to wait in the plane for quite some time. In the meantime, I chatted with the flight attendent and she was telling me she gets just as grouchy as passengers when it comes to having to wait like today. She lives in Seattle but works from Hawaii. Amazing, huh?

Being the disoriented person that I am, once I got to Waikiki with the bus and found my hostel, I spent several hours searching for the car rental place. But once I got there, I was so tired I decided I didn't want to go driving around running errands. Instead, I walked for the next 10 or so hours looking for the X-mas presents I needed to send to Ebeye. Then I went looking for a dress to wear to my friend's wedding on Wednesday. Somehow found something, but I must say I am completely exhausted!!!

There's quite an international group of ladies in the room I'm in. From Germany, Canada, Austrailia....all strangers, but we're staying in the same room. Interesting.

Well, I'm at an internet cafe now....my time is running out. This will probably be my one and only transmission from Hawaii.

Wish me luck on my adventure....

A Quick Trip to Nagoya, Tokyo, and Chiba

2005-12-06T23:55:00.000+09:00

Nagoya: I wanted to attend a workshop a friend of mine was doing, so I made a stop there. The station I arrived at, was waaay out in the middle of nowhere almost. To my surprise, instead of the usual automated ticket gates, there were two station staff handcollecting the ticket stubs! It was nice for a change. Didn't have to feel like I was going to have a heart-attack while going through the automated gates. I have a tendency to go through the wrong gates and they often slam shut on me. Argh.

Tokyo: Stayed at my brother's place and got to spend a little bit of time with one of my nephews.

Chiba: After the conference I had come for ended, I made a stop at a different part of Chiba, where my other nephew and a friend of mine also was.

My friend, her husband, and their daughter.

Scratch, scratch.

My friend made yaki-imo (baked sweet potatoes) for us. It was really good!

Amazing

2005-11-30T01:34:00.000+09:00

Friendships are amazing. You can spend years with someone and not know them, yet you can spend a passing moment with another person and build a friendship for life. What makes the difference?

Back in my junior year in high school, I went to Nepal for about a 2 or 3 week volunteer project. That's somewhere around 12 or 13 years ago. On the last few days of the trip, we went trekking in the Himalayan mountains for a few days. There was a sherpa guide and his team who took us around. During the trip itself, I didn't have that much chance to talk with the head sherpa, but after I returned to Japan, we started writing each other. Can you believe that 13 years later, that friendship is still continuing? I think it's amazing. It's one of the many friendships that I treasure in my life.

I also have another friend from that volunteer trip that I still keep in touch with. Her name was Shoba and she cooked all the meals for us while we were in Nepal. She couldn't speak English, but for some reason, Shoba and I, we were able to communicate through hand gestures and body language. It was amazing. I made several attempts to write to her in Nepalese using the dictionary, but I have a feeling that my writing probably didn't make sense. I do hope that she understood that I was somehow trying to convey to her that I loved her and I cared about her.

After some time, her daughters took over the written communication for us and we were able to communicate better =). I still keep in touch with her too.

There were two other people I regulary kept in touch with until a few years ago, but I've lost touch with them now. I think I better dig up my old letters and try to see if I can find them again. Every time they wrote to me, the address was different, so I was never sure if they'd get my letters or not.

These days, there's the handy old e-mail. In some ways it closes the distance between friendships, in some ways it puts distance between friendships. I think I should pick up a pen and write to my friends. It's been a while since I've done that.

Quick Trip to Tokyo

2005-11-29T10:56:00.000+09:00

I took the overnight bus for the first time to Tokyo the other day. The seats were so narrow and hard, I have no idea why they even offer such an uncomfortable trip that takes some 11 hours. BUT, taking the bullet train to Tokyo costs about 15000 Yen (about $130) one-way, and taking the overnight bus costs about 5000 Yen (about $40), so I took the cheaper fare...now I know why it's so cheap. They actually have comfortable overnight buses too, but since I took the cheapest class, it was pretty bad. At least the people riding were decent and I didn't have to feel scared. Sometimes when I took the Greyhound in the States, it was scary.

Tokyo, boy oh boy, that place is just so crazy! Skyscrapers in every direction, an alley that leads to who knows where in every direction, trains of every kind in every direction...pure confusion for me. It's a miracle that I even managed to reach my destination. I went to a meeting for a Creative Arts Therapies planning committee. Exciting!

I have to go up to Tokyo again next week for a different conference. I better make my reservations now for another bus trip.

"Elizabethtown" and "In Her Shoes"

2005-11-25T00:03:00.000+09:00

Went movie-hopping yesterday!It was a national holiday so no work. Hurray! I wanted to see both movies and since it was "ladies day Wednesday" where the movie fees are 1000 yen (=$8), instead of the normal 1800 yen (=$15), I went ahead and saw both! Fun! Fun!

Elizabethtown: The trailer made the movie seem better than it actually was. The storyline didn't make too much sense to me, but I did like the roadtrip scenes. Made me feel nostalgic about all the roadtrips I've been on. Ooh, I really miss going on roadtrips. They're not easy to go on over here because the "freeways" aren't "free" over here. It feels like you have to pay $5 for every mile you go on the freeways here. Of course, it's not THAT expensive, but coming from where it was all FREE, it feels just the same. Ooh, the freedom of driving for miles and miles without a town in sight and nothing but nature surrounding you...I really miss that.

In Her Shoes: Didn't really know what the movie was about, but it sounded fun so I saw it. It was great! Cameron Diaz was great. Ella, the grandmother, was great too. Fun movie. Happy ending.

After seeing two movies with plenty of American culture in them, I feel HOMESICK! I know right now I'm here in Japan by choice...but at the same time, I have to say I feel torn between wanting to be in the States living my life as I had pictured it, but also feeling like I'm here because there must be something I'm supposed to find for myself in this place. I don't think I've found what it is yet that I'm supposed to find.

Anyone have any ideas on what it is I'm in search of here?

"Let's Self-Medicate!!!"....Are you serious?!

2005-11-20T00:19:00.000+09:00

Believe it or not, there's a commercial here that is advocating self-medication. Nope, it's not a joke! The messege they're trying to get across is "Take control of your own health. Buy over-the-counter drugs and take care of yourself!"

A BIG HMMMMMMMMMM, right?

If you're going to pay a huge amount of money to make and air commercials, wouldn't you want to at least check that the main motto makes sense?

"Self-medication is the use of drugs, often illicit, to treat a perceived or real malady, often of a psychological nature.

Some mental illness sufferers attempt to correct their illnesses by use of mind-altering drugs. While this may provide relief, it can exacerbate the problem in the long run, leading to addiction, as well as the side effects of long-term use of the drug.

Sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder are especially prone to self-medication." (Wikipedia)

There's plenty of strange English being used here, so I suppose one more won't make that much of a difference, but considering all the discussions I had on the problems of self-medication in counseling classes, I have strong objections about this one!

NO, you DON'T want to self-medicate folks!! GO to a professional. Get help. Don't self-medicate!

Why dragons then peaches?

2005-11-18T00:22:00.000+09:00

In a lot of the traditional Japanese-style homes, I noticed that they have these dragons or some kind of imaginary beast on the four corners of the roof. They're quite fascinating.

My guess is that they're meant to protect the home from whatever evil spirits that may come from the four directions. That's a wild guess, so it could be that they're just for decorations.

But then, Japanese people are really superstitious in certain ways, so it's hard to think that these dragons have no meaning...

As you can see, some of them have a really menacing look.　

SO, my questions is:
What's the meaning behind a PEACH?

Why a peach? Why not a banana? Why not a whole fruit basket?

Ideas, anyone?

More of Kyoto: Shijyo? Yasaka?

2005-11-17T00:06:00.000+09:00

Town by the riverside.

We meant to look for a place called "Philosopher's Path," but instead, found a shrine we weren't really looking for. But I do think it was a famous shrine...Yasaka Shrine? A scary looking warrior was "sitting" gaurd.

Lanterns of people who made donations I think.

Everything in this alter has some sort of meaning, but I couldn't find an explanation for them. I guess it's common knowledge over here. Looks like they lock up their gods in shrines??

A little girl sounding the bell to make a wish.
Japanese people are crazy about good luck charms and fortune telling. They were selling all sorts of charms here. To pass college exams, safety, marriage, to get smart, anything you can think of, they have.

One of the types of charms are these wooden boards with decorations painted onto them, and you're supposed to write your wish and hang them here. I think they get burned after receiving a blessing by the monk, so that the wishes will reach the gods.

Found this comical looking buddha in an alley, on the walk back from the shrine.

Wandering Through Kyoto: Myoshinji Temple

2005-11-16T14:09:00.000+09:00

Although I didn't know how the bus system worked, my friend and I somehow found our way to Kyoto.

Last time I went to Kyoto, it was FREEZING cold, so this time I went well prepared. I think I overdid it, because I was hot this time.

The garden paths feel so poetic.

This was one huge temple! There was an awesome dragon painting on the ceiling inside. These temples were built in 1654....amazing.

A Zen Goddess. First time to see one.

Cranes painted on a panel door by a famous artist...but I forgot who.

Another Zen Goddess. I like these better than the regular buddhas.

A bell tower?

Cemetary. They had a lot of the wooden panels placed in the back...maybe they're for good luck?

"Geta" sandels for the monks I think.

I love these bamboo water holes. They're so aesthetically beautiful.

Feels like walking through a poem.

A dry sand garden. It was absolutely quiet here.

Can you believe a gardener was actually stabbing ONE leaf at a time, to pick up all the leaves in the garden? And more leaves just kept coming down as he was picking each leaf up....talk about patience!!

A Shrine in the Parking Lot?

2005-11-06T00:00:00.000+09:00

There's a 5-car parking lot in front of the English language school I work at. Only 2 of the spaces seem to be in use, so I wish they would lease out the others, but whoever owns the parking long claims them to be taken. Hmm.

On this small piece of land, there's this tiny shrine, complete with the red posts/gates leading to it. Not only that, but the Ojizou house that I posted before, also is on this same property. So I ask, why, is there a small temple for the buddhas and also a shrine on such a limited amount of land?

This part of town is definitely not considered a tourist spot, so why? Why both a temple AND shrine?

The difference between a temple and shrine, from what I've noticed are these:

-temples: They have buddhas.

-shrines: No buddhas. They always have red posts/gatesleading to the shrine.

I don't know if this is true or not, but a taxi driver in Kyoto who was also acting as a guide, said that shrines worship birds as gods, and so the gates were placed for the purpose of giving the "gods" a place to rest. Makes sense, but is it true? I wonder if the number of posts have any significance?
A majority of Japanese people aren't religious, except on certain ceremonial events such as weddings, funerals, and certain national holidays. As a result, they go to both temples and shrines and seem to have a polytheisic belief.

Someone is taking good care of the Ojizou and the shrine in the parking lot. Who is it? What are these used for? The mystery of my surroundings keep growing.

MIMI ni TACO ga dekiru?

2005-10-31T14:33:00.000+09:00

I've been wondering what this phrase means. It's an odd phrase when you think about it, because MIMI=ear, ni=on, TACO=octopus, dekiru=form.
Put that together and it comes out to: "An octopus will form on your ear. "

Now, what is this supposed to mean? It really doesn't make sense to me. I think I'm misunderstanding something. I think maybe the TACO, doesn't mean "octopus," but "callous."

I often come across phrases that don't make sense to me, but my imagination conjures up a meaning for it anyways, and the strangest images come to mind. An octopus forming on your ear? Really, it doesn't make sense.

"Jizou": Guardian Deity of Children

2005-10-24T20:21:00.000+09:00

Guess what's inside this little "house"? It's not an outhouse, although it's right about the same size.

It houses several "gods" inside. Since I hardly know a thing about buddhism, I don't really know what the proper name is. They're called "Ojizou" in Japanese, which according to the online dictionary means "guardian deity of children."

Usually the stone buddhas with red aprons on them, are just placed out in the open or under small wooden shelters. The little Ojizous in this "shelter" got lucky I guess, because the neighborhood people built a nice little home for them.

People seem to take really good care of the Ojizous in this shelter. Someone always puts fresh flowers, leaves tea or sweets, and burns incense as an offering to the deity. The little sign in the front said that when there was a fire in the area, the house on the same property got burned to the ground, but the Ojizou's home remained unscathed. Kinda spooky.

Personally, I always wonder what the red apron stands for. Why is it red? Why do they need aprons? I haven't looked into it yet, but if I find the answers, I'll let you know.

Oh yeah, see the little swastika on the incense bowl? I was at first very shocked to find the insignia on these religious items. Why would they put something so shocking on things that are supposed to stand for peace, right? Well, I don't remember the full explanation, but in zen buddhism, the swastika or manji, as they call it, stands for the ideal harmony between love and intellect...and it existed much earlier than the Nazis. It's too bad that the original meaning didn't spread out into the world and it became more of a symbal for hate.

Black beans?

2005-10-24T19:42:00.000+09:00

It's the season for black edamame beans now, so I see them being sold all over town. Giving food as a gift is a very common practice here, so whatever is in season, it's often passed on to neighbors and friends as a gift.

A friend of mine gave me a stalk of black edamame beans the other day, and as I was eating them, I wondered why they were called "black" beans, when they are actually green. They look the same as the regular green edamame beans on the outside, but it has a grayish-black skin around the actual bean, so maybe that's why they are called black edamame beans.

Ok, so I just asked my mom about it and the mystery got solved. The color change happens AFTER the edamame beans are dried! Once they are dried, they turn completely black and hard.

The custom here seems to be, if you go to a friend's house you're supposed to take some sort of food for the family, usually sweets it seems, as a gift. Likewise, guests to your home are supposed to bring food as a gift too. It's nice I guess, but kind of a hassle at the same time. At least for me, it feels like that.

12 Inches Away

2005-10-20T00:17:00.000+09:00

See the white building in the middle? That's where I'm working right now. The picture is kinda old though, because it's from before we moved in. Now, we have our school sign up, a porch, etc. so it looks nicer. See the house with the red roof next to our building? It's not part of our building...yes, as hard as it may be to believe, they are our neighbors! Just a whopping 12 inches away at that.

The first time I peered to the side of our building (it's actually a regular 4bdrm house), I was surprised how *close* the next door neighbors were! Sure, I can manage to squeeze in if I wanted to, but it's a real tight fit.

It might be hard to believe, because even I have a hard time believing it, but there are houses and other buildings that are even CLOSER together than this! In the older parts of town, like where I'm working at, houses can be something like 3 inches away! Can you believe that?! When I come across homes like that, I stand and wonder to myself, how do they fix the walls if it needs to be repaired? No one can fit in between, so how do they do it? Maybe the only way to ever fix your house is to tear it all down and rebuild it.

The wood panel in the picture, it came flying at us during last year's typhoon. I think it came from the neighbors house across from our school, but since we didn't take it back right away, it just got to be too akward to return it, so it's still sitting here. And the shoe, I just put it there hoping people could get a feel for how close the neighbors were. Speaking of shoes, I need to get a new pair because this one is starting to tear.

More on my day in Osaka.

2005-10-18T23:58:00.000+09:00

Bikes are a very common form of transportation in Japan. As you can see here, there are always rows and rows of bikes near train stations, as people ride their bikes to the station, then commute to work/school by train from there.

Whenever I ask my students how long it takes for them to get to school, typically for the high school kids, they say anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

For the college students, they usually say anywhere from an hour to two, sometimes even longer. When students sometimes tells me it takes two hours to get to school it astonishes me! TWO whole hours or more to get to school??? If it were in the States, I'm sure people would just MOVE closer to the school, but over here, commuting to school/work for up to 2 hours seems fairly typical. I've still yet to figure out what the reason behind this is, because it just doesn't seem economical to commute, when transportation costs in Japan are so expensive.

One reason might be, most parents in Japan financially support their kids throughout college, so having to pay extra for housing and food for their kids who have moved out of the house is too tough financially. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? WHY DON'T THE KIDS PAY THEIR OWN WAY THROUGH COLLEGE? Unlike the States, there doesn't seem to be much of a government supported student loan system over here, so I guess it makes it difficult or nearly impossible for students to pay for their own college education.

Another obstacle that gets in the way of college age kids moving out and living on their own probably has something to do with how expensive it is to rent a place in Japan. The rent itself doesn't seem so high, pretty decent actually. But they have all these so-called "deposits" in Japan that you have to make when renting a place. They have a "key deposit" that costs something like 2 to 3 times your monthly rent, then they have an "appreciation fee" for the landlord for letting you rent the place. Even though these expenses are called "deposits," they're one-time fees that don't get refunded, so it all adds up in the end. It all seems so complicated.

Here's a picture I took of one of the underground shopping centers right under the subway system and skyscrapers! I always feel somewhat clausterphobic when I'm walking through these places because there are so many people and the air just feels tight. I always prefer to walk outside rather than underground.

It's people, people, people, wherever you look. Where do they all come from? The underground shopping centers stretch for miles in every direction, and once again, I always get lost. Everything looks the same to me, and I can't handle feeling lost when I know the subways are right above me. I always start thinking what's going to happen if an earthquake hits while I'm underground? I need air! I'm probably just being paranoid.

So that was my day in Osaka. It's about 45 minutes from where I live. I never go there by myself because I'll probably never make it back home, but this time, my friend was with me so I just made sure I never lost sight of her. Had a good day.

A Day in Osaka

2005-10-18T00:23:00.000+09:00

I went out to Osaka for most of the day on Sunday. I've never been out to downtown Osaka before, so it was interesting. Felt like any downtown office area in the States. There weren't a lot of people since it was the weekend, so there was a relaxed feel to it.

I saw something unbelievable while I was there. At first, I thought maybe it might just be a decoration, but then, it started to move, so I stared harder and realized it was real! What did I see? It was a small dog riding on the back rack of a bike! Now, if it were in a basket or something like that, I wouldn't have been so surprised, but then, it was just laying down "holding on" for dear life on the flat rack that's usually used to tie your belongings onto. The rack is about the size of a box of tissue, so imagine how odd the dog looked riding on the back of the bike. It was quite an unsual sight. Wish I could've taken a picture of it!

I went into an electronic store that was EIGHT stories high. Uh, I was shocked at how big the place was. You could probably find just about every and anything electronic at that store. What more, in every available space, there were advertisements, which was quite overwhelming! Made me dizzy.

A strange sight there was, there were salespeople sitting atop a ladder about 6 feet high and I thought they were probably changing the light bulb. But then, I realized they were spread out all over the floor in the same fashion. I soon found out what they were doing! The salespeople started shouting at the top of their lungs about whatever products they were promoting. Wow, what a way to sell something, huh? So at this electronic store, they have millions of products, they have twice that many advertisements hanging from the ceiling and taped to the walls, and they have salespeople sitting atop ladders yelling and promoting products. Quite overwhelming!

Can't Sleep

2005-10-15T03:25:00.000+09:00

Sometimes, I have a hard time sleeping. It's something like 4 am now, but I can't sleep! Oh well, it happens from time to time and I've gotten used to it.

It started raining a few hours ago. Windows here in Japan have metal shutters on them, so I can hear the rain clanking on the shutters now. They have the rainy season over here, so it rains non-stop for days sometimes. Although this year, it hasn't been so bad. They also have a typhoon season too, and typhoons keep hitting during that season. Last year it was pretty bad in the Kansai area too. I remember being pretty worried about the river out front, whether it was going to overflow or not. Thankfully, it didn't, but it got pretty close. This typhoon season though, the Kansai area, well, at least where I live, didn't get hit directly, so no worries.

Japanese-style Toilets!

2005-10-08T00:00:00.000+09:00

Ooooh, I really detest those things. One of these days, I'll take a picture and post it. For those of you who have never seen one, let me try to explain. They look like a miniture urinal, except, they're embedded into the ground. Another way to put it is, it's like a western-style toilet buried into into the ground all the way up to the seat.

For those of us who are not used to having to squat all the way down to relieve ourselves, it feels as though we're being forced to exercise at the same time. I find it extremely uncomfortable, like I'm going to tilt backwards. Then, when you flush, you have to SEE everything going "downstream."

If you're wearing long pants, then you also have to roll up your pants, or else your pants could end up in places you don't want them to. So basically, I find it a pain to use those toilets. I guess the reasoning behind it is that you never have to come in touch with a toilet seat that some stranger just sat on, but I don't know which is better or worse.

Another thing I've also noticed about a lot of public restrooms is that, they don't provide toilet paper. So most Japanese people always carry those little tissue packs. If you decide to visit Japan, I highly recommend carrying around tissue packs too, or else you might end up being sorry. If you're out in the city though, chances are, somebody will be passing out free tissue packs, so don't worry.

They also almost never have paper towels in public restrooms either. Recently, more restrooms have blow-dryers to dry off your hands, but still, it's a better idea to carry a handkerchief around like all Japanese people seem to. I keep reminding myself every time my hands are dripping wet, to carry a handkerchief, but I've yet to follow through with it. I can't shake off the expectation that restrooms will have paper towels.

You might laugh at me, for having all these observations about bathrooms, but hey, they're important, ok? So here are more observations of mine about JP restrooms.

Did you know that even the western-style toilets in Japan are high-tech?! One, they have temperature-adjustable heated seats. Two, they come with a control panel on the side of the bathroom wall. You'll never guess what the control is for! As hard as it may seem to believe, these control panels squirt water out to *wash* your butt for you. And if you want it to, you can even press a button to have it *blow-dry* your butt for you! And what do you know, even the length of time, water pressure, and position of the squirting, can be adjusted to fit your needs with a press of a button! Da-da---!

I've yet to decide what my opinion is of those high-tech toilets. They scare me.

When my friend, who works as a caregiver, came to visit me from the States last Christmas, her suggestion was that those high-tech toilets should be installed in nursing homes in the States. What do YOU think?

Just one more thing about restrooms. If you're claustrophobic, you aren't going to like the restrooms over here. Every wall is completely sealed and closed to the floor. No wide open space like restrooms in the States.

Ok, I think you've heard enough concerning the bathroom situation in Japan.

HOW do you find your way around in Japan?!

2005-10-07T00:28:00.000+09:00

For those of you who have tried to get from point A to point B in a car, have you ever wondered HOW in the world people here find their way around? I SURE HAVE!

First of all, there are NO street signs in Japan, at least I haven't come across any so far, and I've been living here almost 2 years now. If you're only driving around in your local neighborhood where you've already familiarized yourself with the roads, then it's not a problem. BUT, if you want to get to some place you've never been to before, then it can be a problem, especially if you have a bad sense of directions like I do. As I see it, there are a number of problems in finding your way around in a car here in Japan:

Problem #1: NO street signs.

Problem #2: All the traditional Japanese-style homes look the same. All the modern Japanese-style homes also look very similar.

Problem #3: If you live in the countryside, there are RICE FIELDS in every direction. AND THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME.

Problem #4: SOMETIMES, you come across a stop light that has a what LOOKS like a street sign on it, EXCEPT, you can't be fooled. They actually AREN'T street signs, only the NAME of the stop light. Which means, no matter what direction you come from, it's the same name.

SO, adding all these problems together, I find it nearly impossible to figure out where I'm going, where I just drove, and where I'm supposed to head. I look in every direction and it all looks the same to me. On top of that, the names on the stop lights always throws me off because I'm accustomed to expecting the name on the light to be the name of the street.

It took me a long time to figure out that the names on the lights were the same from all directions. One day, I was trying to get somewhere, and I decided to take the backroads. WHAT a mistake. There were rice fields all around me, traditional Japanese-style homes here and there, and a stop light with a name on it. I thought to myself "Wow, this is the first time I've seen a street sign in Japan! How helpful, now I can have some point of reference for where I'm supposed to turn!"

About 20 turns all over the backroads, I was back at the same light again. Not just once, but probably like 20 times. I couldn't understand why no matter how many turns I took, I kept coming back to the same spot. How could it possibly be???

Eventually, I "accidently" found my way out of what felt to me like the Bermuda Triangle and arrived back home without ever reaching my initial destination. I was pretty upset by the time, due to the absurdity of the same "street" coming up over and over again no matter what.

My parents are baffled by what I could possibly get so confused about. I say it's WRONG to give stop lights NAMES. Why do stop lights need names???

I have more to say about the road situation in Japan, but I think I'll stop here for now. Just thinking about getting lost everywhere I go makes me upset.

Komusubi Omusubi !

2005-10-06T00:36:00.000+09:00

The other day, I was watching a Japanese news station and there was a mention of a "Komusubi," with an image of a Sumo wrestler in the background. I thought this was just so HILARIOUS and was having a huge laugh about it. I thought to myself "Why would anyone name himself 'Komusubi' of all things?!" In my mind, "Komusubi" sounded just like "Omusubi," which in Japanese means "rice ball." Wouldn't YOU also think it was quite humorous for a Sumo wrestler to call himself a "rice ball"?

It really struck my funny bone and I couldn't stop laughing. Then my friend wanted to know what I found so funny, and I told her. Then it was MY turn to get laughed at, because I had it all confused. What she explained to me was that there are different ranks for Sumo wrestlers, and "Komusubi" was not in fact an individual's name, but a name of a rank for Sumo wrestlers. The only thing I knew about Sumo until then, was that grand champions are called "Yokozunas." Now I know better! (I STILL think "komusubi" is a funny name for a Sumo wrestler though.)

By the way, I also later found out that "komusubi" actually means "small knot" and NOT "rice ball," although it sounds similar.