It's been a long day of getting settled in and running around Kyoto.
Nevermind that I just ran to Hiroshima, to my NEW APARTMENT, back to Shiga and back to MY NEW APARTMENT.
Apparently I also have an audience and expectations of humor to live up to.
So I will see what I can furnish with today's post, as I sit here with the lights dimmed in MY NEW APARTMENT, watching the gliding kintetsu intersect the glittering cityscape and feeling oh so posh in MY NEW APARTMENT.
Oh, if only you could see it.
Oh well! So here's a rundown of any interesting aspects of my life (essentially, whatever is left on my camera that I haven't uploaded yet) since my last post!
I left my host family last week on Wednesday. The last day to fulfill promises--
Update from MY NEW APARTMENT: There is an incredibly obnoxious screeching sound that makes me think that my old bus driver in high school somehow managed to conduct a train and decided to employ one of her insidious "brake checks."
(back to regularly scheduled programming)
--made throughout the course of one month. I had to visit the neighbor and meet her son, standing underneath an umbrella only halfway wearing my shoes since I packed everything else already. I had to paint the character 堂, as my host mother used to teach calligraphy. Such things had been put off, but I was mainly looking forward to the calligraphy. I had meant to join the calligraphy club at Doshisha, but I think their meeting time evades me and my crazy schedule.
(For the record, 堂 means "hall" as in "mess hall" or places where food is served, but it also means "magnificent")
So I went to school that morning feeling excited to come home early since I didn't make any plans for the afternoon. And then I looked at the schedule and saw that I had written that today was the day our project class was going to go to the super-cool-earthquake-experience-center-where-you-can-actually-experience-an-earthquake-for-real. bummer. Not because I don't like super cool earthquake experiences, but because it was supposed to last until 4. I texted my host mom and sulked until 2nd period, when my teacher announced that afternoon classes were canceled (I didn't realize that the earthquake experience had been postponed, so look forward to that soon~)
So I got some birthday presents and went home. Today was the birthday of my twin host sisters! I painted 堂 after many failed attempts and prodding to correct my posture and adjust the intensity of my brushstroke. My host mom nevertheless contended that all of those would be my "early works."
And I got socks!
The next morning the rain set the mood as I left my host family for Hiroshima. After disembarking from the Shinkansen, our tour guide greeted us with info about Hiroshima.
You might think it is just a place where you just learn about peace and atomic bombs, but that is not only the case. It's main industry is not peace, but automobiles! It is the base of Mazda (actually, the founder's name was "Matsuda"). "Hiroshima" itself means "wide island" and with 6 rivers running through it, it is also known as "水の都” or "the water capital." There are upwards of 1000 bridges.
It's mascot is also a carp! (Only now did I realize the connection).
I also just realized that this might also have something to do with the facade of one of the main department stores in Hiroshima, which is textured to resemble carp scales.
But this is not entirely as exciting as okonomiyaki!
Hiroshima-yaki is different from Tokyo's style because the ingredients are layered instead of mixed together and then cooked. Hiroshimans (?) don't actually call it Hiroshima-yaki though. Would you call New York pizza "New York pizza" if you were from New York? (Okay okay, enough with food analogies and more mouth-watering representations, if you decide to call it that).
Afterwards the day sobered up a bit as we went to the atomic bomb dome, memorial museum and listened to a "hibakusha," someone who experienced the bomb tell us her story. It was a very devastating blast, as you might imagine. Afterwards, a reporter remarked that greenery wouldn't emerge in Hiroshima for 17 years. As a result, countries began to send plants of every kind to Hiroshima, and it came to be known for its greenery. (This is not really a the place to insert a joke, but it must really help to be the capital of water when you have that kind of demand).
Afterwards we retired to the hotel, which reminded me a bit of the one we enjoyed in D.C. beforehand, save the Japanese-style rooms and public baths. Yes, even Americans can be shameless enough to strip down nudey-nude in front of each other and strangers if it means we get to sit around in boiling hot water.
Pretty hotel scenery!The next day we went on a fishing trip on Oojima island! What in the world does that entail? Have you ever heard of soran bushi, the Japanese fishing dance? In the dance you kind of pull on a rope and lift up a net full of fish. It is a very strenuous, 3 minute-long dance. Surprisingly, it is a bit more strenuous when you're actually dancing with a fishing net. First, we were cautioned not to touch the red fish since they could be full of poison that could send you to the hospital. And then we split into two teams and the ultimate tug-of-war ensued. Teams? Well, two teams gripped at opposite ends of the net as we pulled it on shore. At first it seemed we would be eating a lot of seaweed for lunch (in retrospect, I wish we had). Then, small flopping fish emerged. Then, many many more tiny fish emerged (I want to say they were miniature mackerel). Sometimes more substantial fish made appearance. A few desperate octopi were crawling out of the water, then decided it was a really bad idea and tried to slither in the opposite direction, only to get fondled by us crazy Americans. there were also squids inking up the place.
Don't pescetarians have rough moments like these too?
Of course, pescetarians might actually enjoy fishing and don't mind dragging a dull knife through a fish gut and scooping out its organs. I certainly don't, but somehow felt obliged to since I witnessed the demonstration. Meanwhile other people made sashimi, cooked squid and boiled octopus, and fried tiny tiny fish whole. One student remarked that he would have enjoyed it more if the fish chose a little more savory last supper.
By the way, in Japanese the words for fish, fishing and fisherman sound nothing alike.
On the bus ride back to the hotel, we made a brief pit stop to the island's "michi no eki" which are pit stops clearly geared towards getting tourists to purchase souvenirs of orange jam from the island. Apparently oranges used to be pretty rare but were a staple commodity for the island. There were also some rhinoceros beetles in jars sucking on fruit jelly snacks that appeared to be on sale. I didn't bother to ask.
After getting back to the hotel, we were presented with our amazing dinner. It was traditional Japanese style, which means that plate after plate of food comes out and just when you think you're done, another plate emerges. And of course, aside from the ubiquitous fish there were textures and flavors and colors that most of us have never experienced before. It was as adventurous and palate pleasing as it was painful. In case you were wondering, I took pictures of everything that came out the second time around. I have about 12 of them.
After dinner we had a short moonlight cruise on a scary dragon boat and got our first glimpse of Miyajima island, and "checked in" to the shrine, as we would visit it the next day but there is no way to officially greet the kami-sama there.
We also saw Buddha's sleeping figure. Can you see it?
The next day we went to Miyajima island for real and had an entire hour or so to wander around. Considering the amount of things there were to see, it was really insufficient. (It kind of reminds me of an island in the Chesapeake Bay in MD/VA whose occupants are paltry and consist mainly of older fishermen and tourists who want to try delicious seafood and 12-layer cake minus the 12-layer cake. And plus the ravenous paper-eating deer.)
You should look into Miyajima more for your own education though, since this post is already too long. And then you can teach me about it!
I wanted to see the Daishoin shrine, but there was not enough time. I was lucky enough to run into this fellow though. Look familiar? (See previous post)
And that just about sums up the experience de Hiroshima, etc. Our next class trip will be to a farm in Kyushu that I am looking forward to!
I am just about ready to test the softness of my bed to see if it changed any since yesterday, so since you were loyal and read through this whole post, you get some pictures of MY NEW APARTMENT!!
...and the long-awaited excuse to use my camera's night-cityscape mode!!
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