The Fall Trip Or Too Many Stairs!!!!
The Fall Trip
Or
Too Many Stairs!!!!
Hello again! I apologize for the long gap in-between posts, but things have been fairly busy and I didn’t have time to finish up any posts. I shall try to be better about this in the future. In any case, I should probably let you all know why I have been so busy!
I’ve been dividing my time between school at Gandai (Iwate Daigaku/ Iwate College) and Kanan Middle School. It’s fun, and, like I’m sure I’ve said before, the middle-school kids are super-adorable. Wednesdays are half days, where I spend the morning at my middle school, and the afternoon doing stuff. Most often, I hang out with Dina and Katie, and now Cake. We do karaoke and other fun stuffs when we have time, and I attempt to use the internets to stay in contact with everyone.
I have time to type today because I’m not quite sure what’s going on in my school. I believe they are preparing for the festival tomorrow, and I would help, save that I have no idea how to go about doing so. I shall, of course, help with cleaning time afterwards, and attend the festival tomorrow. Hopefully after that point, I shall be able to find a place that has internet so that I may post this blog for you all.
(update- It was preparation for the Bunkasai/festival. More on that in my next blog)
The most interesting thing that has happened between this blog and the last is the fall trip. On Saturday, September 27, we met at the train station and got on the Shinkansen (Bullet-train) from Morioka to Hiroshima. The train was fantastic, much nicer than an airplane, even though the trip took longer and there were more stops. The train we were on, the nozomi train, is the fastest, and it still took several hours to reach Hiroshima. It was a smooth ride though, and we all had reserved seats, so we were able to sit with the whole group.
After the train ride, we settled into our hotel, a local hotel chain called the Toyoko Inn. We were able to pick our rooms for ourselves this time, and Cake and I roomed together, which was wonderful. Katie and Dina came down to hang out with us a lot, and we had mini-parties every night! (On an un-related note, yay friends!! They even put up with me when I go off about the latest news article! And they ask me to do fun things!! J I still miss my Earlham people too, though. If you’re reading this, I love you lots and lots!)
Once we were settled, we went out again for dinner. That night, we had Okonomiyaki, a traditional food-type item that was very, very tasty. They were made with a pancake-like thing, covered with cabbage-like veggies and yummy spices and cheese and whatever else we wanted. Then, we had the option to go explore the city on our own, or return to the hotel with Jane-sensei. Since we were tired, Cake and I both returned to the hotel, where we had an impromptu party that involved tarot card readings (by me) and looking at Cake’s wedding magazines with Dina and Katie.
The second day, we went to Miyajima. Miyajima is a temple complex on an island just off the coast. It’s a short (maybe ten minutes?) ferry ride from the harbor. I’ll upload some images soon, but it really is beautiful. You’ve probably actually heard of it, even if you don’t recognize the name. Have you seen pictures of the tori gate floating on the ocean? That’s the gate at Miyajima. It’s not really floating, you can walk out to it and touch the base when the tide is low, but when the tide is high, it looks exactly like its floating.
The most notable thing about Miyajima (besides its beauty) is the deer. They’re pretty tame, actually, although there are warnings around about the deer with horns. They come right up to people, and you can pet them. I got to pet several, and saw a baby!! The poor thing was terrified of the people, though, so I didn’t go close to it. There was also a human baby terrified by deer, but the deer wasn’t as aware as the humans. It kept pushing its nose at the child, who promptly fell over and started crying. He quickly got up and ran to his mother, the deer following close behind. It eventually left him alone, likely when it realized that the boy and his mother didn’t have any food.
The deer also eat everything. And I mean everything. Katie had a map sticking part way out of her bag, and a deer caught sight of it. Before we knew it, it lunged, taking the map from the purse. Katie then engaged in a tug of war with the deer, which ended in her rescuing half a map. The deer ate the other half. I can only hope it was tasty.
The temple of Miyajima itself is so amazing, I cannot describe it in words. When I upload my pictures, you should be able to see it. I shall endeavor to do so soon, perhaps by the end of next week. In any case, it was simply amazing. We even saw a Japanese-style wedding taking place within the main temple building. There were places for praying, and even a small area for Noh plays. The entire thing was built just like the gate on the sea, at high tide, it appears to be floating on the water. We took a great deal of time exploring the main part of the island, which was all amazing.
After lunch, we took the cable car up to the top of the mountain. There were more temples there, though I did not actually see them. The map confused me at that point, and it was beautiful enough in the first area that I felt alright with allowing the others to bring back pictures. I suppose it was silly of me, but temples, while pretty, do start to look similar, and I was tired. So, instead, I watched the monkeys.
Yes, I said monkeys. Miyajima has monkeys on its mountain, the ones with the red faces and rear ends. They’re interesting, and funny when they move. But the eyes are rather creepy, they make them look crazy. You’re not supposed to look directly into the eyes of a monkey. The signs around the area informed me that if you do so, it may attack you. I’m glad I read the signs, because otherwise, I probably would have stared, simply because their eyes are so strange.
Anyway, after that, we went back to the hotel. The others wanted to do karaoke (something that has become rather a staple of life here, we do it so often), but Cake, Katie, and I were all rather exhausted, and we wanted to get to bed early, because we knew what we were in for the next day, and decided we needed our sleep. So we went back to the room Cake and I shared, and hung out for a while before going to bed.
The next day, we went to the A-bomb museum and Peace Park. The park was pretty, the memorials beautifully made, and respectful of what had happened and all who were involved. They have left standing a building that was almost at the center of the blast. It is a tangible reminder of the power such a weapon holds, made all the more apparent by the modern buildings all around it.
The museum, well, it is hard to describe what we saw. At first, we were given a talk by a survivor of the bomb, and it was obvious at times that it physically hurt her to talk to us about this. Her speech was broken, punctuated by choked-off sobs, but it was clear that it was important to her to tell us what had happened to her. I will never forget what she said to us, or the sound of her voice as she called for her mother.
After we listened to her speech, we continued into the museum. The beginning is simply information on the city, its history and what was going on at the time of the war, accompanied by diagrams of the area before, and after, the bomb dropped. They had a wall comprised of engraved copies of letters by the mayors of Hiroshima, written after every time an atomic weapon was tested or developed, urging an end to such creations. It was only as we moved on that we saw the true heart of the museum, the exhibits of destruction and death, comparable to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. They had relics of the bomb, melted bottles, roof tiles, and a small bicycle that was burned black. Perhaps the saddest items, however, were the pieces of clothing, the school and work uniforms worn by the children who were in the city at the time of the bombing. I do not want to describe any of this in detail, it defies words. All I can say is that, if you wish to know of such things, plan a trip to Hiroshima to see for yourself. Anything I can say here will not have the same impact as seeing it. I cried the whole way through the museum, and feel myself tearing up as I write this. The way I felt is also too hard to describe, and so I will not try. I will simply state that I can now understand both sides of the argument about whether or not the bomb should have been used, though I believe the point moot in light of making sure that such a thing never happens again.
Now, on to lighter topics, yes?
After the museum, we got on the train to Kyoto. Kyoto was the former capital of Japan, an ancient city with more history than anything we have built in America. It is beautiful, built on a city grid so that the design makes sense, each area has its own flavor. That first day, we simply settled into the hotel. Some of the others went to Gion (where the geisha live and work) and the market district, but as we had an extra day in Kyoto at the end of the trip, and were fairly tired, we remained in the hotel again.
When we woke up, we took a tour of the city by way of the temples. We started with Ryoanji, a temple with an impressive rock garden and beautiful forests. I took many pictures, but the most notable thing was the nature around it, which must be shown to do it justice. It is all green, with forests the likes of which I believed only existed in anime like Princess Mononoke.
After that, we went to the Golden Pavilion, a tourist trap of a building, whose upper floors are made of, or rather, coated in, gold. It sits on an island in the middle of a small lake, and the area is generally (as it was on the day we went) filled with people looking at it. We stayed only a short time there, before leaving to have lunch. Dina, Katie, and I found a nice noodle restaurant that had fantastic food.
Once we finished lunch, we went to the Silver Pavilion, which, despite its name, is not made of silver. Still, it puts the lie to the sayings about gold being more beautiful. Again, we saw a great deal of green nature, and buildings made to fit in with the life around it. I have a great respect for Japanese architects, as they seem to have an unrivaled ability to create places that are both humanized and natural, buildings that blend in to the place they are built in.
When we left the Silver Pavilion, we started the return trip to our hotel by way of the Philosopher’s Path, the Tetsugaku no Michi. We passed other temples, and investigated one of them, before pausing at the end so that we could play with the cats that seem to live at a feline sanctuary there. It was great, because I miss my cats very much, and was so happy to have furry things to hold on to. After that, we finished the trip by taxi.
The next day, we visited Nijo Castle. It is the former home of the Shogun, and very large and splendid. The walls are all made of large stones, and very tall. There is also a fondness for corner stairs here (by which I mean stairs that cover part of two walls, meeting in a corner), and large koi ponds. Jane seems to take delight in teasing the poor fish, who gather at the surface the minute it looks like a human might be stopping to feed them. She had them all making that particular fish-mouth-thing they do when hungry, just by swinging her hand out over the water. It was kind of awesome. J
The castle itself was many, many rooms, connected by a Nightingale Floor. A Nightingale Floor is a floor built specifically so that you cannot walk silently upon it. Created so that no one may sneak in to assassinate the Shogun, the floor sings like a bird with each step you take. The rooms themselves were beautiful, tatami mat rooms, with walls painted with all types of scenes. It is an impressive establishment, truly a beautiful castle.
After that, we had lunch, and walked to the Nishijin Textile Center, a building in which they show how Kimono are made. We watched a Kimono show, and I purchased some gifts. It was interesting, but not the fascinating place it was made out to be by some of the SICE associates back at Earlham. Still, it was a pleasant hour or so.
Then, we went to the Fushimi Inari shrine. Again, it is probably something you have heard of, even if you don’t know the name. It is the shrine with a thousand tori gates forming the path up to the top of the mountain. If you have watched the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, you will have seen images of this shrine. Foxes are everywhere there, as they are the messengers of Inari. Again, it will be more useful to show you pictures than anything I can say here, but there are many, many small shrines as you walk up the mountain, and beautiful scenery, worthy of a painting, or perhaps the scenery in an epic Lord-of-the-Rings-style movie. Climbing to the top took time, but was well worth it. At the bottom, we got to play with kittens, which were living with their mother under a wall next to the stairs leading to the beginning of the tori path.
That was the last day as a whole group, and so we had dinner together, at a traditional Kyoto-style restaurant, and had what seemed to be traditional Kyoto-style food. It was wonderfully delicious, but served in 10 or so small courses that amounted to more food than even the most bottomless stomach in our group could ingest. The sushi course alone was a full dinner, and it was the last item we received. The rest were served in much smaller portions of yummy food. My favorite was what seemed to be avocado bruschetta on a toasted piece of bread, even though it was more of a modern style of Kyoto cuisine than anything traditional. The entire thing was fantastic, and a great experience.
The next day, we got up, checked out of the hotel, and Katie, Dina, Anthony, and I moved to the youth hostel for the night. After dropping our bags at the hostel, we took a tour of the market area, before heading to Gion to look around and visit a costume place. At the costume place, we were able to dress up like Maiko, the apprentice Geisha, complete with the face paint and a wig. It was a great deal of fun, and we took a lot of pictures. Anthony was a great sport, taking pictures for the three of us, even though he didn’t want to dress up. We then returned to the hostel, and went to sleep.
After that, we took the train to Tokyo, and spent three days there. The first day, we met our friends who are at Waseda University, and spent time with them. The next, we went to Akihabara, the electronics district, and played games and shopped, before I headed off to meet up with Erika, Lasheena, and MacKenzie to see Tokyo Tower. That was amazing, because we could see the whole city. And it was at night, so everything was lit up and glittering like diamonds. The third day, we went to Harajuku, the fashion district, and looked at the crazy Japanese fashions like Lolita dresses and odd skirts. I also realized some important things about my personal life, but I feel like those things should not be put in a blog. I only mention it because it happened, and I’m much happier for it.
Anyway, that’s the fall trip. There were a few more interesting things that happened when we got back, but I shall save those for another blog, as I have already written nearly six pages here, and I do not want to bore you with my ramblings. I hope all is going well for you. Thank you for reading!