Kyoto with Jo-Anna

Edited - pictures added!! More posts to come soon...I promise. Darn school takes too much time.

In February, my good friend Jo-Anna booked a flight to come visit me. I was sort of disappointed, because she wasn't comin until August, and that didn't help my lonliness at the time. But time flew, and lo and behold, yesterday, she arrived.

Since I had to finish working, I gave her explicit and detailed directions with colors, maps, and pictures - and we met up at Tsuruhashi. I was super excited to see her and looking forward to spending the week together; she was super happy to be in Japan and see again too. We dropped off her stuff at the dorm, and went for supper to a little place by my house - Akoya. I haven't been yet, so it was to be an adventure. It turned out to be a great one! It's quite small; there was the chef and one patron. The patron spoke some English, and the four of us had the grandest time.



They thought we were pretty awesome (cuz we're foreigners) and kept saying how pretty and good looking we were...but not in a creepy way, more in an amazed way. We laughed and talked and ordered some food. I asked for their recommendation, which was fish and octopus. It came sashimi-style...I didn't realize Jo-Anna doesn't like sushi and has never tried sashimi. But she tried it (kudos for being brave) and liked it! We took some pictures, and then pulled out our money to pay. We misread the bill, and as we were pulling out more money, they both gave all the money back and said it was on the house. I tried to pay them and shove some money in their hands, but they wouldn't take it (bill amounted to just over $30). They just said to come back sometime soon, so we're going to stop by again this week. They also said they had noticed me before (I walk by twice a day).

Today, we visited Kyoto. We wandered a bit and bought some beautiful pottery from a nice couple - took some pictures with them and chatted for a few minutes.


The man who made our beautiful pottery

This week is the Gion festival, so stands are starting to appear in Kyoto - we spent quite a while looking at the infinite and intricite pottery. When we realized we couldn't look at pottery forever, we headed up to Kiyomizu Temple.



Just before going inside, we met Gaku. He is a computer programmer who has been working in Japan for 10 years. He asked if he could join us, which was fine with us. We went into the temple area and looked at all the buildings and the three story pagoda. We also got inside one of the buildings that is normally closed - it is open today for Sen Nichi day; if you make a wish on this day inside the temple, it is as if you came for sen (1000) days! Gaku also showed us the Kiyo Mizu of the temple (kiyo = pure, mizu = water) - which I hadn't known about!



The water was really good, especially since it was so warm out, and we were quite thirsty! Then we visited some of the smaller shrines...there was one shrine especially for love. It is said that if you successfully walk from one Love Rock to the other, with your eyes closed, you will find love soon. I had to try, and I made it! So I shall find love one day soon...



After we left Kiyomizudera, we were getting pretty tired and I was pretty hungry. We walked back down to Shijo Street, and searched for food.... which took a while to find. Jo-Anna was tired and her back was sore. I was hungry. Really hungry. We were at each other's throats a bit.... and we were both a bit annoyed by Gaku. He was really nice, but we wanted to talk to each other, and didn't want to be rude to him. So we had to try and include him, which was awkward sometimes...and he was a pretty clingy walker (you know those people...whenever you turn around they are right. there.). But we did finally find food, yummy food. We relaxed in the AC and ate, and felt much better and less grumpy after.


Finally - dinner! Jo-Anna & Gaku

We did a bit more shopping and exploring, then decided to head home. We were both a bit annoyed by Gaku, but felt bad because he was really nice, and really helpful. He was asking about our plans for the week, and I sort of vaguely told him, but as soon as I sensed he might ask to join in, I changed the subject. I figured that was nicer than having to tell him "No".... On the train ride, we sort of talked to each other a bit more and (unintentionally) ignored him a bit. But he seemed really happy to have met us and gave us his email address, and got promises that we would email (and we will).

On the way home, we stopped at the supermarket and picked up some snacks, and had a party and girl talk in my room. It's been great to catch up with Jo, and we've had lots of giggles and good talks already - and it's only Day 1 of the week!

Izu, Izu, Izu (Part III)

After I awoke from the dead, we tidied up and packed up to leave our adorable little Ryokan. Off in search of breakfast.... what did we find? MOS Burger! Mos Burger is sort of like a Japanese version of Burger King or Arby's or Wendy's - and the burgers have buns! Most 'hamburgers' in Japan come without buns. Don't ask me why. After a lovely chili chicken burger, salad, some fries, and an apple pie pocket (yes, I know - super healthy!), we jumped on the bus for Irozaki. Irozaki is a beautiful coastal area that is just barely touristy, but has some gorgeous scenery.

We took a half hour cruise along the coastline...the air was hot and sticky, so being out over the ocean felt nice (still hot and sticky, though). We passed by several rocks that were island-ed in the ocean, but with fishermen on them! Fully clothed, with gear. We figured that either they could walk out at low tide, or someone had dropped them off. But it was still funny to see them sitting on a rocky island with no means of getting off.



We passed by a larger rocky island that was inhabited by monkeys!! People who had bought monkey food before departing threw the snacks out to the monkeys, who scurried around to reach it. Most of the people throwing the snacks were terrible at it - ridiculously so. And not just the kids - several adults threw snacks into rock crevices or didn't even make it to the island (which was 10 feet away). But it was neat to see the monkeys.

When we got back from the cruise, we did a little perusing of the small shops. Most of the shops were inhabited by Obasans (older women) who were delighted to see us and thrilled when we came in to look around. One lady offered us some water; Irozaki water is supposed to be especially good. Given how hot it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

While waiting for our bus, we spent some time in one last sparse little shop. The Obasan was delightful! She was wandering around, talking at people out the window, giving directions and instructions to random people, and repeatedly making sure we knew where to go for the bus. She was very friendly and Rumi and I got a picture with her. After we bussed back to Shimoda, we jumped on another bus - this time for the aquarium. But not just any aquarium, no no, a floating one!

There was a small ice cream stand outside the aquarium, and (of course) we got some ice cream! Feeling adventurous, we tried some new flavors... Alex had something random (we don't know what it was) and I had Brown Algae. Surprisingly good, not sure how to describe the taste, though.



We watched the huge turtles in the pool outside before venturing in...we hit up the Sea Lion show right away, followed by the Dolphin performance. It was so much fun! We sat in the first row, and could see both the underwater portion and the above water portion very well. It was both cute and amazing! The Sea Lions did some fabulous tricks, including some kisses and waving, flips, spins, and dives. We also got a 'gun show'....he lifted his flippers and gave them a little kiss, just to how how proud he was of all his muscle and abilities... The dolphin show was equally amazing! I couln't get over how beautiful the dophins were. A couple times they slowly sailed across the glass right in front of us, and I couldn't tear my eyes away. More impressive (super high!) jumps and tricks later, they waved goodbye and the shows were done.


We explored the rest of the aquarium, saw some penguins and sea anemone and a GIANT crab; small sharks and more dolphins. Then we had lunch in the restaurant. Guess what we had? Seafood! I'm not sure if it was a strange or appropriate thing to eat in an aquarium, but it was delicious! Soo yummy.



When we got back to Shimoda, we did a little more shopping and then jumped on the train for Atami...it was already almost 8 o'clock. Rumiko and I were planning on hitting up Moonlight Beach before we started our night adventure back home. We said goodbye the the guys, and decided to check the schedule.

Enter Ridiculous Adventure #2. Yes, there were two in one weekend. You wouldn't think a 2 day trip would have so many adventures and blog posts, would you? Neither did we.

'Sayonara'

I haven't blogged about my last weekend (in Izu) yet, but I promise it's coming! It was an adventure and sixteen halves. Coming soon... but until then -

Yesterday I gave my final presentation and attended my sayonara (good-bye) dinner. My presentation was 15 minutes, and in Japanese. Yep, Japanese. Surprisingly, I wasn't too nervous. I've sort of stopped getting nervous about presentations because I have a reasonable amount of confidence in myself and my ability to present, and being nervous doesn't help. Just like worrying.

So the presentation went well - but it was half the time it should have been. Oops. It was 7, instead of 15 minutes. But then it ended up taking 25 because it sparked a discussion on the unit of Watt-Hour; an efficiency measurement. So...that was amusing. I explained it, and then they all discussed it and I sat and sort of giggled. It was pretty funny - some people got it, some people didn't, some people just thought it was useless. After my presentation, our manager presented me with a certificate of Internship Completion, and everyone clapped.

After my presentation, I went to sell popcorn. Presentations and popcorn? Why, you ask? Our company has quite a few labs and offices and industrial space in this area, and every year they put on a community festival - I suspect to gain the goodwill of the community and be involved (good ideas, obviously). So I put on my fancy shirt and sold popcorn. I had to teach them how. The method was to pop the popcorn (without oil) then sprinkle it with salt, and wonder why it tasted bland... so I introduced them to the importance of oil, as well as putting the salt in with the oil. Voila - yummy popcorn! Unfortunately, my popcorn time was cut short by my sayonara dinner.



We had sushi and random goodies and some laughs. The two other female members of the team and I had the grandest time, taking silly pictures and laughing and talking. And guess what. I was talking mostly in Japanese. Yay! At the end, after we cleaned off the tables, Takemori-San presented me with a picture (from Mt. Takamiyama) with notes and messages from anyone. I didn't mean to. But I cried. Just a little. I hope no one noticed. But they probably did. Then I whipped out my notes and thanked them all for everything and said I would miss them and Japan. Someone suggested karaoke, so we headed off to karaoke!




On the way, I asked people what their note said (I don't read Japanese / Kanjii). Some were simple, thank you's and good luck's. But others made me smile and cry at the same time. One of the girls said she wrote this..."Stephanie, every time see me, smile. So beautiful! Makes my heart feel warm and happy. I will miss you." Other people told me to come back, and that they had good memories with me. It was touching, to say the least, and made me want to leave even less. (Imagine that...if I could stay longer here, I would. In January I couldn't have imagined wanting to stay.)



We got to karaoke and had a wonderful time! English and Japanese songs...and I even sang one in Japanese (sort of) - they were impressed and thought it was great. It was 2.5 hours of fun and great memories, but it was still a little sad. I kept thinking about how I would probably never get to do this with these people again. I also wished I had gotten to know some of them better. There were also two university students that have just finished a three week internship, and I wish I could hang out with them more! They were a lot of fun, and pretty cute. Especially one of them - and he totally has a crush on me. Hehe. Anyways...it was a great evening, a little bittersweet, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything!








Now I am at work, on my last day...cleaning up, organizing, etc. I'm going to leave some Canadian pins and magnets with everyone and tell them not to forget me, and email me if they will be in Canada. I'm going to miss it here. A lot.

Summer Vacation (Oita Part I)

I spent this weekend in Oita, Kyushuu; one of Japan's main islands, just south of the main-est island. I was fortunate to be invited by Debbie (canadasue's Aunt) to visit for a weekend. Debbie lives in Oita with her husband, Katsunori, and two kids - Akira and Misa.

Debbie has been in Japan for 22 years. She came as an English teacher, left briefly, came back, and has been living in Oita since. I have (especially after spending the weekend with her & her family) a lot of respect for all of them. In the short seven months that I have spent in Japan, I have faced many difficulties and started (barely) to understand the cultural differences here. When you hear 'cultural differences', you think of religion and food and traditions - but it's not only those things; it's a world of difference. The way of thinking, which pervades every aspect of life, is incredibly different, and often beyond my comprehension. I think that for Debbie and her husband to have built a marriage and raised two children while straddling two countries, cultures, and upbringings says a lot about their personal strength and character. Their children, too, have to contend with two different cultures. Misa, their 18 year old daughter, has been attending highschool in Canada for the past 3 years. Considering the difficulties I've had, at 20 years old, I cannot imagine what it was like for her to suddenly be immersed in a different culture at 15 years old.

Debbie was a pleasure to talk to, and we had some wonderful conversations about life, people, culture, understanding, cooking, baking, experiences.... many things. I enjoyed hearing a bit about what she has experienced, and learned a lot from her perspectives. It was interesting to hear that living in a different culture can still be shocking and difficult - even after 20 years.

. . .

I left work on Thursday and went straight to Kobe Rokko Terminal, to board my ferry. As I had booked the lowest (read: cheapest) fare - to sleep on tatami mats, instead of in a hotel-like room, I full expected to spend the overnight trip sitting in the tatami mat area, amidst people talking and kids crying, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep, but mostly just staring out the window. I was very wrong. The ferry was beautiful!





I shared a room with up to 16 other women (but there were only 7 or so). I had a mat and blanket and pillow to myself - and that was just my sleeping room! The ferry was beautiful with observation desks, a souveneir shop, restaurant, bathrooms, showers, and - an onsen! Actually, it was called a 'Scenic Bathroom'...the onsen window looked out into the ocean. When I got on the ferry, after finding my room (which thrilled me to no end), I was super excited to explore the rest of the ferry. The only downside to it was that there was no one to pull around to explore every nook and cranny. I found myself being super excited, but not having anyone to share it with. (Sidenote: It reminded me that I am single. Being single can be lonely; not just being alone at the time, but knowing that there is no other person, in general. But I only allowed myself to ponder my single-ness and alone-ness for a moment.) I watched the ferry pull away from the dock from the observation deck, perused the ridiculously expensive souveneir shop, and went to check out the bathrooms. As soon as I saw the Scenic Bathroom, I ran right back down a deck to get my shower things, and promptly had a lovely shower, and sat in the onsen looking out the window (into the pitch black, because the sun had set. But it was still wonderful.) :) I ate the supper that I brought (due to canadasue warning me about ferry prices), and walked around the upper deck for quite a while. I did circles around the deck, up the stairs, and down, listened to my music, and watched the clouds and the stars. I almost wished I didn't have a lovely bed to go to, so I could have an excuse to stay outside all night and walk, listen, and watch. It was so relaxing and comforting. But - I didn't want to be too tired to enjoy my time in Oita, so I soon crawled onto my mat and slept. I woke up just before we docked, with enough time to pack up my things and eat my breakfast on the observation dock (beautiful sunny skies, and fresh sea air!). I caught the shuttle bus to Oita station, and found my way to the bus I needed. (Quite proud of myself, for that one. It was a little confusing to find the right bus and where it stopped.) I took the bus to Daigaku Byouin, and called Debbie, who came to pick me up.

When I got to Debbie's, she had to finish packing up her baking, so I relaxed on the couch and read cookbooks. I think I've mentioned it before, but I love to cook and bake (I can't wait to have my own kitchen again!!)....and Debbie has shelves and shelves of cookbooks. It was marvellous.



I read several of them straight through, and found myself wishing for some ingredients and a fully-equipped kitchen. I went with Debbie and Misa to drop off her baking at JAGG house - a beautiful handmade good store. The shop was full of furniture and goods - country style. I wish I had taken a picture! All things handmade, and some not - artwork, furniture, decorations, kitchen things.... it was marvellous to explore! It was sort of like an indoor farmer's market store.

After JAGG house, we stopped at Starbucks, and then had some lunch at home. We had leftover curry (delicious) - I love curry. After lunch, Debbie and Misa and I visited Oita Art Museum.



As Art Museums do, it had all of confusing, strange, mesmerizing, and beautiful art. There were two parts - the regular display, as well as a special European display. I took one picture, but got dame'd and asked not to take anymore. There were a few particularly beautiful pieces, especially in the European display. There was one of a shepherd and his sheep, with moonlight coming over a hill in the distance - it looked so real; as though there was actually a light situated behind the picture, casting a dim glow over the sheep. There was also one of a woman in a gorgeous dress - I wish we still wore dresses like that! We also noticed that in most of the pictures, everyone looked quite unhappy - we determined it must be because of the corsets, which probably didn't let them breathe.

While I have travelled quite a bit in Japan, and been on several 'vacations', this was truly a vacation weekend. I spent quite a bit of time on Friday sitting on the couch reading cookbooks, napping, and chatting. Surprisingly, I wasn't bored at all! It was just lovely to relax. Besides the relaxation, it was nice to be in a house again - with family pictures, knick knacks, arguing siblings, and people milling about. It was wonderful to be around family again - even if it wasn't mine.

Debbie, Misa, Akira and I had dinner at Joyful, with their friend Teddy-O (I'm sure that's NOT how you spell her name, but that's how it sounded to me. :) ). We had a delicious dinner with a drink bar - and I drank a lot of tea. I love tea. The restaurant (Joyfull) was sort of a Denny's-style (except Japanese). I was impressed at how Debbie and her kids converse in both English and Japanese (I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; they grew up in Japan and she's lived there 20 years), but they spoke in Japanese and English, often switching several times in a conversation.

They also have a dog, named Ginny. A huge dog; who isn't very friendly to strangers. Debbie was very careful to make sure Ginny didn't get too close to me, and if she growled, she was put outside. But by the end of the weekend, Ginny was lying near my feet without so much as a glare, and I would like to think we were sort of friends. Or at least indifferent acquaintences.

Friday was exactly how a true summer vacation should be - a few activities in air conditioned buildings, good food, relaxing on a couch, some reading, napping, music, and conversation. It reminded me of the good ol' days - summer vacation. Before jobs and summer responsibilities.

Tropical Paradise (Okinawa Part I)

I love planes. You could put me on a plane and just fly me in a circle and I would be thrilled. But - put a tropical island on the other end of that flight...and you get my weekend vacation.

I slept in - it was marvellous. I rarely sleep in, really. Then I met Keith and Alex at Osaka Station for some ice cream, before heading to Kansai Airport. We got some more icecream (mmm Black Sesame), met up with Thomas, and boarded the plane... Keith, Alex and I were in one row, and Thomas was a bit further up in the plane. The 2 hour flight passed quickly...at one point, the left window was completely dark, and the right window seemed perfectly light. I turned my head left-and-right-and-left-and-right until my neck started to hurt. Thomas captured a beautiful picture of the approaching night...

Then there the spoon episode. Alex decided to see if flicking me with a spoon would hurt. It did. A lot. Imprint-of-a-spoon-on-my-arm-a-lot. This was followed by me trying to flick him back and inflict an equal amount of pain, and him flicking himself with the same intent. Needless to say, this entertained us for a portion of the flight. But I did have an imprint of a spoon on my arm.

We arrived in Naha, Okinawa at around 9pm. The bus we thought we were going to take didn't exist, so we took a taxi. Keith had made reservations at the City Front Harumi Hostel, so we checked in and found our rooms. Ojisan (as we came to call him; meaning Grandpa or a respectful title for an older man) was very friendly and helpful in getting us settled and oriented in Naha.



The guys shared a room, and I (being a female and all) was in a different room. My room was shared with an older lady and a younger Down's Syndrome lady. They were very friendly and I had a short conversation with them before meeting the guys to go find some dinner. This proved more difficult than we thought, as most places were closed. But we wandered the busy highway a bit and found a family-style restaurant for some good eats. By that time, it was late, and we hit the bunkbeds for some sleep.

The next morning, I woke up feeling wonderful. I did enjoy my night at Miyajima, but I have to admit that sleeping in a real bed does top the great outdoors. The older lady in my room gave me some pretty little flowers, which I promptly put in my hair - they made me feel very tropical. We picked up some breakfast at the convenience store, and waited for our bus. A taxi driver offered to drive us up to our destination, for 1000Yen each. The bus was going to be about 900Yen each, so we took him up on his offer. And I'm so glad we did...

He was hilarious. He talked (loudly and animatedly) in broken English, for the majority of the ride. He told us about his family, and his 104 year old Mother and 108 year old Father (apparently the oldest couple in Japan), his large family, and his capabilities. He informed us that he had 8 licenses (later it was 9), and could build houses, drive cranes, scuba drive, drive motorbikes.... an all-around handy guy to know. When we asked him questions, he often paused and then went off on a tangent about something completely unrelated. My questions, he just ignored (I think he just didn't hear me...). We spent most of the trip giggling and keeping him talking - to our great amusement. When we disembarked the taxi, I asked him for a picture - he was definitely a character to remember!



When we got to our destination (a bit early), we explored a bit. We saw a sign for a steakhouse, and went 'a wandering to see if we could find it (which we couldn't).

Our destination? Snorkelling! We dressed in wetsuits and flippers and snorkelling gear, and crammed into a mini-minivan (not a Canadian sized mini-van), for a hot drive to the beach. When I say hot, I do not mean warm. I mean hot, hot, HOT! Sweat-dripping-down-your-face hot. We got stuck in traffic for a bit, and I had a short nap - that was all I could do; I couldn't move, and I was much too hot. But we finally arrived! It was a fun adventure, following our guide around the reef and the cave. We were even given some fish food and got to feed them!



After our snorkelling adventure, we decided that it was essential to find the steakhouse. It turned out to be a Movie House Steakhouse! The exterior and interior were decorated with movie posters of all genres. It was great fun to wander and look at the posters, and the steak was delicious!




In finding the steak house, we had found a small resort area, and explored it after lunch. Feeling extra tropical, I added to my hair bouquet some larger (okay, huge) flowers that I had found.



We wandered up the highway, trying to find a nice beach. We didn't find a beach, but we did find ice cream!



It was hot (did I mention that?), so we finally went back to the sort-of beach near the steakhouse. We tiptoed our way our towards the water, through the warm puddles, sharp shells, and broken coral. Getting to the water was difficult enough. Swimming in it proved even harder.

The water wasn't very shallow, but it was filled with all kinds of sea anemones and cucumbers and other mysterious sea creatures. We tiptoed and floated our way to slightly deeper water, and decided (for safety reasons) not to try and go further. I laid out like a starfish and floated...the blue sky and the clouds, the warm salty water...it was definitely a tropical paradise. Until I tried to stop floating, and stepped on a sea anemone. Ouch. But my foot didn't go numb and my head didn't explode, so I figured I would survive. After quite a while, we realized that the tide was coming in...right towards our shoes. So we started heading back - Thomas got back first, and discovered that Keith's hiking boots were floating, and my sandal had lost it's hubby. That made for an interesting trip back to the sand - tip toeing and jumping up when I stepped on sharp points. But we made it. I ventured to a beach house and purchased a new set of flipflops, and we headed for the bus top. A taxi stopped again and offered us the same deal. Unfortunately, this driver was not near as entertaining as the last one, and we mostly kept the conversation to ourselves.

After a cool shower to rid ourselves of the sweat, sand, and salt of the day, hung out for a few minutes in the hostel's common room. Alex played the guitar a bit (as he did anytime we were around the common room), and we enjoyed the AC for a bit. I borrowed a needle from Ojisan to remove the leftover sea anemone from my still-painful foot. The piece left in me was actually quite large and painful to get out, and brought a lot of blood with it! Ojisan's wife (Obasan) gave me a bit of cleaner and a bandaid to fix it up, and we took off for another evening of adventure...to Kokusaidori - Naha's international street.

We explored the shops, had some Okinawan-style Udon, and found a guitar shop (which entertained Alex for quite a while). Alex and I shared some dragonfruit and passionfruit - neither of which I had ever eaten (yummy!). There may have been some ice cream in there too...hehe.



Temples & Shrines all over Japan are often guarded by Shishi - lionlike protectors that are said to have magical powers to ward off evil. They guard in pairs; one female, one male; one open-mouthed, one closed; one symbolizing the beginning of time, the other the end. We also found them all over Okinawa - and they are a popular tourist souvenir. Every souvenir shop has them in all kinds of colors and styles, some funny, some scary. My favorite shop was filled with these - in every shape, size, and color - but they were handmade. (The other shops were mass manufactured.) The man who made them was selling them, and was midway through painting one when we were there. I bought two gorgeous statues - quite large, actually - for only $40! I was thrilled (still am) with my purchase... a reasonable price, authentically culturally Japanese, and not made in China!

When the street and shops started to close down, we visited a Canadian-run place for some snacks and a drink. We also tried Okinawa's snake wine.


It tasted surprisingly good, but it was still a little strange to drink... after some laughs and relaxation, we headed back to the hostel for the night.

More Pictures...
A Friend's Flckr Pictures...

Part Two coming soon...

Rainy Beach Day

Saturday morning I met Keith and Alex at Osaka Station; Matt joined us a few minutes later. While at DisneySea last weekend, a random decision was made (within a matter of moments) to visit the beach this weekend. So we did.

I was hoping we could visit Suma - a famous beach near Kobe, in Hyogo prefecture. I looked it up online, and discovered that it 'opens' on July 1st. In Canada, beaches don't really close (do they? I've never encountered a 'closed beach'); so I was a little confused. I asked a few questions of my coworkers, and came to the conclusion that 'closed' probably just meant that the food stands and shops in the area weren't open. But, unwilling to take the chance and not get to swim, we opted to visit Wakayama - the beach I went to previously. The train ride was quite long, but the four of us passed the time quickly with deep discussions about war, world affairs, and current issues. (No, I'm not kidding. We actually did.)

When we finally got to the beach (after I missed the stop and we had to go back one), I again felt so far from the city (probably because we were) and free of all troubles. Or at least most of them. It was overcast and rainy, and a bit chilly - but that certainly didn't stop us from swimming and hanging out in the water for quite a while. We were the only people in the water without surf boards and wetsuits. Needless to say, we got a few strange looks and the occasional side glance. We took a break for a beer and chatted to a woman for a while. She wanted to know where we were from, etc. She suggested a place to get food and seemed to want to take us there, but we were heading back into the water. In the water, Alex formed a brief friendship with a surfer 'dude'... he was watching us and creeping closer to our group. Alex waved, and the guy threw up a 'hang ten'. He was older than most of the surfers and had long hair and a long thin moustache. We laughed about it, then continued our conversation - with the occasional awkward laugh when he seemed to move closer.

After our second swim, we stopped for a snack before jumping on the train back to Osaka. Getting off in Namba, we met up with Rumiko - a new coop student from UVic. I was excited to meet her - although I enjoy all of my friends and spending time with them, the majority of them are male ... I definitely wouldn't trade any of my guy friends, but it's always nice to have another girl to hang out with!

We wandered around Namba for a bit in the light rain, and had some dinner - Okonomiyaki of course, for the benefit of the new coops. Then we spent the night out - Club Pure style. Two words to describe the night: fun & ridiculous. Next post!

Kampai!!

Edit: Just to clarify - this isn't a drinking game. I rarely (if ever) play drinking games. I presented it as a game because it seems to me that there are rules that everyone unknowingly follows. In reality, the way people act comes out of respect for each other and is in keeping with the social atmosphere. Eating and drinking is a huge part of the social culture in Japan; there are always people who take things too far, but in general, the drinking is just a social activity, and kept to a reasonable limit. It's not used as an excuse to drink excessively or act inappropriately. Please read with this in mind. :)

It's like a contest. Or a game - with elements of quickdraw and musical chairs.

The Rules...
Round 1 - If a beer glass should be emptied - even ever so slightly - a player must immediately reach for the closest beer bottle to refill it. Once a hand has picked up a beer bottle, the remainder of the players ought to quickly grab for one - as there are not quite enough to go around.

Round 2 - Upon filling the glasses of everyone around them to the brim, players may set down their beer bottle, and - accompanied by 'Sumasen', 'Arigato', and bowing - may lift and tilt their own glass to be filled.

Round 3 - Short break. Conversation continues.

Round 4 - Someone takes a sip. Repeat from Round 1.

Ending the game - The Game can only be ended when the collective group leaves the establishment. At no time during or after dinner, while seated in the restaurant, should players cease to participate.

You think I'm exaggerating. But I'm not. Last night was a goodbye party for our team manager, who received a promotion and will be working out of a different office. I spent the first few minutes of dinner just watching the Game. It made me laugh. Often, when the glass was still full to a centimeter (a centimeter!) from the top, someone would pour to refill it. Then the person who's cup was filled quickly picked up the beer bottle to return the favor. And then everyone else jumped in - rushing to make sure everyone's glass was full to the brim. It was quite amusing to watch, and difficult to describe so as to give you a sense of the urgency with which it was carried out.

After dinner, 7 of us continued the party at a karaoke bar the next station over. We sang, drank, and laughed our way to 12:30. At 12:30, we finally wrapped it up to head home. Having missed the last trains, we taxied home - I shared a cab with Takemori-San and Matsushita-San. I can't even imagine how much the evening must have cost. Dinner was high-class, and everyone (17 people) had at least 3 drinks plus infinite amounts of beer. I'm sure you could fill a bathtub with the empty beer bottles. The karoake bar included several more drinks and snacks, for 7 people. Our taxi meter was at $55 when they dropped me off - with two more people to drop off. A second taxi took home the rest of the group. Eating and drinking with coworkers is a huge part of culture in Japan - but I'm still amazed at how much they so often invest in it.

So - I had a great night, lots of fun, 5 1/2 hours of sleep...hehe. But it was fun to hang out with my coworkers outside of the office.

The Magic of Disney

A friend of mine from my 2nd year of university is also working in Japan - and he's started a blog! Check it out, and maybe leave some encouragement for him to keep it up. Life is busy and sometimes it's hard to blog, but I think (at least for me), that a blog will be a good keeper of memories from all the adventures!

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On Friday night, I climbed aboard the night bus for another adventure in Tokyo - but this time, a magic one - a trip to the wonderful world of Disney Sea!

The park opened at 9am, and you can probably guess that I was planning on being in line before 9. I met up with Matt and we took the Disney train to meet Alex and Robert just outside the gate; we got our tickets, and stood in line waiting. Matt is a coop student who has been working in Kyoto for 9 or 10 months. Alex and Robert just got to Japan a couple weeks ago - Alex was in my second year class. We hung out and chatted about Japan while we waited - and I made a plan, so we would be ready to take DisneySea by storm. There were few opinions as to what to do first, but Alex suggested we head to Mystery Island - so I picked our route.



When they finally opened the gates, we shuffled our way with the crowd into the big open courtyard. At the center of the courtyard was a huge spinning globe, surrounded by statues of Disney characters. I was so excited, even just in the courtyard! (I'm sure you were, too, after the sneak peak at the courtyard in the last post!) The street and the buildings already gave the day a magical feel. The sky was threatening to rain, but it was still quite warm out. There were lots of people, but it wasn't overly crowded.


Me, excited to be there?! Naw...

As I tend to do when excited, I was off and running - map in hand, chattering non-stop. I dragged the guys to a ride, which we discovered was closed. Matt had mentioned he might want some breakfast, so I verbally bounced back and forth between rides and food possibilities - all the while speed walking around. If you know me at all, you can probably picture it ... me, in my super excited state, dragging my guy friends back and forth and around in circles. But, I was having tons of fun already, and they didn't seem too tortured by my insanity.

The first magical experience of the day was meeting the characters of Pinocchio! Jimmny Cricket and Geppetto were, of course very popular. So I went for a picture with the Cat. Which turned out to be a good choice! He was a very gentlemanly cat; took my arm in his, and posed for a picture before kissing my hand and giving me a little bow. I like the Cat.



The first ride we did was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Then we visited the Port of Discovery to get a FastPass for the Storm ride. We stopped by the Mermaid Lagoon and visited King Triton's Palace for some lunch. Lunch was very successful. My Sea-themed sandwich was soo delicious! And - I got a birthday present! Hehe...well, sort of. Alex's lunch came with a bright yellow soft Disney lunchbag - which he gave to me! (Again - if you know me, you'll know how thrilled I was about this.) While we waited for Keith, I led the guys into line. They were mostly talking and just following me... I'm not sure how excited they were when they saw we were in line for the Blowfish Balloon Race! But I was. :) Actually, the ride was surprisingly fun.

We also went to a short production by Ariel and her friends. It was very well done! Ariel floated up out of an old treasure chest on the sea, and swam around the auditorium, singing. She was attached at the waist by cables, but they were attached in such a way that she could spin and dip and dive and do circles as she 'swam'. All kinds and sorts of other sea creatures came to dance with her - starfish, jellyfish...all people in beautiful costumes, dancing in the air and around the stage. After some joyful singing, Ariel had an encounter with Ursula - also incredibly displayed! A huge mask of Ursula's face appeared in the air, and the auditorium was surrounded by long waving tentacles. It's impossible to describe! I tried to take pictures...but I got the 'X'.* At first I thought it was because my flash was on...but, alas, I just wasn't supposed to take pictures. So I got the X a second time.

*When Japanese people don't want you to do something, or are cancelling something, or deleting something, saying no, or...anything negative - they'll put their arms up in front of them in a big X. I got the 'X' several times throughout the day, for taking pictures when I wasn't supposed to. At least 6 times. Oops. :)

We wandered around the park, and did several rides including: StormRider, Raging Spirits, Tower of Terror, Sinbad's Adventure, Caravan Carousel.

After Sinbad's Adventure, we also saw some Aladdin characters! The monkey, Aladdin, and Jasmine were surrounded by people, but Jafar had a bit lesser a crowd, so me and Keith attempted a picture with him. Well, I have to say - Jafar moved way up on my list of favorite Disney characters. Not only did he kiss my hand as well, with a little bow, but - he did it again for a picture, and he actually gently pushed Keith to the side and stood in front of him to get a picture with just me! Hehe. He was quite charming (although he was rude to Keith). But charming to me!



We also got to meet Indiana Jones. I love the Indiana Jones movies. I love Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones movies. I did not love the Indiana Jones character. I'll admit I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him - good looking? That's the understatement of the year. So I was excited to get a picture with him. He was running around the bridge, posing with children and shouting in a big, deep, fake voice, "HI! I'M INDIANA JONES!" When I finally got to him for a picture, I said, "Hi, Indiana Jones!" And he said, "HI! I'M INDIANA JONES!". So I said, "Do you speak Japanese, Indy?" (Thinking...you should really speak Japanese. We are in Japan.) He replied, "WELL, YES, ACTUALLY, I SPEAK 25 LANGUAGES!" Me - "Well could I get a picture with your multilingual self?" Between yelling that he was "INDIANA JONES!", the fact that he was too self absorbed to actually notice me, and the super dark fake-looking tan... his 'kekko ii' (hot) status was quickly crushed by other factors. Disappointing, to say the least. Especially since he was so darn good looking!




We got a FastPass for Indiana Jones, but it wasn't valid until later in the evening. So we spent a while waiting in line for other big rides... we waited for just over an hour and a half for the Tower of Terror. Time passed quickly, though. With 6 people, conversation was constant. Alex updated me as to the status of our classmates, and we reminisced about Mech2 and I got some useful info about my third year. We talked about profs, elective courses, and speculated how many people in our class would be married by the end of our degree.

(As a side note, I cannot believe how many people I know are getting married and having babies! Apparently I've hit that magic age where everyone starts getting married. If life had gone as it was planned (planned at the time, that is), I would be engaged now, and probably married within a year and a half. As it stands...I'm perfectly happy (well, most of the time at least) living the single life, and right now have no desire to be in a serious relationship, let alone getting married and having kids! Wow - how times, thoughts, and desires change. Hehe - I'm a 21 year old single woman living and working halfway across the world, learning, growing, meeting new people, and having tons of adventures! Love it.)

The Tower of Terror was fun - I love the adrenaline and the way my stomach crunches up when we dropped from the top of the tower. I love heights for those reasons - the adrenaline and the twisting stomach. Awesome feeling. We stopped for periodic snacks - I had some yummy Sea Salt ice cream, and a greasy, oily chicken leg. Mmm but it was so good! I dripped grease on my shirt which will probably never come out, but it was so worth it.


Mmm...

We also had to wait in line for the Journey To The Center of the Earth...it was near the end of the day, and we were all getting tired, I think. I was. I was still super excited to be in DisneySea, but my feet were telling me that they had had enough walking for a while. We were probably in line for an hour and a half, but it seemed longer. Although - the second half flew by once the conversation picked up. Come to think of it, my energy did too. I'm always amazed at how a good conversation makes the time fly by. The Journey To the Center of the Earth was a fun ride - very well done, but too short as always.



As the day wrapped up, we went to the BraviSEAmo show.It was lightly raining, we picked up some Strawberry Popcorn (yum), and watched the show. Aside from Mickey coming out with Japanese excitement and greetings at the beginning, there were no words; it was just set to music. It was mesmerizing and I found myself completely absorbed by the lights and the sparking water. The show was a depiction of the love story between the "Spirit of Water" and the "Spirit of Fire". The fireworks after the show were cancelled due to the wind, which was disappointing...but I was still too enthralled with BraviSEAmo to mind too much. After hitting up the Indiana Jones ride (which fortunately was much better than it's character), we headed out of the park.



We sat for a bit in the big entrance courtyard while Matt got his stuff from a locker...I didn't want to leave. The air was filled with magic as only Disney air could be...the night was cool and fresh, and as the lit-up globe spun in front of me, I enjoyed the peaceful and magical moment - noting to myself that I was in Japan. Which still amazes me, sometimes.

We took the 45 minute train ride back to Tokyo, and went to Izikaya for some long-awaited dinner and drinks. It was the perfect ending to the day! I may have been a little bit grumpy by that point (okay, I was grumpy), but once we got some food and some kiwi sours, I was good to go! Alex and I led the drinking train, quickly leaving everyone else behind. The food was good, the drinks were good. It was good.



The next morning, we did a little bit of shopping around Shibuya. We had some lunch at an Italian place, and then some delicious gelato! Individual gelatos were ridiculously expensive, so 4 or 5 of us bought a half a liter of it. The packed it all up for us, sealed, dry ice, and all. We promptly walked to the table, undid it all, and ate it. I caught them watching us a bit - I'm sure we provided a source of amusement or at least --. It wasn't really a Japanese thing to do. The Japanese would never A) open a half a liter of gelato in the shop, B) sit down and finish off a whole half a liter in one sitting, from the container, with spoons. But, we're not Japanese. And it was sooo delicious. Due to the downpour of rain, we called it a day after lunch, and went our seperate ways home.




I couldn't have asked for a better weekend... good conversation and friends, delicious food and yummy treats, fast falls and quick drops, and a little bit of Magic.

More Pictures...