Kameoka Christmas Light Up

So, Kameoka does a huge Christmas light display every year out in front of the station. It is....tacky. And therefore awesome.












This one is my favorite...a sheet of lights draped messily over a tree. Merry Christmas!

I can't staple!!!!!

Today I learned how much like a child I am when it comes to Japan.

I was finally put in charge of a project completely. I had to fill out the form that gets passed around for approval, completing the project (although it was nothing more than Christmas cards), and putting it all together.

At the very end I had to staple to form, an example of the card, and a list of the address to where they would be sent together into a little packet to be sent around the office for approval.

So I put them together and put a staple at the top left corner. When I turned it in to my boss she handed it back and said, "No no, you have to put two staples on the side."

So I went back to my desk and re-did it. when I handed it to her again, she laughed and said "No no no. They have to be in a perfectly straight line and further apart than you have them."

Apparently stapling in Japan is an exact art and I failed miserably (T_T).

You've Gotta Show Me, I'm From Missouri

Today The Boy and I decided to go see the exhibit on the Ainu at the Kyoto Museum. I had studied the Ainu people in college but did not know much about them.

It was a really interesting exhibit. There was no English so I took what I could from it, but I really enjoyed seeing how the Ainu lived. They are from the Hokkaido region which is far north and therefore very cold. It was amazing to see they ways they devised to avoid the cold and also their jewelry and tools.

The most shocking thing however came toward the end of the exhibit. I was looking at a few formal necklaces when I saw one with a very large silver pendant. It seemed a bit out of place so I looked closer.

Then, I saw that it was actually a large coin. A coin with the phrase "You Gotta Show Me, I'm From Missouri" engraved on it.

I was floored.

There I was, in Kyoto, JAPAN and there was a pendant from the indigenous people of Japan that had a coin from Missouri. It turns out that a group of Ainu had visited Missouri in 1904 for the St. Louis Worlds Fair.

I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. I really wanted to take a picture but there were too many people around (T_T)

Oh, it's just an Earthquake

So today I was sitting at work. At about 3 pm the floor shook a bit. It was barely noticeable, but I looked around. No one else seemed concerned to I thought I had imagined it.

Then, one of the men in the meeting going on at our center table stops and goes "Oh, an earthquake." They all nod and go back to work.

Oh, just an earthquake. That's like saying "Oh, just a tornado."
Crazy.

Halloween in November

Today I gave a presentation on Halloween at Nishi Betsu-in Elementary School. Yes, it is November 30th...so it's a bit late. I was actually supposed to give the presentation on October 19th, but because a group of students came down with swine flu school was cancelled and my presentation was postponed (T_T) But I was glad I got to do it because I had put in quite a bit of work to prepare. Also, that region of Kameoka has a tradition that is somewhat similar to Halloween so we were able to connect the two.

I presented to the entire school all at once. However, it was a really tiny school so it was only 64 students. The issue was that I was working with 1st graders through 6th graders so creating a presentation that would be interesting to all ages was difficult. Even worse was finding a game that all the kids would enjoy playing and that all the kids could understand.

It went really well actually. First they sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" ad I learned that my toes are now much further away than they used to be. Then Kojima san and I introduced ourselves before starting my presentation. My computer was asleep and it took a bit of time to warm up so I had to make small talk at the front of the room, but once it started up it was good.

I had one challenge though. I was at the front of the gym and the children were all sitting on the floor in rows in front of me. There was a screen behind me but if I stood near the computer (which I had to because I had a lot of animation in my slideshow) I would block the screen for several of the kids. So, I made, what I now look upon as being a bad decision, the decision to sort of squat next to the computer while talking. Luckily they were small children so I was still much taller than all of them, but in hindsight it was not the most professional of positions.

But the kids seemed really interested in what I was saying and they listened quietly except for when I wanted them to participate. I was gratified that they were suprised when I expected them to be, which is good because it keeps them interested.

After the presentation I put my game up on the wall. It went really well. Since it was a Halloween themed presentation I made six large skeletons and took off one of the arms. Then I made an arm for each kid with double sided tape on the back of the very top so we could play "Pin the Arm on the Skeleton." It went really well. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun.

I was really impressed with this school because it was so small, with only 64 students total, and the kids seemed to get along well. The older students helped the younger students. And there was a lot of yelling. "Go left! left!!!" etc. Of course some kids did try to steer their friends in the wrong direction.

But all in all I think it was a huge success.

After the game, the kids introduced their tradition, Inoko, to me. I'll admit I didn't quite get it, but it involves going door to door collecting food. Apparently it coincides with the harvest.

Before I headed back to the office, I read "The Little Matchstick Girl" in English into a tape recorder so they would have a native recording. They were going to perform it for some kind of Christmas concert or something.

How is she?

Today was another global session. One of the women who helps me with the newsletter I make was in attendance, and seeing as I had let it slip that I gots me a boyfriend last week, she was very suspicious when I showed up with The Boy.

She pulled me aside afterward and asked me if he was my boyfriend. I probably should have lied or evaded, but I can't. I am terrible at that. So I told her yes.

We ended up getting a ride from her...Which is when she attacked. She asked The Boy if he was my boyfriend. And then she asked... "How is she?"

In Japanese, the phrase どうですか is translated as how is~ or how about~.

The Boy was at a loss. He didn't even know how to respond to it so he just repeated her in a confused tone.

My friend responded by saying "Isn't she a good girl?"

Oy.

Then she told him to take good care of me.

And I wanted to die.

A Very Kameoka Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving in Kameoka. We all got together and did a potluck dinner so no one was left making it all themselves. Needless to say it was good fun and The Boy got his first taste of Thanksgiving.

Jason was kind enough to let us use his apartment even though he didn't show up until well into the night. I'll let the pictures do the talking for this one.


Our amazing spread, complete with pumpkin pie and mini corn dogs.


Laurel made us mini pumpkin pies :)


Nanami had cake mix from the states so we had real cake and not J-cake :)


We even had cheesecake


A little inside joke with The Boy (Japanese women make that gesture so their faces look smaller in pictures)


No clue





Kanpai!


Our host arrives!

My Birthday

Today I turned 24. After a long weekend sightseeing in Nagasaki I decided to sleep in on my birthday. I got up around noon and then The Boy, who had taken the day off as well took me into Kyoto.

We started by going to a very popular cake shop near Shijo Street. He had looked it up online and thought it looked special, so he took me there. It has two separate shops, about 25 meters apart. One is for take out only and the other is like a small cake café.

There was a large showcase with several different kinds of cakes. Neither of us could decide what we wanted so we got three different cakes and split them. One was a Mont Blanc, one was a cake with red pepper corns, and one was a chocolate pyramid. They were all good but I liked the one with red pepper corns. It was more like cake. The others were very light and airy and, well basically J-cake as my predecessor would say. But they were all good. And it was a cute little shop. I really liked it.

After cake we walked around the city and went to Heian Shrine. We were trying to get there to see some kind of ceremony but we were too late. But it was still gorgeous. The leaves were brilliant fall colors and it was really nice weather out.

After that we stopped at Starbucks to just relax for a while til we decided to go buy a bottle of wine for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner party. Afterward, he mentioned that we had a lot of time before dinner so he took me to Takashimaya Department store. We wandered around and as I looked at things that scare me (Chanel, Gucci, etc.) he suddenly disappeared. I figured he had just gone to the bathroom so I kept looking around.

When he showed up again he had a large white bag with a long skinny box in it. Inside was a single rose. But it was blue. And not a white rose dyed blue, but a blue rose recently genetically engineered in Japan. They only just went on sale in the beginning of November and he reserved it in October.

After that he helped me look for good Christmas presents and then we went to dinner. He took me to Mishima-tei, which is considered one of the best, if not the best, restaurants for sukiyaki in Kyoto. It is hundreds of years old and I have seen it many times from the outside without thinking it was anything special. It just looked like an old run down building.

Once we took off our shoes and walked up the stairs it was as if we were in a completely different place. It was very elegant and clean. They took us to our seat in the corner, but instead of leaving and giving us a chance to look over the menu leisurely, the old obaasan hovered over our table, waiting for us to order. It was awkward because we couldn’t really talk while she was there.

But she soon brought out our food and began cooking it for us at our table. We wore our paper bibs as she explained the cooking process. There was a fry pan like tool in the center of the table and she put in strips of raw beef, sauce, onion, and a few other vegetables and tofu. She had us crack open our eggs and stir them up into our bowls. Then when the beef was ready we grabbed the beef with our chopsticks, dipped it in the raw egg and put it in our mouths. I was tentative at first, I mean, it is raw egg. The Boy, in very Japanese, but not very him, fashion exclaimed how good it was. So, I took a bite. He was right…man it was delicious. It was the best beef I have ever had in my life. It was so tender and juicy. The raw egg was the perfect flavoring. We kept eating, adding vegetables and eating some rice.

After 2 servings she cleaned up, brought us some more tea, and then brought out the dessert, a persimmon and a bit of honeydew melon.

Then she brought the bill…I tried not to see, since he wouldn’t let me pay for my half…and it was not cheap.

It was the best meal I have had in Japan, and it is in the running for best meal of my life.

All in all, with a trip to Nagasaki, cake, blue roses, and amazing food, it was a great birthday.

Nagasaki

November 21-23

Today was a holiday, so The Boy and I took a trip to Nagasaki. It was my first time to the island of Kyuusyuu and I have now been to all four main islands of Japan. The last place I need to visit is Okinawa.

Nagasaki is famous in America for being the second city to ever be atomic bombed. However, to the Japanese it has a much richer history. Nagasaki was the only port kept open during the 200 years during which the Japanese government closed the borders of the nation to contact with the outside. Only the Dutch were allowed to bring their ships into Nagasaki port for trade purposes. Prior to this it had been a thriving port and a city with many Chinese and other foreign inhabitants. With the influence of the Dutch (and Portuguese), it was also a Christian hub, where missionaries would attempt to convert the Japanese. Therefore it has a large number of churches. It was also the location of the crucifixion of the 26 martyrs of Japan when the Japanese government banned Christianity.

Saturday, November 21

On Saturday morning we started our little excursion. I made us late for the train because I was trying to fix my internet…

We actually ran into Laurel at the station and we hung out on the ride into Kyoto. We shink’d over Hakata station where we then had to switch to a special rapid train. But, we missed it by 2 minutes. We didn’t check the schedule, since we assumed that the special rapid running to Nagasaki would come more often than once and hour…but it didn’t.

It was a long day of train rides, about 5 hours, but that isn’t too bad. The Boy kept saying how long of a trip it was, but I have noticed that Japanese people have a different conception of distance and time than most Americans do when it comes to traveling. To me five hours is a fairly easy distance, especially when you can just sit back and relax on a train.

We wound up arriving around 5:30 so most sightseeing places were either closed or closing. We were greeted at the train station by a giant blue Christmas tree.



After buying a tiny but useful guidebook, we decided to drop off our bags at the hotel and then head to Chinatown for some of Nagasaki’s famous Chanpon. The Chinatown was different from the one I remember visiting as a kid in New York. It was more touristy here. There were various shops selling souvenirs and a lot of different restaurants. The restaurant our guidebook suggested was very popular, so we had to wait a while. We wandered around the shops until it was our turn.



It was mostly cheesy touristy stuff, but I did find a ripped off copy of The Lion King...Except it was completely different. It's hard to see in this picture, but there is a tiger and a deer character...?



We were really hungry by this point so we ended up ordering too much food. I couldn’t finish it, even though it was really good. The Boy ordered the special large bowl so his came with a bit of shark fin in it. He let me try it. It didn’t really have much flavor but the texture was nowhere near as bad as I had expected. We headed back to the hotel after that.

Sunday, November 22

Today was unfortunately very rainy. It was our big sightseeing day and we had no umbrellas. It was ok for a few hours but we eventually ran to the conbini to get one.

We started off at Dejima, which is the site of Nagasaki port. It is set up as a large museum. It was interesting to learn more about Nagasaki’s history and about the Dutch. The museum itself was a bit sparse, but I believe it is a work in progress. I was surprised to learn that at one point, due to Napoleon’s quest for empire, Dejima was the only place in the world flying a Dutch flag….interesting fact.

After Dejima we visited Glover Garden, which is the site of the home? of a foreigner who played a huge role in the Meiji Restoration in which power was restored back to the Emperor in the late 1800s. It was interesting but it wasn’t anything all that special. It was kind of interesting to see how foreigners lived in Japan so long ago. And there was a great view of the bay.

After Glover Garden we went to the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum. They had some very interesting statues at the park. The main courtyard had statues donated mainly from Communist countries. I am not really sure of the significance of that. We both enjoyed the incongruity of having huge signs advertising Castella cake, which Nagasaki is famous for (introduced by the Portuguese), right behind the signs in the Peace Park.









The museum was not much different from the one in Hiroshima…just smaller. Nagasaki seems to handle that part of their history in a very different way. There were no English translations and I didn’t have the energy to really keep reading them in Japanese so I probably missed a little bit. But we were tired and hungry.

We hopped on the tram system (I do love trams…also it took me for ever to remember the name for them in English when The Boy asked me) and headed off to get some food. We decided to get Turkish rice, which I don’t think has anything to do with Turkey, but it was interesting…

We went to a cute café by the wharf…what is a wharf anyway? It’s really an odd word. But anyway, we got some Turkish rice, which was basically hamburger steak on yellow rice with pasta on the side. I dunno…apparently there are different versions.

We went back to the hotel and got some sleep to prepare for tomorrow.

Monday November 23

The weather cleared up for today, which was really nice. We started off the morning grabbing some breakfast and then we visited the shrine to the 26 martyrs of Japan.



From there we saw a really cool looking church. It was decorated using plates and bowls and cups. It was reminiscent of Barcelona (never been, but plan on it).







It ended up being one of my favorite places we saw. From the church we could see this really odd statue of what looked like Bodhisattva standing on a giant turtle pointing at children.



We decided to go see what it was. It was exactly what it looked like.



After that we grabbed lunch at a Chinese restaurant that served sara udon (plate noodles). Basically it was thin crunchy noodles in Chinese style sauce with a bunch of toppings. The Boy got a huge kick out of how I picked out all the pieces of squid and octopus…Apparently I am like a little kid. Though I would never do that in front of any other Japanese person.

After we finished eating we went and bought a castella cake for later and got on the train for Yoshinogari in Saga Prefecture, an archaeological site from the Yayoi Period (3rd Century BC to the 3rd Century AD) in Japan.

The site was about 700 meters from the tiny train station. It was actually a pretty interesting park. I didn’t know much about the Yayoi Period, except the little I had studied it at school. There were no English translations so I had to try to read the Japanese, but it was good practice. Basically there were several replicas of homes and other buildings from the period, as well as a museum of artifacts.



It took us several hours to get through all of it and by the end we were kind of exhausted and my feet actually bled from all the walking this weekend, but it was a really fun day.

We skipped dinner so we ate the castella cake on the train ride back. It was nice to be heading home after such a full weekend. I was really glad we took tomorrow off so that I could sleep in.

Margaret Mann Kyoto Newspaper

So today a man from the 京都新聞 or Kyoto Newspaper came to the Exchange Center. He was talking to Kojima san about the weekly editorial piece they run. Apparently they have several guest writers who each write about 4 pieces a year. But all of them were laid off this year and they want new people....

Yeah, I am one of those people. I am now officially a guest writer for the Kyoto Newspaper. Just a cool fun fact about me (^_^).

I will be writing about anything I want, and only in Japanese. It should be a huge challenge, but a good one. I will probably learn a lot from it.

Fire Drill

Today they held an emergency drill at work. It is the first one they have done since I have been working here and it was quite interesting. Of course there were several aspects that were similar to the drills we all know: the alarm sounds and everyone stands up orderly and heads to a predetermined location.

But Japan likes to do things in an even more organized—or should I say, militaristic—manner.

At about noon I was called over to a meeting with my boss, Ito-kacho, who went over the procedure with me. Everything was organized and planned for down to the last little thing. For the drills there was the floor leader, the vice-floor leader, the room leader, the section leader, etc. Everyone had their specific duties—and lines to memorize—for when the “earthquake” happens.

At 3:25 the PA system switched on and the announcer informed us that they would soon be holding a drill—at least we were prepared for the fake earthquake.

At 3:30 the PA system switched back on and announced “This is an earthquake. This is an earthquake, ” and everyone got down underneath their desks. Then when they announced that the earthquake was over everyone started dashing around. The section leader called a section meeting and then they went about their task. They reported back to the section leader who then jogged over to the floor leader to tell what had happened. Then the other room leaders came in to tell the floor leader what was going on. And then we all went back to our desks.

Fifteen minutes later the PA switched back on announcing that the conference room on the 2nd floor had caught fire and we all needed to make our way calmly to the designated evacuation spot. It was raining really hard today so they moved it from outside to the large reception hall on the first floor.

I was responsible for carrying all the “important” things in the office that needed to be rescued…ie. an empty box covered with white paper on it. So I got to hold a box. After some confusion because no one knew when we were supposed to make our way downstairs we went down the 5 floors to the first floor and stood in our special line. Each floor had their own line and we lined up in rows. It seemed very Kindergarten Cop.

I had been told to put the box with all the other boxes on the far side of the room, but everyone else seemed to be holding theirs or keeping it by their feet so I did the same. Then they started making a ton of announcements. The head of the division responsible for handing emergencies came jogging in. He ran to the front of the room, stood at attention, and saluted the crowd. He yelled something (and I have NO idea what) and everyone responded. Then they went down the line and he saluted each floor leader who in turn jumped to attention (and I do mean military attention), saluted, and shouted that the entire floor had been emptied. Then the mayor gave a long speech and every once and a while people would yell and everyone would stand at attention; they yelled again and people would turn their heads to actually look at the person speaking (otherwise they kept their heads straight forward); they yelled again and people snapped their heads back; and they yelled one last time and we relaxed. They did this several times.

Then the fire chief gave a speech, and talked a little about the fire that had been set at a pachinko parlor in Osaka. We bowed and then we were dismissed by our floor leaders.

I hate to admit it but I found it very hard not to laugh throughout the whole thing and this post is barely concealing the fact that I found it somewhat ridiculous. Of course Japan has its own way of doing things and it seems to work because everyone has their own responsibilities. It was just so different from what I am used to that I laughed primarily out of discomfort.

The Boy had to take part in a special training that actually was a lot like this. Standing at attention, yelling, etc. all for dealing with fires or earthquakes. They turned it into a competition (and I would have paid the big bucks to see it). He really found it ridiculous too. But I guess it all ties in together.

All Night in the City

Today a group of us went into Kyoto to celebrate Phil's birthday. We started off at The Pig and Whistle, a fairly large foreigner bar, because we knew they could accommodate all of us.


This is Phil in his "Oh so Japanese" shirt.

Atsushi and I planned on grabbing a taxi with Matt and a few others rather than go home early or stay out all night. Splitting the $70 cab fair isn't too bad, especially when you have a Japanese boy willing to call for a cab big enough for 5.

After the bar we went out to karaoke. I usually don't like karaoke and today was no different. It was an odd group of us. Some people did not really participate, others were overly enthused, and some were too intoxicated...I won't name names...

It was raining after we got out of karaoke so we ran to the nearby kebab place to get some food.



Some of us were going to go home, til we realized it was 3:30 and the first train was in 2 hours. We might as well wait, right?

Except it was raining. And McDonalds, one of the few all night restaurants, was full of other people trying to escape the rain.

So we wound up at Sukiya. It was empty except for 5 foreigners and The Boy.

Then everyone but the two of us fell asleep....



And then, a very drunk Japanese man walked in. I couldn't help it. I laughed. I mean, there are 4 passed out foreigners sitting at these tables, with the bowls of soup they ordered because they HAD to order something...

It was just funny and awkward that this Japanese man walked in to see it.

But he thought I was laughing at him. And he got really angry. He came over and was like "Is something funny?!" I tried to explain that I wasn't laughing at him and I apologized. He turned to walk away, but then came back and yelled at The Boy. I couldn't understand him but The Boy explained that I was laughing because my friends were sleeping and it was weird...

Apparently the guy actually asked The Boy if he wanted to "take this outside." The Boy is skinny, but I think he would have taken him (~_^)

Finally the guy sat down and I tried to pretend he wasn't there anymore. I also only used English for the rest of the time. When it was time to head to the train we woke up everyone, who had slept through the whole exchange, and heading off to sleep our train ride back.

Mid-Year Orientation in Chiba

This week I journeyed up to Chiba Prefecture, just Northeast of Tokyo for the annual Mid-Year CIR Orientation held by Clair (one of the main organizations that control the JET program.). I was not really looking forward to it. Last year, as a first year, I spent a lot of my time being very nervous and confused. I did not really know anyone there and was so exhausted after sitting through hours and hours of Japanese presentations that my head hurt and I just wanted to sleep. I ate alone at a restaurant for the first time ever and aside from the time I spent as an “honorary Hokkaido CIR” I felt fairly isolated.

This year was quite different. As soon as I got off the train at Chiba I turned around and saw Jennifer exiting the ticket gates. Jennifer was the CIR I became closest with during last year’s orientation. She is a 2nd year CIR, 4th year JET, from New Zealand. I was really excited to see her and it was really just amazing timing that we were on the same train and ran into each other immediately. She had thought that I had not re-contracted because of posts on my facebook wall about me visiting America over the summer. She was happy to see me and we ended up spending pretty much the entire conference hanging out, except when we were in different lectures.

We went to check in to our hotels. Thankfully I had changed my reservation last Friday. Originally I had played it safe and made a reservation at a hotel well known by foreigners. I was nervous about being able to find a good hotel and didn’t really know how to search for hotels. However, on Friday, as I was organizing my papers for the trip, I realized that I had made a reservation for a hotel that was several train stops away from the location of the conference. On top of that, the hotel was a 15 minute TAXI ride from the nearest train station. I was able to switch my reservation at the last minute with no extra cost, and that turned out to be an awesome idea….as Ian found out (see below).

So I checked in to the Green Tower Makuhari Hotel and then walked over to the conference location. We started off much like last year, with all of us in a giant room. There are several hundred CIRs so it is pretty impressive to see all of us together. Then the made some announcements and started the keynote speech. It was so much better than last years. I barely remember anything about last year’s except that it made my head hurt, and that there was something about glass and a fish. They made us discuss things and I had no idea what to say. This year I understood the speaker and actually felt like the speech could help me. He made us play ice breaker games, like one where we stood facing our partner and we would clap our own hands together one time, then clap in the middle once, and then clap our own hands twice and then once in the middle, and so on. Then they had us try again only without speaking…so we couldn’t count together anymore. Then they made us close our eyes. It was supposed to indicate that there are many ways of communicating without using language and that without language you can still effectively communicate.

He also handed out several cards with different situations on them and had us discuss which ones were “Ok to keep” and which ones “Needed to be changed.” For example one card was about how female students at one school were forced to run 15 km in the field day races while the boys were forced to run 25 km. In my group we had some Chinese and Korean girls, along with another American and a Canadian and it was interesting to hear their opinions.

He gave me some good ideas for ice breakers and other ways to help promote more fulfilling international exchange.

After the speech ended we were done for the day. Ian, the Kyoto Prefecture CIR and Peer Advisor, and I decided to grab dinner since all our friends were busy that night. A lot of CIRs have friends all over the country and were meeting up with their Tokyo friends. We found a small bar/Mexican restaurant near the station that had Guinness on tap so we hit that up. The food was good, but small and there was a massive group of ALTs who were in the area for the Chiba ALT Mid-Year Conference.

It was nice to spend a little time with Ian. We have worked together a few times and hung out in groups before but never one on one.

After that I took a short walk to try to get to know the area but there really wasn’t anything to see. The maps made it look like the bay was super close, and maybe it was, but the path towards it was really dark and even in Japan I don’t want to walk alone. That’s just stupid.

So I headed back to my hotel to watch some TV (thankfully the TV there had CNN to save me from the awfulness that is Japanese TV) and fall asleep.

November 10

The next day was the roughest day of the conference. We had all day lectures lasting an hour and fifteen minutes or an hour and a half each. We had wonderful ones to choose from, such as “Writing Business Emails in Japanese” or “Searching for Trends in the Newspaper” or “How to Communicate Effectively.” None of these turned out to be very helpful. They were all given by professional speakers who knew little to nothing about the CIR position and who basically just babbled at us for their slotted hour and change. Some of them would try to get us to participate but I tried very hard to avoid that. I don’t like speaking Japanese in a room full of other foreigners who speak it better than me.

I basically wound up spending the day with the same group of people: Kyoto CIRs Jonathan and Ian, Jennifer, and Abel who went to Wash U and is placed in Nara. Poor Ian was staying at a hotel like the first one I had reserved. This being Chiba, a lot of people commute to Tokyo in the morning and apparently he had to get crammed onto the trains…literally. The doors would not close and once they closed they couldn’t open. We were able to have a decent time and to be honest the very best part of the whole orientation was that I could compare myself now to myself last year and realize just how far I have come. However, sitting in on the "Prep for JLPT Level 1" lecture proved to me just how far I still have to go.... (T_T)

It was incredible to find that I could make it through an entire day of Japanese speeches without wanting to die. I could actually pay attention and understand what was going on without thinking too hard. That was a really great feeling. It made me feel like I have actually accomplished something over the past year.

At the end of the day Jonathan, Alison, Ian, Jennifer, Abel and I decided to hit up the Outback for dinner. Yeah, that’s right, The Outback. We got steak. Steak steak. Not the fake crap they call steak here, but New York Strip Steak. And bloomin onion. And Cheese Fries! And real Caesar salad and real honey mustard dipping sauce. Oh it was awesome. By the end of it we were all in food comas and could barely move but it was SO worth it. We even ordered a dessert to split between the 6 of us.

They had a BINGO tournament and if you won you would get the whole table’s meal for free…that would have been awesome considering how we each paid about $40. But we lost, and it was worth the money anyway.

After that I was kind of in pain from having eaten so much and we all decided to head back to our hotel rooms.




November 11

The next day actually went by fairly quickly. The first lecture I went to was completely useless but the second one about giving presentations at schools wasn’t bad. It was given by a fellow CIR so he at least understood what it is we do and made it relevant.

Afterward, my group headed into Tokyo to get some lunch and omiyage for our offices. We just grabbed lunch at the first decent place we could find (Tokyo Station is massive and very confusing). Then I grabbed some cookies for the office and some bagels at Bagel & Bagel (not quite the same as home but damn close), hopped on the shinkansen and made my way home. All in all a decent experience.

John Cage Concert

At the concert last weekend, we got a flier advertising a concert for today. It was the "John Cage 100 Years Countdown" event at the Kyoto Arts Center. For those of you who don't know, and I was one of you until a few weeks ago, John Cage was a musician who liked to test boundaries. One of his most famous works 4'33" is actually just him sitting at a piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds without playing a single note. Apparently it is all about hearing music in the silence? or something deep like that.

But this event was a tribute to his work put on by a group of maybe 5 or 6 Japanese people. It was really quite interesting. I have never been the type of person who really understands more abstract styles of art, though I have always had a healthy respect for such performances and products.

When we got to the center, we grabbed a quick snack at the cafe downstairs and then headed up to the main assembly room for the performance.

Rows of chairs were set up around the perimeter of the room, making it kind of like theater in the round. In the center of the room was a giant piano and to the right was a small stage, and a drum set. On the left was a table with several cacti and other items from nature. In front of the piano was a table with an amp on it.

The lights went down and a woman entered the stage. She sat down at the desk and I couldn't see her because of the woman sitting in front of me (she was unusually large for a Japanese woman). All I could hear were the sounds she was making. It was a very loud sharp snap followed quickly by a sort of dull sound and then a rough friction sound. It was very interesting...until I moved my head to see what she was doing. She was clipping and filing her fingernails...

Before I knew what she was doing I was enjoying it because it seemed very interesting. But once I figured it out, it was a bit disturbing. Though I should be used to it by now since my coworkers will sometimes clip their fingernails...and on a bad day their toe nails...at their desks. (gross)

There were several other performances with a prepared piano and then one really cool one where they used feathers and other natural elements to "play" the cacti. Everything was set up with amplifiers so that the sound would be captured and carry around the theater.

This is an example of a video on Youtube of John Cage playing the cactus.


It was not the kind of concert I would probably go to very often, but I appreciated the opportunity to break out of my comfort zone. If you only go to performances of things you know you like and thinks that are considered "normal" and "popular" then you really miss out on a lot. I may not really get it, but I enjoyed it and took away from it what I could.

Shibuya Concert

Last weekend The Boy (I have decided to continue calling him The Boy on this blog out of respect for his privacy) went to Tokyo to see an artist he likes performing noise music. I would have gone but unfortunately I had a taiko performance.

However this weekend that same artist came to Kyoto to do a more traditional piano concert. It was held at The Kyoto Art Center near Shijo. As we left my apartment I stood there contemplating whether or not I should bring an umbrella. I chose no because it wasn't really raining. And that was just dumb. I should know by now that I should never leave the house without an umbrella in this country. Of course when we got off the train in Kyoto it was pouring and we had to run, me in pretty tall stiletto like heels, about 200 meters to the center. By the time we got there I looked like a drowned rat. It was awesome. Thank god he's already my boyfriend and he has to like me anyway (^_~)

The concert was really beautiful. It was more traditional that what you might expect of someone who also specializes in noise music, but it was really enjoyable. Below is an example of the main piece. The concert is in memory of his wife, a French woman named Maria, who died of cancer a few years ago.



Afterward we went to a nearby "French" restaurant because it had Guinness on tap. He thought the portions might be small and, thought I was skeptical, he convinced me to order a half salad and an entree and some bread...along with a Guinness. He was even worse, getting a sandwich and an entree...

This was the best French restaurant ever. It was decorated with really random semi-French style items. The menu was even less French. He ordered ステーキフリッテ or steak fritte...which turned out to be a steak on top of a GIANT pile of french fries. It was hilarious. Not really very French I don't think. But it was fun.

Bowling 大会!!!!

Today was the bowling party for my office. I had totally forgotten about it, so when I showed up to work this morning and they were talking about it I was like "Oh Crap!"

After work today Fukuchi-san and I caught a ride with Hashimoto-san from the human rights division to ALPlaza, where the bowling alley is. Hashimoto-san is fairly young, but I don't really like him. To be honest he seems kind of rude. I mean, I'll see him in the hallway and say good morning to him and he will completely ignore me. It is probably just something weird, but I don't like it.

I helped Fukuchi-san buy the prizes for whoever gets the top score in the games. I won last year and was hoping not to win this year too. I had to give a big speech last year and that was embarrassing...but yeah.

After everyone showed up and I remembered that I had to get my shoes out of the vending machine instead of at the counter, we got started. I was on a team with Fujiki-kacho and Nakagawa-fukusanji. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get to be on a team with the only other person there anywhere near my age, the other Nakagawa-san who works at the Exchange Center, but Fukuchi-san was on the lane next to me and I had a really good time anyway.

I really wish we could do more things like this. I hate that everything at city hall is so stiff and serious. They are all so much fun when you get them out of the office. I don't understand why things can't be just a little more relaxed all the time. We were making jokes and congratulating each other and cheering each other on.

I was watching everyone's scores trying to make sure I would fall in the mid range instead of on top, but I started to do really well and just didn't want to give up. I ended up getting a turkey and bowling a 150 (with handicap a 180, though I hate having a handicap). So, I ended up winning again.

After we ended our two bowling games we got into a taxi and headed to the restaurant Fukuchi-san had picked out. She ends up being the kanji, or person in charge, of events like these. The restaurant was REALLY cute. It was a little French bistro called Bistro Ete.

I tried to make it so I could sit by the people I am closest with and did a fairly good job. I was across from Mori-butyo (ie. the highest person in my office) which was a bit nervewracking but I was next to Fukuchi-san and near Koshio-kakaricho and Nakagawa-san as well so it ended up being fun. I did have to give a speech and I got a 1000 yen gift card (about 10 bucks) and flowers from the restaurant people. I was spared most of the embarrassment of the evening because all uncomfortable questions about boyfriends went to Fukuchi-san and when Nakagawa-san revealed that he has a girlfriend everyone tried to guess who it was.

Everyone got sufficiently drunk and seemed to have a really good time.

Pictures of Kameoka Festival

This weekend was Kameoka festival. We all got together and walked around to see the different hoko's (portable shrine/floats) on display throughout the town. There was festival food, friends, and fun for all. All photos were taken by Dara Han.


The decorations on these lanterns are made of paper.









Ah candied apples. They look SOOOOO good, but never are.


Aren't they cute?

Taiko at Izumo Shrine

Even though I woke up with a ridiculous cold, I went to our taiko performance at the 1300 year anniversary of Izumo Shrine. I was expecting a much bigger event, more like a festival, but there were really only about 7 people there other than the shrine workers. So we set up our drums. And then we played facing the shrine itself, rather than the audience, so it felt like we were playing to no one...Though they did tell me that the gods were watching so we should still play our best...




We still can't figure out how to tie those things ourselves.


Our taiko uniform.


The portable shrines for the upcoming festival.


The "stage," with Saito-san's grandson.


We did end up playing an encore which was really cool and it was a fun performance. Izumo Shrine is really gorgeous but kind of difficult to get to without a car, so it was nice to be up there when the leaves were turning.