It has been almost a month since I have returned from Japan. Time has passed so quickly and memories of my time in Japan have faded almost as quickly. It seems like Japan was a dream that I had many years ago. And yet, at the same time, I am sure that I annoying my friends by mentioning things about Japan every day. I am trying to stop, but it is hard.

Having now returned to school, my connection with Japan only continues in the emails I write to friends over there, my Japanese classes, and my senior thesis research. So saying, it is time for me to stop writing on this Japan-related website. The site will continue to be on the internet as a resource for those who are thinking of studying or living in Japan. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for all your support and I hope you enjoyed reading about Japan!

I was considering writing a post about how despite the fact that I have done a bit of complaining about being back in the states, it is not really that bad. However, in attempting to find examples, I realized that I have too few to make a good argument. Not that America is bad, I just can't think of anything amazingly wonderful about it right now.

So, to continue my homesickness for Japan: I was priveleged to get to have lunch today with a student from Kobe, Japan. He goes to school where my mother teaches and has only been in Indiana for 7 days. And he was desperate to speak Japanese. So we went to Wendy's and spoke Japanese for 2 hours. It was wonderful. We were both very happy to be speaking Japanese despite the stares. And he gave me some Japanese rice, some senbei (rice crackers) and some dried squid. Ureshii!!! (Happy!) Made me want to be back in Japan.

Although there were definitely things that I needed to get used to when I returned to America, I didn't feel like I really had Culture Shock when I came back to Fort Wayne. Just little things like wanting to turn into the left lane and doing little bows of apology. However, I went to Chicago this weekend and, believe it or not, that's when the Shock hit. Here I was in this big city with lots of people walking around, the majority of which were not Japanese and not speaking Japanese. I found myself constantly listening to people as I walked past, and being surprised that almost every conversation was in English. And the fact that I was surprised was surprising. Why didn't I feel this in Fort Wayne? This is a mystery that I know not how to solve.

My school sent me one of those "Reaquainting yourself with America" booklets so that I could "learn to fit in again" after having studied abroad. Two of the things it said I should keep in mind is that "no will really understand your experience" and "some people won't want to hear about it." I was thinking if these statements are really true, and in my case, they are fairly accurate. Here's a typical conversation I have when I meet someone for the first time in a year:

Them: Hey Laura! How was Japan?
Me: It was great!
Them: Are you fluent?
Me: Not quite..
Them: Did you wear a kimono?
Me: A few times. But it's not normal dress.
Them: Oh. What about the food? Did you eat raw fish all the time?
Me: The food was amazing! I loved it. And the fish, raw or cooked, was delicious.
Them: I can't believe you ate raw fish! That's so..gross.
Me: No, it's good, really.
Them: Okay, if you say so. Glad you had a good time.

That conversation covers the three points about Japan that American people think.
1. They speak Japanese. (okay, this isn't a big surprise)
2. They wear kimono all the time.
3. They eat raw fish (which Americans call "sushi") all the time.

Now, if I had the time, energy, and attention of any of the people that I talk to, I might be able to explain how some of these are misconceptions. But I don't, and most people don't really care anyway. It's really sad that some people have the opportunity to learn about life farther than their front yard and don't take it.

I'm back. After 11 months and 2 weeks in Japan, I have safely arrived in the United States of America. It took less than 3 hours for me to wish I was back in Japan. Reasons:
1. People in America are rude. I first flew into the LA airport and had to go through customs and claim my baggage before transferring to my next flight to Chicago. Those airport people were ridiculous. Yelling in condescending tones, no pleases or thank you's, having only 6 officials working when 15 flights arrived at the same time...I desperately miss the Japanese clerks who use polite language, literally run to help you, and are always smiling. Maybe I was spoiled..
2. You have to drive everywhere. Maybe this only strikes me especially since I am in Indiana, but if I wanted to go anywhere from my house, I would have to drive. There is no way that I could walk or bike somewhere. Everything is so far away! (Don't get me wrong, I love space, but I love convenience too.)
3. Food. Sitting at the airport waiting for the next plane (having missed the first one due to an insanely slow customs line) I was craving Pocari Sweat and Anpan (sweet bean filled bread). Luckily I had imported 2 bottles of my favorite beverage, but anpan is nowhere to be found. I went to an oriental grocery store and found some Japanese rice (grown in California..) and seaweed, but this is not going to be enough.
4. The constant stream of the Japanese language in the background. It is so hard to think in Japanese when I am surrounded by English! Where are the TV dramas, the j-pop, the annoying high school girls?
5. Clothing. Why must the Americans insist on showing as much of their bare body as possible. Again, could be because I am used to the "no shorts" rule for women in Japan, but American girls' shorts are just way too short. Ridiculous.

So, basically, I want to go back to Japan. Three weeks would be a nice amount of time for visiting, but seriously, I wish I was going back to Japan after that. I think I'll begin the countdown now..1 year and counting. How fast can one year fly by? Quickly, I hope.

I have now less than 5 days in Japan. When I say it like this, it sounds like I have lots of time. But I feel rushed, like there is so much I need to do and so little time to do it. I finished up the last of the research that I will do in Japan yesterday. I stood and copied an entire book at the library (probably breaking some copywrite laws) because I don't think they would have it in the States. It's amazing to think that in a short time (hopefully) I will actually be able to read this entire book with a decent amount of ease.

I would love to go walking around Kyoto and biking to far places that I haven't been to yet. However, summer has really hit, and it is never less than 35 degrees during the day. Don't ask me what that is in Farenheight, I don't know. It's hot. Give me 30 seconds outside and I am perspiring heavily. Yesterday there was a thunderstorm. As soon as I saw the first drops of rain outside my window I put on some dark colored running clothes, my old running shoes, and took a nice long run in the pouring rain. It was wonderful! It's the closest thing I get to swimming, and the coolest I've been in a while (not including shopping in air condioned places). It's funny, but a women told me a few days ago that all the Japanese tourists avoid Kyoto in the summer because it's too hot. Too bad the foreign ones don't do the same.

It's been quite some time since I've written anything here. Over a month, it appears. It is not that the summer has been uneventful. On the contrary, I have been so busy that I have neglected almost everything that does not involve research, teaching English, or Japanese television. Okay, so the last one isn't necessary, but I have been hooked.
Things that have passed during June and July:
-I moved twice: I'm currently residing in a Mansion. No, not a 40 room, swimming pool, tennis court mansion. In Japan, a "Mansion" is any apartment that is more than one room. I am living in luxury with a tatami room, a full kitchen and bathroom, and a bedroom.
-The Gion Matsuri: Kyoto's biggest and most grandiose festival. The original purpose was to make the deities happy so they wouldn't bring epidemics. Now, it's a great time for everyone to get dressed up in their summer yukata(cotton kimono) and walk around downtown. In addition there is a great parade.
-Tokyo: I finally made it to Tokyo. I visited a friend from high school who was there on a missions trip for a month, and stayed in a friend from Ultimate Frisbee's apartment. Tokyo is big, I wouldn't want to live there. But it's a nice change to visit after being in Kyoto for so long.
-Scholarship search chaos: I'm trying to apply for a scholarship to return to Japan after I graduate. But it was a long complicated process. In Japan you can't introduce yourself. It is horribly rude. So you have to know someone who knows someone who knows someone else. Let's just say I went to lots of meetings with people and got nowhere. But I sent the application in today, so all is raku (relaxed) now.
*Realization that I have 2 weeks left in Japan. Just 2. What do I do? There is so much food to eat, so many places to go, so many things to buy!!

It is the rainy season here. Definitely rainy. It usually pours for at least 2 hours a day, then drizzles. If it's not raining it is insanely humid. I can't get my clothes to dry and the paper that I leave out on the table starts wilting. I played frisbee in the rain for 6 hours on Saturday and my shoes haven't even started to dry. The shoestrings are still dripping! Ridiculous.

The most common kind of toilet in Japan is the Japanese-style squat toilet. However, with the large number of foreign tourists coming to this country, major stores and businesses have installed Western style toilets too. The department stores have almost exclusively converted. While using one of these restrooms the other day, I noticed a button on the wall that I had failed to see before. On reading the sign I couldn't decide whether it's use was ridiculous or thoughtful: If you push the button there emits a noise which sounds like the toilet is flushing, for those moments when you might be embarressed to have other people hear your toilet usage. This is possibly an example of the supposed excess politeness of the Japanese.

A quick summary of the last half of May:
*My mom came to visit me for a week. I took her to most of the famous places in Kyoto. This involved lots of walking and biking, which she wasn't too happy about, but I think I forced enough Japanese culture on her to make at least a decent impression.
*My friend Anna came to stay and we had a lovely little party in my apartment.
*The school took a field trip to Hiroshima, the city where the US dropped an atomic bomb. We went to the Peace Museum and the A-Bomb Dome, one of the only buildings remaining after the blast. Afterwards, we went to Miyajima, an island off of the coast. There is a really beautiful torii (Shinto shrine entrance gate) in the water. We stayed at a really nice ryokan (Japanese style inn) and enjoyed the pleasures of walking around in yukata (light kimono), and eating wonderful fancy Japanese food.
*I went camping in the middle of Shikoku during a typhoon. I walked across a few vine bridges, hiked in the mountains, and camped next to a roaring river. It was nice to get out of the city for awhile.
*Anna and I spent her last night in Japan at a club in Osaka. Shou creams, dancing all night long, curry for breakfast, and sleeping on the train are just a few highlights.
*Last night we went to Takigi Noh (torchlight Noh theatre) which is outdoors at the Heian Shrine. It was 4.5 hours long, the first half being okay, the middle boring, but the last two plays were the best. One was a comedy about demon mushrooms (a comedy), and one about a demon spider. The last one was cool because the spider actually threw out webs from his fingers. By the time the play was over there were "spider webs" covering the whole cast and the entire stage.

Tuesday I took one more step towards becoming a Buddhist. (for those of you who can't tell, I'm joking)
There are certain monks who live on Mt. Hiei who take a vow to walk for 12 years. Every year they walk 100-200 days in a row, each day for anywhere from 8-22 hours. In the 12th year they come down from walking around the mountain and they walk around the city of Kyoto. They start in the morning at 10:30 and walk until 5:30. Then they perform rituals and sleep a little and get up and do it again at night. There is usually one monk per decade who does this vow. Right now the current monk is on his last year, and is consequently walking around Kyoto. I joined him for the day trip on Tuesday. My religion teacher and I went, dressed all in white. It was a long walk, but punctuated by frequent stops at shrines and temples to pray to the gods and recite the Heart Sutra. During the walk I got to talk to many lay people and monks who were accompanying the ajari. It was a good way to learn more about the special characteristics of another aspect of Japanese religion.

I now have three jobs. One of them is teaching English to small groups of kids. I thought that I knew Japanese pretty well until I tried to talk to little kids. The grammer and vocabulary is all different, and in my role as a teacher, I have to learn how to say, "Sit down. Repeat after me. I'll ask the questions, and you answer." This sounds like it should be simple, yet I can't seem to get it right. Good thing I am supposed to be talking all the time in English. However, they can't understand English, so nothing would get done if I did that. It's a bit frustrating, but for $40 an hour, I'm not complaining too much.

It is Golden Week in Japan right now. This is a period of 5 or so days out of which 3 are holidays. So, in order to keep salarymen from overworking and schoolchildren from going crazy, the other two days become unofficial holidays. Schools and companies have the whole week off, and everyone goes on vacation. If you wanted to go somewhere, you should have gotten your tickets months earlier. Today is actually Kodomo no Hi. Kid's Day. It used to be Boys Days. Celebrate today by wearing traditional armor, eating special candy and singing songs about carp.

Onigiri - my new favorite lunch. Onigiri is rice, sometimes sprinkled with wakame (a type of seaweed) or salmon, formed into triangles and covered with nori (another kind of seaweed). You can buy them at any convenience store, for they make the best lunches. However, the most delicious kind are those made at home. If you are a Japanese, you can form these little shapes in seconds. I have gotten into the habit of making some everyday to take for lunch, and my triangles are not yet perfect. My host mother could do it in three turns. There is a special way of holding your hands that molds the corners just right. I am getting there - it probably only takes me twice as long as it should now instead of 6 times..

Yesterday was Easter. Happy Easter! In Japan, the only people who celebrate Easter are the less than 1% of the population who are Christian. Unlike Christmas, which has become a highly secularized and popular holiday, no one knows about Easter. There is no Easter bunny, no Easter candy, no Easter eggs, nothing. Even my church was not very enthusiastic about it (which is surprising, but it is the number one most important holiday in the Christian faith). There were only a few Easter lilies, no special music, and no one was dressed up. Just a regular Sunday.
I guess I made up for it a bit by getting up at sunrise and climbing a nearby mountain. Too bad it was raining. Oh well.

The sun is shining, the sakura petals are falling like snow, and I have no place to be. I officially graduated from KCJS last Friday. The ceremony was simple, and nice, despite the fact that I was made to play the koto.
From now on, I am working part time, studying part time, researching part time, and watching lots of Japanese television (to improve my listening skills, of course). And so, I think that I will be updating this website less often. I think I will only post pictures and really exciting things. Yes, that's all. Enjoy the spring!

Finals are over. Packing is done. Last night I ate my last dinner with my host family. Okasan made sukiyaki, which just happens to be one of my favorite Japanese dishes. It is so sad to be leaving them after 8 months of living with the Kishida family. I shall miss Okasan's cooking, Otosan's subtle humor and constant golf watching, Shinnosuke's morning alarm barking, and all the other random things that made it a wonderful experience of Japanese life.
Tonight is the graduation ceremony, in which I will be playing the koto. Probably wearing a kimono too. After that, it's off to Osaka! Tomorrow I am moving into my apartment for the summer term. It's at a wonderful location-just down the street from Ginkakuji, on the Philosopher's Path, and a 10 minute bike ride to school. I'm looking forward to a lovely summer in Kyoto!

The last party of the semester is winding down, people are slowly leaving the school, buzzed, but not drunk from the minimal amount of alchohol provided. There are no kegs in Japan. Next week is the last week of school. Two finals, a bunraku play, a luau cookout (real pig provided by visiting professor), graduation ceremony, and Latin dancing in Osaka. Good times with friends will be ending soon, and it is horrible that we have to take time to study instead of spending it with them.

The Japanese version of eeny-meeny-miny-mo:
dore ni (which one)
dochira ni shiyou kana (which one shall i do?)
tennokamisama no iu toori (let the god from the sky tell me!)
butto koi butto koide (come fart come fart)
bu bu bu ((fart noise))
mou hitotsu omakeni (one more time, throw it out)
kakinota ne ((i don't know what this word means..))

It makes about as much sense as "catch a tiger by a toe" doesn't it?

It is officially spring - the cherry blossoms are blooming. Well, at least they are starting to bloom. Everyone is waiting expectantly for the moment when, as my host mother says, they all "pop" and there are trees everywhere with lovely pinkish white blossoms. I wouldn't be surprised if someone somewhere has a pool on when they will open..I was riding along the river yesterday and there were already people out having picnics under the half blooming trees. I think that part of the expectation of the sakura is the fact that you can go have picnics and drink lots of sake.
My host family has a sakura tree in our garden. My host mother lights it up at night, and it looks very pretty, even without all the blossoms yet. I have a wonderful view of it from my veranda on the second floor. It makes a nice diversion in the studying when I look out the window.

Possibly stemming from the history of severe etiquette rules and seperation of the sexes, public displays of affection in Japan today are almost never seen. This includes public space, television, and even the home. I have been here almost 10 months and have only seen 3 kisses on Japanese television - 1 was in a commercial being acted by foreigners. The happy endings of TV shows involve dramatic hugging, and even that is a rare occurance. Young people are more liberal in their views on PDA's, I see couples holding hands often, but I have only ever seen one pair kiss in public. The most physically affectionate thing I have ever seen my host parents do is give each other backrubs.

I ride my bike everywhere. It is the most convenient way to get anywhere. In the course of my travels, however, I am often hindered by obstacles, such as people, cars, dogs, and birds. Pigeons, to be exact. In my years of experience as a child trying to catch these annoying birds, it always happened that I would get just so close, and they would run away. This is my background information on pigeons. Yesterday, as I was hurrying back from the store to get to class, I learned somewhat otherwise. A flock of pigeons was pecking at the sidewalk as I pedaled toward them. Thinking they would move at the sound of my whooshing tires and my constantly ringing defective bike bell, I slowed only slightly. Many stepped aside; one did not. It was a game of chicken (or pigeon) and at the last moment I swerved right. So did the pigeon. And I ran over the poor little bugger with my bike tire. I looked back expecting to see a casualty on the sidewalk, but luckily it was clear. These Japanese birds really should learn the art of fleeing from their North American cousins.

All I have time to say is this:
Japanese Ultimate Frisbee at Mount Fuji - Tipets..Fight!!

If possible, I think that the Japanese people would solve all problems with janken, that is paper-rock-scissors. If sumo is the national sport, janken is the national game. It's used to solve disputes, make frisbee teams, win prizes, and for purely entertainment purposes. They practice this game from a young age, and by the time they are in high school can compete in groups of 10 or more at the same time, quickly analyzing winners, ties, and losers and moving on the next set instantly. I get lost after the first one trying to figure out if I should keep going or not. As serious as the American version of this game is in ultimate frisbee, enthusiasts beware of coming to Japan- you are greatly outgunned.

This weekend I did two things which Japanese people always say they want to do, but never do. On Saturday I attended the performance of three Noh plays. This started at 11am and did not end until 4pm. Noh is a traditional Japanese theatre/music performance. There are usually only 2 or 3 actors, and the action is slow, the movements are deliberate, and excitement is basically non-existant. The basic form for a play goes like this: Act 1: A traveling person (usually a monk), comes on and explains why he is wandering. He meets someone else, and they talk. Act 2: The second person (who was usually a dead person in disguise) comes back to talk to the monk while he is drowsing. He explains his death and asks for prayers. Sometimes he dances. That's it. I like the music and the costumes, but the lack of action grates on you after awhile. At least 70% of the audience falls asleep at least once during the performance. Someone snored while I was there.

Sunday I went to day 8 of the Haru Bashoo, the Spring Sumo Tournament, in Osaka. A bashoo lasts for 15 days, starting everyday at 9am and going until 6pm. The lower rikishi (sumo wrestlers) compete in the morning, and as the day progresses higher ranks compete, until at 5pm the ozeki (second highest) and yokozuna (highest, there are only 2 right now) have the final matches. Each day each rikishi has one match. I bought the cheap tickets and sat in the high seats, but my friends got a "box" which was just a space for 4 people to sit Japanese style on cushions. Either way, it was a day-long affair. Most Japanese people only come towards the end when the good people are competing - the place was full at around 4:30pm. Until then, you could wander around and sit up close to watch. However, there were definitely some times when sitting close was definitely too close : watch out for falling rikishi! And you must remember that these are really heavy men in a minimum of clothing - some things you just don't want to see..

Happy White Day! - the day exactly one month after Valentine's Day when all the guys give white chocolate and gifts to the girls who gave them stuff on Valentine's Day. I didn't give anything to anyone, so I didn't receive anything special, but one of my guy friends baked cookies for all his girl friends, so I got to at least eat wonderful chocolate cookies!

Today my Japanese class went to the Ritsumeikan University Peace Museum. It was a museum dedicated to showing the bad things of war (specifically WWII and Japan's actions in it) and the promoting peace. It was small, but well done, thorough in explanations and clear in making its point. A few of the things that struck me most were:
-The average height for a Japanese high school boy was 10 centimeters shorter at the end of the war that high schoolers at the beginning of the war due to rationing.
-There was a picture of a man "picking up the pieces" of a soldier killed by a excessive machine gun rounds. It looked like someone had deflated the upper half of a blow up toy except for the head, and hung it over their arm.
-Kyoto was originally a target for the atomic bomb. It is sad to think that America would destroy (and has most likely destroyed) so much beauty and representations of culture.

My okasan and I usually bond over dinner. Last night she taught me how to make maki zushi, the sushi rolls which in America are the representatives of Japanese food. We set out the nori (dried seaweed), spread the sushi rice, carefully placed the tofu, mushrooms, eggs, carrots, and spinich, and carefully rolled them all into one long maki (roll). My host mother cut them up into slices for easy eating and together we ate three rolls. While eating, we talked about, of course, sushi.
I find that most Americans view of sushi is that of sashimi (raw fish). However, what makes sushi sushi is the sushi vinegar. From that basic ingredient, there comes many forms of sushi: maki zushi, sashimi sushi, temaki zushi, and others whose names I do not know, but are equally as tasty. My host mother was surprised to learn that the representative of sushi in America, namely maki zushi, is predominately filled with fish. In Japan, the most frequent filling is vegetables and tofu only.

My otosan returned from work late, as usual, just about the time I was getting ready to go to bed. I said good night and went to brush my teeth. As I passed by the kitchen on my way upstairs, I heard okasan telling him about what I had said concerning the sushi. I realized that she does this quite often, that is, she repeats the interesting things that I tell her at dinner to otosan when he comes home. I think they really like to learn about the differnces in cultures.

I am sorry to disappoint so many people who I am sure are waiting eagerly for my return in April, but I have been offered a position here as a Teaching Assistant for the summer session, and have decided to accept it. This will allow me to stay in Japan becoming better at the language and to do a significant amount of research for my senior thesis. So, I'll see you in July!

Kyoto City Half Marathon, Sunday March 9
Running Partner: Anna Royer, Colby College
Superfans: Sonia, Yudelka, and Stephanie (they biked almost the whole thing, cheering and taking pictures)
Official Time: 1:55:56
Average time for 1 kilometer: 5:31 (for 1 mile: 8:45)
Place out of 9,000 runners: No clue; before the bus..(cut off times every 5k - if you weren't there at that time, they made you stop and get on a bus. 2 hour limit to finish the race)
Worst part: They rerouted one part in order to open a road back up. 5,000 people had to run through space only slightly larger than a sidewalk. We walked for 2 minutes. Our time would have been faster if it hadn't been for that stupid thing..
Good part: The last 5k was downhill!
Best part: After the race a sportscaster from the Kyoto Broadcasting Station came up to Anna and I and asked if we would be on his show which was going to broadcast race highlights that evening. We said, of course! And so, that evening at 7:30pm we and two of our cheerleaders went to the station and were interviewed in Japanese. We were on Japanese television for two hours as representatives of all the foreigners that participated in the race. They also gave us lovely pens as a thank you present.

It is 8:01 on a Sunday morning. The snow shows no sign of stopping its descent. In 59 minutes, I will be running the Kyoto City Half Marathon. My uniform consists of a hand-decorated T-shirt with anit-war slogans, Japanese phrases, my name and school, and my number. Despite the chilly weather, I will also be wearing shorts. If my legs are still attached to my body when I am done, I will be happy.

My friend's parents are coming to visit her next week, so she is trying to make a list of places to go, things to see, and restaurants to eat at. The first two are fairly simple tasks, the third is very difficult. When family members come to visit you in Japan, you want to take them places that are distinctly Japanese and that are an experience of the culture. However, when my friends and I go out to eat, we almost always go to foreign food restaurants. We all get plenty of Japanese food at our homestays. Last week we had Thai, the week before was Mexican. This week we went to a wonderful Indian restaurant that had all you can eat nan.
It isn't that we don't like Japanese food. It's that the food served at home and in restaurants can be so entirely different. To me, Japan has two different food cultures: the fancy expensive stuff, and the stuff you eat regularly. Udon, okonomiyaki, ramen, donburi, tako yaki - these can all be eaten for a relatively low price, and are often made at home. But tempura, sushi, shojin ryori, and the 6 course dinners, are seldom eaten regularly. They are more about style and presentation than taste and eating. It is difficult to say which is better, or which is more representative of Japan. They are both very good to eat.

I have discovered one of Japan's versions of Saturday Night Live or Kids in the Hall. It is a half-hour of making fun of famous actors, singers, and politicians. It paradies commercials, rewrites pop songs, and dresses up characters in spandex. Add this to the fun of it being in Japanese, and I have another lovely TV program to take up my studying hours. Others include: the top 10 music countdown, a drama about a bookstore, a drama about a school, any show involving people traveling to spas and eating food (available at any time), and American movies dubbed into Japanese. I love Japanese television.

It appears that the World Water Council is holding a forum in Kyoto. There are banners and signs up all over the downtown area. The largest of these is actually a huge banner placed in the Kamo River. It is staked into the river parallel to the ground, about one inch under the surface. In the morning, when you walk over the bridge you can read the announcement and see the lovely design. However, when you walk past in the evening, the banner has been completely covered by the dirt a debris flowing down the river. I find this to be somewhat ironic.

Today is the Hina Matsuri, which is Dolls' Day. This is a day that celebrates girls. Grandmothers and mothers bring out elaborately dressed dolls and set them up on tiered shelves. There are the emperor and empress dolls, three ladies-in-waiting, three musicians, and two footmen. In addition, there are often carriages and miniature utensils and such. On this day girls traditionally acted as hostesses of the house, taking over the role of their mothers. It was sort of an elaborate form of playing dress-up. This holiday originated in an earlier Shinto belief that dolls protected the bearer and soaked up all the bad things of the year. At the end of the year, the dolls were thanked and often set afloat in a boat into the river or ocean. Today, dolls are still treated with reverence. They are not thrown away when they get old, but are often placed at a special doll cemetery-type place, so as to not offend their spirits.

I was aware that electricity and water cost a large amount of money in Japan. However, it was not clear to me exactly how expensive these are until last night. My host mother tells me that she pays from 3-4man yen ($275-375) a month for electricity. Add another 2man yen ($175) for water. During the summer it is even more because of using the "coolers." Add this to the monthly and minute fee for the telephone, and living in Japan is definitely not cheap.

We have a final Japanese presentation to prepare. My friends are doing their's on the Black Forest. This isn't the scary place in Germany, but in fact, is at the base of Mt. Fuji. In this forest compasses and cell phones don't work. Consequently, people go here to commit suicide. The police go in once a year, being careful to tie ropes around themselves, so they too do not get lost, and they collect the bodies. Last year, they pulled 117 corpses from these woods. It could have been more: in their patrolling of the area during the year, they stopped another 80 people from entering. And my friends are going to try to go in...

Another after-dinner chat with my host mother yields another Japanese stereotype of Americans. This time, we were talking about comfort levels and public speaking. My host mother was very strongly under the impression that Americans are never ever scared to speak in public. She thought that she could put any American on a stage in front of thousands of people and their hearts would not beat out of control, and they would feel perfectly at ease. I told her that that according to surveys, the thing that Americans are most scared of is public speaking. (I think this is still true, isn't it?) She didn't believe me. She was 100% sure that Americans are never scared of being in public and that they love to talk all the time. She said that the host student they had last year told them she didn't like to speak, but they thought that was a very rare occurance. She asked me "honto?" (truly?) about 15 times after I told her this. I wonder where this idea came from?

The ojiisan (grandfather) who lives two houses away died. His soshiki (funeral) is today, and the preparations have been going on for the last 2 days. The front of their house is covered in a huge white cloth with the symbol of the temple he is affiliated printed on it. There are two tents on the street in front of their garden for when people come. Visitors must sign their name and give an "incense offering," a monetary donation, to the family. Along with the tents there are banners declaring his name, status, and other such things. Down the road and around the corner is a sign saying "This man's funeral place" and an arrow pointing the way to his house. Japanese funerals are almost always done at the home, and they are just the start of the memorial services at the family butsudan which continue to take place up to 100 years after the person's death.

Last night my host mother and I were talking about manners. Namely, parents who are strict in the upbringing of their children, and parents who are not. She was saying that contrary to most Japanese parents, hers had been very strict and demanding of manners and rules. I said that mine had too. She asked in what way. So I described American table manners and such. She was suprised. She said, "I thought that Americans didn't have manners! I thought that American children weren't taught how to eat properly at a table, or that they weren't scolded for bad behavior." It's just another interesting view of Americans from outside the country.

I just realized today that it has been approximately 6 months since I have eaten a bagel. In fact, it has been 6 months since I have eaten french fries, a hamburger, cauliflower, cupcakes, ranch salad dressing, crackers, ketchup, a burrito, a taco, hummus, chili...the list goes on. There is so much food that you think you need, but find you can easily forget.

I made a wonderful purchase at a Japanese sweets shop yesterday. I bought two small things, one which I was familiar with, and one which just looked awfully interesting. The first was mochi filled with anko and topped with a strawberry. The second was green and looked like a ball of spiky icing. In reality, it was kintoku, another form of sweet bean finely ground to the texture of icing and formed accordingly. It almost tasted like frosting too. If I hadn't known anything about Japanese cuisine, I wouldn't have even guessed a legume was the main ingredient. The Japanese are amazing at making the most tasty things out of beans. It is ridiculous.

Yesterday, I believe I experienced one version of what people imagine hell to be. I returned from school early due to an upset stomach and subsequent throwing up, and spent the whole afternoon either laying in bed or running to the bathroom. This I could have handled without too much stress if it weren't for one thing - Mondays are oil days. Because there is no central heating in Japan, everyone has oil heaters, and Monday is the day when the man with the oil truck comes around my neighborhood. His truck plays a little song, very loudly, continuously, to warn the housewives that they should set their oil jugs out to be filled. I listened to this song from 1pm to 5:30pm. I tried shutting my window, I tried covering my ears. If I would have had a gun and the strength to walk outside, that sound machine would no longer exist. There are no laws in Japan about noise pollution. There is always some truck with a loudspeaker cruising the neighborhood. But they usually leave before long. I think I will make sure not to ever be sick on a Monday again.

A lesson in linguistics:
Have you ever heard the phrase "just a skosh.." meaning "just a minute" or "just a little"? Ever wondered where the word skosh came from and what it really means? Well, yesterday I found out the answer to this question. It is Japanese. The word skosh comes from the Japanese sukoshi meanining "little," It was brought into the English language by soldiers stationed in Japan during the Occupation who picked up a little Japanese and took it home with them in various forms. A more surprising Japanese-derived English phrase is "hunkey-dorey." Literally, it is the name of a street in the Red Light district that was famous for its prostitutes. Honke is the street name and dori means "street." Who would have thought that such an innocent phrase would have such a colorful background?

Today is Valentine's Day! Happy Valentine's Day!!
Valentine's Day in Japan is pretty much backwards from Valentine's Day in America. Here, in addition to that "special someone," it is the duty of all females to give chocolate to all their male friends and co-workers. This is called giri choco. The department stores start stocking up on the most wonderous varieties of chocolates at the beginning of January. I stopped by Takashimaya the other day and sampled no less than 10 completely different kinds of chocolate. Amazing.
In the 60's a Marshmallow company decided that the women were being treated unfairly in the Valentine's Holiday scheme, and so they invented a new holiday just for female chocolate consumption. "White Day" takes place on March 14, and is so named because on that day, males give white chocolate to whomever they recieved sweets from on Valentine's Day. I am waiting expectantly for this holiday.

This past weekend was my so-called "spring break." Since my semester is finished on April 12, we don't have time for a week long holiday. Instead, the school pays for an outing and then gives us two days to do whatever we want. This year we went to Ise Shrine. It is probably the most famous shrine in Japan. After two days of fine dining, walking through forests, playing around (and in) the ocean, I moved on to Mt. Koya, the center of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. An equally peaceful and almost as well known religious site, Mt. Koya is also home to one of Japan's largest cemeteries. It was a lovely relaxing weekend.
I also found two new signs whose English could be a little better. Have a look.

McDonald's has just introduced a new burger here in Japan, maybe the states too...It is called the "cheese chicken burger." This new invention involves a breaded chicken patty filled with cheese sauce. Just the thought of eating this makes me feel sick. I don't know how the people on the commercial can still smile and say "Oishii!" (delicious). On a side note, I have not yet actually eaten at a McDonald's in Japan. I hear that the servings are extra small and the prices fairly high.

My favorite Japanese snack-type food is anko. What is anko? Literally, sweet bean paste. Doesn't sound very appetizing, does it? But put it inside mochi, pancakes, manju, or spread it on bread, and it becomes a most delicious treat.
On a similar note, my host mother set a jar of jet black cream out on the table with breakfast the other day. The label said "goma kureemu" which is sesame seed creme. So, I toasted my bread and spread it on. Delicious! Slightly sweet and not at all sesame-seed tasting. I think is the darkest black food I have ever eaten.

Yesterday I attended the beginning of the Setsubun activities at Yoshida Jinja by Kyoto University. The oni (ogres) paraded through the shrine scaring little children and harassing foreigners (me and my friends). They are symbolic representations of the evil of the prior year. Today, people will throw beans at them to drive away the evil.
Walking around the festival, I once again enjoyed some yummy Japanese food, but in addition, there was also a stall from Turkey! These guys were selling wonderfully tasty meat shaved right off of the hunk on a stick right in front of me. For the only non-Japanese food stall available, they were doing pretty good business.

I have just discovered the Japanese version of the burrito. It is called temaki-zushi. You take a large piece of thin nori (dried seaweed) and put onto it sushi rice, lettuce, cucumber, fish, egg, or whatever you want. Then you roll it up and eat it. Very tasty, and healthy too.

Many Japanese companies think that naming their products in English makes them more desirable and "cool." However, many of these names make no sense, and in fact, many sound quite unappetizing. There is a sports drink called "Pocari Sweat," a diet drink called "Love Body" and a beverage company named "Calpis." The last one is my favorite; say it out loud with very little emphasis on the L and think of a barnyard animal.

Last night was my frisbee team's shinnenkai (New Year Party). We went to this place called "Ninnikuya" which literally means "Garlic Restaurant." So I'm thinking, it's just the name, something interesting - "Garlic." I was wrong. Every dish on the menu, including the dessert, had garlic in it. I'm sure that as we walked down the street afterwards that at least one random person wondered what was the odor that emanated from this group of chatting girls...

When I got home from this pleasant evening out, another suprise awaited me. My host mother told me that Wada-san, the woman in charge of all home-stay matters, had called earlier in the day. She does this periodically to check up on things from the host parent perspective, so I was not suprised about this. However, my host mother continued, Wada-san called at my Japanese teachers' request. It seems that they had had a meeting and discussed me. That is, they have decided that out of all the students, I am the one that has made the most progress from the beginning of the program to now. And they wanted to let my host family know that whatever they were doing to help was definitely helping. It is good to know that I have made progress, but it is sad to have true confirmation of the fact that my Japanese wasn't worth anything when I got here, although now it is decent. But I am happy anyway, knowing that my teachers think I have definitely improved, and my host mother is happy because she knows it is all the talking to her that made my speaking skills better. Everyone is ureshii! (happy)

I just returned from a field trip to a Japanese Middle School. We sat in on their English class and "helped" them study. In other words, they stumbled through questions like "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" and "What are your hobbies?" and we gave them one word answers. The Japanese education system is quite different from the American. For one thing, the teachers do not have control, nor do they attempt to take it. If a kid doesn't want to participate, he can go to the back of the room and do what he wants. Likewise, if it is noisy, or kids are rude, the teacher does nothing. Makes for a hectic time - I would not want to be a teacher in a Japanese school.
After this classroom experience, we got a special treat. Today was the day that one of Japan's Living National Treasures came to this middle school to start reintroducing traditional Japanese music into the curriculum. She brought with her about 30 kotos and taught everyone to play "Sakura, Sakura," a very famous folk tune. I already knew it from my lessons, and all the kids were impressed when I could play it so easily. The Living National Treasure woman was also impressed that I was taking koto lessons.

The Japanese are very conscious about the change of seasons. Little kids are not allowed to wear their long sleeved uniforms until the official first day of fall, if they wear them before that they get in trouble. However, there is one thing that does not change with the seasons: the skirts. Japanese schoolgirls have this horrible fashion of rolling up their knee-length skirts to a length where leaning over to button the last button on your coat will reveal your undies. And this is not only in the humid summer months, but also in the cold of winter. In addition, the 80's knee-high leg warmers are present year round, despite the schools' attempts at banning these out of fashion socks.

While watching TV last night, I once again noticed what I considered an overuse of the identity-concealing circles and voice changers on what would be regular television. So I asked my host mother about it. This is what I understand: In the US, most of the time that those are used it is for the protection of the person you can't see. Either the would get in trouble for being identified, or they don't want to be identified. In Japan, it is the opposite. The TV stations cover up the identity of someone who did bad things, or someone connected with someone who did bad things, to protect the viewers from what my host mother calls "the horror" of life. They block faces, whole bodies, voices, and even bleep out names of people who have committed crimes. Instead of seeing crimes scenes on TV, you will see only the building or the intersection near where it occured. You will never see the perpetrator. This could be considered as an attempt at rejection of the fact that there is crime in Japan, but I don't think so. My host mother says it is because Japanese people are so peaceful that they don't want to see violent things.

Visit number 2 to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in southern Kyoto yielded a few surprises for the unsuspecting religion class field-trippers. Firstly, the teacher decided to take us to each of the Seven Mysteries of the Mountain. But she couldn't find one. And none of the people who worked there new what it was. So I guess the Seven Mysteries have, over time, become the Six Mysteries.
Secondly, and most surprisingly, was the snack we had after climbing around the mountain. There seems to be a somewhat wierd food tradition of the Fushimi Inari Shrine being associated with sparrows. That is, eating sparrows. So we stopped at a little shop where they had grilled sparrows-on-a-stick for a little bite of this tiny bird. I would have to say it isn't the tastiest fowl I have eaten, but it wasn't bad. Not much meat, but what do you expect for such a little bird? Despite the fact that the head and brain are supposed to be the most tasty part, we all left the skewered skulls right where they were, and decided that if we ever came back we might try that too, maybe.

I went to Osaka yesterday to change my airline ticket, and was once again reminded of two very important things:
1. My religion teacher says, "Always call before you go anywhere in Japan, they change things without telling you." This is the truth, for when I arrived at the place where the office was supposed to be, it had moved to Tokyo. I am a baka (idiot).
2. When you want a garbage can, you can never find one. That's right, the public garbage cans in Japan are few to none. It is an old taboo that still continues today that you don't eat or drink while walking. So no one has wrappers or cans or paper to throw away. Or maybe it is because there are no trash cans that they don't eat while on the street. It is surprising, this attitude toward trash. The Japanese try to make it out that they are very environmentally smart, they separate burnables and recyclables and such, but the amount of packaging they use is ridiculous. Hence, after grabbing some onigiri (rice and seaweed triangles) from the conbini, I had to carry the plastic wrapper around in my pocket for the next 3 hours.

The Japanese language is full of "loan words" from English, Dutch, French, German, Portugese, and many others. The list of words, which are written in a form of the alphabet called katakana is increasing every day as new terms in business and pop culture make their way into the language. The Asahi Shimbun (Newspaper) recently published a list of some of the newer ones which few people, Japanese and English alike, could barely recognize. They also made a sentence in "Japanese" made almost entirely of loan words. I am going to type it here in phonetics. Read it aloud and see if you can get some of the words. I bet you can. "Aidoringu sutoppu basu de shukkin shi autososhingu no wakingu gurupu de shinku tanku no anarisuto no puriezenteshon wo kiku." (italics are loan words) Did you catch "idling stop bus, outsourcing, working group, think tank, analyst, and presentation"? Imagine how hard it would be if we just started putting foreign words into our vocabulary these days. In Japan, the older generation can barely understand the younger's speech because there are so many loan words dropped in.

My host brother is getting married sometime soon. So he came down to Kyoto this weekend with his fiancee and her mother to pick out the wedding dresses. Yes, dresses. Weddings in Japan can be very lavish and most include at least two dresses, the norm is three. There are several styles of weddings, Western church style, where the bride wears a beautiful white gown and walks down the aisle (regardless of religion), the Shinto wedding, where the bride and groom wear traditional Japanese kimono and you spend long amounts of time sitting on your knees while the priest invokes the kami, or a small affair with friends and family. All of these, however, include an extravagent reception afterwards. It is at this time that the bride will change her dress or kimono up to three more times, each one equally as gorgeous and expensive as the original wedding dress. She is then paraded through the hall to show everyone how beautiful she is. The guests clap happily, as they should with a wonderful meal, liberal amounts of alchohol and the gifts that are given to them by the families of the newly married couple. I hope I am still here when he gets married, because I want to see all this first hand. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly when the special day is..

I hope that by now all of you baseball fans out there will have heard of Hideki Matsui "Godzilla", the newest big hitter for the New York Yankees. He hails from over on this side of the ocean, and is the biggest baseball star these days. The Japanese really love to follow the careers of their sports stars overseas. Everyday in the sports news there will be a highlight from some game in the States or in Europe which involves a Japanese player. Matsui has been in the news consistantly every day for at least the last 3 weeks. At least. Before that, if it wasn't him, then there was a clip of a random hit by Ichiro, or a kick by a soccer player in Germany. The Japanese are very proud of those representing their country in athletics.

Snow, beautiful snow. Yesterday was the first day that Kyoto had any significant amount of snowfall this year. I believe we accumulated 1.5 inches in about 4 hours. Soon after which, the sun came out and the warm air drifted in, reducing the shimmering whiteness to puddles of cold water and globs of slush falling from trees. Luckily, I was free with enough time to go next door to Nanzenji Temple for some lovely "temple in the snow" pictures before it all melted away. The trees in this picture almost looked like they had sakura (cherry blossoms) on the branches - an ironic contradiction to the icy snowflakes they really were.

Yesterday was Seijin no Hi, or in English, Coming of Age Day. It is a national holiday which celebrates the people who will become adults (age 20) during this coming year. Walking along the street you see all of the girls in elaborate kimono and the boys in suits and ties. There are ceremonies all over the country with famous speakers and tearful testimonies. The TV stations broadcast parts of the ceremonies and comment on how lovely the dressed up young people look.
From what I gather, you don't have to actually wait until you become officially 20 years old to be considered this age. Therefore, you could still be 19, but be considered 20, and therefore be able to buy alchohol anytime during this year, prior to your birthday. A nice convention for uniformity, and an easier way to check ID's, I think.

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Saturday, January 11

Last night, on the way home from a sukiyaki party, I was passing by Gion (the famous old entertainment district), when I saw two Maiko-san.
Maiko-san are Geisha's in training. This is a special occupation requiring large amounts of studying of all the traditional Japanese arts, such as traditional instruments, tea-ceremony, dance, and exquisite manners.
They were wearing beautiful kimono, tall geta (wooden sandals), white faces, and elaborate hairstyles. I was lucky: most people who live in Kyoto have not actually seen one. They are rare and hard to get a glimpse of. I would have taken out my camera, but alas, I did not have it with me. And I think it would have just added to the commotion of everyone else stopping and staring.

My host mother asked told me an interesting story last night. She said that her daughter's friend from Australia came to visit Japan once. This friend came to stay in their house and in the course of the evening, she became comfortable enough to ask this question, "How often do you eat cat for dinner?" My host mother, being the respectful Japanese woman that she was, was appalled by this question, and offended that anyone would ever think that any Japanese person would eat a cat!
And so let this be a lesson to you: please do not confuse such significant food traditions, such as which Asian country eats what Americans would consider pets. I believe I would refer you to China for that recipe, however, if you are interested in a tasty horse dish, I may be able to provide some pages from a rural Japanese cookbook.

In continuation of the New Years theme, I wish to share another event which was recently on television as New Years purification ritual. It is the yearly purification of automobiles for the safety and protection of all who drive them. Everyone drives to a big parking lot and parks their recently washed cars, inluding some city garbage trucks, grocery store semis, and deli minibikes. They are then blessed by Shinto priests or Buddhist monkes (depending on where you go) who perform a little ceremony and give each owner an omamori (protective amulet) to hang from their rearview mirror or put in their glove box. This protection is good for one year, after which the amulet is returned to the shrine to be burned (getting rid of the evil it collected), and a new amulet is bought. It is said that if you keep an omamori for longer than a year it gives you bad luck.

Yesterday was the 7th of January. Not necessarily a special day in most people's eyes, but in Japan it has a special funtion. And as with many Japanese special function days, it is connected with food. The New Year's holiday lasts for quite a few days in that the Japanese eat only certain foods for New Years. These foods contain lots of rice and sweets, but very little vegetables. So, when those days are over (around the 6th) they have the day for eating vegetables (the 7th). So, yesterday we had two kinds of beans, 4 kinds of green grass-like veggies, potatoes, plus fish. A healthy meal to balance the not so healthy week prior. Too bad for the kids who don't like to eat their vegetables.

I have often jokingly (I hope) been asked when I am going to get a Japanese boyfriend. And I have always answered "never." Although some may doubt, this is the truth, for several reasons. Primarily, because I don't want one. However, if I did want one, the chances are very slim that I could get one. Walk down the street in Kyoto and every once and a while you will see a few mixed couples all snuggly, and you will notice one important factor - it is always a Japanese girl and a foreign guy. Never is it the other way around. There have been several theories on this phenomenon. One is that foreign women are taller, and Japanese guys have a little complex about dating tall women. Another is that foreign women are much more independent, and Japanese guys can't handle a woman who isn't completely under their control. In any case, my dream of marrying a Japanese guy and having a daughter named Haruko are completely shot. Ha.

The New Year in Japan is the most important time of the year. It is a time to get rid of the old, the unclean, and all the bad stuff of the year before and start the new year on a fresh note. During the three days of celebration (at which time everything shuts down), everyone does at least three things: goes to a shrine and/or temple, eats traditional Oshogatsu food, and cleans the house from top to bottom. It's a bigger event than spring cleaning. As a result, when I returned to my homestay, I found a perfectly clean room with new curtains, a small rug, and the biggest, fluffiest comforters I have ever seen. Which is good, because it was negative degrees last night. Anyway, I decided to join in the Japanese tradition of making things new and renovate my website. You can now find all of my winter adventures, including Christmas, New Years, Nijo Castle, Kiyomizudera, and more things, including a page of Random pictures. Check out the tanuki and see if you find anything slightly offensive about this woodland creature...

I have returned again to school. Not yet for classes, but I once again have internet access. In the next two days I will be updating with all the fun places I went during Winter Break, and at the same time I will be moving out of my apartment and back into my homestay. I am sad to lose the freedom of doing whatever I want and being right in the city, but I will be glad to be back where really good food is cooked for me and I have people to talk to all the time. I hope everyone's winter breaks were also very nice and relaxing.