Explanation

So I started writing all of these posts (or at the very least was thinking about them). But I’ve been busy. I just had about 3 hours on the train, so I decided to catch everyone up. I’m going to split this into a couple of posts so it’s not one massively long post. Plus it makes sense to break them up the way I wrote them. I kept it so the most recent trip is the newest post so you will have to go back to the Nara post and scroll up from there to get it all in chronological order (if that is how you want to read it). Also, I didn’t go back and change stuff for the Nara post to reflect that I took that trip about 2 weeks ago. Just to let you know.

Out of Tokyo

Okay, I can now check off another famously Japanese thing off my list. I have now had a homemade bento. My host mother made it for me because we didn’t have time for dinner. I was just going to buy something at the train station, so I was really surprised that she put it together for me. And it was fantastic, so much better than anything I could buy. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it before I ate it. It was so nice and balanced, rice, meat, vegetables, egg (I seriously am going to start making tamagoyaki when I get home. Best eggs ever). Even the guy next to me commented on my bento. It was soo good. And she even wrapped it up with chopsticks and everything.

I love my host family so much, just in case it wasn’t obvious. I set a day aside to see them again. So they picked me up at the local train at 10, and then we hung out at their house for the whole afternoon and they took me back to the train at 6 so I could get to Shin yokohama for the train to Himeji at 7:22. But I had such a good time hanging out with them. I realize now how incredibly lucky I have been to have them. Many Japanese are not so easy to get close to, but my family didn’t stand on ceremony at all. I played with the kids and washed dishes. And my host mother hugged me as soon as she saw me again. It makes me sad that I don’t know if/when I will see them again. Will definitely have to send them a package when I get home. Ideas as to what to send? I’ll have to think about it.

And I accidently ended up in the smoking car again. So annoying, how did I manage to sit down in the only smoking car on the train! It’s a gift. I’m too stubborn to move, though really I should. Maybe in a little while I will. Seriously though, if these people can’t go 30 minutes without lighting up, how do they survive the day when smoking isn’t allowed in most places? Seriously, a mystery.

Anyway, tomorrow is the castle at Himeji in the morning, then Hiroshima were I seriously expect to shed some tears. Despite my host researcher’s urging not to see the memorial and museum dedicated to the bomb and those affected because it would be “unpleasant” I am going. I don’t think I should ignore an important part of modern history that my country was involved in simply because it will make me uncomfortable. Unlike Kubota who seems to refuse to see anything negative about his own country (seriously, I was really tired of the endless comments about how great Japan is by the end. And don’t act all superior about things like racism – you have it too and in some more insidious ways than the US. This is worth it’s own post really), I feel like I should be aware of both the good AND bad things of my country. Ignoring one side or the other is dangerous, I feel. I don’t expect to have an easy time with it, and I fully expect to cry (just the thought of the girl and the cranes makes me tear up). But ignoring the event is worse, I think. Any thoughts?

Nikko

Hmm. I don’t think I say much about this trip. I got up early on Friday to head out Nikko which is 2 hours by train north of Tokyo. It gets busy, so I was trying to beat the crowds. I mostly succeeded. But the main thing about this trip was that I was cold! For the first time Japan. When I left the hostel, I realized that it was a bit cooler (a storm had moved through the night before), but I was so used to Shirahama where no matter how cool it is in the early morning, by 10 or so, it is freaking hot. So although I thought about going back at least for my long sleeve hoodie, I didn’t. I should have. And I should have put the one pair of pants I had on. And brought an umbrella. I didn’t do any of those things so I was a bit cold and wet (though the rain wasn’t so bad because it misted and didn’t really rain heavily. And I bought an umbrella for the second time this trip. You would think I would learn. And now I have I will always bring an umbrella from now on.). I later remedied being cold with my favorite Japanese thing, a trip to an onsen which was super hot. 15 minutes in the water was all I could stand, but it was wonderful and warmed me up completely.

Anyway, as for Nikko, near the town there is a complex of temples and shrines amongst a forested area. The guy who established the Shogunate asked his son to build a tomb for him there and enshrine him as a God. He did so and along the way, built lots of buildings that seem to serve the purpose of showing off how powerful and rich the family was. Seriously, these are the most gaudy temples and shrines (particularly the Toshogu shrine complex) that I have ever seen. Lots of gold and very involved carvings. On the other hand, there is a lovely garden associated with one of the temples, lots of beautiful stone lanterns, and moss covered stones that are really beautiful all over.

Those elements help make all the gold and ornate carvings seem less over the top. But the whole place reminds me of a super-done-up Kumano shrine. But those shrines are more dignified and serene and they are not the result someone in power trying to show off. I can see why the people in Tokyo who all told me the loved it were impressed – you can’t see anything like it in Tokyo, but it is truly sub-par to a shrine and temple complex like Nachi. But I’m glad I went, and I liked it. Plus it makes me realize how lucky I was to see two of the Kumano Sanzan which have a longer and more interesting history to me as well as nicer complexes.

Leaving Shirahama for Tokyo

So my last day in Shirahama seriously sucked from a work perspective. I have been seriously angry at Kubota sensei for what happened that day and in my heart of hearts, I don’t know that I will ever completely get over it. I don't think I can talk about it rationally yet so it will have to wait until more of my anger has dissipated. But I can say that I am super happy that I left Shirahama that night and met up with my roommate at Sokendai, Lee. I absolutely love that girl and within 5 minutes she had me laughing and relaxing. She goes to school in West Virginia, SS. Some day I will need to rent a car and travel to the state to see you and Lee. Plus her host decided to pay for a hotel room for her Monday and Tuesday night which meant that I didn’t have to pay anything for a room. Good thing too because it’s so easy to spend money in Tokyo, I overspent a little.

Then on Wednesday, we were put up by JSPS at the Keio plaza in Shinjuku. The nicest hotel in the most upscale neighborhood that I have ever stayed at. I don’t know why they chose to put us all up INDIVIDUALLY in this super expensive hotel. It seems that at least could have made up pair up (and I wouldn’t have minded being with Lee again). Not that I’m complaining, but it seems like they could have used the money a bit better. It was nice to see everyone and talk to them all again. I would say that I meet about 4 or 5 people that I really want to keep in touch with. Hopefully they feel the same too.

Oh, and there was a minor earthquake during the final presentations for the program, so I have now experienced that too (something Kubota sensei said that I needed to experience while I was in Japan to have the full experience).

Nara

I just had both a really nice weekend and a really frustrating one. On Friday evening, I caught the bus back to Osaka (my 3rd trip on this bus!) where I spent the night. I was really glad to be in a hotel that night because it meant that I could watch the Olympics! (the TV in the common room of the dorm does not work). I missed the performance unfortunately, and had to settle for watching the teams march in and the lighting of the torch. I must comment that Japanese coverage of the event is far superior to American coverage. I watched it for a few hours (from about 10:30 to after 1 since it took so long to get to the lighting of the torch) and there was not a single commercial! I don't know how it works here, but that was wonderful.

The next morning, I got up early to head to Nara, the first official capital of Japan. There is alot of history in Nara...and deer. Most of the sights are concentrated inside or around Nara Koen (nara park). The park is also filled with deer who are entirely tame since tourists (and vendors) feed them. Nara is famous for the deer and the world's largest wooden building, the Todai-ji temple, which also houses Japan's largest Buddha statue. Anyway, I met up with Jamie, another American JSPS fellow who is working in Kyoto. We walked around the park, seeing the various temples shrines and lanterns (the Kasuga Shrine here has hundreds of charming stone lanterns that have moss growing on top). I won't comment on the heat because you all should know by now that it is very hot everywhere in Japan now. But I enjoyed green tea ice cream and later melon flavored shaved ice (the shaved ice that they have here is awesome. Also, I love the melon-flavored stuff here, something I sadly cannot get in the US).

Nara itself was nice. It was of course nice to have someone to talk to and we met up with Liz (who I had previously traveled with in Osaka and who is stationed in Nara) for dinner and had a wonderful meal of okonomiyaki, yakisoba, and some other teppan cooked thing that was also oishii (delicious).

The annoying part was listing to Jamie (who is stationed in Kyoto) and realizing that she has seen NOTHING of the city even after about 6 weeks there! I mean, I know that she is working hard, but she didn’t even take an hour out of her day to see the big Gion Matsuri parade! There were so many people in Kyoto to travel with and it is easy to navigate. Plus there is tons to see, so her constant comment “next time I come to Japan, I do x and y” got on my nerves. You gotta take advantage of opportunities when they come! And what makes you think next time will be different from this time? If you were not motivated to do it while it was so easy, why would you do it next time? That just drives me crazy. But looking at her is kinda startling because I think that is how I used to be. I now realize how far I’ve come and I’m really proud of myself. I’ve come a far way from the insecure high school student who worried about everything and never did anything. And Japan has really pushed me and forced me to grow in a good way. (As I side note, I have similar frustration with Liz who complains about how isolated she is. Excuse me? You are about 1 hour and maybe 30 minutes from Kyoto and Osaka. I realize that you have to take a bus and a train to get there so it’s not really an option on evenings, but at least you have access. And you got taken to Tokyo for a long weekend to do work and shop so I don’t want to hear it!)

Sunday was crazy. Since we did Nara as a day trip, I decided that I would go back to Kyoto to buy gifts since I hadn’t done that yet. I knew a good place that was a cooperative of several small stores that sell handcrafted things. So I thought that I would catch the train to Kyoto from Nara which is pretty easy, grab a bus to the store, shop, grab the bus back, and hop on an express back to Osaka in time to catch my bus at 1:50. The bus to Osaka only takes about 30 minutes (everything is pretty close together in Kansai). And catching buses from Kyoto station is easy so I thought I could do it no problem. I did do it, but I barely made my bus. Seriously, I got to the bus at 1:45 and the bus left promptly at 1:50 because everything is one time in Japan. And I don’t know if I would have made it if it weren’t for the fact that the train let me off right by Sakurabashi gate which is the exit that I needed for the bus. But I got gifts for all my family members…except Ryan who I totally forgot (though I included him the budget, I kept wondering why I was under budget). Oh well, I’ll pick him up sometime.

Update

So I’ve been pretty busy lately trying to get some research done before I leave (especially because I think my host wants me to give a talk on what I did here even though I have repeatedly told him that it would be a very short talk), and with various activities in town and travel.

Last Friday we had the dance festival in town, which wasn’t much of a festival. I mean there were a lot of people and it was nice, but there wasn’t really food, games or other things that I now associate with Japanese festivals. Basically, these women who were all dressed in identical yukatas (the obi color differed sometimes) gave everyone a fan and urged you down the street to a park which had lanterns and was done up for the occasion. The fan had a number on it (mine was 285) and I was a little confused at this point. Anyway, they played this song and the women started to dance in wide circles around a central stand. The dance only had about 8 moves and they encouraged everyone to join in. After an hour, everyone broke for free tea, some speeches and chitchat. Then the women did a more involved version of the dance for a little bit before going back to the simplified steps and encouraging people to join in again. After a while, the dancing stopped and they had a lottery (which included some nice prizes including a ryokan stay). Sadly, I did not win anything, but I was very proud of the fact that I understood most of the numbers (though it took me a few minutes to remember that sen is 1000). The whole thing was very low key and pleasant. I participated in the dance for 20 minutes or so before chatting with another American for a while (I have actually seen a few white people around now that it is high season here).

The girl, whose name I can’t remember, was really nice but a bit of an idiot. She apparently got some money from her school (she had just graduated college and I think it was her school that gave her money) to study bunraku, the elaborate (and awesome) puppet theater developed in Japan. Bunraku is centered in Osaka where there is a national theater for the art form (also several stories of this art form are about life in Osaka). I saw a short performance of bunraku in Kyoto and totally loved it. So much so that I looked into trying to go to a performance in Osaka. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to get tickets (I only found out AFTER I went to Osaka, darn it), but I did know that there was a summer performance going on in Osaka. So when I asked this girl if she was going to see the show (shows actually, because they have 3 going on at a time), she said that it had just left Osaka. I gave her a weird look but figured she knew what she was talking about. During my travels this weekend I saw a flier for bunraku in Osaka stating that the performance would end on AUGUST 6. Soon after, I also figured out how to get online tickets (there were still some available for all 3 shows). I lamented the fact that I could not back to Osaka to see this, and generally thought that the girl was an idiot. How do you come to a country to study something and don’t even have the right dates? Oh well.

On Saturday, I caught the train down to Kii Katsuura so that I could see the Nachi waterfall and the adjoining grand shrine. This was the second of the three grand shrines of the Kumano region (the Hayatama shrine in Shingu being the other I have seen so far). I am hoping to make it out to Hongu to complete the trifecta, but it will have to be the last weekend I am in Shirahama and…well, we’ll see how it goes. I think I should be able to make it.

I arrived at Kii Katsuura unsure of which bus to catch up to the waterfall. Luckily I asked a guy at the bus station, who didn’t speak any English but was super nice and looked out for me after that (he came up to me later to tell me I could buy a ticket when the woman started manning the both, then he made it clear by pointing which bus was the one I wanted). I was nervous about finding the right bus and the right stop since I know there wouldn’t be any English, but managed fine as always.

Nachi was very nice, though hot (as it is everywhere these days). The waterfall is the tallest in Japan I believe, being about 133 m high. It does not seem very wide, though it is hard to tell from the base of the waterfall. There is a small shrine right at the base, but that is not the grand shrine. For that, you have to hike a considerable way straight up (more stairs, just like the Kamakura shrine in Shingu). I had hoped to avoid a lot of upward climbing because it was so hot, but what can you do? (Later my host told me that he had seen the waterfall, but had never hiked up to the shrine. Which seems rather pointless if you ask me. The waterfall is beautiful, no doubt, but some of the more enjoyable views are from the shrine and it is the shrine that makes the area more than just a pretty place).

Anyway, I got up there; though I was disgusting by the time I made it. I stopped to have an ice cream (which tasted fantastic because I was so hot) and while I was eating it, I had marvelous views of the waterfall, the surrounding mountains and forests as well as the valley. Definitely worth the hike. The shrine was nice and next to the shrine was a Buddhist temple. The people at the temple where especially friendly, urging everyone to come in and look around. And the guy who stamped my book spoke a little English and joked around with me a bit. Left me with a really warm feeling of the place. Then I went down to find daimon-zaka. Daimon-zaka is part of the ancient pilgrimage between all the grand shrines and a few other holy sites in the Kumano region. I guess it was a popular pilgrimage at one point (imperial family members made the trip and there is a famous quote about the path being so crowded, it was like a line of ants). My understanding is that people believed that the Gods dwelled in the Kumano region and that these particular Gods accepted everyone, regardless of gender or background, as long as they made a sincere pilgrimage. Not surprisingly, this made them very popular. Daimon-zaka is a remnant of that ancient trail, so I walked down it a bit. It was really lovely – lined with trees so that it was cooler than other areas with a nice breeze. But it was pretty vertical. It was no walk in the park to make this pilgrimage, I got a sense of that walking back up Daimon zaka to catch the bus back to Kii katsuura (and I later learned that I could have picked the bus up at the base of the trail. Sigh). Anyway, I have a lot of respect for the people who made (and still make) that pilgrimage. And I can see why it would be a deeply religious experience.

After that, I had a headache from being overheated and not eating enough (I drank a lot of water but only realized later that I hadn’t eaten very much). So I grabbed some yakisoba at a restaurant while I waited for the train back. Overall, a great experience although 10 degrees cooler would have been so much nicer.

I went to the open-air onsen on Sunday and ate out in town, but I think I will talk about those later (I really need to do a separate post on onsen…).

Hana-bi!

Apparently, Shirahama has two big fireworks shows in the summer. One July 30 and another August 10 (why they are only about 11 days apart, I don't know). Anyway, some labmates and I walked down to the beach on the 30th to go see the fireworks this week. I was kinda worried as we walked down because I was really hungry and didn't know if I would have time to run to the super market to grab something to eat. I need not have worried. This was a fireworks festival which means that there were food vendors lining the walkways to the beach. So I got some very good yakisoba and Fukami-sensei's wife gave me a can of ume-shu (basically plum wine, the best alcohol ever) and I was set. There were also some games for kids (I saw the goldfish game again) and it was very busy by the beach. However the most crowded part was not on the beach itself, but on the non-sandy part. Although we didn't have a blanket or anything, we just went on down to the beach and reconciled ourselves to being sandy.

I'm glad we did, because the view from the beach was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever been closer to fireworks before. Although, I don't feel that I can call what I saw fireworks. The show was soo much better than anything I've seen in the US that it seems silly to call them the same thing. So from now on, the US has fireworks, Japan has hanabi.

The hanabi show just blew my mind. They played with size, color, distance, angle, direction, timing all kinds of things. And I saw several types that I have never seen in the US (and I have gone to the big Chicago fireworks before so I'm not basing this all on small town fireworks - although Shirahama is a small town). It was a solid 30 minutes of really awesome explosions. There were at least 4 "grand finales" in the show, not including the last one which lit up the whole sky. Plus it was over the water, which made it really nice too. Afterwards, I was told that this show was the short one, the one on the 10th is supposed to be longer! I don't know how they can improve on what I saw, but I'm looking forward to seeing the show on the 10th. Actually, that weekend, I am going to Nara, but I've made sure that I will be back by 5:30 so that I can go drop off my stuff, relax for an hour and then head back down to the beach for the show.

Tonight there is some dance festival from 7-9 on the road by the beach. I'm unsure what exactly this is, but I'm going to go check it out too.

Weekend plans - well, this weekend, I'm going to stick close to Shirahama because I have traveled far the last two weekends and will be traveling next weekend. But I think I will take the 2 hour trip to Nachi tomorrow morning (unfortunately, I can't really get a train earlier than 10:30, but oh well). The highest waterfall in Japan is there and has long been considered a deity. So one of the three big shrines of the area (Kumano sanzan) is there. I'll spend a couple of hours walking around there seeing the waterfall, shrine, and remnants of an ancient pilgrimage road there (the Kumano region is generally thought of as a holy region). Then on Sunday, I'm going to sleep in, and go to the really famous open air bath. I'm really looking forward to more onsen! Then I need to come back and work in the afternoon, but I can mostly take it easy.

Finally, it looks like my plans for my travel week are coming together. It looks like I will spend a few days in Tokyo (though I am hoping to make a day trip to Nikko) with someone, then head out by myself to Hiroshima to spend 2 days (and visit the island near by, Miyajima), then head over to Kanazawa where I will be by myself for one day then meet up with someone else for the second day, and then the 5-6 hour train ride back to Narita airport for the long flight back. It's kind of a crazy plan because I will be traveling for 5-6 hours by train, then wait at the airport for 2 1/2 hours, then board a 12 hour flight back to Chicago. But this is the best way to make use of my time (and maximize traveling with others). I know that I will be wreaked when I get to Chicago, but I probably would be anyway. And I'm staying with my family (I'm so glad that I scheduled in some collapse time at home where my family can look out after me). I'm planning on just hanging out with my family for the weekend and on labor day, then seeing friends on the 2nd and 3rd.

Okay, this post has wandered far off the original intent, so let's leave it here for now. Talk to you all later!

Lab parties

The last two weeks, the lab here has been really social having two parties and an outing. I'm not sure why they decided to have these parties (at least one was because two of the professors decided to fund one I guess) but they were really fun.

Last Monday, we had a takoyaki party. Takoyaki are these little dumplings that usually have small chunks of octopus in the middle. You cook them in little friers (see second picture below) and throw a bunch of other stuff in them (ginger which is the dark red stuff, green onions, and a few other things) and on them (takoyaki sauce, some green spice that is very common here, and dried fish flake kinda things). Some people also put mayo on their Takoyaki, but I do not hold with that (in a word, yuck!). I wasn't sure about the dumplings because I don't generally like squid and octopus (too chewy for me) and I was worried that the ginger would be too strong for me, but they were wonderful. The octopus was great (not chewy at all) and the mix of seasonings were amazing (I couldn't even distinguish the ginger, everything melded together so nicely). This is apparently a specialty of Osaka, which I also visited last weekend. I had takoyaki in the city and realized that I vastly prefer homemade (or at least Keita made) takoyaki. Watching them make takoyaki was cool too. It's actually super easy, except for when you need to turn the dumplings. That seems to require some skill to do it neatly. Keita was very good at it, Yuko was okay, and everyone else was bad. But they still taste good even if they don't look nice. Everyone ate and drank so much at the party, it was amazing. Some one kept bringing out more and more food. The takoyaki is gone, now we will make somen. That's gone, now we will bring out a huge selection of cookies and stuff. Now mangos. Now a watermelon. Now ice cream. STOP! I can't keep up with it all.
Poor Keita had to do most of the cooking (which he admits is always the case). He also did the primary cooking at the barbecue that we had this past monday. It started to really storm right about when it was time to start, so I thought we would postpone the party. Oh me of little faith! They shoved the grill under one of the overhangs of the building right outside the door and grilled there (see picture). It was an awkward place to have a party and it was very hot (due to the humidity being so high) but the food was good and it was fun. They grilled some veggies and meat which was dipped in a soy and sesame based sauce after grilling. Tasty. This party wasn't as big or as long as the takoyaki party (there wasn't an endless amount of food at this one), but it was really nice.
Finally, yesterday, a bunch of us went to see Ponyo on a cliff by the sea (I think that is the english translation). It's the new Hayao Miyazaki film (the guy who did Spirited Away) that just opened last week. This one has a lot of marine animals and themes in it, so of course the lab was interested in going (though they might have gone anyway). I just wanted to see it. So we went to the film, then had ramen (and did a little shopping) afterwards. The movie was awesome. Because it's geared towards younger children, it was very easy for me to understand the big picture. Some of the details escaped me, but I got the idea. Also, a couple of points I was able to pick up and understand some Japanese (it was pretty simple Japanese and not integral to the plot, but it still made me happy that I understood it). A very happy cute movie that is not saccharine sweet, I really recommend it. I'm already looking forward to seeing it in English with my mom, who will love it. And hanging out with the group was fun too.
Tonight is a big fireworks festival (Hanabi!) so I think there is going to be a small party on the terrace of the aquarium. I hope it doesn't storm for it (it has the last 2 nights). I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but starting in mid July, we have fireworks every night. But these are message fireworks (people pay for the fireworks and I think get a message projected while they go off). These are small shows, but tonight should be a big one! I'm looking forward to it. There is another big fireworks show on Aug. 10 (I don't know why they put them so close together) and a dance festival of some sort on Aug. 1. So I'm not going to travel much this weekend, just going to enjoy the local parties.

Japanese Fashion!

After spending some time in both Kyoto and Osaka, I have a couple of observations on Japanese fashion. Well, mostly on women’s fashion, actually.

So it seems that there are a few general ground rules that most women here follow*.

1. The more layers the better. Women are seriously into the layered look here. They typically wear dresses (that would be perfectly fine on their own) with leggings (most common) or jeans or other pants (less common). If wearing a shorter top (which still typically comes to their thighs), they will throw on shorts and leggings (even though you may only barely be able to see the shorts). Usually, several tops are layered on top of each other (which sometimes looks fine and other times seems like overkill). Sometimes you’ll see a normal top and shorts and they will still have leggings.
2. The frillier and more obviously feminine they can make the outfit the better. This means that a lot of outfits have ruffles, tiers, and most oddly, lace in random places. Lace in particular is really popular to have in parts of your top or skirt. I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen as much lace worn before.
3. Even when it is sickeningly hot out, shorts are generally not worn in preference for dresses and pants (or usually both). Shorts are only worn (generally) if they are really really short or as part of a romper that is very hard to explain (it sort of needs to be seen to be believed). But no matter how hot it is, many women will still maintain the layered look with leggings or jeans. (If it isn’t obvious from what I’ve written so far, leggings which usually go to the mid calf or ankle are very popular here. Usually black.)
4. The look must be completed with heels of some sort. It doesn’t matter how incongruous heels look with the rest of the outfit, or what activity has been planned for the day (see my earlier post about this). Many times I think that the footwear really doesn’t go with the rest of the outfit, but they wear those heels anyway. (Note regarding #2: there is a particular type of heeled sandal that some women wear here that has lace attached to the straps. It looks quite odd…again; I’m at a loss for words to describe it). Also, there are these gladiator sandals with heels that I see all over. Sometimes the straps go to the ankle but sometimes they go almost to the knee!
5. As for hair, it is generally down, pulled up to a tuft at the top of the head or into a side style. They like side ponytails here, something I have not seen in a long time.
6. For most women, it seems that the paler the skin, the prettier it is considered to be. This is partly why you see women with umbrellas everywhere in the heat of the summer (often these umbrellas are frilly in an attempt to keep with #2); the other reason of course is to beat the heat. You also see women with these gloves that go to or even over the elbow everywhere. I guess the main reason they wear these is to keep their arms from getting tan. I can understand that, but what I can’t understand is why most of them are black and made of some heavy almost felt-like material. It is freaking hot here, why wouldn’t you wear white gloves made out of a lighter material? Also, some women have taken this as a fashion I think because you also see several women wearing them indoors. (Note: there is a group of young women that are the exception to this rule. There is definitely a subset that tan like crazy, often lighten their hair, and wear a lot of bright often neon colors)
7. Makeup is a must here. I don’t really ever see Japanese women without it (except for maybe Yuko here at the lab, but she like me is a science nerd so I don’t think she counts). They must put something over it to lock it onto their face in the summer because otherwise I don’t know how it doesn’t sweat off (these women DO sweat. Considerably less than I do, but they do. I have seen it).

So those are a few general rules as to what to wear if you are a young hip Japanese woman in her 20s and even 30s. Of course these are generalizations, but it’s kinda scary how little women deviate from these rules. The US has a lot more variety in what women wear for sure. My general impression of fashion here – it is absolutely crazy. I think some of the underlying ideas are fine, but it is often taken to far or too literally or something. Many, many Japanese women are beautiful, however, I feel like they try to hard. They often wear so much frilly, lacey stuff that it overwhelms them I think. It almost seems like they feel the need to scream that they are female in every possible way, and I don’t like that kind of obviousness. Of course I’m not really fond of frills and stuff, I like things simple, so I may be biased. But I really do feel that if they relaxed a little, took it down a notch, many Japanese women would look far prettier which I think is the ultimate goal here. I think eventually I will put up some pictures to illustrate these rules.

A few notes on men’s fashion here. Many businessmen wear suits for work, and they are perfectly normal. And young men here generally wear typical guy stuff casually. But there are some obvious differences from what young guys wear in the US. Men here wear far more colors than guys in the US, and very bright colors at that. Liz and I were at the Osaka Nike store this past weekend and the bright colors of the shoes they sold there would never fly in the US today (maybe back in the 80s or early 90s). Also guys here aren’t worried about being labeled as feminine (i.e. they seem more secure in their masculinity, maybe because the culture maintains such sharp divisions for them they don’t need to worry about it). This means that guys wear pink, accessorize, and will even wear hair clips (I saw a guy in Osaka with a neon pink hairclip this morning that matched his neon pink shirt). I don’t really have a problem with it, but it is a bit startling at times.

And just to kill two birds with one stone here, some older Japanese women are really pushy! Sometimes to the point of being what I would consider rude. I give these women the right of way every time I see them. But often, they come up behind you and shove you over. This is of course not the general case, but I saw it (and experienced it) often enough (particularly in Kyoto) to see that it is a trend. Anyway, I was really annoyed by it last weekend and felt the need to comment on it.

*These fashion rules apply to younger women (20s and 30s). Middle aged and older women wear stuff that is pretty typical in the US. Though they still wear heels more often than we do. And rule #6 applies to all ages. Also, I should note that there are some middle to older aged women that always wear kiminos, and yukatas (the summer kiminos) are very popular with all ages to wear in the evening when going out.

FYI

I miss Kool-aide, fruit punch in general, peanut butter, pizza, hardy, crusty (not sweet) bread, cheese (yes you can get it here, but all I see is blah cheese) and real sandwiches (the japanese concept of a sandwich is totally different from an american one). I'm actually doing okay in terms of the homesickness (of course I miss my family and friends, but I'm handling that okay). What I'm really desperate for are the above food items. Sigh. I just had to put that out there.

Ah, summer festivals!

So like us, the Japanese take time in the summer to party, celebrate, and generally have a good time. Although there are many festivals (or matsuri) around the year, there are apparently 3 major ones. At least, that is what everyone says. I actually only know what one of the major festivals is, Gion Matsuri. I don’t know what the other two are.

In any case, Gion Matsuri is a festival held in Gion, an area of Kyoto (this is also the part of town to spot Geishas, incidentally). It lasts for about a month basically culminating with a huge parade (there are a few things that happen after the parade, but they seem to be fairly minor). The 3 nights before the parade, the main area of Gion is completely shut down to traffic so that the whole city can come out to play (at least it seems that way). The floats for the parade are out so that you can see them up close (they are all lit up with numerous, lovely lanterns). There are tons of food stands selling Japanese fair food (yakitori, takoyaki, noodles, grilled squid, ect.) and games for the young ones (including two that I see in anime all the time which was interesting). People of all ages come out to just hang out, walk around, and have fun. Many Japanese dress up in yukatas (the lighter, summer version of a kimono) and it is awesome to see the variety of outfits. Plus some businesses and homes open up their doors to display family heirlooms which you wouldn’t get to see otherwise.

I had a wonderful time walking around with Amanda on the night before the parade (side note: one of the best things about this trip is that I got to meet up with several other Americans in the program, primarily Amanda who is in Kyoto and went to the parade with us, and Portia who traveled everywhere with me). Definitely one of my favorite things in Japan so far. Portia arrived the next morning and we went to the parade together. The parade was awesome (I felt so bad for the pullers of the big floats that apparently weight about 12 tons. It was sooo hot), but after a while, the floats started to run together a bit. I don’t know what they all represent so I couldn’t understand their individual importance. Oh well, still cool. Also, we tried to see how they turn the big floats (because it is a big involved process that takes at least 15 minutes), but it was a popular spot along the parade route, so we couldn’t see the important part (the wheels) and only saw the top turn.

If you want to see details as to where I went in Kyoto, you can check out my travel partner’s blog (http://portiainjapan.blogspot.com/) since she is so organized about putting stuff up. However, I can say that I appreciated the Zen temple Ryoanji more and the monkey park less than she did. I really liked the Zen temple, actually (well, once the big tour left). My favorite thing about it, I’m kinda ashamed to admit, was the floor. You take off your shoes for this temple. Most people had sandals or something on so they were barefoot on the floor (as I was). Which brought my attention to the satiny smoothness of the floor. It felt wonderful! Seriously, the best thing I think I’ve ever walked on. I even took a picture (albeit a bad one) of the floor so I would never forget it. I think years of many, many people walking on the floor has worn it down to that smoothness. How lovely. But the rock garden was quite nice once the tour left. Then you could sit there calmly, let the breeze cool you and just zone out. It was really nice.

The monkey park was fine, I enjoyed doing something different, but it was the kind of thing that you could do anywhere in the world. I’ve fed more interesting animals than monkeys, so while I enjoyed it, it certainly won’t have made my top 10 list of things I did in Japan. (I think part of the reason Portia was so impressed is that she is an engineer and never deals with animals).

She also fails to mention the lengths to which we went to get that picture of her with the geishas (though I think they may be geishas in training or maiko rather than full blown geishas, I don’t really understand how to tell the difference). But I’m not exactly proud of how we stalked them (though we were very polite about it and asked permission and everything, I still feel like we stalked them, which makes me feel icky). So unless you catch me in person and ask me to explain, I think we will leave it at that. Though Portia did at one point say “they’re so elusive. Just like cats” at one point, which I thought was really funny for some reason.

And unlike her, I have a much higher tolerance for temples and shrines. I haven’t been overloaded yet, each one I see something a bit different. Plus, I’m collecting all the stamps and corresponding calligraphy in my little book at each temple/shrine which makes me look forward to each visit. Some of the stamps are cool whereas others have nice calligraphy. Some are not as interesting (I’m thinking of the Inari shrine one in particular) but it is still cool to have a record of all the temples and shrines plus it’s really cool to watch them write the calligraphy (and it costs less than $3).

But overall, it was great to travel with someone. And Portia and I generally have similar tastes and travel styles so although our opinions of some of the sights may have differed, traveling with her was great. One thing I should mention is that the way I am traveling here is so different from what I am used to. Normally I have a strict budget and minimize some things (like for example, eating just one big meal a day and getting stuff from the market for other meals). But here, I have so much money that if I want to eat both lunch and dinner, it’s no problem. If I want to stay in a business hotel one night because I am super annoyed with the hostel, no problem. Even with all of that, and other small expenses, I still came $200 under my budget (mostly because my housing was much cheaper than I allotted for). But I am still bad about buying things that I like when I see them. I regret not buying a hairpin I saw in Kyoto. Oh well, hopefully I’ll be a bit better on other trips.

There were a lot of things that I thought I should mention in the blog about Japanese culture that I observed in Kyoto, but I think I will talk about them later.

Note to myself – I need to post about older Japanese women, puppet shows, female fashion, the takoyaki party, and onsens.

A story that I must tell someone

Okay, I just had probably my strangest encounter in Japan so far. Although it was not a strictly Japanese thing. I'm still at the lab (it's after midnight here). This is because Miyzaki sensei had time today to show me how to process tissues for the freeze drier and I jumped at the offer (even if he said that we would start at 9 pm).

Anyway, I go out to get something to drink from one of the vending machines near by (I think that unless you are in a field somewhere, you are never, ever more than a 5 minute walk from a drink vending machine). I notice that the moon is almost full and very pretty tonight, especially with the reflection on the water. So later on, when I get the chance, I take my camera out to the edge of the beach to take some pictures.

A few things to note about where I was. There is a paved high ground above this beach area very near the lab. It is also near the undergraduate dorms where kids that come in for week long marine class come in and stay.

Anyway, I'm sitting there trying to get a decent picture and failing because my camera is not so great at taking night shots, when all of a sudden I hear a male japanese voice yelling. I totally freeze for a moment, not sure what to do. I don't know where the voice is comming from or who it is. All I know is that he is saying joto, joto, indicating that he wants me to wait a minute. It takes the guy a while to appear. It was this young guy (probably an undergrad) and he scrambles up from the beach. He is just wearing a bathrobe. And he keeps trying to talk to me. I eventually say sorry, I don't speak japanese, and then I get up to get out of there because I'm uncomfortable and I don't know what this guy wants.

Then I realize that he is not alone (a fully dressed girl scrambled up after him) and that he is indicating my camera. I finally realize that
A. He and this girl were clearly involved in some extra-cirricular activities on the beach and
B. He thinks that I took pictures of them.

I finally go through the pictures I have and show him that there are none of him and his girl (why I would want random pictures of people I don't know getting it on, I have no idea). He is very apologetic and he and his girl go off back to the dorms in a hurry. At this point I am trying not to laugh at them. I went from freaked out to almost laughing in his face in a few seconds.

Ah, young love (or perhaps more realistically, young lust) the same here as it is anywhere. There is something oddly comforting about that.

Karaoke and other random Japanese things

So on Friday, the marine lab had a party at a super nice hotel. Kyoto University paid for a new ship to be constructed for use here at the marine lab and so there was a party to celebrate the new ship (which is now ready for use, I guess). Some bigwigs from the university came down (including the top guy and the second in command) and as I said, it was at a really nice hotel. There weren't as many people there as I would have expected, but it was nice with a ton of mostly great food. I found one other Japanese thing which induces a gag reflex in me (natto or fermented soybeans being the other) but I don't know what that thing is (hopefully I'll remember what it looks like enough to avoid it in the future because I really could not swallow it down). But other than that one thing, everything else was very good (I am not going to ask what was on top of the udon and I am totally doing a mind block on it because I have an idea of what it is but I don't want to confirm it - it tasted alright and that is all I need to know for now).

The funny thing is that several of the members of this lab LOVE onsens. This hotel, like several nice hotels in the area, has it's own onsen (or hot spring fed baths). So somehow, we got to use the onsen for free even if we were only there for a limited time party. This would not happen in the US, but happens here apparently. Anyway, the onsen was really nice, but I'm not going to talk about it here because I think that the topic deserves it's own post.

After the onsen, Kubota sensei was hot to do Karaoke. It didn't seem like a bad idea so I said yes. Later I realized that it would just be four of us going (2 professors and one of the aquarium techs plus me) and that I was the only young one and the only female. Not that it was a problem, just that it wasn't as fun as I hoped. Basically my host researcher and the aquarium tech took it very seriously and started singing these overdramatic melancholy songs in some sort of competition between the two. They made me sing several rounds until I absolutely refused to take the microphone.

But what I really want to mention are the Karaoke videos. Oh my God! Each of these songs, including the English ones, had a video that went with it and they were ALL horrible. They had to have been filmed in the early to mid 90s considering the clothing (acid washed jeans at one point, I swear) and hair. Most of the video consisted of a man and/or woman standing by himself/herself and staring meaningfully out in the distance. If a woman, a single tear would often fall down her cheek. There were shots of the sea, or of fields. Once there was even a shot of fish being caught in a net. What that was supposed to represent, I don't know, but it felt like everything was supposed to be deeply symbolic. It was all so melodramatic and maudlin. I don't know how anyone could take it. I tried to sing upbeat songs to compensate, but even the videos for those were crazy. I think I'm actually offended by the video for "I will survive". I didn't notice it at first because I was following the words (I haven't heard the song in a while). But towards the end, there was this woman looking progressively more upset. She is playing around with this gun, and near the very end she starts pointing it at her head, looking all upset. That is absolutely the WRONG image for that song. She is supposed to be strong and unapologetic, not thinking about suicide. I think I'm actually mad about the misrepresentation of that song.

I seriously thought about singing "It's raining men" because I love that song (the lyrics are so ridiculous, I can't imagine that they weren't meant to be silly) and to see what the video for that would be, but I decided against it. Maybe next time.

Finally, I want to comment on the clothing and footwear choices of young Japanese women. See the picture here. What this woman is wearing is fairly common (I won't say typical, but common) for young women. Now I am not a girly-girl. I don't wear dresses or frilly or pink things very often. I prefer more comfortable things. However, I recognize that other people prefer to dress up. That's fine. However, I would like to point out two facts.

1. It was insanely hot on the day this picture was taken. Why is she wearing black, constricting, thigh-high socks? Aren't they hot??
2. This picture was taken at "table rock land" or Senjojiki (see second picture). Are you seriously telling me that she got up this morning and thought "I'm going to be climbing over rock formations today. I think high heels and a short skirt are exactly the thing to wear."??


And she wasn't the only one! Several women were wearing things like this while they tried to climb up down and over big rocks. I swear these women will wear heels, thigh high socks and short skirts ANYWHERE. I feel an odd amount of respect for that before I remember how absolutely crazy it is. Particularly when it results in them needing their boyfriends to help them everywhere because surprise! high heels are really not the best for climbing over rocks that have many holes in them and are generally uneven. I think I feel about footwear the same way I feel about luggage - you chose to bring all those suitcases, you better be able to handle them yourself (and with footwear - you chose to wear high heels here, you better be able to walk by yourself every where you want to go). Otherwise, WEAR DIFFERENT SHOES! This culture is entirely to quick to promote the needy girl/princess stereotype and it seriously annoys me - but that is another rant for another day.

Okay. Need to stop here or I'll go on forever. Jya ne!

Shingu, or Where Abby learned that she is capable of so much more than she thought

Growing experiences are tricky things, I think. While you are experiencing them, you often feel stressed, confused and uncertain (or at least I do). At times, it’s extremely frustrating and/or isolating and you don’t understand why you have to go through them. They might not be any fun at all (like when I broke my ankle) and often you don’t realize what they are while you are living through it.

And yet, they are so important because they shape who we are and without them, no one would ever become a fully rounded individual or a mature adult. We would all be closed-minded people with no ability to empathize or understand others. But of course, nothing important ever comes easy, it seems.

I’m realizing that this trip to Japan both as a whole and as individual experiences are growing times for me. I’ve already had two events that were defining moments for me and I’m proud to say, in both cases, I took the harder yet ultimately more rewarding path instead of the easier one. One I won’t talk about yet, but the other was this weekend’s day trip to Shingu.

If it hasn’t been clear from previous entries, let me clarify now: I am in the middle of nowhere in Japan. That might be a little harsh, but the reality is that I am in the country several hours away from a large city (Osaka is the closest). This has a few consequences: 1. There is very little English here (written or spoken), 2. The small towns on the peninsula are not arranged in a grid pattern; instead they have just sort of grown in various ways (which makes navigation difficult particularly since no one really uses street names here) 3. There aren’t really big exciting things to see that everyone, including the Japanese, makes an effort to see (several Japanese people that I spoke with didn’t actually know where Shirahama was), and finally 4. There really aren’t trains around town, there are buses but they are limited in coverage and in the number of runs that they make in a day which generally means that walking is better than counting on public transportation.

All of this makes Shirahama and the Kii peninsula in general more difficult to sightsee than other locations. After spending the first week in somewhat of a depression about these facts, in the second week, I bucked up and decided that I would try to see something of the area. At first I was going to go to the Nachi shrine but Ellen, a Taiwanese grad student here, got all worried about me doing that because it would require a train ride and then a bus. I think she was particularly concerned because my Japanese is pretty much non-existent. She had been to Nachi before, but only when one of the other graduate students, Keita, had taken her. She told me that I should talk to him about taking me. But that seems rather presumptuous and rude and to be honest, since no one offered to even show me the sights in Shirahama even after I subtly made it clear that I wanted to see them, I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask for an even bigger favor. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and then I found a website that gave walking tour maps of certain areas on the peninsula. After looking at that, I decided to try my luck with Shingu, which is about 1 ½ hours away by train and also contained one of the three great shrines of the region (Nachi is another). The big plus to Shingu is that everything seemed walkable, nothing more than a 30 minute walk away, and there are a few things to see.

So I packed up a bag (I took way too much with me, I don’t know why I took all that) and headed out Saturday. I got a break in that Ellen was getting a ride to the airport so Yuko gave me a ride to the train station after dropping Ellen off. I was going to take the public bus. Anyway, I got there and got the express train to Shingu. The train ride alone was probably worth the trip as it was really beautiful. On one side, mountains, on the other rugged coastline and the ocean, and in-between lots of small towns, villages, and farming communities. It was really charming. And I figured out a better way to go to the Nachi shrine which I still will do.

I got to Shingu, went to the travel office by the station and scored a map in English (though I already had a rough one, the new one was more detailed). I then tried to set out. Or rather, I circled around the train station for about 20 minutes because I was completely confused. The two maps I had didn’t agree and I didn’t know what direction to take. I finally realized that the maps did agree, it’s just that the direction axes were different. And with that I found the first sight, a memorial for a Chinese man called Jofuku park which was really near the train station, and then headed out for Ukijima no Mori (the Mysterious Floating Island).

I tried to follow the map, but the no-linearity of the streets really made me feel uncertain about the path I was taking. The map did not show all those twists and turns. I was starving so I stopped when I saw a reasonable restaurant. I was nervous going in because it looked like the kind of place that would just have words on the menu. Luckily, they were preparing a tray for someone that had yakisoba on it – something I recognize and knew that I liked. So I pointed and said bring me this please and that worked.

After I ate, I asked the woman serving me where I was in Japanese and gave her the map. I learned an important lesson from what followed – it’s good to pick up an English map for me, but I should also try to get one in Japanese for when I have to ask directions from a Japanese person. The woman wasn’t sure but gave me some vague directions as to where I was and how to find Ukijima. I left the restaurant thinking that there was now way that what she told me was enough to find the place and I should just head back to the train station and regroup for the next place. But amazingly, I did find it. I was shocked that 1. I had generally followed the map correctly; I had just overshot the mark a bit and 2. That I had been able to get useful directions from someone who spoke no English.

The floating island was interesting. Basically, it’s this little forest that is kept afloat by methane gas produced by decaying plants. You walk around it and then through it and can see a reasonable diversity of plants (or at least it seems that way to me). There were beautiful dragonflies, but none would sit still long enough for me to photograph. There were also tons of mosquitoes. When I came out, the woman manning the place was ready with cream for the bites and she seemed upset when she saw how badly bitten up my legs were. I didn’t know how to tell her that I already had most of those bites. (Side note: The mosquitoes in Shirahama are KILLING me!)

From there it was on to the main site in Shingu, the Kumano Hayatama shrine. It is one of the three grand shrines of the Kumano Triad (the shrine in Nachi is another so I should be able to see 2 of the 3). Actually, the God enshrined here was originally enshrined at the Kamikura shrine (my last stop of the day), but a fire destroyed part of the shrine and the God (or Kami) was moved to Kumano Hayatama. I got to see a special Shinto service while I was there. It seemed to be special blessing, and it was cool to see. Although the girl next to me had no problem taking pictures during the ceremony, I thought it was a bit disrespectful, so I waited until it was over to take pictures. I understand that most temples and shrines here have their own stamp/seal and special calligraphy that they write over it. I got this at Hayatama and it’s pretty cool. I hope to get several more of these (which have a name that I don’t know).

Finally, I went to see the Kamikura shrine. It’s a really old shrine which must be at least 800 years old (because that is how old the steps are). I got a little bit lost (I overshot again) and got directions from a very nice woman (it was funny, the woman knew what I was going to ask before I did, people must get lost there all the time). This shrine is much quieter than the others. This cliff or small mountain (I’m not sure what to appropriately call it) is part of the shrine so it has a very different feel from the other places. Very quiet, serene, reserved, special, and more sacred. It’s a place for hushed voices and deep bows if you know what I mean. The main sacred place is a hike up the mountain up those 800 year old stairs (and they definitely look that old – very picturesque but weathered so as to be very unpleasant to walk on really). The first half was pretty vertical and I honestly didn’t know if I could make it. But then an older couple with their grown daughters came up behind me and I felt kinda embarrassed about not going all the way up so I continued. But at least they were also heaving and sweating like crazy so I know it wasn’t easy for any of us. But it was totally worth it. The view from the top was amazing and the little shrine at the top next to the holy rock (which is where God sits apparently) was lovely. As Elizabeth Bennet said “I’ve never seen a place so happily situated” (I’m roughly paraphrasing here because I don’t remember the exact quote). I think it is by far my favorite place of where I have visited so far. Worth being soaked with sweat and everything. It took me forever to get down (the rocks were wet and a bit slippery and I am always overly cautious going down ever since I broke my ankle). Overall, I’m really glad I didn’t skip it because it was getting late.

And from there I went to the train station and in 15 minutes was on an express train home to Shirahama. I got a taxi from the train station to the dorm since the buses had stopped running (and it was rather expensive. About $20 which doesn’t seem so bad until you realize that my train to Shingu was about $26!)

I am still rather shocked at my own resourcefulness. I managed to do a whole trip by myself to a place with no English. And I found all four places that I was trying to visit. It was a learning experience in that I now know that I am capable of a lot more than I realized I was. Of course, it would have been fun to travel with someone, but being alone does not mean that I can’t do stuff or have an enjoyable time. Just from this alone, I feel like I’ve grown a lot and have become more fearless about doing what I want to do. Which I think is a very good thing.

I need to stop making these massive posts and start making smaller, less detailed ones. Sigh. Someday, I’ll get better at all of this. Maybe.

Massive update (seriously, if you read all this I should give you a cookie!)

So I have been really bad about keeping this blog updated (though I have kept the pictures updated both at the link below and on my face book). But I have some time this afternoon, so I will try to do a massive update as to what is going on in my life. But I’m not going to put pictures in this because I find that option super annoying. If you want to see pictures click the link in the post below (or my facebook where the pictures have captions).
The trip to Japan has been at times really fun and at others so frustrating I want to scream. First the high points
Orientation – It was really fun to meet all the other graduate students at orientation. The location was isolated but beautiful (something I have talked about in a previous post). The food was always awesome (though it felt like they were feeding us all the time), and I really enjoyed my Japanese teacher (Sakurai sensei was so patient and awesome!). It got a bit summer campy, particularly towards the end, but I really enjoyed it and felt like I made some good friends in the process.
Home stay – I don’t think I every actually posted about my home stay. It was totally awesome. One of the best experiences of my life, really. Both the mother and the father spoke good English (actually, I think that the father spoke it a little better but I didn’t get to speak to him as much). Most of Saturday, however, I did not get much of a chance to talk to either the mother or father, because they have four girls between the ages of one and nine. It’s a pretty loud and energetic family, and while the girls certainly aren’t bad or generally misbehaved, it still takes a lot out of you. Luckily, I was raised in a family with five kids, and three particularly loud and energetic brothers, so I felt right at home. The mother didn’t stand on ceremony with me. She early on asked me to help with dishes and from then on it was my job to the dishes. I actually really liked that they treated me as one of the family and I had a lot of fun playing with the girls. Because it was raining hard Saturday morning (it is the rainy season), we stayed in and played during the morning. In the afternoon, we went to the library and then Saya (the older middle child) and I played table tennis for an hour or two. Then we went out and got food for sushi which we made at home (which was sooo good). We spent the evening hanging out together and watching Japanese tv, which is so different from American tv. So it was a pretty low-key day. The next day, my host mother took me sight seeing around the area (don’t ask me exactly where I went, I’m not so good with directions even in the best of times). Originally the whole family was going to go, but it started to pour on our way there, so in the end, just my host mother (Emi) and I went and the Dad took the kids to the Aquarium. This meant that I finally got some one on one time with one of the parents and we were able to have a conversation which was really nice. Of course it was pouring like I have never seen and I got very wet, but that’s okay. She took me to two Buddhist temples (or at least two Buddhist places) including the big Buddha of Kamakura. Then we went to a Shinto shrine where Emi taught me how to wash my hands before entering the Torii (gate), and how to make a wish (which involves throwing a coin, clapping and bowing in a certain order). We also ate at a couple places, including a pretty traditional Japanese place where I had these tiny fish that were really good. Then I had to go back and little Chizu cried a little when they dropped me off which made me feel both sad and good at the same time. I loved my family and I know they liked me too. Several times both the mother and father mentioned that they were going to Kyushu (the large southern island) to visit their hometown for a few weeks in July and August. They invited me to come and visit them there. I don’t think I will be able to, but I’m going to look into it and see. As it stands, it would need to be in August and…well, we’ll see. If I don’t go to Kyushu, I’m planning on seeing them before I leave Japan when I head back to Tokyo.
Welcome party – So a week after I got here, the postdoc Nami had a welcome party for me. It was a lot of fun. There was a ton of food. Stuff for hand-rolled sushi fish, and we made potstickers (which were good except they made the sauce super spicy and didn’t tell me – but after seeing my reaction, now everyone knows not to feed Abby spicy things or she dies). I hung out with many of the lab people and really laughed hard a couple of times. The professors drank quite a bit and got pretty rowdy. Nami showed me how to use the Onsen, but that deserves it’s own post for a couple of reasons. It was really nice and I felt like I finally got to know my labmates a little. My level of Japanese is really weird because I recognize several individual words (a result of watching a lot of Japanese tv the last 3 years). However, I never learned any grammar (specifically, I never learned any verbs or sentence construction). Therefore, although I sometimes have an idea of what the topic of discussion is (like for example, I knew everyone was talking about girlfriends at one point) I have no idea of what is actually being said. So yeah…what about those girlfriends? It came up a couple of times at this party. Everyone would be impressed that I knew the topic of conversation (or that I knew my numbers) but seemed to assume that I actually understood more than I did. Oh well. I just smile and nod like an idiot because I don’t know what else to do.
And the not so good
Arrival – I am fairly self-motivated. But I knew that I would need a little bit of guidance as to where to collect and getting started on the SEM (since every SEM works a bit differently). So I expected that I would spend some time with my host researcher and the other graduate students during the first week and then I could continue on my own. I had contacted my scientist several times to ask questions about the microscope situation, but he kinda put me off. So I get here and I feel like I’ve been dropped off a plane. They told me where I was going to live and where the super market was, and that was pretty much it. My host researcher wasn’t here to talk about a collecting plan or the microscopes, and the graduate students here would barely talk to me. Things are slowly getting better. Yuuna (a graduate student) and Nami (a postdoc) returned on Monday from a field trip to Okinawa. These two are very social and the lab has lightened up considerably since their return, and after I gave my talk here my host researcher finally understood what it is I am trying to do and is now taking me to collecting spots. However, I still have to wait on the SEM and even the light microscope, which apparently needs adjusting, something that could have been done before I came. I’m a bit frustrated about the wasted time although really, if I collect 10 good medusozoan samples, then the trip will be a success. So if I collect for the next two weeks, I can accomplish all that I need to get done. However, it would be good to get as much SEM done here as possible and I have to get the corals examined here because they are CITES protected and I don’t have the permits to transport them to the US. Ultimately, I think I will get what I need from this trip, but this summer in general may not be as productive as I would like.
From a social stand point, a few times it has been fun, but often I am pretty much alone. At times it really gets to me. And it’s not like I can easily hop on a train or bus, travel for an hour and meet up with someone else. The closest people in the program are in Osaka, a good 3 hours away. I’m having to discover Shirahama alone because no one has offered to show me around. I’m going to try to take a train to some famous shrines an hour or two away this weekend, but we’ll see how that goes. The fact that I can’t read the signs here bothers me much more than I thought it would and makes things harder in ways I didn’t expect.
That’s a full update with hopefully more to come at the end of the weekend. I’m sorry that this is ending abruptly but it took me four days to write the above and if I push it off any longer, it will never get posted! Have a great weekend and a Happy 4th of July.

PS Missing the 4th is bothering me more than I would have expected. I’m not hugely patriotic or anything, but it’s really weird to not be in the country for the holiday. It’s almost the end of the day and should be time for grilling and fireworks (or hanabei) but it’s not… It’s getting me down in a weird way.

So I really suck at keeping this blog updated. But I'm good about keeping up with pictures, so you should be able to check out pictures at my facebook page (for those that have accounts since I have it set to friends only) or the below public album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajreft/JellyfishAndHanabi


The public album doesn't have pictures of my homestay family (other than one of the mother) because I feel weird about putting up pictures of kids where everyone can see them. The facebook page has them though (and the girls are super cute!).

Sokendai (i.e. orientation)

I had written most of what is below before I started this blog (I was going to keep track of my travels on my livejournal page, but decided against it for several reasons. In any case here's some information concerning my first week in Japan.

So after a very long flight (about 13 hours, I know that there are longer flights but this was by far the longest I have been on) I arrived in Japan. It was about 5 by the time we got to the hotel and checked in, so I just got a shower and then went to dinner. I completely died at 8 pm because I was so tired and then woke up at 4 am. Today we moved out to Sokendai for the week-long orientation, and I have to say, this is the nicest non-hotel that I have ever stayed at. They don't call it a hotel, it seems to be part of a research insitution, but seriously, it has elevator music in the halls, there are bathrobes on the beds, and a fridge and tv in each room, and someone makes the bed everyday! It's totally a hotel even if they don't want to admit it. My roommate here is Lee, someone I met and liked in DC and have talked to a bit. Oddly enough, we both flew from Chicago and hung out together at the airport before we flew here. I really like her alot, so I'm happy that all of that has worked out. This place is really secluded (which I get the strong impression was on purpose to keep us out of trouble) but is quite lovely (something that I'm sure will not get across from the pictures I've included below).




There is a residential area around Sokendai as well, and I realized that Japanese roads are small – one lane either way with no real room for parking on the street. Actually, everything here seems smaller so that more can fit into the little available space that there is.




And it is the rainy season which means that we get lots of fog here at Sokendai (see below) and tons of rain. I did not really understand what rainy season meant until experiencing it myself. The sheer volume of rain is really impressive.



The orientation went well and I meet a couple of really nice people that I hope to do some traveling with. It would be particularly nice if I could find someone to travel with at the end, but we’ll see how it goes.

Mission statement

In creating this blog, I am trying to motivate myself to be organized and maintain a record of my summer trip to Japan. As readers that know me already know, I am currently in Japan finishing up week one of a 10 week trip to Japan. The trip is not just for fun, I have recieved a fellowship from NSF and JSPS (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science) to spend 8 weeks doing research at the Seto marine lab (which belongs to Kyoto University) with a Japanese scientest with a week of orientation at the begining. I am very bad about keeping up with things so I am trying with this blog to make sure that I keep track of everything I do and experience in Japan. This way I can keep everyone posted about what is going on in my life and I get a record of my whole trip. So hopefully I can keep up with it. I'm already a week behind, but I will try to fix that in the next 2 days. I'll do the best I can, anyway.