Monday, August 24, 2009

Oh. So this isn't just a super sweet vacation...?

School starts this week! Aaaaah! I'll be expected to do things that resemble work, which I had become accustomed to not doing for the past few weeks. Darn.

So I have tons of blogging to catch up on, and of course, I will not be doing it in this entry. My quick rundown is that I went with a large group of JETs to the mountains, climbed them, and then stayed in a Buddhist temple for the weekend. But I'll get to that after I post about Kyoto.

For now, please accept this humble offering:

FRIENDSHIP by GIRL NEXT DOOR


Click the above link if

1) You thought 80s shoulder pads were bad.

2) You want to see the music video for one of the most popular songs in Japan right now. (Listen for the chorus! "You're my friend, I'm your friend!")

P.S. Internet should be set up this weekend! My very own non-stolen internet! Hooray!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Pic-a-palooza

I'm back from Kyoto, and I have time! I actually got back on Sunday but had to do some stuff. A group of us newbie JETs all had to acquire re-entry permits from the other side of the prefecture in a distant city known as Yonago. Okay, it's not that distant. One and a half to two and a half hours by train, but it is literally on the exact opposite side of the prefecture from us. Oh, and a re-entry permit is a magical token that the almighty Customs gods revere, and will allow me passage into Japan again should I leave. In normal terms, leaving Japan would automatically cancel my visa - not good. But the re-entry permit allows me just that. Permission to re-enter. It prevents my visa from cancelling itself. So that was a tiny adventure. After getting the permit, a small group of us met up with one of the JETs living in Yonago and bummed around with her for a bit. Then, I took the train halfway back and went to a dinner at another JET's house near Kurayoshi (he's actually in Yurihama, but Kurayoshi may actually be on a map somewhere). That group of people is awesome, and loads of fun. We watched America's Best Dance Crew - it was a good evening :)

Okay. Now I attempt to tackle the piles of images in my Pictures folder. Let's do it! This first group of images will be Things In or Around Tottori City.


I went to find a coin laundry one day where I could dry my clothes instead of line drying them and failed miserably. I was walking across this bridge back towards my area of town and decided to take a picture, so here's a little bit of Tottori City.


Imposing samurai statue!

Incredibly cool Japanese architecture. You can find stuff like this everywhere. Incidentally, this happened to be the entrance to a cemetery. Sorry! Please don't be angry, restless spirits!

I took this while waiting for the train back to Tottori City. It's in the town of Iwami (where I teach), and it's the spot where I called Dad on his birthday! I really liked the mountains, so I pulled out my camera for a quick snapshot.

This is the beginning of my Beach Day photos! We went to Hakuto Beach because it was such a gorgeous day (after grey skies and some intimidating rain). I noticed this torii gate as we were walking down to the beach. So, after we splashed around, we went to find the shrine that was sure to be past said gate. More on that in a minute...


Down the beach to my left...

... and down the beach to my right.


The guy with the frisbee is Eric from Milwaukee, and the other guy is Patrick from southern California. And my shirt is from Uniqlo. Glorious Uniqlo.

The girl on the left is Nóirín (pronounced Noreen) from Ireland, Siya from Johannesburg, South Africa is fanning herself in the middle, and then Patrick deliberately not paying attention to my photo taking efforts.

The two desert people are SO HAPPY to see the sun again!

So, we went exploring for the shrine beyond the torii gate and found this walkway. Which did eventually lead to a little shrine where I bought a good luck charm with a BUNNY on it!

Just at the beginning of the walkway to the little shrine was this statue made of sand. It looks like a really touching moment, and there's a story behind it... that was written in Japanese. So, I have no idea. But maybe we can just fill in the blanks with whatever we want...?

Alright. There is a legend in Tottori about a god and a rabbit. I have heard a couple different versions of it - either being hurriedly explained to me on the way to the train station, or just us newbie JETs swapping with each other what we remember of what other people have told us about the legend. Needless to say a little more research is required on my part, and then I will regale you all.

We have a theory: it could be bunnies.

Next up, I have pictures from Tottori City's Shan Shan Festival!! It's a festival where heaps of people gather to do a traditional umbrella dance. Japan has many, many, many summer festivals and from what I've gathered it's a celebration of the summer itself (obviously) but also a sort of rain-dance that prays for a good rainy season and bountiful harvest in the Fall. Noirin, Patrick, Siya, and another JET, Kieran, had been coerced by their supervisor into dancing on the second day of the festival. So they had been going to practices and rehearsals for almost two weeks in preparation for it. The first day of the festival was very cool, and they pretty much had the main road closed off and groups of people doing the Shan Shan dances up and down it all day and into the night. They even had a modern interpretation of the dance called Shan Shan Shangri-La, which I found to be vastly enjoyable because it was such happy music. The dancers got to jump into the air, and thrust their umbrellas as high as they could. It all seemed very triumphant, victorious somehow.

The second day of the festival was cancelled. Due to rain. Lots and lost of rain. It started in the morning and continued well into the night. I guess Shan Shan don't mess around. You want rain and do your umbrella dance all day for rain, you're gonna get rain. So unfortunately, my fellow JETs who had been practicing their Shan Shan groove for a week and a half did not get their turn in the spotlight. There were fireworks that night above the Sendai River that Siya, Noirin, myself, and returning-more-experienced-than-us-JET Alison went to check out.

Interesting Japan tidbit #17: Fireworks are sponsored by companies. Meaning, the companies around town invest some of their money in fireworks for the festival; consequently, the fireworks are shot off in segments with little advertizements for each company just before their segment of firewaorks starts. It's fireworks with commercials.

Okay, enough of that. On to the pictures! (warning: some are blurry as is quickly becoming my habit)

Aren't they pretty??

Actually the print on their yukatta is the logo for a local bank, so more advertizing.

But they sure do wield those umbrellas, don't they?

Even kids get to participate. There were JETs who showed up to watch students from their respective schools.

So. Cool.

And all that is well and good. But nothing beats...

AN ARMY OF SHAN SHAN PANDAS!

Just in case you missed it. Shan Shan + Pandas = awesome.

...wait a second. There. Do you see it? In the gold? Impossible. It couldn't be... but, but I think it is.

Yes. Michael Jackson isn't dead at all. He's just been hiding out here. At the Shan Shan Festival. Of course.

This concludes the Shan Shan part of our tour. But I still have more to show you. Oh yes, I wasn't joking when I said piles of photos. Well, digital piles. Anyway, now is an opportune time to get up and go to the bathroom, or stand up and stretch your legs (if you haven't done so already). I'll still be here when you get back, so let's just take five real quick. I think I need to get some water meself.
...

Aaaah. That's much better. It's pretty muggy in my apartment, as usual, so I have the fan sitting directly next to me on the highest setting and a glass of water - covered in beads of condensation, the ice already nearly melted - sitting on my little coffeetable. These are the tools I use to fend off the jungle climate, even though I know I'll miss it in the winter.

My next grouping of pictures was from the last part of our prefectural orientation. We were taken to the infamous Tottori Sand Dunes - the only sand dunes like this in Japan. But of course I'll be leading up to that. You have to see the journey there, first.

We took a bus to the dunes. This is an ashtray on the bus. With a No Smoking sticker on it. If you haven't already noticed, I just can't pass up a delicious oxymoron ever.

We passed an area full of boats, and it made me think of Tura. So, I tried to get a quick snapshot of at least one boat in case Tura was reading this.

The bus took us up a winding mountain road, and induced nausea in about one-third of the people present. But then it let us off here, at the Uradome coast. Nausea, worth it.



Any postcard companies wanna start a little side business with me? I'm open.

Sometimes the clouds just do this. They get bored and decide to start creeping over mountaintops. The effect is quite pretty and also eerie. It's preerie.

Okay, so for a week before going to the dunes I had been hearing stories about the glorious, amazing culinary masterpiece known as pear ice cream. Tottori is famous for pears and also it's sand dunes, so you can find both in the same place. And I had craved that ice cream for the whole damn week, so initially I said 'Screw the sand! We have that at home. I want my ICE CREAM.' And anyone who knows me knows to stay outta my way when I am walking even in the general vicinity of food. Even the people here know that, actually, and I've only been here a couple of weeks... (^-^;) Anyway, the moment of triumph!

This picture is actually of me and my second cone. Out of three. I regret nothing.

We're finally here! Sand! Lots of it! Dunes of it, if you will.

A couple of people from the August arrivals! In the black is Lily from Oregon, and the girl giving the peace sign is Pauline, our resident Scot. It was bright out, thus our triple squintyness.





And yes, there are camel rides. Arabian Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiights, like Arabian Daaaaaaaaayyyyyyy...

Pauline, Lily, and Noirin are having a grand time.

That's all I have of the sand dunes, but I fully intend to go back and eat more ice cream. I think I'm gonna go ahead and call it. The nashi (pear) ice cream was easily the best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life. So, we're just gonna have to start importing it to the US. Write a letter to Obama, because it will bring about world peace. Oh, speaking of ice cream! I have seen and tasted some weird ass ice cream flavors. The first time I was in Japan I tried the wasabi soft serve, but only because someone who was not me had ordered it thinking it was vanilla - that had been something of a shock to her, if I recall correctly. It was still a shock to me and I knew what was coming. Then at the Shan Shan Festival I saw a "tofu milk" flavor advertized, along with a "milk and salt" flavor (wtf?), the dreaded "wasabi", "macha" or green tea (YUM!), and a "sweet bean paste" flavor. THEN. In Kyoto I actually ate a cone of soybean milk ice cream. It wasn't too bad, not very sweet, but not bad. And I sampled someone else's cone of black sesame seed ice cream. That was... more powerful than I expected. Not quite my cup of macha. And finally, there are rumors of a curry flavored ice cream here in Tottori City (I must try it!) and an elusive squid ink ice cream in the town I teach in. According to the stories it turns your whole mouth black for something like three days. Insane!

Now I am mostly caught up with updating you guys. That's my nice way of saying "forcing a barrage of pictures down your throat", haha. I say mostly, because I have my most recent pictures of our day and a half in Kyoto. That will be another entry in itself, because I just love Kyoto. We have a thing.

Anyway, I'm leaving you with one last image. The day we went to the sand dunes I was invited to dinner out in Yurihama with those cool kids for the first time. Remember how I mentioned at the beginning of this entry that I went to dinner in Yurihama...? Me neither. But that was the second time. This first time, after a day of orientation, winding mountain roads, pear ice cream, heat and sand, I took the train towards Kurayoshi. I had never been out that way before, but I was just flattered to have been invited. There were five of us that night, and we all went to dinner at a sushi restaurant in Kurayoshi. Then the plan was to hit up an onsen* before heading back to Yurihama for the first episode of America's Best Dance Crew. We ended up in the town of Misasa, where one of the new French JETs lives. Christelle - she was with us that night, and she's a lovely person who agreed to help me a little with my French - showed us to the onsen where we soaked for a good 45 minutes. Then she took us down a cute little road nearby. It was really kind of poignant, because the street itself looked like old-style Japan. Or I guess what I would consider "old-style" Japan. Not too old, mind you, but like around the advent of the first camera. Black and white photos of geisha in traditional kimono, lanterns strung up along the street, vendors crying out to sell bowls of steaming hot soba from their little stalls facing the road where pedestrians just peacefully meander... At least those are the images it evoked for me. You can decide for yourself.


Still a little blurry. :)

Friday, August 14, 2009

The Gaijin* Effect

I don't think I could ever be famous. Well, I guess I could be famous, but I really wouldn't handle it all that well. I'd be that celebrity that everyone has nasty stories about, because I'd roll my eyes at fans or ignore them or say something horrible about their face. I guess that means I'd be Lindsay Lohan. BURN!

The reason I bring it up is I had a minor life-affirming experience last night that first involved a Japanese family and then involved a Japanese club. Oh, this entry doesn't have any pictures to accompany it, unfortunately, but I have a ton to upload and post so don't worry - those are on the way.

So, right now Japan is having a holiday called Obon or sometimes, just Bon. Obon is like taking Thanksgiving and Dia de los Muertos and throwing them in a blender, and then adding some Passover wheat germ for a holiday protein shake that is equal parts delicious and solemn. Basically, it's a couple of days where the spirits of the dead rise again to walk the earth, so many Japanese families visit the graves of their deceased relatives and clean them up and make them all shiny and pretty again. People from all over the country return to their homes to be with their families and eat giant meals together, and sometimes to pray in front of the shrines of their ancestors. Many schools and places of business tend to close, even though it's not a full-blown government recognized national holiday.

So, about a week ago, one of the Japanese teachers of English from my high school invited me over for dinner with his family (which was incredibly generous of him), and last night was the night. It was my first time going to eat with a Japanese family, and boy did I get the full experience. His sister, niece (which he kept calling her his nephew because gender nouns and pronouns in English seem to be difficult for the Japanese), mother, wife, daughter, and cousin were all there. His son also stopped by very briefly but I didn't get to meet him. And we all sat around a giant table with A LOT of Japanese food. I mean they pulled out all the stops. First of all, the main course was Katsukare, which is a pork cutlet with white rice and curry, and he had his wife and daughter make it because I had mentioned that I liked it. Um, wow. Sidenote: Pork in Japan tastes way different than in the US. I think the main difference is that pork in Japan is not gross. So, I actually have been eating a decent amount of pig - especially when served with delicious curry.

Then there was a little garden salad with salted cucumbers (yum!), and also what I have come to lovingly refer to in Japan as a Plate of Question Mark. Invariably when we go to a fancy Japanese restaurant or when we went to the ryokan* the first time I was in Japan, there is/was always a plate with some stuff on it. The Stuff is always the colors of food, so you know it's safe to eat, but it's never anything totally discernable that you've ever seen before. Small enough to be picked up with chopsticks, there's usually a couple of Things derived from tofu and then some more Stuff made of pickeled vegetables. I think. I'm really only sure about the tofu. Like I said, it's hard to tell. So anyway, Plate of Question Mark.

Then there was a giant platter with chicken karaage (fried chicken) and pieces of fried octopus on a bed of salad. And I had a glass of refreshing barley tea that magically kept refilling itself. I swear, I would drink the tea until it was almost gone, and then look away to have a conversation with someone, and when I looked back at my place setting the glass was full again. It never filled itself while I was looking at it, but everytime I turned around BAM! More tea. Oh, and it also bears mentioning that my teacher co-worker and his daughter spoke pretty decent English, and that everyone else at the table knew at least a few words. I actually spent much of my time learning that white is the most difficult color to genetically engineer in morning glories, because the cousin was a professor of genetics at a university in China.

So I dig into the delicious katsukare, eat the little salad, and scarf the Plate of Question Mark. Then I help myself to fried chicken and octopus, and as I'm doing that the wife and daughter and mother and sister all jump up from the table and head into the kitchen. In Japan, it's customary for the women to be doing all of the serving, all of the time. And while I don't totally understand how it all works, I just assume that if the women head to the kitchen it's best to just stay out of the way. Well, they reappeared a few minutes later. With a platter that was a little over a foot in diameter. Covered in sushi. It was so beautiful, I almost wept. Salmon sushi, tuna sushi, yellowtail sushi, egg sushi, shrimp sushi, roe sushi, cucumber sushi ... that platter was a slice of sushi heaven and it was good.

I must admit that I took full advantage of the food, and ate until I was stuffed. They still managed to have leftovers, so I wasn't too guilty about eating like an American. Then they cleared the table of that spread of awesomeness, and brought out a new spread of fruit. There were plums, watermelon, and grapes. Oh, the grapes. The fruit in this country is huge. Like, tropical rainforest sized fruit. The grapes here are practically the size of golf balls, and juice literally comes flowing out when you take a bite into them. The interesting thing is that the family wasn't eating the skins. They didn't like them, and I had to explain (because it was really noticeable) that in my country we ate the skins. Also, the daughter was mildly horrified that we referred to the outside of the grape as "skin", but she did jump to my defense while I was eating them to say that the skin contained many nutrients. And then she gamely ate the skins with me.

So, you'd think that would be all, but it's not. The daughter goes to university in Kyoto, and so when she came home she brought omiyage* with her. They were these little soft shells with sweet bean paste in the middle, and it was the perfect ending to the meal. Or so I thought. After eating the sweets, my co-worker's mother informed me that she was going to teach me how to have traditional Japanese green tea, and that the daughter would be the one to make it. As I watched, the daughter added a couple scoops of green tea powder to a bowl, added hot water, and then used a tiny bamboo whisk to mix it and make it all frothy like a latte. I was given the bowl, and then told to hold the bottom with my left hand and place my right hand up against the side of the bowl. That was the only way of touching the bowl allowed! I had to rotate the bowl twice, and then I could take a sip. Slowly. And I had to hold the tea in my mouth for a minute so I could fully appreciate the taste.

Once I had finished sipping the tea, I had to use a single finger to wipe the rim, wipe my finger on my shirt, then rotate the bowl three times before setting it down. So, what did I learn about traditional Japanese tea? FOAMY. At that point I was told that it was getting late, and so it was time for me to go, and as I was walking out, I was followed by the whole family. Then when I started to put my shoes on, they all sat down on their knees in the entryway and bowed as I left the house. I was really not prepared for that and consequently made a less than graceful exit by doing a double-take and then almost running into the door frame when I turned back around. Yeah, good times.

Then that same night, there was the club. One club in town was doing a Michael Jackson tribute night that a few of the other JETs "wanted" to go to. That's in quotes because I use the verb "want" very loosely here. The last time we went to this club (which is tiny by American standards - maybe the size of a kitchen and living room put together) they played a bunch of house music that was occaisionally in English. I had only ever heard one song before. Yeah so, Michael Jackson tribute night. Any port in a storm, I guess (this is fast becoming my new mantra by the way). The flyer said it started at 9pm, we showed up at about 11pm. The bar was mostly empty and they had a projector playing about five MJ music videos on infinite loop WITHOUT THE MUSIC. Then about ten minutes later, people start pouring into the club and the DJ is playing a bunch of random music with the occaisional Janet Jackson song thrown in. So, a few of us put our heads together and realized a crucial fact. All of the flyers advertizing the MJ tribute night were in English with no Japanese... hmm. Curiouser and curiouser. Those Japanese club owners had cleverly lured the gaijin into their bar with their all English advertizing, and it had worked. The club had begun to fill up right after WE walked in.

Finally at about 12:30 the DJ began to play a bunch of Michael Jackson in succession. By this time we had acquired a little following. A few Japanese girls were hanging around and dancing with us like groupies, and a bunch of Japanese guys were taking turns walking up to us and giving us a high-five. It was the weirdest effect ever. It was like being famous without anyone actually knowing who you were. Like Anne Heche. BURN #2!! Okay, but really, strangest feeling. Every time two or more of Us (foreigners) did the same dance move, They (all of the Japanese guys) would immediately copy us, then shout "Eeeeeyyyyyyyy!" and give everyone in the circle a thumbs-up or high-five. Or they wanted to shake hands. We were very exotic to them. I learned a little somethin' about myself that night. Yeah. I learned that I only have so many high-fives in me to give. It's cute the first two times. The next two times is tolerable but significantly less enthusiastic. The next one should probably be the last one. The one after that induces some scowling and eye twitching. So, about six. I have roughly six high-fives, give or take, before it's not fun anymore. Alcohol would probably help, but the drinks in Japan are SO WEAK. I had three drinks in an hour last night and was still sober. No exaggeration. I wouldn't joke about that.

Even leaving was a big to-do. We would start walking out, people would realize we were going and would try to get in their last high-fives or handshakes, we would get to the stairs that lead out, get stopped there for a little "Eeeeeyyyyy!", make it to the bottom of the stairs, have to fistbump some dudes walking in, and then have to politely brush off some girls who decided that right then was the time to ask if the club was good, what kind of music it played, did we go to clubs back home, where were we from, were we university students, etc. By that time, I was not having it. Me and three other girls just walked away and went home.

So that is why I think I would be a terrible celebrity. I don't have nearly enough energy for it, though it makes for a good story I suppose. Internet is on the way - I've gotten all the paperwork in to the internet provider and I just need to set up an appointment with one of their technicians. On a day that I don't work.

This weekend/tomorrow morning we're attempting a roadtrip to Kyoto. Staying at the Kyoto Plaza Hotel. It sounds fancy but it's not. Time to be tourists! I will hopefully be able to tackle the folders full of pictures I've taken once I get back. Send good juju this way!!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Mission Impossible

So I don't think I'll be able to do a proper update for awhile, at least until I have a grasp on my whole internet situation. Currently, my apartment has no internet and I've just been poaching off of an unsecured wireless connection that keeps floating around here. Or I go to the internet cafe down the street - called Dorothy Comfortable Cafe (hee), and boy is it comfortable. They have free drinks and free ice cream and pillows and blankets and chairs that recline...

Anyway, it's hard to tell when I'll have the time to upload pictures and stuff since I don't have my own internet. I called yesterday to set it up, and like many procedural things in Japan it will take infinitely longer to set up than it would in the US. We'll see what happens on that front.

So, quick recap of what's been happening: Yesterday we went to the beach, a couple days before that we explored the city, and today and tomorrow is the Shan Shan festival.

Oh, okay, fine. Just one picture.

Hakuto Beach! So, I have officially touched the Sea of Japan.

And finally, just a little tidbit about Japan to keep y'all thinking... the microwaves here make toast. Like, actual legitimate toast. As in, I just had toast for breakfast and I made it in the microwave. I don't know how it works, but microwaves here actually cook food. Like a really fast oven. And also instead of beeping to tell me it's finished, it plays a little song. The doorbell does that too.

More coming! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Whan that July/Aug. with his shoures soote

Aw, screw it. When it changes from July to August we apparently throw a festival. It was actually pretty cool, because they closed off part of the main street in Tottori so people could walk around. Oh wait, lemme back up just a tad. I never really gave my city an intro on here, but it needs no intro. No wait, it HAS no intro. Tricky semantics. Tottori city is the capital of the prefecture, but it cheated. The actual city part of the city didn't meet Japanese size qualifications to be labeled a "City", so They (city officials, I assume) expanded the borders of the city to include neighboring towns and then labeled them "Tottori City" (even though those little towns already had names, but we don't talk about that). Then with the combined populations of all the towns, they were able to call themselves a city in a backwards, complicated, cheater way.

But they threw a little party in the streets, and I took a few pics. Wanna see?

This is a game for children where you try to catch fish/ bouncy balls with little paper catcher things. It has an element of challenge because the paper gets wet and breaks easily, so you could end up catching nothing.

And I was kinda fascinated with watching people play, because I had always seen it in anime and manga. Now with real-life quality!

The main street, Wakasa Kaido, was closed off and little booths were set up. I was wandering around with another new JET, Siya (she's from South Africa), and we were amazed at how many people in Tottori could fit on this street. This was just the beginning. It got more crowded, the further up we went.

No explanation. Just overwhelming guilt and cuteness.

I really wanted a picture of some of the people in their kimonos, because they were everywhere, so I spent a lot of time taking stealth shots. This was the best one that came out. I think I'll just say that all the blurriness is on purpose. For the sake of Art.

For some inexplicable reason there were a couple of these ice blocks with flowers in them, in the middle of the street, and people were eagerly fondling them to try and make them melt. But despite how hot it was outside, and all of the touching, none of them melted by the end. So, that's some good ice they got goin' on there.

These fans were being handed out in the street in order to combat the humidity. They have advertisements on them. In English. Clearly, I have a lot of work to do here.


Here's a video I took of the taiko drumming. The quality isn't great but you can still tell what's going on. It was pretty cool to see in person - it was just really powerful, and it looked like a good workout.



Here's a still image. So, I've already taken more pictures, and my camera is fast becoming my new best friend. Also, this weekend will be the Shan Shan Festival where some of the new JETs are performing. There's going to be dancing. With umbrellas. It looks cool, and I'll be ready with my camera.