The Perennial Tourist

The last two weekends have been great, mainly because I have pulled myself out of my apartment and gone out to experience different parts of Japan. When I arrived, I was all about touring, and seeing what there was. Unfortunately, I think many of us tend to establish a routine and pretty much stick to it. As one of my friends here said, I mainly just live in Japan. I don't really know the places to see. When I visited Tokyo a couple of months ago, a Tokyo native friend of mine took me to the Royal Palace and admitted that in her 62 years she had never been there before.Last weekend, my neighbors, L'Shawn and Doug had heard about a festival in a town about 1.5 hours away where they had floats with mechanical puppets on them. L'Shawn went on-line and found us a volunteer English guide, and away we went. What a delightful Sunday! The Japanese guy was beyond generous. He wanted to pay for everything including lunch and an expensive cake set in a ritzy hotel. He also batted a bamboo good luck charm my way when the folks on the floats were throwing them into the crowd. It is now hanging outside my house, bringing me good fortune as we speak. We also bought a cute little bottle of sake and walked around town drinking it. You're not in Kansas anymore. The town was located north of Kyoto on the shores of the largest lake in Japan, so it was truly lovely.The next day was a holiday, and though my school didn't observe it, I only had 1 class after which I ran out of the building and met my friend for tennis, lunch and an exhibition of Okinawan dancing. Very interesting, and at one point one of the dancers came down the rows of spectators, so I snapped a photo. That caused him to drag me out of my seat, hand me a drum and have me dance with them. As an Okinawan dancer, I make a good English teacher, but it was fun anyway.Yesterday, Saturday, I went out geocaching again with Jon. We went to a park near Suma beach. It was both lovely and odd. We took a ropeway (gondola) up most of the mountain to the park. At the top, there was another people moving device going up a bit further. It was kind of like a vertical bumper car set up. Quite different. At the top, they had an observation building complete with 1980's video games, a fascinating Rube Goldberg machine which we watched for about 10 minutes. Then we went upstairs to the snack bar and the 360 degree view of the ocean, mountains and beach. I told Jon I felt dizzy. He said he did too, and we realized the floor was moving. It was not exactly a ritzy hotel at the top of a skyscraper--it came complete with a statue of Snow White and 2 of the 7 dwarves. But it did have a great view. We hiked down the mountain, found the cache, and then toured the longest suspension bridge in the world. They have a walkway with some glass flooring, so you can look down to the ocean below. Quite impressive.Today I played tennis from 10 to 2:30 and am sore from stem to stern. Life is good.

The Long Break and the Health Check Up

I'll admit it. A full month of vacation with no real playmates to enjoy it with is kind of a drag. I started the month with great intentions, walking for 45 minutes in the morning in the hills behind my house, writing journals in Japanese and studying every morning, going to yoga or aerobics in the afternoons and then to Japanese classes in the evenings. That lasted about 4 days before I started getting lazier and lazier and lazier. Rockies' games on the internet helped, but they also made me lazy, as they don't usually start till 10 a.m. I went to Tokyo to see Scott for about 5 days, but at the end he was ready not to have Mom in his hair (or lack of it). There were a couple of bright spots when I went hiking with Jon in Kobe, and Hiromi, a former CSU student in Tokyo, as well as the day I struck out on my own and found 4 geocaches in Suma, a beach community in Kobe. Anyway, school starts on Monday, and I am happy to be getting back into a routine.
Last Friday, my college had a health check up day for faculty which I needed to attend. I started the day on the wrong foot when, with the help of an interpreter, I asked if they could check my blood for Thyroid (TSH) as well as the cholesteral, blood sugar that they said they were looking for. No, can't be done. I was a little rude, I guess, as it comes standard with blood work over here. I was also suspicious about them as they did not require fasting for the blood sugar and cholesteral checks. Oh well, on to the chest x-ray. It was in a health mobile in the parking lot, and I had to remove my bra. Fine. However, they told me not to put it back on, and the several other checks were all over campus. I had left my bags in my office, so I was left holding the bra, so to speak. I tried to hide it discreetly under my shirt, but I was feeling like a fool. After the blood draw and the urine sample, we went back to the parking lot to another health mobile where we drank barium and they checked my stomach (for what I don't know) by putting me in this fun house ride and barking orders at me in Japanese. It whirled me up down and sideways while the attendant kept trying to get me to put my arms in the right place. What I didn't realize until afterwards is that after you take barium, it's like the stuff you take before a colonoscopy. In short, don't stray far from the bathroom. A fitting end to my long break.

Trip to China

A package tour. Who knew it could be such a good time? At times you feel you are part of a cattle herd, but overall it was great. Nice people--23 in all. I know because our poor guide, Li, was always counting to 23. Highlights were climbing the Great Wall. I was one of only 6 who chose the steep side. It was less crowded and I refuse to give into little old ladyhood just yet. It was magnificent. It was also fun riding a rusted out old bike on top of the old city wall in Xi An after we toured the Terra Cotta Warriors site. And the 3 day cruise down the Yangtze River through the 3 gorges was delightful. I'm really glad I decided to join a tour group as I enjoyed getting to know the other folks on the tour. They were fun. And just so you know, I will not be eating Chinese food for another 4 months or so, as I definitely had my fill. It was good, but enough already. We finished the tour in Shanghai, which is an amazing, modern city. One of our guides told us that the national bird of China is now the crane (as in building crane) as the entire country is exploding with new construction and economic growth.

I personally added to the economic growth by buying a silk rug at the carpet factory, a pearl necklace at the pearl factory, a small jade violin knicknack at the jade factory, and a silk comforter at the silk factory. What a sucker! You have to bargain for almost everything, and there is a lot of stuff to bargain for. One thing that was a bit annoying was the air travel. I took a total of 4 in-country flights, and 3 of them were delayed--one for 7 hours! when I was alone, waiting for my flight to Beijing, I listened to the loudspeaker in the airport announcing flight after flight being delayed--not for weather but for too much air traffic. Can't they figure that out ahead of time? I was also dismayed to learn that the folks flying in from the states paid the same for their tickets as I did from Japan. My flight was 2 1/2 hours--theirs was 14 and they cost the same. It's not cheap getting off this island!

Anyway, I'm back in Japan and still on break. I don't go back to school until September 28, so I'm spending my time going to the gym, studying Japanese (the trip was great because I had 10 full days with no Japanese guilt)and exploring the mountains behind my house. I may figure out a couple of short trips before I go back.

Rules, Rules, Rules

I had a chance yesterday to be a full time member for one day at my gym (Cospa--Comfortable sports place).Because I cheaped out, I am a 90 minute member. I need to clock in and clock out no more than 90 minutes later. But for some reason, they let us stay as long as we wanted to on Saturday. Normally I go to a yoga class and then leave. But it was Saturday, I'm done with work, and I decided to really savor the place--check it out. They have a 25-meter pool on the 5th floor, and seeing that it's hotter than the lid of hell right now, I thought I would indulge, not without some trepidation, mind you. It has come to my attention that Japan is a very rule-bound and also rule-abiding kind of place. Some of the rules are posted (in Japanese) and others you just sort of have to know. Needless to say, a) I can't read the rules, and b) I am clueless. So anyway, I brought my bathing suit and my towel and proceded bravely to the pool area. I immediately saw a sign that I was able to interpret, that is a towel with a red X through it. OK, I couldn't bring my towel into the pool. what to do with it? Whew! I turned a corner and there were cubbies to put the towels in. I reached the pool and saw to my dismay that everyone was wearing swimming caps. I don't have one. I went to the life guard, who (will wonders never cease) spoke English! He had a cap to give me. Wow! Things were going well. I had just come from the yoga class from hell (I missed the 75 minute morning class,so I decided to go to the wimpy 45 minute class--who knew it was taught by a sadist?) I got into the lane which is reserved for walking. Me and all the septagenarians strolled along in the water for a while. Then I decided to try swimming. I crossed into the next lane and did a lap or 2 of crawl. Oh oh, here comes the lifeguard. Seems you need to swim on the right--don't know why as they drive on the left. So I got out. My shoulder was hurting anyway. They have a big hot tub and 3 interesting individual tubs with these apparatuses like towel racks arranged in a sort of S shape. You lie on them in the water. Interesting. Then there are showers that are on all the time that are sort of like Water Pik shower heads on steroids. They really drill into you. Anyway, enough of the pool. I proceeded on to the bath part of my club. It's just like the onzens, which have their own set of rules. I watch the women there, and they know exactly how to wash every inch of their bodies using basins as well as shower sprays. It's quite impressive, and I don't have the knack yet. When you have cleaned yourself entirely, you sit your naked body into the hot pool. Then you splash water from the cold pool on yourself. Afterwards, I went into the next room to dress. There is a centrifugal machine like we have in my club to wring out your swim suit. I did that, and a little old lady asked me if I spoke Japanese. When I said a little she explained that the rule is to rinse the suit out in the sink before you put it in the centrifugal machine. I keep screwing up! One of the hardest things is to figure out where you can wear your shoes, and where it is strictly forbidden. My friend Jon joined a different club, and they made him buy new shoes that had never been worn outside. At least I didn't have to do that.Last week we went out to dinner with our summer session students. We all got the 'set' that included cake. All the pieces of cake are wrapped in cellophane in Japan. Call me weird, but I don't like cellophane with cake, so I took it off and put it next to the plate. All the students were most amused. You are supposed to unwrap the cake and keep it resting on the cellophane. Gosh I wish I knew the rules.

Boat Ride in Arashiyama

Spent last Saturday in a wooden boat negotiating rapids down a river near Kyoto. Actually, I was just seated comfortably in the boat while the boatsmen negotiated the rapids. It really reminded me how much I love being out in nature. We even saw a monkey on the river bank! It's been hot and sticky here, but there was a cool breeze going down the river. I went with my good friend Akiko and her Iranian student Mr. Safari. It was nice to have Akiko translating the humorous patter of the boatsmen, as I am usually without a clue. There was a French family in the boat with us (along with about 8 other people) and I enjoyed speaking French with the dad. It made me feel like less of a 3 year old as, unlike Japanese, I can actually speak French. There was an interesting linguistic dynamic going on with that family. The mother was English, the dad French, and they lived in Paris. (Like most Parisiens, they were on their 3 week August vacation). The mother spoke only English to the kids (late teens, early twenties) and the kids answered entirely in French. The only time the woman spoke French was to speak to her husband. They obviously completely understood one another, so everyone was happy.
After the boat ride, Akiko and I did some unsuccessful geocaching along the river bank, and then we were told about a Buddhist temple straight up the mountain from the river. It was really steep, but very worth it. When we got there, we rang the gong 3 times each, listening to its lovely sound reverberating through the mountains. Then we continued on to the temple, which was small and a bit shabby, but with a million dollar view over the river, mountains, and the city of Kyoto in the distance. There was tea, and we enjoyed the cool air and the view, sitting comfortably for about 45 minutes. Then back down the mountain to the heat and crowds of Arashiyama (a bit of a tourist location.) Another great day!

Fireworks and Kimonos

August is fireworks season in Japan, and I went to the Kobe fireworks with my tennis friend and her husband last night. Hisako had bought us tickets, so we sat in folding chairs out by the port. Really quite civilized. The custom here is that many young women wear yukatas, which are summer kimonos, to watch the fireworks, so the audience is almost as colorful as the show. We lucked out, as it had rained earlier in the day, and it started sprinkling after the show, but it was clear and not hot. The unbearable heat I have been promised has not yet really materialized due to a prolonged rainy season this year.
Yukatas are on sale everywhere now, and they are pretty reasonable--about $50 to $80 dollars. I was thinking about getting one, but my neighbors have made comments that many western women look like stuffed sausages in them, which has dampened my zeal. However, I want to tell what I have learned about kimonos. On January 20, there is a ceremony for everyone who turns 20 that year. It's a sort of coming-of-age party. The girls wear kimonos and the boys wear suits. They all go to their hometown and listen to a city official, see all their old junior high and high school friends, and then go out and party. Anyway, the big deal is for the young women to get a kimono for the affair. Many of my students are now getting their kimonos and then having the requisite photo shoot that goes with it. So, I ask, "how much did your kimono cost?" The answers range from $5,000 to $8,000! This includes all the purses, hair flowers, and other stuff that goes with it, but wow! The kimonos that young girls wear have a special kind of sleeve, so they can't even wear them after they get married or turn 30. Akiko,the Japanese woman I have dinner with every Tuesday, has a 20-year-old daughter who went through that ceremony last year. She was planning on wearing a family kimono to the ceremony, so no big deal. Unfortunately, her daughter is fat, and when she tried on the kimono, it didn't fit. It was the last minute, so they had to rent a kimono. No problem. It was only $2,500 for one night! I used to complain about renting the boys tuxes for prom!
Another interesting thing about kimonos is that they are difficult to put on. My student says she stands with her arms outstretched while her mother dresses her. Akiko tells me that if you don't have someone to help you, you go to the beauty salon to have them dress you, and probably your hair as well.

July 4th weekend

Had a pleasant 4th of July weekend, a holiday which goes completely unnoticed around here, I might add. I went to a Mexican restaurant, which is quite rare here. The margarita would definitely not make it at the Rio, but as I ordered a large, halfway through I didn't care. After dinner, we went to Dotumburi, the neon capital around here and just enjoyed the commotion and lights. On Sunday, I went to play tennis with an informal group I meet on Sundays. There were only 3 of us, so after borrowing an extra player from another group to play a set, we left. The father and daughter pair I was playing with invited me to have lunch at their house. This was a first for me, and I had a delightful time. They eat on a low table sitting on cushions. Apparently, summer lunches in Japan consist mainly of cold noodles and a sauce to dip them in. We had somen (new to me) and udon noodles, a tasty dipping liquid and salad. I was told that you are expected to make loud slurping noises when you eat the noodles. One of the sons was visiting for the weekend, and he told me about an interesting festival in a town nearby. Think I'll check it out in August. Finished off the weekend with a haircut and a yoga class. Life is good.