Kansai Airport - Supposed Departure

As the sun set on the third day, it was clear that I needed to have love's first kiss soon, or else I'd turn back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula forev- oh, wait. Wrong story.

The sun setting in Osaka as seen from the Airport Express Train

After Jillian and I left Rokko island, the mood was fairly somber. It has been a fun trip, but I wasn't sure when I'd be seeing Jillian next, and we were both pretty mopey and weepy. To lighten the mood, we joked that maybe I should just change my ticket so that I could stay for another three weeks. We both knew, of course, that this was next to impossible, since the money required was probably out of our range, and on such short notice, well... it was fun to dream about, anyway.

A quick snapshot of Jill and me at the Kansai airport

My flight was to depart at 6:55, so we arrived at about a quarter to five, since it's recommended that you get to the airport at least two hours before your flight leaves if it's an international one. We rushed about with all of our luggage, me groping about in my pockets in an effort to make sure that I had my flight reservation number and passport in easy-to-access places. When we finally got to the check-in desk, we saw this:

The longest and slowest-moving line I think I've ever had to wait in

To my surprise, and in a small way, horror, I realized that the line not only went down nearly half of the terminal, but also wrapped around into a monstrous queue once it turned the corner towards the desk. I asked a man with a badge if this was the United / ANA line, just to make sure, and he nodded sadly before handing me a piece of paper.

The explanation was something along the lines of:

"Dear customer,

Unfortunately, due to a very vague reason, (something along the lines of "operational issues") your flight has been canceled. This is not because you suck, or have terrible luck, although it probably feels that way. Because you're going to be waiting here for a very, very long time, it's probably best that you try to make light of the situation. At least you're able to stay in wonderful Japan a bit longer! Hopefully, you've brought a book or something to keep you occupied.

Because we don't want your day to be completely horrible, we'll definitely put you up and feed you for the night, so don't worry about that. Granted, we're not going to feed you until you're done with this line, although the restaurant does take it's last orders at 11:00. With any luck, you should be out of here by then.

Again, we're very sorry for the inconvenience. Because this is Japan, we seriously cannot apologize enough. For us to deliver you this news shames us more than is even expressible on paper. It makes us want to crawl under this desk and die as we're writing this. Regardless, you're still going to be waiting here for a while, so as we said before, we hope you've got a book or something.

Hugs and kisses,
United ANA Airlines"

Luckily for me, I did happen to have a book, and Jillian brought along her Nintendo DS, although she was sad to say that she'd only brought her kanji practice game. (At least it was educational!) The line was moving very slowly, and was very, very long, so after about an hour or so of eavesdropping, we go to know our neighbors.

Ahead of us in line were Liam, Ann and Lena. (sp?) Lena, the one waiting for her flight, was headed back to Brooklyn, where she lives and works. She's part of a publishing company that's a branch of Fox News, but Lena assured us that her company is much more hip and liberal than its parent. She had been visiting Ann and Liam for a couple of weeks, and slowly became more and more stressed out as time went on.

Liam, a sardonic, boisterous guy from New Jersey, is part of the JET program. He was teaching in some remote area near the inland sea, and caught the shinkansen to come visit with Ann and Lena. He has a major in Asian studies, (or something like that) and is really excited about the new Super Smash Brothers game.

Ann, a cheerful young lady with a sharp wit from New York, is also part of the JET program. She is often mistaken for one of her students by her peers at the elementary school she teaches at near Himeji. (Since she is small, and Chinese, it wasn't terribly hard to believe) She created her own Asian Art and Theature (or something like that) major, and really liked Jillian's Tako-Chan, who you'll see later.

Behind us were an American guy and his Japanese wife, and his wife's parents. I only really spoke with the guy, but didn't learn his name. We spoke for a while about the Golden Compass series as a response to the Chronicles of Narnia, since I was reading The Amber Spyglass at the time. (Thanks, Charlie, for the info about the controversy!) He and his wife were trying to get back to California. Unfortunately, he was admittedly not very good at Japanese, but fortunately was in the process of trying to quit smoking. (He said, "If I can make it through this line without a cigarette, I'm pretty sure I'm set)

Jill and I chatted with the JET folks most, and about a huge variety of things, from fish in Lake Biwa and the Great Lakes, Evergreen Contracts, sex, vomit, ATM machines, line-drying clothes, Snakes on a Plane, and video games. (Much, much more, I assure you)

Around seven o'clock, it became pretty clear that there was no way Jill was going to make it back to Kobe to have dinner with Charlie and Moritani-sensei as planned, so she texted them an apology explaining the situation. At one point, we started taking shifts watching the luggage and walking around to Starbucks or other food stops, at least until they closed at 10:00. After about four hours of waiting we started to get really antsy. Liam had begun to speculate that they probably saved the best travel plans for the people in the back of the line, since likely to be the angriest. While it kind of made sense, I think he was just trying to give Lena a little hope, since she was getting pretty agitated by now. (She hadn't eaten anything at all in the six hours we had been waiting, despite the snacks the rest of us has been sharing - Jill and I were really thankful for the omiyage snacks people had been giving us upon our departure!) Finally, around 10:50, after nearly six hours of waiting around we finally made it to the counter.

Jillian and I had agreed that as we've worked customer service and had dealt with lots of angry people before, we were going to be really nice to whoever had to deal with us. The man who helped us looked really tired, as if hundred of people who had been standing around in line had been yelling at him practically all day. (Naturally, that was probably the case) The people we'd seen leaving the line all looked even more unhappy than the people waiting in line, and on more occasions than I can count we head very angry and very loud shouting coming from the direction of the counter.

This poor guy explained to us that the flight had indeed been canceled, and that the options he could give us were limited. (So much for the best plans for the last people) The soonest option would be Monday, (It was Saturday at the time) and would involve me taking a plane to Shanghai, and then transferring from there to a plane that would take me to LAX, then flying back to Seatac. Wary of having to go to yet another country, I asked what my other options were. He looked at his screen and said that the next best would probably be Tuesday, and would involve me flying to a local airport near Tokyo, taking a bus to Narita International Aiport, and then flying to Sanfrancisco from there. (Or was it Tokyo Monday, Shanghai Tuesday? Either way, it doesn't matter too much...)

I wasn't pleased, but did my best to assure the man that I knew this wasn't his fault, and that waiting around hadn't been that bad - we'd made some new friends. Jill and I took a moment to chat, and Jill jokingly said that maybe I really should stay for another three weeks after all, as we'd talked about earlier. The man overheard and said that if I wanted to change my flight for something like, three weeks later, it was definitely possible. I said something along the lines of, "Huh, really?" and he was like, "Yes, if you're able to be that flexible, it would really help us out..."

Jill and I went over the pros and cons of this plan for all of about thirty seconds. I considered the classes I'd be missing, but hastily assumed that since I'd be studying Japanese language and culture in Olympia if I went back on Monday anyway, why not learn about it in Japan? (More on this later) We'd have to buy another ferry ticket, oh, and what about all our stuff? We'd be lugging it back to Miyazaki... and what if I couldn't stay for three weeks without losing credit after all?? At least I'd already written Linda a check for January rent...

The man, still listening, said that he could give me a flexible ticket, with which I would be able to change my departure date at will with a quick phone call at no extra charge. He also said that since "Sison-san" was so gracious as to help the airline out by giving them an extra seat at such a dire time, he could definitely upgrade me to a business class seat as well.

Well, that was about all the convincing I needed, so we set the departure date tentatively for January 28th, three weeks later than originally planned. He thanked us heartily, both on the airline's behalf as well as his own - he said that he was thrilled and relieved to have spoken with such a nice couple after such a long day. He even went so far as to make sure that accommodations could be made for Jillian as well, and called ahead to the hotel to ensure that they knew Jill was coming too, despite not having a boarding pass. He also gave us extra meal tickets, then told us to rush to the restaurant as soon as possible, since the last order would be happening in less than five minutes.

(Lena, unfortunately, did not have as easy a time as we did. Although I wasn't paying too much attention, she did start to cry at one point, although Lian and Ann were doing their best to comfort her... I really hoped that they would make it to the restaurant in time, too)

Lucky for us, we made it nearly just in time, as did our friend and his wife from behind us in line. (He had argued his way into a two tickets for Narita the next morning - he was pretty proud!) The free food was great after six hours of waiting in line, although we were worried about Lena and our JET friends. They did eventually show up, though, and after some pleading with the host, were allowed to come in late and order as well. Jill exchanged cell phone info with superior Japanese technology, (it's this wireless thing where you put the phones next to each other...) and we went up to the room.

The view from our hotel room

The hotel room itself, again, free, was spectacular. I'd gone to drop our stuff off at the front desk before rushing to the restaurant, and the check-in desk had had our bags brought up to the room. It was a big room, with two beds, and more space than we knew what to do with. That wasn't much of a problem, though, since we pretty much immediately went to sleep - it had been a really long day, despite having just waiting around for most of it.

Our stuffed friends Small Lily, Lilac, ChisaNeko to OkiNeko, Big Lily, and Tako-Chan

Oh! One more cool thing about this hotel I wanted to add in before I finish this post - they had both The New Testament in Japanese and The Teachings of Buddha in English in the hotel room. Charlie had mentioned that he'd seen a Buddhist text in a hotel room in Japan before, but this was the first time I'd seen it in person! (The hotel we'd stayed at in Kobe, as well as the one in Rokko Island, had neither) A little random, sure, but still cool! Having learned a lot about the graduation assimilation and development of Buddhism in Japan during Fall Quarter, it was pretty neat to see the fruits of the centuries of sowing in such an unexpected place.

Holy Texts, Hurrah!

Well, that's about it for now. This one turned out way longer than I thought it would. Maybe it helps convey how really really long it felt like to wait in the airport, though! At the end of the day, I was so thrilled, shocked, and in such a state of disbelief that sleeping was difficult despite how tired I was. I was supposed to be somewhere over the Pacific ocean, and here I was, Jill snoozing beside me, about to stay in Japan double the time as originally planned. Somehow I knew that things were going to be so simple, though. I called home with the free phone call the airline had also provided me, and Jill e-mailed her parents with her phone explaining what had happened as best she could. The academic scramble would come later, I knew, although I wasn't sure yet how my faculty would take my missing three weeks of class. Also, I pretty much out of money, since I'd only budgeted for a three-week stay, and had almost not even made that...

Ah, well, it's all worked out for the most part. This concludes the prequel, I think. From here on out, it's just Miyazaki stuff and refections, I think. I don't know. I guess we'll just see!

A Short List - Also, some quick observations about dining here

Here's a quick list of some things I really miss about the states:

Family and Friends
Annie! (Omega Mu Gamma's doggie)
Being able to drive around in my car
Hot water in the immediate bathroom sink
Certain kinds of food - I really want to eat some of these things
- Mexican food (both authentic and inauthentic)
- Greek Food (I really want a gyro...)
- Cheese (Cheese is scarce and strange here)
- Hamburgers with buns that aren't from a fast food restaurant
- Pear tarts
- The Old Spaghetti Factory's Hearty Mizithra
- There's definitely more than that but I'm tired

However, there is one strange this here that beats burgers in the states. Check our Japan McDonalds' Mega burgers!

McDonalds' メガたまご　(Mega Tamago - Egg) と　メガトマト (Mega Tomato)

I totally ate that Mega Tamago on a dare. How gross am I? Pretty gross, lemme tell ya. There's plenty of things that I really like here, though, especially curry rice.

Eating here is definitely something I've had to get used to. First off, the portions are, as expected, for the most part smaller. Depending on where you go, food can be really expensive or really, well, not. It's just a matter of finding a place that's the right combination of inexpensive and tasty. Restaurants, even ones styled to be kind of like a western diner, almost always give you the little moist towels (usually disposable, depending on how classy the places is) to use on your hands, especially if you're having finger foods.

Tipping doesn't happen here. Also, tax is included on all all menu items. (This is true in retail as well) The national tax is 5%, so you see a lot of prices of things like 105 yen or 315 yen. Most of the time, prices are round numbers with the tax on top, though there are definitely exceptions. (It's unusual to see something with a price like 1999 yen in Japan, unless you're buying really big things... like Minamatsuri Dolls at Toys R Us)

It's fairly uncommon for your waiter (although more often than not, waitress) to serve you water. Most of the time, you're expected to go to the drink bar and pour your own. After you're done looking at the menu, there's a button that you can push to summon someone to come take your order. I would've been so lost and confused if Jill wasn't here to show me all of this stuff the first time I went to a restaurant.

Another thing we've experienced a lot that I'll write about more later is that folks working in what would probably be considered minimum wage retail positions in the states are almost universally college-age. Japan's employment system typically seems to hire folks practically immediately out of college, and since positions in company jobs have age-limits and the potential for lifetime employment, if one finds a job when they're young, they'll usually stick with it.

Or that's my understanding of it so far. Small, family owned restaurants, of course, are quite different, where a husband and wife may run the business and thus are both servers and chefs, but in corporate retail spots like McDonald's or Toys R Us, (since they're familiar and I'm already using them as examples... there's plenty of similar Japanese companies) the visible employees are pretty much all in their twenties - likely working their way through college.

It's kinda interesting, to me at least! I need to read more about Japan, and will be doing so. Next time, I'll finally write about what happened at the airport. Other things planned - a short creative moment with Shiva-Chan, reflections on friendship among guys in Japan, and Japanese language classes here at Miyadai. 'till next time!

Time with Charlie and Rokko Mountain

After we dropped our things off on Rokko Island, Jillian and I went to go meet Charlie in Kobe for lunch. We couldn't actually check in until later that afternoon, so we just left our things with the concierge at the front desk. Since Jill and Charlie really wanted Thai food, we went to this cute little place that Charlie knew about near Sannomiya. The place was cozy, and packed, so we actually shared a table with two Japanese women, but didn't speak with them much because of a partition placed between us since we weren't really the same party. Eating Thai food with Jill was really nostalgic, since it's something we did a LOT in Olympia. (Olympia has something like, at least six different Thai restaurants... we've eaten at pretty much all of them)

After eating, Charlie suggested that we go up to Kobe 北　(North Kobe) since it was just a few blocks away from where we ate. Jill and I weren't interesting in anymore shopping, since we already had so much stuffed-'till-bursting luggage back at the hotel, so we decided to take the Skyway up to the Rokko Mountain Herb garden, which Charlie said was pretty cool.

Rokko Mountain Skyway

Fortunately for us, it was a sunny, if somewhat chilly day, so the view of Kobe was pretty breathtaking. Unfortunately, my pictures from the top of the mountain didn't turn out super-well, but I've still got some from around the mountain!

Rokko Mountain Herb House and Spice Museum

At the top of the mountain, there's a neat little gift shop that sells seeds and perfume and things from the herbs on the mountain. They've also got this neat display of how fragrance is extracted from plants and herbs, and a big, detailed doll house, although I'm not sure why it was there exactly. There's also this spot where they have four scents lined up in a row in different bottles, and each bottle has a letter and a color associated with it. After smelling them all, you're supposed to decide which was your favorite, and which was your least favorite. Depending on which you've chosen, there's a kind of personality analysis sheet you can (in theory) read. Unfortunately, since there was way too much kanji for me to understand, I couldn't decipher it, but it was still fun to try!

Doll House near the gift shop

As we continued down the mountain, we found the herb garden itself. Unfortunately, since it's winter, a lot of the plants weren't blooming in full force, but guests are encouraged to touch and smell the leaves and flowers that are available. Sadly, Charlie had a really bad cold, so he couldn't smell too much, but we had a fun time looking for plants we recognized and seeing them in their semi-natural state. They had little plots for pretty much every herb I could think of! The nerd in be got really excited that I could remember what kinds of potions (or poisons) could be made from some of these plants in various video games I've played. It was cool to see!

Past the herb gardens is the greenhouse and spice museum. Inside they had lots of interesting plants, as well as the spice museum where you could grind up and smell the plants and herbs after they'd been harvested and manufactured.

Fox Fruit (Citrus)

A grind-and-sniff section of the Spice Museum, complete with Mortar and Pestle!

We stayed in the welcome warmth of the greenhouse for a while, and smelled more things in jars - some good, and others not so much. (I kept going back to Cinnamon between tries because it was easily my favorite - licorice a close second) Charlie said that it would probably take another half hour or so to hike down the rest of the mountain, but because Jill wanted to make it back before it got too late since we'd left our bags at the front desk, we decided to take the Skyway back down the second half of the mountain.

Before heading back to Rokko Island, we bought some of these amazing little Manneken waffles they sell at the Kobe Train Station. Since I was supposed to return to the states the next day, Charlie and I had our farewells before we headed back for the island.

OH! One odd thing that happened though before we headed back was that Charlie and I were waiting for Jill near the bathrooms when an older, and probably fairly drunk Japanese gentleman approached us and asked us where we were from. I looked to Charlie, not sure what to do, and Charlie looked back at me expectantly. The man tapped me on the shoulder and repeated the question, which surprised me since Charlie is slightly more clearly a foreigner than I am, but I responded "America" hesitantly. The guy got really excited and started asking me questions in slurred English, and I did my best to respond in Japanese. That got him really riled up, and he started to raise his voice saying, "Wow! Very good Japanese!!" He was also starting to spit while he was speaking. Charlie just seemed amused.

Eventually, the man's friend, or son or something found him and pulled him away, saying that they were gonna miss their train. I nodded at his companion in grateful relief, but the man pulling the drunk guy away just looked kind of agitated. The drunk guy shouted that he needed to go, because he was gonna miss his train, and went away.

But yeah! Adventures! Next time, I'll write about the airport - after I list some things I miss, because I do miss some things. I'm not sure if it's homesickness or what, but goodness... anyway, new post! 'till next time!

Kansai (Again) - Rokko Island

When Jill and I arrived in Osaka, our first goal was to find our hotel on Rokko Island near Kobe so we could drop off our stuff. Rokko Island is one of the artificial islands off the coast of Osaka, and has only been around for a little longer than I have. We were pleased to find that our hotel was easily within walking distance of the train station, especially since despite Jill's efforts to pack light, we were heavily encumbered with gifts and clothes.

Rokko Island Shopping Center - Where Japan hides its UFO

That's not really a UFO, but the building behind it is where we stayed. The UFO-structure is actually a showroom of some sort, and connected to it is the Kobe Fashion Museum.

Now, Rokko Island is a really interesting place, since in a lot of ways, it's kind of an odd ghost-town. While it definitely has a yuppie-ish almost wannabe Bellevue kinda atmosphere, it really felt like a place that wanted to be a lot more "happenin" than it actually was. That's not to say that it wasn't neat, but the huge vacant lots and over 50% of retail spaces that looked like they'd never been used made the place a little spooky.

The empty Rokko courtyard fountain - Where are all the teenagers?

Oddly enough, there were a lot of foreigners or Rokko Island. Guests, we assumed, of the hotel we were staying at. Most of the housing on the island looked like condos, and the Japanese people we did see around all appeared to be either young families, or retired couples. While I do admit that the emptiness of the island may have just been because it was kind of an off-season, the surprising amount of un-used or un-occupied space really confused me. Rokko Island must either be really expensive, or really undesirable to have retail space on,

For all of its weirdness, I really liked Rokko Island. Although its one train line was a little expensive, its few stores were all outlet-like stores, and sold odd things at liquidation prices. If I hadn't already bought the majority of my gifts, I probably would've done more shopping there.

Water Stairs in a Rokko Mall

Rokko Island also had lots of different kinds of food, including kaiten sushi, fry-your-own tempura, curry, ome-rice, McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway, Starbucks, Italian food, bakeries, takoyaki, and much much more! Jill and I tried a few different places, although I'd really like to try the make-your-own tempura place if we can ever find another one. There was also a spot in the Rokko Plaza (Where our hotel was) that had lots of independent vendors in it. One lady at a chicken-wing vendor wanted to practice English with us, and even gave us a discount for some hot wings! It was really nice of her! (Again, we get so lucky!)

Takoyaki take-out on Rokko Island

I'm spending kind of a lot of time talking about a strange people-made island, but I really thought it was pretty fascinating. There was also a movie theater and "50's American Furniture Shop" there, but the furniture being sold was all like 80,000-yen+. (Jill and I assumed that since it looked antiquey, and was shipped from the states, it justified the price... sort of?) It also would've been really cool to have gone to the Kobe Fashion Museum, but it wasn't open while we were there. I'm really glad that we got to stay in such a quaint place!

Our view of Kobe from the Hotel Room

I'll stop for now, since Shiva is being a little monster. Next time - the Rokko Mountain Herb Garden, and the would've-been departure from the airport.

QuickNote: HinaMatsuri

I keep putting off writing about the actual return to Kansai, but I promise it's not intentional! Here's a quick note about ひなまつり。(Girl's Day)

So, hinamatsuri is held on March 3rd, (the third day of the third month.) What I wanted to write about really quick is the dolls. (There's a Boy's Day too, but I don't know much about it)

Hinamatsuri dolls aren't dolls to be played with, but are more like ceremonial displays that are handed down from generation to generation. The dolls are dressed up in traditional kimonos from the Heian period. (794-1194, about) I've studied the Heian period quite a bit, and while it was a time of immense cultural flourishing, it was also a time where less than 10% of the nation held 90% of its wealth, murder, theft and rape were rampant, and most people lived pretty miserable lives. Interestingly enough, because of this imbalance the aristocracy were able to live really luxurious lives, which provided them with the leisure and stability needed to create amazing works of art, including calligraphy, monogatari (narratives) poetry, and paintings. That's a little off-subject, though, so I'll get back to the dolls.

The dolls are set up on platforms that symbolize the tiers of Heian society, in a sense. On the top, of course, is the Emperor and his wife. Below him are servants, then musicians, and finally peasants and things. The dolls are extremely detailed and really expensive. Here's an example of a display that can be found at the local Toys R Us.

A ひな祭り　display for sale at Toys R Us

This particular set is a kind of deluxe, top of the line set available today. Sets can also be found at department stores, and are also passed down from mother to daughter. When I looked at how much a set like this cost, I understood why it's common for them to be passed down!

That's over $1000!

Again, this is a really nice set, and could easily be passed down for generations. Still, that price tag boggled me! I hope that whichever little girl gets that set appreciates it!

The Return to Kansai - Ferry

As my trip to Japan drew to its supposed end, I found that all of the gifts and things I'd been buying over my three-week stay had started to pile up. Since Jillian wanted to send some things back to the states through me as well, she offered that I borrow her larger suitcase. Jillian was sweet enough to accompany me back to Osaka, since our travel plans didn't exactly pan out as we'd hoped. Because we waited a little too long to buy ferry tickets, most of the trips we wanted were completely booked due to the end of the holiday season. Fortunately, we were able to find a spot on the ferry that would depart a day before our ideal time, which meant that our only inconvenience was finding a hotel for the extra night. Midori, with her booking expertise, found us an amazing hotel with a great price even on such short notice, but I'll get into the hotel later.

The ferry for the return trip to Osaka, unlike the trip to Miyazaki, was pretty much packed. This actually wasn't so bad, though, since we made some nice friends on this trip!

The Ferry Gift Shop - items featuring Miyazaki's famous governor, of course, are for sale here.

The people sleeping next to Jill and I were a middle-aged couple traveling back to their home in Osaka after visiting family in Miyazaki. The husband, who never revealed his name, introduced himself by asking us if we drink sake. Jill and I hesitantly said yes, and he kindly poured some for us in styrofoam cups. He didn't know much English, but we were able to convey that we're both International students from America, that Jillian is studying birds in Miyazaki, and that I was visiting her for the break. When his wife arrived from the gift shop, she offered us some salted squid to snack on, and started to chat with us as well. She knew a tiny bit of English, but mostly spoke in rapid Japanese that Jillian was able to follow much more easily than I was. Wanting to share food as well, I offered them some of the toffees I still had from America as well as some cheese manju we'd bought in Miyazaki.

During our shared snack and conversation, we overheard a girl a few sleeping spaces over reading in English with headphones on. She was practicing reading and listening at the same time, and when our new friend (We'll call her Michiko, since that's a pretty common name) realized that she was studying, she asked the girl's mother if she could get her to come over and talk with us.

Michiko, while friendly, was surprisingly outspoken, but the mother seemed really excited for her daughter to have a chance to practice English. While her daughter was shy and surprised at first, we quickly learned that she was much better at English than she thought. We learned that her name was Tomomi, and that she was a freshman in high school. We spoke for a while in the same fashion as at the bar in Aoshima, with asking questions in one language and answering in another. Tomomi expressed that she was feeling really "doki-doki" which is the onomatopoeia for a heart-thumping. We insisted that she needn't be nervous at all, and that her English was much better than our Japanese. She went on to say that she is actually the worst in her class, even though English is her favorite subject. She also told us that her younger brother, (who was really, really tall) while not very good at English, wanted to speak with us too, but was even more shy than she was.

Tomomi's mother spoke with us for a bit, too. She talked about her son, (Who was totally sitting right there, listening to his I-pod) is a baseball player, and is really good at math, if not very good at English. He did eventually come and shake our hands after a while, and introduced himself as Tomomi's younger brother. They also told us that they were from Kyoto, and were visiting their grandparents in Miyazaki. It was a fun little exchange, and we shared more snacks with Tomomi and her family and the Osaka couple as well.

The next morning, as the boat was docking, Tomomi came over and gave Jill and I both little notes written in English. She also wanted to take a picture with us so that she could tell her class about her experience. We took some pictures too, but since my camera wasn't handy, we used Jill's phone instead. (I'll try to put them up later!) While Tomomi went away to eat breakfast, I wrote a note for her as well and tried to fold it in the same prety fashion she'd folded hers, although hers was much more precise and presentable. Still, she seemed really happy to get a note in return, and we all parted happily. (For some reason, though, I got the feeling that Tomomi's dad might not have liked us very much, since he kind of sat grumpily in the corner while the other seven of us chatted, shared food and had fun.)

Tomomi, Jill, me, and Tomomi's brother (I can't remember his name!) [Added after the time of posting - now I've got access to Jill's pictures, too!)

I was really happy with the trip, and joked with Jill about how before the trip, when we were dreading the full-ship, I'd said that we would just have to make the ferry into a huge party-boat. While not exactly what I had in mind, it really was like a party, and made the voyage that much more enjoyable.

New Year's Temple

I totally forgot to write about what we did for New Year's Eve after we went to the Izakaya! To backtrack a little, Jillian, Midori, Max and I went to an Izakaya (all you can eat / drink place) to celebrate New Year's Eve. After a train ride back to Kibana and a quick break to warm up again, we visited the Kibana-jingu, or Kibana area's shrine.

Since it was kind of dark, my pictures didn't turn out super well, which is why I forgot to mention this visit earlier. Luckily, Midori managed to get a quick snapshot of me making a praying at the shrine despite failing to toss a coin into the wish-money receptacle.

Me making a wish at the Kibana Shrine

Although missing is uncommon enough be considered unlucky, I was fortunate enough to have done this before the New Year actually started. Supposedly, your luck kind of "resets" at the beginning of each new year, so I tried again after midnight and made it in. (Whew!)

At larger shrines, the crowds are usually pretty large, and Midori says that there's usually some sizable bonfires, too. Kibana, being small, only had a few braziers lit and one smallish fire in a stone pit, but I was grateful for the friendly atmosphere and breathing room. Since almost every time we visit a temple we purchase おみくじ、(o-mi-ku-ji, or fortunes) they kind of tend to pile up in your wallet / purse after a while. That is, of course, unless you get lots of un-lucky fortunes, in which case you're suppose to tie them up to the string set-up near the temple to be burned later. There's twelve different levels of luck or misfortune that can be foretold by the little slips of folded paper you can buy, but most shrines use a simplified version of about six or seven different levels. I'm fortunate enough to have always gotten things like "fair" or "a little" luck, but Jillian has received 大吉 or "best possible luck" fortunes three times! (Fortunes are usually sold for hyaku-en, or less than a dollar)

As part of the fortune-reset process, people at the shrine burned all of the fortunes they'd accumulated over the past year. Some of them also burned the good-luck arrows from last year before buying new ones. Immediately after midnight, everyone got in line to make wishes and ring the shrine's bell again, and those of us there were also served a nice, super-hot red-bean tea, and a small saucer of sake if we wanted.

Since Kibana is pretty small, most of the people there that night were college students, but there were a few families as well. Lots of people seemed to know each other, but even though Max, Jill and I were kind of on the side except for one young woman who chatted with us in some English for a little while, it was still a fun and interesting experience! I did miss seeing fireworks and things like that in the states, but it was nice to have a semi-quiet and relaxing New Year's Eve.

Gifting Culture

This isn't a hugely academic cultural observation, but more just the things I've experienced as far as giving gifts goes. In Japan, giving gifts is a pretty big deal. There's certain holidays where you give certain people gifts, and the first time you meet people is also a good time to give gifts too. Also, if you travel somewhere new, it's nice to bring back omiyage (again, souvenirs) from the place you went to for all of your good friends.

While in Kansai, Jillian made sure to pick up one treat or another for her friends back at Miyazaki. Usually this was some kind of famous sweet in the area. (like Yatsuhachi, these little triangular things that I unfortunately don't have a picture of from Kyoto) A few days before my flight left for Japan, Jillian reminded me that I should really bring some gifts characteristic of the Northwest for the people I was going to meet. Pike Place Market in Seattle seemed like a good place to go, so I picked up some trinkets there as well as at the Mariner's Team Store, and also bought some Starbucks Liqueur for Hirase-Sensei, the international exchange professor.

For no really good reason, here's a picture of Jillian and a Miyazaki Pineapple. Aren't they cute and tiny?

My first experience with impromptu gifting was when Jillian, Charlie and I visited Moritani-Sensei at Kobe University. (That's not actually what it's called, but it's got some long Engineering name that I can't remember) Moritani-Sensei visited Evergreen last year and sat in on some of our language classes. In retrospect, I really should've given Moritani-Sensei some kind of omiyage, but I didn't know I was going to be seeing him at the time! Moritani-Sensei kindly treated us to lunch, and then took us to meet Nishide-Sensei, a self-proclaimed おかしい　(okashii - strange) teacher from Osaka who is planning to visit Evergreen next year. Nishide-Sensei is really excited about going to Evergreen, because he thinks that since Evergreen is well known for being so laid-back, that it'll be a kind of vacation for him. He was really excited to meet some new Evergreen students, and said things like, "Please, I'm a very easy man, so speak to me however you like" implying that we didn't need to use such formal speech as we usually did and "I'm so glad to meet such funky guys!" referring to our pose in the picture below.

Charlie, Jillian and I in Nishide-Sensei's Office

As プレセント、(PuReSenTo - presents) he gave us that thing I'm wearing on my head, a battery-powered race car, a key chain of an anime character that's over forty-years old that none of us recognized, and some sweets. He then said, "I know that you might not want these, so please pass them on to someone else if that is the case." Feeling like I should offer something, too, I dug around in my bag but could only find a slightly squished Nature Valley snack bar. He laughed and said that it was alright, and insisted that we all hang out when he comes to Evergreen.

The next time I was confronted with wanting to give gifts, I was actually prepared. When Jillian and I first got on the bus to catch the ferry from Osaka to Miyazaki, a nice lady helped us out with the paperwork and finding our way there. When we left the ferry the next day, she showed us to the bus stop, and waited with us for a while. When her husband arrived to pick her up, she offered to take us to the train station, so that we could take the train to the college instead of having to take a bus, and then a train. Surprised that we'd lucked out again, (People have been so nice to us while we're here!) we gratefully accepted her offer, and loaded our luggage and selves into the back seat of her husband's car. Jillian made small talk when questioned by the couple, explaining that she was studying とり　(tori - birds) at Miyazaki, and that she is an exchange student is going to be here for a year. I embarrassedly explained that my Japanese is not as good as Jillian's, and that was I just here to visit. When we told them that we're from the area near Seattle, they excitedly asked us about Ichiro and the Mariners, and gave us some みっかん、 (mikkan - small mandarin oranges) to snack on. They praised Jillian's speaking skills, but Jillian of course responded humbly, telling them that she still had a long way to go. The couple told us that taking us all the way to the college really wasn't that far out of the way, so they took us all the way to the dorm. (How sweet of them!!)

This time, I was ready though! I totally busted out some Ichiro and Johjima key chains and American sweets to give them as we unloaded. We thanked them heartily, and they tried to protest and decline my gifts and first, but eventually accepted them graciously. I was really happy when the husband got excited to see what I'd given them, which I'd only bought extras of by chance!

During my time here, I've filled up the extra suitcase that originally contained Christmas gifts for Jillian with Christmas gifts for both of our families. Poor Charlie is actually in custody of said suitcase now, since we left it with him thinking we'd be back to pick it up shortly, but that was before we knew that my stay was going to be quadrupled in length. As for Hirase-Sensei's liqueur, I found out too late that he actually doesn't drink, but he said that his wife would surely enjoy it. Now I know that Hirase-Sensei actually really likes calendars from different countries and Batdorf and Bronson Coffee (from Olympia.) Next time I return, I won't disappoint!

Kaori, Kazue, and the return to Kansai!

For those who don't know, Kaori is a friend of Jillian and mine that came to Evergreen last year through the same Miyazaki-Evergreen exchange program that allowed Jillian to come study here for a year. Jill met Kaori through Tsutsumi-Sensei, (a Japanese language and culture professor that Jill and I have both worked with quite a bit at Evergreen) and I met Jill and Kaori through Hirai-Sensei's Beginner's Japanese class. Kaori was working as Hirai-Sensei's Teacher's Aide when I met her, although she was also teaching an extra curricular calligraphy class and before-class tutoring sessions as well.

Kaori, Jillian and I enjoying Kaiten Sushi in Miyazaki

Kaori graduated from Evergreen last year, but she is also going to be graduating from Miyazaki this year. Unfortunately, because I was in Alaska at the time of her ceremony in Olympia, I didn't have a chance to attend. After graduation in Olympia, Kaori and her friend Kazumi had planned a road trip around the west coast, including California, Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho, I think. Although Jillian and I had a little influence at the front office for on-campus summer housing, Kaori didn't need the quarter-long lease that was the only thing they could provide. Since I was going to be in Alaska anyway, I suggested that Kaori use my place to stay at and prepare for her trip, since she also had a lot of things she wanted to pack and ship to Japan before returning.

Kaori has done so much for Jill and I that we're always more than happy to spend time with her, too. Throughout the quarter she would often hang out with us and our friends, helping us with our Japanese as we helped her with our English. We also cooked a lot of times together, Kaori often exposing us to Americanized Japanese dishes with fun, improvised ingredients. She and another exchange student, Kanako, also spent some time with Jill at her family's house in Bellevue during one of the breaks last year.

A few weeks ago, Jillian had the opportunity to visit Kaori's family's home here on Kyushu. Jill wrote a two part entry about her trip here and here.

Me, Jill and Kaori eating (Surprise Surprise) Okonomiyaki

Jillian and I are really blessed with having so many kind friends here in Japan. Charlie let us stay with him for a while and showed us around in Kansai, (He also provides continuing moral support!) Midori helps us plan trips and book hotels or search for things we're hoping to buy online to help us find the best price, Satomi drives Jillian to places both exotic and mundane, Max accompanies us downtown or walks with Jillian places late at night so she won't be alone when I'm not around, Erina, (one of Jillian's floor mates) takes care of Shiva-chan when we're away, and Kaori has shared her time, car, and home with Jillian more times than we can remember. Everyone, of course, also constantly helps us with our Japanese.

A few days before I left, Kaori took us to a hotel bar in Aoshima to meet her friend, Kazue. Kazue used to live in the International Dorm where Jillian lives now before she graduated a few years ago, although she is not an international student. (A lot of Japanese students live in the International Dorm because they like the people and ambiance there) She, (Kazue) is just starting out as an elementary school teacher, and was excited to meet Jillian and I as she wanted to practice some English. It's kind of funny, because lots of people want to practice English with Americans, and and lot of Americans want to practice their Japanese at the same time. So, it becomes this kind of bi-lingual conversation, with Jill and I asking questions or answering in Japanese, and the people we're talking with asking questions or answering in English. It's actually really fun, since both sides get to listen and respond, although we also sometimes switch it up so that we can listen to proper pronunciation as well. (Kaori, of course, was always available to translate if things got complicated.)

Kaori, Kazue, me and Jill at the bar where Kazue used to work

I was really energetic the night we went to visit, (the same night as the kaiten sushi picture to pictures above, actually) so I was really excited to speak in Japanese, too. The bar wasn't very busy, and Kazue's co-workers, who were also Miyazaki University students, came and spoke with us as well. It was a fun opportunity for us all to practice the languages we were learning, even if it was a little unexpected. We started with simple questions like, "What are your favorite American movies?" to which they responded, "Die Hard" and "E.T." I explained that 「こどものとき、私のうちに亀がいました。亀の名前はE.T.でした。」 (Essentially, in my childhood, there was a turtle at my house. His name was E.T.)

Kaori, Kazue's coworkers, myself and Jill. (The guy on the left liked E.T., and the guy on the right liked Die Hard)

When I asked the men if we (Jillian and I) were like they imagined Americans to be, they said that we were smaller than they imagined Americans (more slender) and that I was really talkative. I had to laugh that off, of course! They also said that when they first met me, they thought I looked like I could be a Japanese person, so I explained that 「私のおばあさんは東京に住んでいます。おばあさんは日本人です。」 (My grandma lives in Tokyo. She's Japanese) It's pretty simple Japanese, but I was glad to be able to use it!

The pretty fruit-champagne beverage that Jillian was adventurous enough to try. It was good, but a bit bitter for my taste. I went with a ストラベリーコラダ (Strawberry Colada) instead.

After visiting Kazue, Kaori took Jill and I back to the dorms. A few days after, Kaori was kind enough to drive Jillian and I to the Ferry Termial to catch the Osaka Express from Miyazaki to Osaka. (That's actually where the Okonomiyaki picture above comes from, too... don't you love how much pictures are horribly out of order?)

Me at the Ferry Terminal - That's the Osaka Express in the background!

Before I move on to the return to Kansai, I'm actually going to write a post about gifting culture here. There's also a really nice lady we met that I forgot to write about earlier, so I'll write a bit about her, too. This concludes the first Miyazaki visit for now, though. Don't worry, there will be plenty more about Miyazaki later!

X-Mas and New Year's

I should start by saying that I messed up a little in my posting order. We actually went to Takachio two day after Christmas, I think. (So, December 27th) However, I wanted to write about Christmas and New Year's at the same time, because there were some cultural observations I wanted to state about the two.

Jillian and I showing off our matching Christmas socks from my Mom

Firstly, while Christmas is a big deal here, Jillian insists that Christmas Eve is an even bigger deal, especially for young couples. This is largely because while some places close on Christmas day, (but definitely not nearly all, like in the states) most are open late on Christmas Eve, since it's kind of a date-day. Apparently, lots of married couples reserve hotels for Christmas Eve, as Christmas Day is spent primarily with the family, although really, the really big family holiday is New Year's Eve and Day in Japan.

When Jill and I went to spend the day in Miyazaki City on Christmas Eve, we found that the bus from the train station to the mall was pretty much completely packed... with couples. More specifically, young couples, ranging probably from about sixteen to twenty-two years old. At the restaurant we ate at in the mall, (We had Okonomiyaki... hey, what can I say? I love it!) nearly every booth was also filled by couples going out on what I can only assume was their Christmas Eve Date. It was actually really cute, and reminded me a lot of Valentine's Day in the states. (Which they also have here, as well as White Day, but this was kind of different, I think)

Jillian's Delicious Make-shift Apple Pie

On Christmas Day in Japan, it was technically still Christmas Eve in the states. So the day after Christmas, Jillian used Skype to talk with her family on their Christmas Day. On Christmas day, we opened the plethora presents that Jill's and my families had sent along with me for Jill and Shiva, and Jill and I opened our presents for each other too. Jillian, of course, gave me remarkably cute and thoughtful gifts, including, but not limited to, a Japanese character chart to help me study, and apron and oven mitts for our kitchen, a pretty 1000 piece puzzle, since we never got to finish the puzzle we started at the Rivendell Cabin in Leavenworth, and some really adorable sponges, since she knows how much I dislike boring ones. Jill also wanted Christmas dinner to be really special, so we tried our best to make an apple pie, and kind of put together a hodge-podge feast of fried rice, pasta, chu-hai (sweet, fruit-flavored beer) and miso soup for the two of us and Max, another exchange student from Evergreen who is also a good friend of ours.

Jill and Max enjoying Christmas Dinner in the 4th Floor Common Room

It was a little strange on Christmas day to be in a place where everything wasn't shut down. The stores were all still mostly open, if on limited hours, and a lot of the people in the International Dormitory didn't have families to go visit, so people were just kind of hanging around like it was any other day. Admittedly, Christmas is a foreign holiday, but was surprises me is how Japan picks and chooses which holidays it chooses to learn about and recognize.

(Warning, this is kind of opinion-y) I realize this is kind of a strong example, but it was an account of an experience that really struck me. Liam, one of the JET English Teachers we met at the airport when I was supposed to return to the states, (more on that later) told us a story about a Jewish JET teacher he knew a few years ago. According to Liam, when it came closer to the winter holidays, his friend asked the principal at the school she was working at if she could teach about her own holiday, Hanukkah. The principal, however, said that it wasn't in the curriculum to teach about anything but Christmas, and refused. She explained that she didn't know anything about Christmas, as she'd never celebrated it before, but the principal insisted that she must know something about Christmas - she's American, after all.

These kinds of stereotypes about Americans kind of irk me, but I guess it's kind of ethnocentric or something for me to expect otherwise. After all, in America, we have some pretty gross generalizations about what Asian people are like, i.e., Japanese people are all really good at math, or whatever. In Japan, it seems to be the assumption that all Americans are, if not al blonde-haired and blue-eyed, pretty much universally white. In my Evergreenish naivete, I'd like to hope that people realize how diverse America's population really is, but when asked where I'm from here and I answer, "America," I can't escape from the follow-up question of, "Oh, but I mean... what's your ethnicity?" or, "Where are your parents from?"

Then again, I often get the same kind of question in the states, too. When someone asks where I'm "from," my usual answer of "Seattle" typically isn't enough for people. I feel like if I were white, and someone were to ask me where I came from, "Seattle" or "America" would definitely be enough, unless I had some sort of accent that would indicate that might be from Australia or Scotland or something.

Bleh. Part of me wants to digress into the whole "coconut" thing, (Brown on the outside, white on the inside) but I was writing about Christmas, or New Year's or something, wasn't I? Way to make it all about me, me!

So! New Year's. Unfortunately, we weren't able to experience the "family" New Year's Jill and I had sort of secretly hoped to get invited to, but we had a really pleasant informal New Year's Eve instead. Typically, New Year's in Japan is kind of a clean-up time, and a lot of non-perishable foods are prepared so that during the next week or so, people can enjoy spending time together without having to worry about cooking so much. Children usually receive otoshidama (pocket money) from their parents and grandparents, which can range from like, fifty to hundreds of dollars. In our Japanese class in Olympia, Hirai-sensei showed us a newscast showing the majority of these kids spending their money on toys and video games, of course.

For Jill and I, Christmas was spent relaxing with Jill's kitten, Shiva, under a warm Kotatsu. New Year's Eve, however, was spent with our friends Max (Evergreen) and Midori, (A graduating senior and Miyadai, and a long-time friend of the various exchange students who have come and gone) in downtown Miyazaki. We did some light shopping, and although we considered it, we didn't purchase any of the man-en New Year's surprise bags. (For 10,000 yen, or roughly $100, you can get a bag full of random Large, Medium, or Small-size clothing with a combined value of $300 - kind of a gamble, since the clothes you may get may not be entirely to your taste, but still interesting!) We'd made a reservation at an Izakaya, a kind of all-you-can-eat-and-drink establishment. The one we went to served shabu-shabu, (A kind of boil-your-own meat and veggie thing) and yakinikku (A kind of grill-your-own meat and veggie thing) Midori and Max went with the former, Jill and I with the latter.

Jill flipping some kind of meat on our grill-thing

Lucky for me, Jill was much more attentive about when we would put things on the grill than I was. Conveniently, the majority of the meat is sliced fairly thinly so that they cook quickly. Because it was all-you-can-eat, (For ninety minutes) Max and I were intent on eating as much as possible, although Midori emphasized that we should focus more on enjoying what we were eating, rather than stuffing it all down. Between the grilled beef, pork, chicken, onions, lettuce and carrots, screw drivers, peach and apple chu-hai, and melon-soda + ice cream + sake mixes, I was definitely more than satisfied by the time our ninety minutes were up. (They don't kick you our or anything after your time is up, it just means that anything you order after that time will cost extra)

Jill, Midori, Max and I. (Conveniently for me, my gigantic screwdriver has obscured my goofy smile. Jillian, however, has unfortunately fallen victim to Japanese red-eye. Luckily, the cure is only ju-yen at the local conbini)

So, New Year's was fun! It also, however, reminded me that my time in Japan was short. In only four more days, I was supposed to board a plane bound for San Fransisco. Stuff happens, though, and then after that, like, other stuff happens.

Next time - Kaori and Kazue, and the return to Kansai!

Takachiho

Oh! Something I wanted to mention before - Jillian's dad, Harry, taught me that Blogger actually shrinks my pictures itself, so I don't really have to make them so small. However, if you want to see a larger image, you can just click the picture and it'll open it up into a larger window. Cool!

A cloudy day in Takachiho

Takachiho, about a four-hour drive from Miyazaki, is probably most famous for its gorge. While not the size of the Grand Canyon or anything like that, it's still really beautiful. (Jillian has visited Takachiho once before. You can read about her first visit here, if you like)

Takachiho Gorge, as seen from above

Satomi, Jillian's tutor, and Yuuki, Satomi's boyfriend, were kind enough to make the long drive with Jill and I as passengers to visit Takachiho gorge, and the surrounding area. The water at the gorge was so amazingly clear, and the rock formations were really interesting, too. Not too many people were out that day, since it was a bit cool and rainy, but this worked to our advantage since we were able to view the area without having to deal with crowds or lines.

Satomi and Yuuki

Something kind of interesting about Yuuki, Satomi's boyfriend, is that he speaks with a really strong Miyazaki-ben. Although my listening comprehension skills are far from flawless, I can usually catch at least a gist of what people are talking about, but between Satomi and Yuuki, I was having often getting really confused. I'm not really sure how to explain a ben exactly, but I guess it's kind of in between a dialect in the Philippines and a strong New York, Midwestern, or Southern accent in the states. In Japanese classes in America, we're usually initially taught a polite, standard form, which is typically how Japanese is spoken in the Kanto area, or the area around Tokyo and Yokohama. Different areas have different bens, so the Kansai region, (Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, etc.) and Miyazaki prefecture have their own bens as well. Jillian told me that sometimes Satomi would say that she couldn't understand her boyfriend either, since his accent was so strong. It's not exactly like the differences between accents between British English and American English, so to speak, but probably a lot more complicated. In any case, both Satomi and her boyfriend are really fun and kind, so even I usually can't understand Yuuki, he's a really nice guy in my books!

Because it was so cold and rainy, Jill and I actually had the opportunity to take a little rowboat into the Takachiho gorge while nobody else was in there. Because I wanted to take pictures, (and because Jill likes to row) Jill did all the hard work while I just had to focus on keeping the camera still in the rocking boat.

Takachiho Gorge, as seen from within

After visiting the gorge, Satomi and Yuuki took Jill and I to a few mountain shrines around the area, including Ama no Iwato cave that I'd really wanted to visit, but didn't know we'd planned to go to on this trip. Although I'd really wanted to see this cave, I didn't know exactly where it was. I knew that it was somewhere on Kyushu island, but hadn't really taken the time to figure out how to get there. At one of the shrines we went to Takachiho-Jingu, you can sometimes view a Kagura dance, but they weren't performing on the day we went. (Jill's first Takachiho Visit post has more details about Kagura here) At this shrine, we were given a tour in Japanese that was difficult to understand, but Jill and I were given a summary written in English to simplify things for us.

Jill and I at the Takachiho-Jingu (Shrine)

According the Japanese legend, Amaterasu, the southern sun goddess, hid in a cave after she was upset by her brother, Susanoo, the northern wind god the who was always up to one awful thing or another. Because Amaterasu had hidden, the world was plunged into darkness, until she was eventually lured out Uzumeno, another goddess who performed a wild, fantastic dance to get Amaterasu to bring the world into light again.

Ama no Iwato Cave Shrine, from the Outside

Because of this legend, there's a small shrine built within the cave, and surrounding the cave are thousand of little stacks of stones that people build to embody their wishes. It's sort of a hike down into another gorge to get there, but it's totally worth it to see all of the little wishes that so many people have left behind. Unfortunately, these pictures aren't too clear since I was shivering as it was pretty cold that day, but you can kinda see some of the little stone piles in the picture below. These are only a small fraction of how many are in the surrounding area near the shrine, though.

Amo no Iwato Cave, from the inside

Despite not having the developed, architectural appeal of a other shrines or chapels I've been to, this particular shrine definitely put me in a state of much more powerful spiritual awe. Just knowing that so many people had come here throughout history and experienced the same kind of hope and joy really blew me away, and the simple, natural beauty of the area is extraordinarily breathtaking. For me, to leave a place like this in its natural state and still have it be so powerful was really moving, and I'll never forget how in tune with things and at peace I felt there. Satomi, Yuuki, Jillian and I all made little wish rock-stacks before moving on.

A house we passed by on our way back from Takachiho

On our way back to Miyazaki, we also stopped to see from Christmas lights along the way. While Christmas isn't as major of a holiday here as it is in the states, some people still decorate their homes like this for the season, and most cities have some kind of light display. (Though not all as amazing as Kobe's Luminaria) Miyazaki also had a big light display, but Jill and I never managed to go see it.

I'll talk a bit more about the holiday season later, since it's kind of a complicated subject. For now I'll kind of wrap up by saying that the drive home was a peaceful one, (Jill and I napped while Yuuki and Satomi switched off driving) and we had a tasty, tasty meal at this great Okonomiyaki place called Tape (Tah-Pay) on the way home. Okonomiyaki is a kind of mixed batter-cake with a selection of ingredients fried into it. Some things you can choose from include various kinds of seafood, vegetables, noodles and meat. Jillian and I each got one with udon and cheese. It was pretty much amazing. Okonomiyaki is easily one of my favorite Japanese foods.

Tape's Udon mo Chi-zu Okonomiyaki

The trip to Takachiho was amazing, and I'm really grateful to Satomi and Yuuki for taking Jill and I there. It was neat to visit a mountain-town that was even more remote than the area around the college, and even the drive there was spectacularly scenic. On the way, we'd actually passed through a tunnel called the "Totoro Tunnel." I tried to take a picture of the sign, but I couldn't get my camera out fast enough.

Next time - Christmas and New Year's in Japan!