I am back here now
in Kishiwada. I arrived yesterday; it was surreal. I feel like I never left, which is a funny way to feel when I've been gone for three months and so many significant things have happened in the meantime: grad school decision, graduation from college, goodbyes to my college friends. It feels a little escapist, since everything is different for me now in California, but everything is the same as it always was for me in Kishiwada. Mike is here, and the apples are the same price in the grocery story (100 yen, the standard gouging), and the vending machine coffee tastes the same, and the crosswalk plays the same song, and the woman in the restaurant around the corner still says "OOKINI!!" (which is an older version of "thank you") in that goodnatured, deafening voice. What a funny thing to say about Japan, that it is an escape from change. But it feels that way.
What are the differences? It is hot and muggy here now, because it is summer. Different people I love are coming to visit: Raina in Kyoto in only a couple weeks, and my mom after that! Mike has discovered excellent new restaurants, including a Mexican place in Namba that we're checking out tonight.
It always takes me a little while to adjust, but I don't feel 100% happy yet about being here. I feel conflicted.
So I went for a long walk while Mike was at work today, and I finally visited this big Shinto shrine in Kishiwada. It's right across from the park, where I went almost everyday, but for some reason I never walked inside until today. I didn't see another person the entire time I was there, with the exception of one woman who was dusting a small shrine. It felt peaceful.
The long street I usually take to the park.
Japanese graffiti on a children's slide:
Main building at Kishiwada shrine:
Stone pillars:
Red tori gates, and red signs:
I don't usually take pictures of smaller shrines, because I feel self-conscious about the people there using them. But there was no one around today.
I forgot how self-conscious I feel just walking on the street, because I look so different, and people sometimes stare. This will take some getting used to again.
What are the differences? It is hot and muggy here now, because it is summer. Different people I love are coming to visit: Raina in Kyoto in only a couple weeks, and my mom after that! Mike has discovered excellent new restaurants, including a Mexican place in Namba that we're checking out tonight.
It always takes me a little while to adjust, but I don't feel 100% happy yet about being here. I feel conflicted.
So I went for a long walk while Mike was at work today, and I finally visited this big Shinto shrine in Kishiwada. It's right across from the park, where I went almost everyday, but for some reason I never walked inside until today. I didn't see another person the entire time I was there, with the exception of one woman who was dusting a small shrine. It felt peaceful.
The long street I usually take to the park.
Japanese graffiti on a children's slide:
Main building at Kishiwada shrine:
Stone pillars:
Red tori gates, and red signs:
I don't usually take pictures of smaller shrines, because I feel self-conscious about the people there using them. But there was no one around today.
I forgot how self-conscious I feel just walking on the street, because I look so different, and people sometimes stare. This will take some getting used to again.