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.

EVE: Doshisha at Her Finest, Part 1

Doshisha EVE, my host university’s school festival, turned out to be a life-changing event. Well, life-changing in terms of my life here in Japan. It’s easier to understand if I start from the beginning.

I got to campus fairly early, around 9am. Booths were still setting up, so I found a quiet place to study kanji for a bit. My good friend Dani was part of a 軽音サークル (Light Music Club), and I was hoping to catch her performance. After exchanging a couple mails, I figured out which building she was in (I still don’t know the names of all the buildings on campus) and made my way over. I got there in time to see the first band perform. And damn, they were good! In fact, this was true of nearly all of the bands. There was only one that I really disliked, and that was some experimental music group that thought it was a good idea to throw their guitars on the ground to get them to make abnormal sounds. Aside from that little stunt, the performers were freaking amazing. There were a variety of styles: rock, pop, jazz, funk, and more. Really, these kids have talent – lots of them play multiple instruments, and play them well. 

A little after noon, SMMA (the music club) went on break, and so Dani, Nick, and I decided to wander around a bit. Our first stop was the ramen booth some of our friends were running. For about 300 yen, we got a decent bowl of ramen with Hokkaido-shaped nori. Truth be told, it was pretty tasty! I chatted a bit with my friend Matsu, who explained that the booth was being run by a group of friends from the same summer camp, and that it was Hokkaido themed because they went there last summer. Ah, the freedom of Japanese college students.

After strolling around a little longer, I decided I wanted to take a look at the festival guide, so we found the information desk and got some programs. Curious to see what sort of booths were open, I flipped through until something caught my eye. Something which, once I took a better look got my heart racing. It turned out that Doshisha has a VOCALOID Research Club, something that is very relevant to my interests. Taking lead of the group, the three of us found our way to the building where the club had set up, and I headed in. There were three or four guys in the room, and they told me that if I filled out a survey, I could get a free CD of the songs they had created. It was pretty simple, just asking about my interests in VOCALOID. After I turned it in and received their CD, I mentioned that I was interested in participation. They seemed shocked that this foreigner not only spoke Japanese, but also had an interest in VOCALOID, but they told me they’d be glad to have me participate. The only catch is that they’re at the really far campus (the one near where I live), and they meet during lunch blocks. Maybe next semester, assuming my schedule permits, I can join in.

Leaving the VOCALOID room, I looked around for Nick and Dani. They were at the other end of the hall, and I went over to join them. They had just been invited to try…something. We actually had no idea what it was, but they handed us a lantern, told us to start at the point labeled F, and sent us into a darkly lit room. There were a couple people in ghoul masks, and at first I thought it was some sort of haunted house. It turned out to be some sort of trivia game. In Japanese. We were outclassed from the start. As we puzzled the answers to the questions, many other groups came in and out. Finally, we asked for some hints, and somehow discovered the answer. On a related note, we later asked a friend WHY the correct answers were correct. It turns out to be some crazy sort of wordplay in one case, and a matter of symmetrical kanji in the other. Making our way outside, we received a handout from the club – they were some sort of lantern club. I guess they appreciate lanterns? Anyway, it was a really cool idea, just not meant for foreigners. Well, I guess we’ll never be tricked by that sort of puzzle again!

Coming out of the building, Nick got a mail from one of his infinity Japanese friends. Since she was at the festival too, we met up with her and two of her friends. They seemed nice, just shy (what a surprise!). I broke off for a moment to go to the piano club’s booth, but it seemed like they were too busy to talk at that point. Somehow or other, we wound up going to this maid café, run by what I assume was the anime club. It was kind of neat, although half of the maids were actually dudes. Sadface L We shared some laughs as we read through the book of messages left behind on the table. I scribbled something silly in too, but there were some seriously amusing stuff in there.

We wound up splitting into two groups at this point. Dani and I went to the SMMA performance on the big stage, while Nick went somewhere else with his friend. A couple of my friends are in one of the SMMA bands, one called LionPanda. They play a sort of lively, big band sounding jazz. I think they were my favorite of the performers. Anywho, they were one of the three or four bands who appeared on the stage, and was a joy to listen to. 

It was getting a little late, but I texted Nick to see what he was up to. We met up with him over by the computer building, where he was checking out the manga club’s exhibition. Clubs here don’t simply consume media; they create it. The room was filled with incredible drawings, as well as manga drawn by various club members. Nick suggested we check out the art club too, which was actually very similar. They had some amazing artists in there. We actually wound up talking with one of the girls there, who was a first year student. The four of us just chatted for a good 30 minutes or so.

And so it was time to go home for the day. But by no means was this experience over! Be sure to check out Part 2!

Stairway to Heaven, Part 3

Waking up this morning was rough. It was dark and rainy outside, not a great day to go anywhere. Although I went to bed before Nick and Tala, I found it hard to get out of bed when my alarm went off. I slept for another 15 minutes before realizing that we would be late for breakfast. I brushed my teeth, put on clothes, and woke up the guys. It's always really horrible to have to wake people up - even when it's necessary, they're never happy about it, and they usually take it out on you. Not that it can be helped of course.

Finally, the three of us headed downstairs. Compared to the day before, we had a much 'simpler' breakfast than the day before. It was still a better and bigger breakfast than I get at home, so I wasn't complaining. She did put out these funky tiny fish, which are usually fine, but today they were kind of hard. I finished them all anyway. The miso soup was really good this morning as well.

Although we were leaving in the afternoon, we decided to check out "View Land", an amusement park on the mountain just behind the ryokan we stayed in. The obasan of the inn gave us free VIP tickets, so we headed up right after we ate. After asking directions at the convenience store (the nice old man wasn't there though), we found our way to the lift. It was pouring, so we took the monorail instead of the chair lift. Tala amused himself by taking super hipster photos on his iPhone, and I was mesmerized by the colors of the fall foliage as seen through the foggy window.

When we reached the top, we looked down at Amanohashidate, which could barely be seen through the thick clouds. We did have a number of great photo-ops, what with the clouds and everything. It was like something from a Japanese folding screen painting. Unfortunately, all the rides were closed! I'm not sure if it was due to rain or mechanical issues, but it seemed like nothing was open. We wound up playing a couple rounds of Taiko no Tatsujin, walking around on the sky bridge, and heading back down. We almost missed the monorail, but the driver waited for us.

Back on the ground, we decided to grab lunch before taking the bus back to Kyoto. We passed through the Daimaru "department store", possibly the smallest in Japan. It was one floor just for souvenirs and such. Nothing at all compared to the one in Kyoto.

We decided to have lunch at another of the main street restaurants. This time, Nick picked a place, because they had a tempura and soba combo set that he wanted to eat. Me and Tala went for donburi this time. I have to say, Nick’s was definitely the nicest of the bunch. Not that ours was bad, but I don’t see tempura look that good very often. I guess you really do find the best cuisine when you go out into rural Japan! 

As we headed back to the ryokan, I decided to get a fortune at the temple. It was kind of cool – instead of the usual long papers fortunes are usually written on, they had these little paper fan fortunes. I was lucky enough to get Great Luck, the best of the bunch. Here’s hoping it actually works: Sam could always use more luck.

We arrived at the bus stop with a little bit of time to spare, but there was already someone there waiting for us. A station attendant told us that the bus was running behind schedule, and that we had to wait another 40 minutes or so before it would get there. We chilled out in the station, and I went around looking for some cool souvenirs (didn’t find anything I liked though). Before too long, the bus arrived, and off we went back to Kyoto. 

Given that we hadn’t slept all that much over the two days we were there, I nodded off on the bus while writing this blog. When we got back to the city, I opted to go home, rather than to Doshisha’s school festival. There were still two days left in break that I could go there, after all. And boy, were they going to be awesome!