Kyoto, Reborn

Ah, at last, the semester has come into full swing. Well, the classes have been doing their thing for a while, but my social life has kicked back into gear this weekend! On Friday night, I went for drinks with some friends, new and old. Oh, and it turns out that one of my new Japanese friends also likes Vocaloid! I don’t know to what extent he’s into it, but I’m thrilled.

Today was a special holiday known as setsubun. I’m not exactly sure on the origins, but it seems to be the Japanese equivalent of Groundhog’s Day. Well, the beginning of spring. And let me tell you, the weather has been GREAT. Yesterday was freakishly warm, and I wandered out in a t-shirt. Today was a little chillier in the morning, but it turned into a fine spring day by noon. If only it would stay like this…

Right, setsubun. Essentially, the big thing to do is to have someone dress up as an oni (Japanese demon) and have kids throw mame (soybeans) at them while shouting “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi (out with demons, in with good luck).

I invited a bunch of people to go to Yoshida Shrine, which holds one of the biggest setsubun festivals in Kyoto, but due to scheduling (everyone went on Saturday), only my friend Dani showed up. We found our way to the shrine, mostly by following the big crowds of people, where there really was a matsuri set up. Various stalls had food for sale, and some featured games. We made our way up into the shrine, tossed in our coins, and then wandered on up the hill.

We somehow went up through to a different shrine, and then out from there to a lovely little park on the top of the hill. Kids were playing, older folks were out walking, and there were these adorable little puppies running around. From just off in the distance, you could still hear the sounds of the festival.

Along the way, Dani had decided that she wanted to check out Fushimi-Inari, another famous shrine located south of Kyoto. So, after buying charms and getting fortunes, we walked (Yes, WALKED. The weather was nice.) down to Karasuma Oike. Now, all the while, Dani was wearing this red oni mask. Walking down the street, we got a lot of smiles from people passing by. Some kids doing bike tricks by the river waved to us. Twice, parents pointed Dani out to their children, who were frozen stiff. Not sure if that was the oni or the two gaijin, but is was adorable. 

Since we knew he lived in the area, we called up Nick to join us at the shrine. Getting there was a tad more complicated than I expected: the shrine is NOT near the Fushimi Kintetsu station, so we had to go south, change lines, then go back north. Anyway, we made it there. Eventually. We were kind of hungry, so we went to a ramen place Nick know. By which I mean, the people there know him. He chatted a little with the shop owner, and then one of the other customers. Nick knows EVERYONE. 

Having eaten, we set off to climb Inari. This is no little shrine – the thousands of torii gates go on and on, up and down the mountain. Flashback three years, I was there in the dead of summer, when all the creepy crawlies were out in full force. Going in late winter this time was a good decision. We climbed, higher and higher, but our spirits dropped a bit by the time we reached the first landing. We’re all fat and out of shape, so it wasn’t easy going…

Anyway, we pressed onwards. It took a good while, but we got to the top just before sunset. Well, not that you could see the sun set really well, since there were trees and stuff in the way. But the sky was pretty. We made a small offering, prayed, and then took a rest on the steps. The way down was…well, not easier than going up. The steps are made kind of stupidly, so they aren’t easy to go up or down on. Ah well. As Nick pointed out, the shadows are cool there at night.

Arriving home slightly later than anticipated, my host family had already prepared dinner. But before that, my host mom brought out the beans I had asked her to buy, which I took out to the garden and tossed, scaring away any oni that were planning on taking my fortune this year. GET OUT AND STAY OUT! :P

And then, we ate. There is a special type of maki sushi eaten on setsubun known as ehoumaki (good direction sushi). It’s a long sushi roll that you eat facing a certain lucky direction, which changes yearly. This time around, it was south-south-east. So, facing the south-south-east, I devoured the ehoumaki, and then had some tofu and stuff to go with it. Good stuff, very tasty.

My first setsubun, enjoyed to the very fullest. Today was a good day. Not just because I got to go to a festival, nor because I participated in some Japanese traditions. Today was a day of sun and smiles. Trees are green again, and flowers are starting to bloom. After a long winter, Kyoto is coming back to life. And I, too, see a new beginning on the horizon.

Chronicles of Nara-nia

Last Saturday, I had a promise with a friend to go sightseeing in Nara. Unfortunately, my friend caught the flu, and so we had to cancel. But that evening, there was a big festival where they light a mountain on fire, so I wanted to go see that. I hopped on with another group that was going, and I met up with them in Nara.

First, we walked over to Todai-ji, a famous temple housing a giant Buddha statue. Oh, wait, but on the way there, we ran into those guys. Nara is probably best known for the wild deer that live around those parts. They’re totally used to people, and they’ll come up and eat your food. Or your clothes, bags, hair, etc. You can pet them though, and they’re pretty cute. Ah, and since we went in winter, they didn’t have those killer horns, which is a major plus. Anyway, Tina got all excited and took some pictures with them.

We went inside the temple, where the GIANT Buddha was chilling out, as always. A person is probably smaller than one of his fingers, just to give perspective. And, as always, one of the temple’s most popular attractions was this small hole in one of the pillars. It’s said to be the same size of Buddha’s nostrils, so…guess what they call it. If you can squeeze through there, you get good luck. Bam, there you go. 

So, three years ago, I came here. And somehow, I made it through that hole. And when I got back to America, I wrote my college application essay based on that experience. That essay got me into college. What I learned at Tufts brought me back here again. The circle is complete.

Since there was still time before the main event, we found a place for dinner. The place turned out to be a curry restaurant with model trains rolling around. It was pretty tasty, and the train theme was cute. You could pay 800 yen to control one of the trains for a bit, but that’s a little pricy. So we just watched them.

When it was time for the main event, we made our way through the crowd and waited. There was a mountain, but it wasn’t on fire. But then, they started the fireworks show. BOOM! BANG! Japanese fireworks are SOOO pretty. I saw some new tricks, including deer-shaped fireworks. It was a fairly big show, and by the time it finished, the mountain was ablaze. I don’t know what to say beyond that. I mean, they lit a mountain on fire. ON FIRE. Which was super cool to watch.

Oh, and Tina bought chocolate candies that, because we were in Nara with the deer, were labeled “Deer Poop Choco”, and she didn’t notice. Whoops. We didn’t say anything at the time because we all thought she already knew…

It Begins...Again!

The Spring semester of KCJS is now underway! Just within this first week, a lot has happened. I came down with carpal tunnel, made my first visit to the doctor, considered changing host families, and decided to tough it out where I am. This semester, I'm taking a Women's Studies course all in Japanese. It's been pretty interesting and manageable thus far. And the new KCJS kids seem like a good bunch. There are a lot of new faces, though, and I'm still learning names. I know that I still haven't written about my winter break yet - I'll be putting those up as 'flashbacks' as I get around to writing them.

As a whole, not that much has happened this semester. I'm still contacting groups that I'm interested in joining, mostly non-collegiate circles. Japanese college students have break from February to April, so most club activities stop as well. I plan to continue Kyudo, but until my wrist gets better, I have to take a break from it.

Today, we had an Exchange Party with Japanese students. By which I mean, our 38 exchange students, and 3 Japanese students. We had ordered food for 80 people. Remember, Japanese universities are in finals season, so most kids were busy. Three or four more showed up midway, but the format wound up being one Japanese person at a table and seven or eight of us. We didn't get much farther than self introductions and small talk while eating the sandwiches and muffins that were provided for lunch.

Afterwards, though, five of us wound up taking six Japanese students to the cafe, where we talked for a good three hours. It was great, really. I feel like my motivation to keep meeting people has returned. Look out Kyoto, here I come!

Take it to the South: Crab-Eating Adventures in Shirahama

My glorious winter vacation began as I woke up at an ungodly hour and prepared for my departure. As soon as I started loading up the car, however, I immediately regretted the amount of baggage I had with me. One suitcase, one backpack, one shoulder bag, and one keyboard. It wasn't easy getting all that in the car. To be honest, it wasn't easy getting all of that around the train stations either. There were times I was forced to leave one bag behind, carry the other up some stairs, and then return for the second one.

I was wiped two hours later when I arrived in Amagasaki, having dragged my bags to the Fujiwara household. Everyone was surprised that I was crazy/dumb enough to bring my keyboard with me, including myself. Luckily, I was able to ditch most of my bags at their house before we departed again, this time for warmer climes.

Hidehiro led our party around the station at Shin-Osaka, looking for our bus. It took a bit, but we eventually made it onboard. I spent most of the time "practicing Japanese", by which I mean Animal Crossing. Masako (Haruhi's mother) teased me about it, since it is a game for kids. Ah well, it's fun!

The bus stopped halfway at Kuroshio Ichiba, a fish market close to Shirahama, our destination. It was hopping, and the main even appeared to be the maguro show, where a chef would slice up a tuna in front of the crowd. Masako shoved me through the crowd, telling them that I was a foreigner who really wanted to see it. I was actually more interested in eating, but she told me I should take advantage of being foreign and go up front. I didn't think it was fair to the others, but she wouldn't let me object. Reminds me of my mom, actually.

Finally, Hidehiro came to the rescue, reminding us that we needed to eat before the bus left. We picked a restaurant on the second floor, and got the tuna bowl sets. Fresh tuna over a bowl of rice, yum. I got to try tororo, this sticky grated yam thing that most foreigners don't like. Guess who likes it now?

An hour and a half later, the bus arrived at our hotel. Well, I should probably say resort. Shirahama is best known for its white beaches, but it was too cold to go swimming (it was a lot warmer than Kyoto though!) Of course, beaches aren't Shirahama's only selling point - our resort had a hot spring attached to it.

After checking in, we picked our yukata and headed up to the rooms. I was about to grab this one yukata, when some old lady grabbed it for herself. How nice. Masako wasn't a fan of her room, so in the end we decided everyone would sleep in our Japanese style room. Just like a real family! We all went for a walk around the complex to get used to our bearings, and then the girls decided to head to the baths. I wanted to see the area before it got dark, so Hide and I went off to explore.

We made our way down to the beaches, which were absolutely gorgeous. Splendid white sand, and sparkling blue water. We sat by the ocean for a while, walked over to the pier, and looked over the sea. Man, I wanna go back in the summertime!

We had a lot of time left before dinner, so we decided to hit the baths after all. It was awesome - they had an inside and outside bath, plus a sauna and some other gizmos. We had a nice long soak, which was just what I needed after all the travel. I also got to try shampoo made with...horse oils, assuming I'm not mistaken. Logically, my hair should be long and flowy like a horse's mane, right?

By the time we got out of the bath, I was starving. When it was finally time to eat, we made our way to our table, and the main objective of our trip revealed itself: all you can eat crab! For side dishes, there was a huge variety of sushi, fish, salad, fruits, noodles and rice dishes. But I mostly ignored those, and focused on the piles of crab they served up. I definitely ate the most crab, and as it turns out, my crab-eating form is totally American. Omnomnomnom. Delicious crab.

I stopped eating around the time I was too full too move, and the obi on my yukata had been swallowed up by my very full belly. Opting for some light exercise, we all played ping pong (being careful not to whack the yakuza with the ball) for an hour, and called it a night.

The next morning, after breakfast, we hit the baths again, and then went to karaoke. Unfortunately, they had the old system where you had to look songs up in books and plug them in to the remote control. So retro. Reminds me of what they had back when I was here three years ago. They still had a decent selection of songs, so it all worked out in the end. Afterwards, we hung out in the lobby waiting for the bus, since we had nothing better to do. Oh, and on the way home, I tried out Fire Emblem on my 3DS. Too many furigana-less kanji! What's a guy to do?

That evening, I went over my parents' travel plans with Masako. She helped book better, more conveniently located hotels for my parents, which would turn out to be a lifesaver a week later. I spent the night at their house, and the following day embarked on my journey to the north.

And So It Ends: KCJS, Fall Semester

At long last, the day of our final exams arrived. Not that I was particularly looking forward to it, but I suppose it was better to get it over with. The weather was looking clear when I got on the train, completely entranced in my studies. Imagine my shock when I got off at Doshisha to find snow fluttering down from the sky. It was the first snow of the year!

The exam was rough, mostly because of the kanji section - we were expected to know a selection from the several hundred kanji we learned over the semester. As I'm sure you're aware, kanji is my weak point, and boy did the test hit hard. While struggling with the exam, I was surprised to see the world outside engulfed by the snow. It was practically a blizzard!

Of course, snow doesn't stick in Kyoto, and by the time I handed in my exam, it had reverted back into a light flurry. It would have been lovely if I had stayed inside and watched it, but I had no such luck. Instead, I walked all the way down to my bakery to pick up goodies for the party we were having in Yotsukura's class.

Stepping into the bakery, the smell of fresh bread filled the air. Above all, however, there was the scent of maple. I looked around for the source, until I located the fresh, steaming plate of maple bread. In addition to the walnut-French bread I had planned on buying, I decided to get some maple too.

On the way back, I ran into Julie, who had also run down to pick up some goodies. We found our way to the Amherst house, where the sushi-making party was to be held. The KCJS students and staff gathered together to learn the art of crafting nigiri sushi from some local Kyoto chefs. Our program is well connected!

But before that, they gave out some awards. Not just commendations, but monetary prizes as well. The first of these was to be given to the person chosen by their peers who had worked the hardest to get involved in Japanese society. To my surprise, the person chosen was me! I'm really honored that everyone had considered me as trying the hardest - I certainly did my best, but it was touching to have my efforts acknowledged by my classmates and friends. I'll work hard next semester too!

The other awards went to Brendan, for his hard work in his CIP activity, and Calum, as the student who had improved the most over the course of the semester. Congratulations, guys! Now Calum won't feel so bad about feeding his gaming urges, 笑.

Immediately after this, we picked up packages of sushi-cut fish, and a tub of rice, and squeezed some sushi! It was harder than I thought - you have to estimate the perfect amount of rice to mould the fish around. And I couldn't seem to be able to pick up the wasabi the way they showed us. It was a great experience though, and we all got to make a massive amount of sushi. When we had finished, the professionals judged our work. I was picked as one of the four runners-up: I had tried to artistically arrange my sushi, which I guess caught the chef’s eye. Yay, double prizes! Of course, the overall winner of the contest was Yeuyi, as expected. If they ever need a part time worker, they should look her up!

Having finished the sushi party, the members of Yotsukura-sensei’s class gathered the goodies we had purchased and held a potluck lunch. We were all pretty full from the sushi, but there was delicious bread from Joe’s bakery, strawberries from Julie’s fruit shop, and a bunch of other yummy snacks. We ate and chatted, with a surprise musical performance by Sarah and Joe. I played too, but…I need practice. But with me being so close to break, I believed I would have time to do so. Little did I know just how busy I would be!

The next morning, I woke up early to meet up with Roslyn to go shopping for a DS Lite. I had promised to get her one for her birthday, and so we headed over to Book Off to look at their stock. To my surprise, they were closed until later in the day and neither of us had that sort of time to kill. But I’m not the sort of guy who goes back on his word, and so I handed over my own (pastel pink) DS Lite. I was planning on getting a 3DS soon anyway, so I wouldn’t actually need a DS Lite. Take good care of it, Roslyn! Have fun!

After killing a little time, I headed over to the Bon Bon Café, where KCJS was holding its end of the semester party. It was a nice party overall – there was lots of food (sort of Italian-Japanese fusion, maybe?), and I talked with all of my KCJS friends. We took class pictures, and I said my goodbyes to those who were returning home. We had some slideshows from our CIP activities – me and Leila presented on our Kyudo classes, accompanied by some (very unflattering) photos of us (me) doing Kyudo. Also, got to see Angela’s kindergarten class, which was super adorable!

Skip to the following day. I had already said my goodbyes, and was damn well ready to be on break. The only thing stopping me was one final essay, and so I headed to Doshisha thinking I would get it done there. I set up in the café and started working, only for Tala to show up and start chatting with me. He wanted to say goodbye to our AKP friends, and so I kept him company for more than two hours. My poor paper…Tala, such a jama! On the upside, we had some hilarious discussions, including me convincing Tala that in Boston, the sun rises in the south, which is why we have such bad weather. He totally bought it, haha.

That evening, I met my host family at Yodobashi Camera, where we ate delicious tempura. It was actually my first time going to a tempura specialty restaurant, and it was fantastic! The set I got came with a bunch of stuff, including mushrooms, anago (conger eel), sweet potato, and eggplant. And then I ordered more that I wanted, until I was stuffed. Real tempura is so good – because of the oil used and the temperature at which it is cooked, it’s not really that greasy in comparison with “fried food”. New restaurant, get!

Upon returning home, I got serious with my paper, and finished it within a matter of hours. Then I packed my bags, and went to bed ready for my glorious vacation.

EVE: Doshisha at Her Finest, Part 2

My story continues the following day. Again, I arrived at Doshisha bright and early, met up with Dani, and made my way to SMMA’s room to listen to more performances. Just like the day before, the music was excellent. While it turned out I missed seeing Dani’s band perform (I was away at Amanohashidate), I did get to see my friend Kaori rock out on the drums. I’m glad I was able to make it!

Just after Kaori finished up, we had to bolt – I had promised my friend Ai I would come see her dance. When we got the stage, there were a few other dance groups that performed first. But it was good that we showed up for them – I got to see amazing breakdancing, hip hop, and all sorts of dances. Ai’s performance was jazz dance, I think. It was good. Like, really good. Props to whoever did the choreography for that. There’s something about these Japanese clubs; everyone is just so GOOD at what they do! I’m kind of jealous, actually. More on my jealousy of Japanese clubs shortly.

We wandered about again, eventually being persuaded/conned into buying some beef stew. It turns out it was Campbell’s soup beef stew. And I didn’t get any beef in my stew. Lame. After a brief circuit around the campus, I headed back to the smaller stage to see another SMMA performance. As I listened, I chatted with Kaori about SMMA; by this point, I had decided that I was interested in joining up. I was surprised to hear that SMMA had a tradition where after EVE, third year students retire from the club. It seems that all my friends were performing in SMMA for the last time.

Unfortunately, as a result of KCJS not matching its schedule to Doshisha, I had homework due the next day. (Side note: Doshisha was technically closed due the anniversary of its founding; we had class anyway.) But since I didn’t want to head home, I went into the library for a couple hours and did what had to be done. Doshisha’s library reminds me of the Graduate School library back home. It’s so quiet that even sitting down seems to make a lot of noise. A place like that makes you want to do your work and get out, which is precisely what I did.

I got back to SMMA’s room just in time to hear LionPanda’s last performance. They played this beautiful song called 新しい日々, which I would have paid for a CD of. No, really, it was that good. 

Over the course of the last two days, I witnessed the strength of 先輩後輩関係 (Relationship between upper and lower classmen). The kohai would present the retiring senpai with flowers, a photograph, and some other present, and thank them for being so kind, sometimes telling a story related to the person. The senpai would tell them how glad they were to have met them, and that they should still hang out in the future. Well, something like that. There were tears and emotions. I don’t think I’ve seen a group of people that care so much about each other. 

This reached its peak when the senpai all got on stage to say goodbye to the kohai. Everyone was crying at this point. Hell, I was crying at this point. This was when I realized I had to be a part of this circle. Not once in my life have I been a part of a club like that, where everyone cares so much about each other like that. I’m so envious that Japanese students get to have this wonderful experience; I think it’s incredible.

Incidentally, during this last, tear evoking scene, the scent of something burning started spreading through the room. I looked around for smoke, but found nothing. The smell kept getting stronger, and at last some of the guys went for the windows. There was construction outside, and the windows were taped shut, but I gave them a hand and we were able to pop open two of the windows. It helped, to some degree.

With that ceremony, EVE had reached its conclusion, and it was time to clean up. And so clean up we did! I asked if I could help out, and it seems they were glad to have another pair of hands. I helped take down decorations and flyers, and then carried tables (which they had used to make the stage) out and around back of the Fusokan.

But if you think that’s the end of my night, you’d be dead wrong! Me and Nick headed on over to Kyodai for our Art Appreciation club meeting. We met up with everyone at the clubhouse, and discussed our dinner options. There were two clearly defined groups: those who wanted curry, and the anti-curry rebel faction. Opting for curry, our group headed over to this Thai curry shop, where we chowed down on some fine spicy green curry.

After eating, we headed back to the clubroom, where a few latecomers had just arrived. As always, we had some snacks and drinks while we chatted. Nick and I mentioned to some of them the lantern word game puzzle, and wondered why they were correct. After thinking about it for a while, our Japanese friends explained to us the trick behind the game. In return, they asked us for some English word games. Nick brought out a whopper that completely stumped me; after a while, one of the Japanese students figured it out.

On the way home, I ran into a familiar face on the train. It was my friend Akira, who I hadn’t seen in months. Although he’s training to be a monk, he’s decided to keep his option open, so he’s also job hunting like other Japanese students. What a neat guy. It seems he’ll be more free…next year.

To wrap this story on up, Doshisha EVE revealed to me new possibilities I had never dreamed of. Even if the timing is hard, and even if I have to travel all the way to the Tanabe campus, I’m going to make things work. My future, as always, is in my hands.