Pictures from Japan

Okay, this will be the last post about Japan for a while. Here are the pictures I promised.

Erin and I on a ferry to Megijima Island.

These are our 'Oni faces', 'Oni' being demon in Japanese. This island was famous for its caves which were supposed to house evil spirits. At least, that is until Momotaro, the Peach Boy, a famous folk hero, came to kill them all.

This is me posing as Momotaro. That is my 'Oni vanquishing' face. Not to be confused with my 'Oni face'.

A typical train station in Japan. Its looks just like it is portrayed in every anime I've ever seen. Well, the ones that take place in Japan. We took the train everywhere.

those are octopus traps lying in a heap there. I found them very interesting.

Taking a rest on our island tour. I guess you can't tell but it was really hot.

A Shinto shrine in Erin's neighborhood. Right next to the car dealership and the dentist.

eating ramen in Japan. How much more Japanese could you get? It was delicious.

the beautiful lotus blossoms. I wish I could have taken a thousand more pictures of them.

Erin and I feeding the turtles and fish at the gardens.

this is how I got bit by a turtle. It didn't hurt, really, it was just surprising.

Me, chillin' like a villain at a local Shinto shrine.

Me in my yukata.

Erin's ghetto dojo

Erin and her sensei discussing her black belt certificate.

Erin showing her fellow martial artists.

My constant traveling companion, Miguel Sanchez, has a solitary moment by a rice field.

Japan Part Three - The End

Saturday, we first went to these famous gardens that are in Takamatsu – apparently Kings and Emperors from all over the world have been donating plants to this place for hundreds of years. It was a beautiful place and the lotus’ were in bloom. Since they only bloom for five days a year I was very lucky to have the right timing. We fed the turtles and the fish who were so used to being fed that the fish allowed themselves to be pet and the turtles would climb all over you. One of the turtles got hold of my finger but it didn’t hurt so much as it was cute. There were these strange, flat, needle-nosed, turtles there that I remember seeing at the Snake Park in Nairobi. I was so thrilled to see them in the wild (well, semi-wild) because I always wondered where they came from.

For lunch we met up with Grandma who had insisted on taking us out to lunch before I left. We talked about the differences between Korea and Japan – mostly that Korean people are much more touchy-feely and Japanese people have serious personal space issues. And the fact that the food in Korea is much spicier.

After lunch, we went to a kimono store and I tried on a yukata – it’s like a summer kimono and is less expensive than the full kimono is. I was pretty torn about buying one. I mean I always regretted not buying a nice silk sari when I was in India but those ran about 30 dollars and were easier to put on. Yukatas and kimonos require at least two people and unless they are put on in a special way, look terrible. I’m still debating and right now I’m leaning towards paying the $150 or so to get it. They are pretty neat.

The night was devoted to Erin taking her black belt test, which she passed with flying colors. She was so happy and I was happy for her because I knew what it felt like to get a new belt. It could only have been multiplied by the fact that it was a black belt.

Sunday, my final morning in Japan, was spent buying presents for my co-workers – I think I mentioned how they cornered me and demanded that I bring them back Milk Tea. They were so appreciative when I gave the tea to them today I was glad I remembered. For my last meal in Japan we had ramen – of course, I couldn’t leave Japan without having ramen – and sometime during the course of the meal, my plane left without me.

That’s right. I missed my flight back to Seoul because I hadn’t checked the time the night before. Spare me the ‘you should have checked’ lectures. Already got it twice. Or a billion times if you count the number of times I’ve given it to myself. Either way we arrived at the airport at 12:45pm thinking my flight left at 2:00pm when really it had already left at 12:25PM.

The women at the counter were very nice and understanding. They were doing everything they could to get me out of the country. At first they were like ‘oh, well we can just put you on the next flight’ and I was like ‘great, when is that?’. and they were like: ‘Wednesday’. Since I had to be at work on Monday that was no good.

They said they had a flight in the next prefecture over but it was for $600. It would have killed me to pay the much for a one hour flight. Finally, the lady held up her finger and disappeared into the back saying that she would make some phone calls. I had just started wondering what kind of phone calls she was making when she came back and said she got some of the money I spent on my flight that I missed to apply to the flight in the next prefecture over. So, if we hurried, I would only have to pay the difference (which was still like $400) to get on the flight. Since it was the best offer I was going to get we dashed into a taxi ($40), got two bus tickets to the next prefecture over ($80), got a taxi from that station to that airport ($20) and got to the airport where the people from Asiana airlines were waiting for us. The whole time this song was playing in my head.

We got there about 30 min before my flight was supposed to take off. The ladies at the Asiana counter flagged us down and took care of everything as fast as possible. I ended up only paying $30 for the flight which was the only good thing about this whole endeavor. Security and immigration put together only took about 15min and I was on the plane with about a minute to spare.

So, if you even have to travel through East Asia, choose Asiana because they will bend over backwards to get you where you want to be. In fact, that should be their new slogan.

pictures will come soon.

Japan Part Two

Day two consisted of shopping in the morning and meeting up with Erin’s future employer in the evening. Erin’s contract with the city of Takamatsu was up the end of July and a new student from Eckerd is coming to replace her. Thus, to stay in Japan, she needs to get a new job. The school she found is a private English school that is basically the Japanese equivalent of mine. The principal who we nicknames ‘Grandma’ due to her sweet and understanding disposition and the fact that every time we went out to eat she would refuse to let us pay, saying ‘Grandma’s got this one’.

Grandma seemed intent on wooing me to come teach in Japan but even if I hadn’t signed a binding, legal contract with my Korean employers I don’t think I’d come to Japan because it’s SO EXPENSIVE. But at least I know that Erin will be in good hands. Her new schedule is a little busier than her old one but when she signed the contract, she was ecstatic to be spending another year in Takamatsu.

We also went to see her employer because I was going to be working for them for a couple hours the next day. See, they were supplying foreign teachers for a special conference for Japanese elementary school teachers. They are required to teach their students at least a little English and they needed someone to help with pronunciation and grammar.

Since Erin couldn’t do it because of a previous engagement with her other job, I was signed up for the roll of ‘foreign lecturer’ for the day. Grandma asked me if I had any nice clothes – which of course I didn’t – and if I had any nice shoes – also no.

Thus, the next day found me in a borrowed top, a half-made skirt and my clunky sneakers in front of a room of Japanese elementary school teachers. Grandma insisted on staying to introduce me so she could ‘explain me’. Which I took to mean my outfit was far from satisfactory.

It was very interesting, not only because I was teaching in a different country, but also because I was teaching adults (Read: people who actually wanted to learn). They had me say sentences for them with my accent so they could copy me. Then they got into groups and had mock conversations so they could practice speaking English. Some were very good and I think some where just really shy.

Just when I was feeling useless there would be some point of grammar or speech I felt I needed to point out. Some examples: The fact that two dice are called ‘dice’ and one is called ‘die’. The same with ‘octopus’ and ‘octopi’. The best one was when they were having a conversation about what animals they liked. The question was ‘what animals do you like?’ and in the book it said the response should be ‘I like dog’. I had to correct them and say, when you say you like and animal, its always in plural (my Korean students have problems with this, too). Because if you say ‘I like dog’ it means you like to eat dog.

After everything was over, one of my students came up to me and spoke long and eloquently to me about my teaching. Too bad she was speaking Japanese and I had no idea what she said. It’s strange how long it took the students to understand that I didn’t speak a word of Japanese. It took my all six days to get down ‘thank you’. Grandma, who was there, said the woman was very impressed with my teaching style and was very thankful to me for coming to teach them on my vacation. I, unaware that I had any ‘style’ whatsoever when I teach, was very appreciative of the compliment.

That night, some of Erin’s friends were throwing me a welcome party which was super nice of them considering they don’t know me. Naoko and Chikako (“Chica”) were the co-conspirators in this slice of Japanese crazy and absolutely made the night a success. They even picked the perfect venue – a bar called ‘Drunk Monkeys’.

They invited some Japanese friends , one of whom is a famous craftsman, designated as a ‘living treasure’ by the Emperor himself. He makes traditional candy molds out of cherry wood by hand. He was the one buying most of the drinks.

Japanese meals come in stages and after about five of these, the chef brought out a plate full of little round balls. Naoko referred to these as ‘tako balls’. I had already been warned by several people that ‘tako’ is Japanese for ‘octopus’ not ‘Mexican deliciousness’. So, I had already planned not to eat them (I just can’t do it – they’re too smart to eat) when Chica, who had demonstrated only moderate English skills up until this point said, “It’s a game, like Russian Roulette’. Since the term ‘Russian Roulette’ is not in your standard English phrase book, I was intrigued. She explained that they all had tako in them, but only one had a red pepper tucked inside. We were all going to eat one and a bystander was going to have to guess which of us had eaten the spicy one.

The bystander chose Erin first because she was so red – Erin just is always red – and me second because Chica had convinced him that since I lived in Korea and eating spicy Korean food I could bluff better than most. Third he chose the craftsman who, in my opinion, has no poker face and gave himself away immediately.

They then procured this barrel with a monkey on top. We stuck swords into the barrel until it popped out. The loser had to wear something ridiculous. I ended up with a traditional looking head band on that apparently said something about being ‘sure to win’ on it. Erin got bunny ears, and the craftsman had to wear this red Japanese robe. Shaun, another foreign teacher in attendance, had to wear the Japanese version of Groucho Marx glasses.

We had so much fun that we missed the last train home (at the ridiculous hour of 11pm) and had to walk all the way back to Erin’s apartment.

Still to come is my harrowing journey our of the country on the next installment of: Emily's Time In Japan.

Japan Part One

Though my trip to Japan ended with a mad dash to another prefecture and then out of the country due to my gross negligence, I have to say that I had a great time in Japan.

I arrived on schedule, thanks mostly to Steph who took time out of her busy schedule to look up where and when I should wait for the airport shuttle. Unfortunately, when I got there, I seemed to be setting off someone's internal alarm bells. The customs guy stopped me and had me follow him into a side room where he and a female customs agent proceeded to take every single thing out of my bags, one by one, and discuss it with me. Then, just for good measure, they x-rayed everything I owned.

This, however, didn't seem to matter to me. See, I couldn't concentrate on what was going on over the screaming in my head that just kept going AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! I'M IN JAPAN! AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!

I was no where this excited when I got to Korea. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I used to love anime. I still do, I guess, but I don't have the patience to read the subtitles anymore. I always have to be doing something with my hands when I watch a movie and reading precludes me from doing so. Thus, I no longer really watch anime. But the idea of Japan as a Mecca for anime lovers was so burned in my brain that I was just too excited to be upset about being strip searched.

Erin lives in a city called Takamatsu in Kagawa prefecture - which is famous for its udon noodles. Its about three hours away from Osaka and five hours away from Kyoto. Takamatsu is the sister city of St.Petersburg, Florida, where we both went to college. Erin is working for the City Hall as a sort of good will ambassador. She proof reads signs, has meetings with visiting dignitaries, teaches English at a local high school, writes tourist pamphlets, and whatever else they can think up for their pet foreigner. Most recently, this includes filming an informational video for other foreigners to help them navigate the trains and the ferries between cities and islands.

Erin is super busy most of the time so I wasn't surprised when we took a taxi straight from the airport to her karate dojo. She was training for her black belt test that Saturday and really didn't want to miss a practice. So, my first couple of hours in Japan were spent sitting in a corner with my bags, trying to avoid being hit by old man sweat as she practiced her katas.

It was an interesting feeling because - as some of you may or may not know - I took Tae Kwon Do for about five years when I was in Maryland and, to tell the truth, I have been missing it for a while. Even my superficial commitment to Juisitsu classes in college did not satisfy my itch to train for real. I'd been thinking about joining a dojo in Korea - after all, it is the birth place of Tae Kwon Do - but have been hesitating because I wasn't sure I could brave it with the language barrier. But watching Erin - even though she speaks "impeccable" Japanese - brave the language barrier really got me thinking about committing again to training in martial arts. I was only two belts away from black when I left so I could probably pick it up again rather quickly.

After she was finished practicing, we went back to her place and slept. Her apartment is a tradition sort of place with a traditional Japanese bath - i.e.: one that looks like a tub but is a square that comes up to about your hip. You are supposed to kneel in the tub so the water is all around you and pour water over your head with a bucket. It has been the bane of Erin's existence for an entire year. For me, after being in India for five months with no hot water and no shower heads, it was rather nostalgic.

Being Takamatsu's pet foreigner has its perks, like an all expenses paid island hopping trip to see all the local art exhibits. The Setouchi art festival is apparently very famous:

"The Setouchi International Art Festival is an annual art festival held across the small islands of the Seto Inland Sea, an area known as a mecca of contemporary art in Japan. The festival gives visitors a chance to experience both the works of art and local island culture of this unique region."

And many famous artists come to participate every year. Read more about it here. Some of the pieces were beautiful and intriguing, some were confusing and unimpressive. Either way they are spread out over the dozen or so islands in the Set Inland Sea and we tramped over quite a few of them. It was a long day of hiking and avoiding heat exhaustion but it utilized the one class I had even taken at Eckerd that was even remotely related to Japan - Japanese Art Through the Ages.

From that class I learned - and it was confirmed by this adventure - that Japanese art, both modern and ancient, is very subtle. Even anime, though crazy and ridiculous at times, uses lines to imply rather than to fully spell out an image. Its one of the reasons I stopped trying to draw it, because it seemed like such a cop out. Though I still love to look at it.

Erin's handler from the City Office, Mariko, was our guide, and along for the ride were two high school girls from St. Petersburg who are participating in a cultural exchange for the summer, their host families, and Prof. Adachi from Eckerd who has the honor of being the only Japanese teacher there and Erin's own personal Jesus.

I knew Adachi-sensei from my time at Eckerd because all my friends were taking Japanese and they would always drag me to their Japanese department parties. My friends would tell her stories about things that I did - I'm pretty sure I'm burned in her memory as 'the other one'.

It was a great time for Erin because Adachi-sensei got to see how well she's getting along in Japan and how amazing her Japanese skillz have gotten (she said, and I quote "your Japanese is Impeccable". This was a very big deal for Erin). Adachi-sensei took the opportunity to tell me that I should have taken Japanese instead of Spanish at Eckerd and, honestly, if I had, I would probably have two degrees right now instead of one. But that's another rant for another time.

The day ended with a farewell dinner for Adachi-sensei with more people from City Hall which was very much an education in a traditional Japanese business dinner.

Things I Knew: Never stick your chopstick into your food - this indicated it is an offering to the spirits. Always wait until the most important person at the table starts to eat before you do. Always monitor the drink levels of your companions; pour them a new drink if they get low. Never pour yourself a drink. Always accept gifts/business cards with both hands and make sure you do something acceptable with them when you have them. For example, don't accept a business card with both hands and then shove it unceremoniously into your back pocket.

Things I Didn't Know: NEVER touch chopsticks with another person. Don't let your chopsticks touch the table, when you are done, put them across your bowl or plate. Always finish every last bit of your food (In Korea, its the opposite. A clean plate means your host has been neglectful and isn't feeding you enough). Always turn your chopsticks around to use the other side when taking food from the communal bowl. Always clap after a toast.

The eldest person is supposed to pay for the rest, and so, all day, Adachi-sensei and Mariko-san were duking it out over who got to buy us ice cream, lunch, etc. Erin dubbed it the Battle of the Super Powers. Since the dinner was already paid for they took a break and we all just talked. I talked a little less than the others because I didn't understand Japanese.

And that was only day one. I'll type the rest later - my fingers hurt. And soon to come - Pictures!