Okay, time to catch up.
Everything is a vivid blur from March through April. I remember every minute I spent in the office, writing term reports, organizing materials, and looking at maps and tourist attractions for Kyoto. My mom was coming and I had to be prepared! Of course that entailed cleaning the apartment and washing the sheets, pulling out the futon from behind my dresser and stuffing every unnecessary thing in my already crowded closet. Good thing Japanese closets are deep.
After stealing away from work at the earliest possible moment I traveled to West Tokyo on 5 trains during the rush hour, sleeping on the bullet train and sleeping while standing on the local trains. It’s quite easy when you’re packed like sardines in a can. I arrived at 9pm where I called my Japanese family to pick me up from their local station. I ate some delicious beef stew made by otoosan, then we all got in the car to pick up my mom and Takae. They came in by bus having ridden almost three hours straight from the airport. After she accosted me with a giant hug and screaming she met okaasan and they both embraced and started crying. Moms. Sheesh! Takae and I walked behind them to the car as they talked and cried to each other without really knowing what the other was saying. Yay for crossing cultural boundaries!
Of course we stayed up late eating more stew and chatting about stuff. The next morning otoosan took us on a trip to…anywhere. My mom went to a craft store to purchase some special quilting needles, then we decided to head to Yokohama Bay, my dad’s old workplace once upon a time. It was so cool to walk around the pier; artsy ocean-inspired architecture weaved out into the water in a blue-gray tone highlighted by the dark planks underfoot.
Everything is a vivid blur from March through April. I remember every minute I spent in the office, writing term reports, organizing materials, and looking at maps and tourist attractions for Kyoto. My mom was coming and I had to be prepared! Of course that entailed cleaning the apartment and washing the sheets, pulling out the futon from behind my dresser and stuffing every unnecessary thing in my already crowded closet. Good thing Japanese closets are deep.
After stealing away from work at the earliest possible moment I traveled to West Tokyo on 5 trains during the rush hour, sleeping on the bullet train and sleeping while standing on the local trains. It’s quite easy when you’re packed like sardines in a can. I arrived at 9pm where I called my Japanese family to pick me up from their local station. I ate some delicious beef stew made by otoosan, then we all got in the car to pick up my mom and Takae. They came in by bus having ridden almost three hours straight from the airport. After she accosted me with a giant hug and screaming she met okaasan and they both embraced and started crying. Moms. Sheesh! Takae and I walked behind them to the car as they talked and cried to each other without really knowing what the other was saying. Yay for crossing cultural boundaries!
Of course we stayed up late eating more stew and chatting about stuff. The next morning otoosan took us on a trip to…anywhere. My mom went to a craft store to purchase some special quilting needles, then we decided to head to Yokohama Bay, my dad’s old workplace once upon a time. It was so cool to walk around the pier; artsy ocean-inspired architecture weaved out into the water in a blue-gray tone highlighted by the dark planks underfoot.
We spent some time walking around the waterfront park and ended up in Chinatown for dinner. I ate the most ginormous steamy nikuman known to man and it was delicious! I bought a few hanging tapestries for my future home back in America…someday. Of course I got caught in a shop that sold dried fruit and cute earrings. I won that game and bought several goods. Takae bought a flowering tea flower for my mom to watch. If you’re a tea connoisseur you’ve probably seen these tightly bundled leaf balls that magically open and spread into a mini garden when introduced to boiling water in a glass pot or cup. I’m not sure what kind it was but we drank it happily.
The next day we all went into Tokyo to watch the Seattle Mariners play the Hanshin Tigers, a Japanese team. The Mariners ended Spring Training in Arizona early and flew overseas to play a few pick-up games with two Japanese teams. Then the Oakland A’s flew into Tokyo and the M’s and A’s opened their season against each other in Japan! We didn’t see that game as it was later in the week, but we did watch the M’s get slaughtered by the Tigers. I heard from a Japanese friend that we were spotted on TV! Oh yeah! That’s ten points for being white at a Japanese baseball game.
Coming in to Funehiki late on the evening train, we unpacked and repacked for the “family trip” the next day, hosted by my employer. The entire team trekked in the vans out towards the coast, but not in the ocean. We stopped a few miles short in Hawaii. Well, not really Hawaii, but a pretty good replica of it by Japanese standards! The Hawaiians Resort is a large, mostly indoor water park and spa. The features included water slides, onsen, water pools, buffet, hotel, spa area, and a hula show. This place had been shut down for almost a year following the earthquake due to damage and being in the radiation scare zone. We were super excited to start our Spring Break off at this place…and then we found out you had to pay $2 every time you wanted to go down the slides! So we hung out in the pool and mooched a beach ball from some kids to hit around. Monkey in the middle--what a great time waster. We all watched the show together, and when they asked for volunteers I raced up on stage with all the little kids and practiced my hula hips. Oh yeah. Another win for the white girl.
After a few hours in the pool we cleaned up, ate lunch at the buffet, watched the hula girls, and packed back into the vans for part 2 of our trip: onsen. Yes please. We ended up in Bandai-atami, our frequented onsen hotel of choice. Or rather, Enchou-sensei’s favorite one in the area. Personally, it’s one of my favorites too. Despite the nice weather near the coast, we were now back in the mountains and while we sat in the outdoor onsen it started to snow! It felt so nice, the freezing air above the hot natural spring pool. We made some friends with some Japanese girls while sitting there and put on a mini concert featuring the Wakakusa ladies singing, “I’ve got peace like a river” in harmony.
That night we celebrated Janelle’s last supper by dining not in the buffet hall, but a private room with a course meal. 30 different dishes later, I was so stuffed I never wanted to eat anything ever again. I would have stopped after the 2nd round but that would have been rude. I’d love to tell you what I ate, but I’m not really sure about most of it. Of course there was some sashimi (raw fish like tuna and squid), rice, abalone, nabe, udon, shrimp (cooked and raw), vegetables cooked a hundred different ways, and many more unrecognizable items.
We spent the night and left in the morning, just in time for me to go to work in the afternoon. Wait, I thought I was supposed to be on Spring Break?! Nope. I worked for two days and my mom came to a few of my classes to meet my children. On my first official day off I took her up Mt. Katasone, the local hill with a great view at the top. We did laundry and packed our bags yet again for a great adventure.
The next morning was Kyoto: 4 hours by train from start to finish, including both local and bullet trains. We got down to Tokyo just fine and transferred onto the south line for Kyoto. It was my first time ever going to that part of the country! We didn’t even hit the first stop when a lady came by to check our tickets…which has never happened on any of my train rides. Mine cleared, but when she looked at my mom’s rail pass we got kicked off the train! Out of all the trains in Japan, there are two that aren’t covered by the pass. Guess which one we were on….yep. So we got off at some obscure station and I did my best to negotiate directions in Japanese and explain the situation to an attendant. They pointed out the right train and we were delayed only about 20 minutes compared to our initial itinerary.
In Kyoto we met Rachel…poor Rachel had been up all night after riding the cheaper night bus down to Kyoto for 9 hours. We put our stuff in lockers at the station and got some lunch and drinks at an Irish pub down the street. I can’t tell you how many times I asked for directions in Japanese, but I’m getting pretty good at it. It took awhile to find the correct platform in the huge station, eventually arriving at …..somewhere. I can’t remember the name of the area but it’s where the bamboo forest is located. Yeah, this grove of giant bamboo trees is just chilling in the middle of Kyoto and it’s super old. There was a very friendly artist selling his postcard artwork on the sidewalk and we stopped to look…then we bought a ton of cards because they were so awesome! I have plans to matte and frame them in the states.
Coming in to Funehiki late on the evening train, we unpacked and repacked for the “family trip” the next day, hosted by my employer. The entire team trekked in the vans out towards the coast, but not in the ocean. We stopped a few miles short in Hawaii. Well, not really Hawaii, but a pretty good replica of it by Japanese standards! The Hawaiians Resort is a large, mostly indoor water park and spa. The features included water slides, onsen, water pools, buffet, hotel, spa area, and a hula show. This place had been shut down for almost a year following the earthquake due to damage and being in the radiation scare zone. We were super excited to start our Spring Break off at this place…and then we found out you had to pay $2 every time you wanted to go down the slides! So we hung out in the pool and mooched a beach ball from some kids to hit around. Monkey in the middle--what a great time waster. We all watched the show together, and when they asked for volunteers I raced up on stage with all the little kids and practiced my hula hips. Oh yeah. Another win for the white girl.
After a few hours in the pool we cleaned up, ate lunch at the buffet, watched the hula girls, and packed back into the vans for part 2 of our trip: onsen. Yes please. We ended up in Bandai-atami, our frequented onsen hotel of choice. Or rather, Enchou-sensei’s favorite one in the area. Personally, it’s one of my favorites too. Despite the nice weather near the coast, we were now back in the mountains and while we sat in the outdoor onsen it started to snow! It felt so nice, the freezing air above the hot natural spring pool. We made some friends with some Japanese girls while sitting there and put on a mini concert featuring the Wakakusa ladies singing, “I’ve got peace like a river” in harmony.
That night we celebrated Janelle’s last supper by dining not in the buffet hall, but a private room with a course meal. 30 different dishes later, I was so stuffed I never wanted to eat anything ever again. I would have stopped after the 2nd round but that would have been rude. I’d love to tell you what I ate, but I’m not really sure about most of it. Of course there was some sashimi (raw fish like tuna and squid), rice, abalone, nabe, udon, shrimp (cooked and raw), vegetables cooked a hundred different ways, and many more unrecognizable items.
We spent the night and left in the morning, just in time for me to go to work in the afternoon. Wait, I thought I was supposed to be on Spring Break?! Nope. I worked for two days and my mom came to a few of my classes to meet my children. On my first official day off I took her up Mt. Katasone, the local hill with a great view at the top. We did laundry and packed our bags yet again for a great adventure.
The next morning was Kyoto: 4 hours by train from start to finish, including both local and bullet trains. We got down to Tokyo just fine and transferred onto the south line for Kyoto. It was my first time ever going to that part of the country! We didn’t even hit the first stop when a lady came by to check our tickets…which has never happened on any of my train rides. Mine cleared, but when she looked at my mom’s rail pass we got kicked off the train! Out of all the trains in Japan, there are two that aren’t covered by the pass. Guess which one we were on….yep. So we got off at some obscure station and I did my best to negotiate directions in Japanese and explain the situation to an attendant. They pointed out the right train and we were delayed only about 20 minutes compared to our initial itinerary.
In Kyoto we met Rachel…poor Rachel had been up all night after riding the cheaper night bus down to Kyoto for 9 hours. We put our stuff in lockers at the station and got some lunch and drinks at an Irish pub down the street. I can’t tell you how many times I asked for directions in Japanese, but I’m getting pretty good at it. It took awhile to find the correct platform in the huge station, eventually arriving at …..somewhere. I can’t remember the name of the area but it’s where the bamboo forest is located. Yeah, this grove of giant bamboo trees is just chilling in the middle of Kyoto and it’s super old. There was a very friendly artist selling his postcard artwork on the sidewalk and we stopped to look…then we bought a ton of cards because they were so awesome! I have plans to matte and frame them in the states.
You know I could give you a play-by-play, but in the interest of time I’ll just sum up.
We rode in a rickshaw, saw a bunch of temples, ate tofu donuts, got lost, saw more temples, ate yummy Thai food, made a table runner on a loom, dressed up as geishas, bought pottery, saw an awesome castle, and did a lot of walking. Our hostel was in Gion, the entertainment district, but despite the connotations it was very quiet and safe.
We rode in a rickshaw, saw a bunch of temples, ate tofu donuts, got lost, saw more temples, ate yummy Thai food, made a table runner on a loom, dressed up as geishas, bought pottery, saw an awesome castle, and did a lot of walking. Our hostel was in Gion, the entertainment district, but despite the connotations it was very quiet and safe.
Kyoto Tower
Yes that's me. No, it's not ALL my hair.
The gold temple, burned to the ground and rebuilt, gilded with gold.
I love this. Two sumo wrestlers waiting for the train with their little suitcases. I think his toothbrush will just about fit in there...
We returned to Funehiki safely and spent the next two days hanging out around town and doing some local shopping. Mom practically cleaned out the store of fabric squares for her quilting and sewing projects.
On the day she was heading out to the airport there was a low-grade typhoon sweeping the nation. Great. All the trains got off schedule and Kawaai sensei got worried so she paid for a taxi to take us to Koriyama. We said goodbye and I left my brave mother to find her way home alone. No, I’m just kidding. We researched the route way beforehand and she knew the exact trains to take the whole way…including a brief stop in fabric town!
The new team members had arrived by this time so each of us took time to acclimate them to different aspects of living in Japan. April is the start of a new school year in Japan so I took several new classes at Wakakusa…that includes the tasks of learning their individual strengths, weaknesses, and names! Two classes remained the same. I also became the co-leader for the community gospel choir with Jay! I spent most of my nights organizing materials left from previous leaders as well as composing my own arrangements for the choir. I employed Travis to figure out some lyrical translations in Japanese so we can sing in both languages.
The cherry blossoms will bloom soon, marking my first and last sakura season in Japan. Because of last year’s disaster I was delayed a month in coming to Japan. The short blooming season had finished and we never saw more than one cherry tree dotted with white flowers. This year is going to be epic from what I hear. When my mom and I were in Kyoto we had hoped to see the cherry trees blossoming since the South end of the island is warmer than the North, but we were a week too early! They’re finally coming to our part of the country….here they come!!!
On the day she was heading out to the airport there was a low-grade typhoon sweeping the nation. Great. All the trains got off schedule and Kawaai sensei got worried so she paid for a taxi to take us to Koriyama. We said goodbye and I left my brave mother to find her way home alone. No, I’m just kidding. We researched the route way beforehand and she knew the exact trains to take the whole way…including a brief stop in fabric town!
The new team members had arrived by this time so each of us took time to acclimate them to different aspects of living in Japan. April is the start of a new school year in Japan so I took several new classes at Wakakusa…that includes the tasks of learning their individual strengths, weaknesses, and names! Two classes remained the same. I also became the co-leader for the community gospel choir with Jay! I spent most of my nights organizing materials left from previous leaders as well as composing my own arrangements for the choir. I employed Travis to figure out some lyrical translations in Japanese so we can sing in both languages.
The cherry blossoms will bloom soon, marking my first and last sakura season in Japan. Because of last year’s disaster I was delayed a month in coming to Japan. The short blooming season had finished and we never saw more than one cherry tree dotted with white flowers. This year is going to be epic from what I hear. When my mom and I were in Kyoto we had hoped to see the cherry trees blossoming since the South end of the island is warmer than the North, but we were a week too early! They’re finally coming to our part of the country….here they come!!!
RSS Feed