Last weekend was super duper busy. After work Saturday night, I have no idea what I did. Good start to fleshing out this story, I know. My Saturdays in the fall have been and will continue to follow a pattern: eat, drink, don't pass out, listen to the Illini game starting at 1am, inevitably fall asleep, wake up numerous times to check the progress. The Illini vs Louisiana-Lafayette game looked sleepable so I nodded off around halftime and eventually woke up to a 20-17 final. Thankfully I remembered we had 20 when I fell asleep but I panicked almost enough to let out a tear.
Sunday night, Himeji-shi was holding a "Moon Viewing Party" at the castle. My mom's saying of "Asians have parties every time someone farts in the wind" seems to hold up outside of America as well. At the base of the castle, there is a huge field where thousands of people gathered. Along the perimeter of the field, a whole bunch of concession stands stood offering normal Japanese concession foods - like cucumbers and a variety of teas. It's a bit different from hot dogs and nachos and processed cheese. There is one major similarity - alcohol. Although beer is widely available, this festival must have had some tie-in with local sake breweries. For 500 Yen, you are given a sake cup, which you take to the giant square in the middle of the park and try different breweries' sakes. From my American experience with sake, I expected variations of rubbing alcohol. Surprisingly sake flavors vary greatly and most of them do not make me exhale loudly with a pained look on my face. I'd forgotten that sake is actually rice wine - and these actually tasted like rice. So, even though the sake was my and most peoples' main attraction, there was also a giant stage with different Japanese music and dances and even the taiga drums - those giant bass canvas drums...captivating in person. Every time I visit that castle, a sense of history overwhelms me. I know that you could walk around and think that people have walked in this spot for hundreds of years but you don't really understand the magnitude until you've been somewhere where great preservation efforts have been made. Samurais and I have walked in the same exact spots (and the weird one-day tourists with over or under-sized stained shirts, giant cameras, cargo shorts, big white socks and boots). I haven't been brave enough to visit the section of the castle where it's believed that people committed hari kari - you know, the sword to the stomach deal.
The next day I woke up to phone calls from a blocked number. About four of them came through before there was a message- it was old roommate David and Hirman. They were in Japan (as I'd known they would be) for a day and wanted to get together. Unfortunately they were in Tokyo and I am nowhere close to Tokyo. We wanted to find something in the middle, but there really is nothing so they relented and took the shinkansen to Kyoto and I met them there. This is the third time I've been to Kyoto and that city will never get old. There is a modern city built around history. It's remarkable to walk around a shopping district and have a temple perfectly in tact right next to a line of stores. David, Hirman and I went to three places - Kinkaku-jin Castle (Golden Castle - as you may recall), the first Buddhist Zen Garden and Fukushimi Inari Shrine which is famous for its toriis. You'd probably recognize them as giant gates - see the picture below. Earlier that day, we received out fortunes. The idea with this is if you receive a good fortune, you are to keep it with you until your fortune is fulfilled and mail or bring back the paper to the temple - and if it's bad, you tie it to designated posts. Mine was pretty awesome - here's the transcription:
"Everything you want to do can be done well. No problem in your family.
Your Fortune: Excellent
Your boss will back you up. There seems to be no problem. Your family will live together happily. Be modest and clean, respect older people and be kind to younger people. Your fortune will be much more excellent.
Wish- Everything goes as you expect. You can sell or buy any house, any land.
Expected visitor- He (or she) will come very soon.
Missing Thing- Keep calm and look around with patience
Travel- Business trip will do good
Business- All right, but be cool.
Study- No problem, continue studying
Speculation- Just wait, or you'll lose
Game and Match- You will surely win. Be calm.
Love- Get along with your partner faithfully
Removal- No problem
Childbirth- Don't worry
Illness- Be faithful, and it will soon be cured
Marriage Proposal- Leave it to others. You can realize it.
I like these Japanese fortunes, they tell me I am awesome and I have and will have no problems.
There are nine Taco Bell locations in Japan - the nearest is 645km away. Dammit.
Next week, I'll get to go to my first Japanese baseball game!!! I think that it's a makeup game - and it is the last regular season home game for the Hanshin Tigers and I cannot wait. They are playing the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Even though I have no clue what the fight song means, I am trying to learn it so I don't feel like a jackass - more than normal. If you've never seen anything on Japanese baseball, the fans are certifiably crazy - like soccer but louder. They have specified cheers for each player. There's no way for me to learn all of this but the experience will be unreal. Speaking of baseball, I am really missing watching the White Sox limp into the playoffs. It'll be pretty awesome to be first victims of the Tampa Bay Rays cinderella postseason run.
I am putting this part last because I know my mom prints these out and sends them to my grandparents - Mom, it might be high time to take out the scissors. Earlier this week, I looked out of the window at school and saw one of the moms that I teach and she had a t-shirt on that said, "Nearing the Climax". The hilarity of Engrish shirts never ceases to amaze and entertain but this one was too much to pass up. I told my co-worker that I was going to talk with the mom about her shirt during our lesson a few days later. Thankfully when Saturday came, she wore the shirt again to class!! Oh, perfect. There is no real way to just say- "do you understand what your shirt means" with someone who doesn't know the language well. Like everything else, I had to build the bridge. So we talked about metaphors first - comparing apples to oranges. Once we established that concept, I wrote "Nearing the Climax" on the board and asked if she knew what a climax was. She did - the climax or turning point of a story. I asked her to think about sex, hoping she would put two and two together. No such luck. I apologized a few times in advance of my next tactic. You should know now that she is hilarious and I wasn't stepping totally out of bounds but still, a little taboo. I wrote "orgasm" on the whiteboard and asked her to look it up in her dictionary. She read the definition in Japanese, her eyes widened and her mouth went agape then she laughed to the point where she almost fell out of the chair....definitely a high point of my short-lived teaching career.
Enjoy pictures - comment please!
This is the giant, mutant pear I bought the other day
The first of a thousand toriis - and David with a homage to Titanic --- probably
The first Zen Garden - these rocks have been in the same place since the 15th century
My friend, Mr. Buddha
We took the Usual Route
Tough to see, but these are Mandarin ducks - cleanest ducks I've ever seen
Moon Festival and a view of the lit up castle - pretty awesome picture
Sake dealers
Jacqui with her 2200 Yen parfait. She finished every drop herself
So, in one class- I drew a panda that didn't look much like a panda, so I made it a dog that doesn't look much like a dog. The next class's student came in and drew something on the board - just....look
Ladies and Gentlemen, the return of #1!!!!!
Team I Don't Think We Have a Name But We Do Wear Teenage Girl Sun Arm Protectors!!
1 comment:
Although the story about the little kid may not be "cute"...it is definately hilarious!
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