9/22/2001

10:20pm Kimura House
I'm frustrated with my lack of journalling. Yesterday it was hard for me to sit in class because I was so excited. When class was over, G and I ran to a bookstore and bought books for our families. We got lunch at McDonalds- thinking it would be the last time for a while. When we got back, there were people everywhere. G grabbed his stuff and headed for Osaka. I ate my lunch and sat in the classroom with the others who were meeting families in Kyoto. There were tons of mothers and a few children. There were maybe 2 or 3 men. We were trying to guess which ones were ours. I guessed right! I recognized my host mother from her picture. She looked just as cute and tiny in person. We played some games and at the end we left.

Marino- my host mother- is a little shorter than 5' tall. She is so sweet! We took the subway to the train station. The whole trip we were with Lindsay and her host mother Madu, and Robin who was meeting hers later. Marino helped carry Madu's children. Marino and I spoke on the train a little and I showed her my pictures. She thinks G is cute and Jimmy is VERY cute! She was very honest and speaks good English. Her family is moving to San Francisco next year and she wants Taku and Yuki to learn English so they can go to school. Marino is to tiny, like a little stick figure. I bet she'd be a child's size 14 at the biggest. She reminds me of my tiny Aunt Lynn. Anyway, at Robin's stop her host mother wasn't there so we got off the train and waited only a few minutes. The other mother was very sorry. We got on the next train and went one stop, I had no idea where I was, so I stayed close to Marino.

We got off the train and took a cab to their apartment. She kept saying they live in the country, but it looked like the same size as my hometown. They even have a few Pachinko parlors. She said a lot that her house was small. When we got there and walked to the door I noticed that many of the doors were very close together. The doors were all metal and there were decorative bars over all the windows. It really didn't look on the outside like a place for a doctor to live. She opened the door and let me walk into the genkan first. Right away I turned around and took my shoes off, carefully stepping out of them.

She stared at me with her mouth wide open. "So polite! Such good manner!" She kicked off her shoes and walked in. No inside slippers. She said she was first going to show me around. The first room on the left was my room. By my standards it's huge with a queen size bed, desk on the floor, and vanity table made of wood. It's about half the size of my brother's room but the fact that this large amount of space (and enormous bed) almost made me cry. Across from my room was the bath/laundry room- although the washing machine was covered in stuff, implying that it wasn't used very often. I didn't get a good look at the tub and shower but there was a sink with a mirror next to the washing machine. Next on the right was a tiny toilet room. The toilet was the type that as a sink on top that runs water when you flush. The light's on the outside of the room and I keep forgetting to turn it on.

Through a slitted curtain was the rest of the house. A small, but very nice kitchen, a kitchen table, and a complete desk. To the left are two tatami rooms. One serves only as the children's bedroom, and the other is a TV room with a long closet/dresser and a low table. I think they might have given me their bedroom!

Marino offered me something to drink and I took some orange juice. We sat in the tatami room and she showed me her wedding pictures. She had a traditional Japanese wedding. Both her husband and she were in traditional kimono, and she had an enormous Star Wars hat on with a Japanese wig. Her face, neck, and hands were painted white. Her husband was wearing the same outfit G had on at the kimono demonstration. All the family members were there- the men wore suits and the women all wore kimono. There were a few pictures of the actual ceremony, and many posed pictures of Marino and her husband. She did not smile in any of them and she said that was ok. There were a few pictures in a white wedding kimono, then a huge blue evening dress- Western style, then a red kimono with a really heavy head piece, and a white Western-style wedding dress.

After looking at photos we went to pick up the children from nursery school. We went in the car- a Toyota station wagon. It as weird to sit on the opposite side. Once we got there we saw the teachers all standing in the rain with umbrellas saying hello to mothers and goodbye to the children. I had to wear a blue ribbon because I was a guest. There was a playground with sand and gravel that kids were using to get dirty. All the children stopped and stared at me when I was near. I usually smiled, but then they ran away. Inside were more children (we had taken our shoes off outside) and tatami mat play areas. Marino looked for her children. They popped up right in front of us. Taku was very "active" though in America we'd say hyper-active. Yuki was very quiet and just stared and smiled. We walked around the school a little. The classrooms did look like American classrooms. I met someone who I think was the principal. I'm not sure though.

Marino collected Japanese lunch boxes and bed rolls. She said on Friday she always takes home the furniture. We got back into the car- the kids both sat/stood/played in the front seat and I in the back. I don't remember if we stopped home at first, but we went to the video store. There was an American movie section and Marino told me to pick something out. I chose something with Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudro and some other famous people. None of the words on the box were in English, but Marino said the movie was called, "Hug on the Phone". Taku chose a Japanese action cartoon. When we started to leave, Marino realized she forgot the video rental card. She tried talking the clerk into letting her rent anyway but the clerk wouldn't let her. We left and went to buy food for Sunday's lunch. I told her I like yakisoba so we bought that. It looked exactly like an American grocery store except for all the Japanese people, and the labels on the food. The kids ran first to the candy aisle. She let them pick out some sweets. Taku chose a tiny plastic gun that popped out white balls of candy. Essentially you have to put the front of the gun in your mouth to eat the candy. It didn't seem to bother anyone else, so I didn't say anything. Marino pressured me into picking a sweet that I liked but since I didn't know what anything was I asked her to recommend something good.

After that we got the yakisoba ingredients and went home. Marino said she was going to make tempura for dinner and I asked if I could help. She said yes but when the time came she told me to go rest. I told her I was ok, but she insisted I go rest, so I laid down in my room. This bed is so comfortable! First, it's huge! Then, it's got a real pillow and a very heavy thick comforter.

Taku came and got me to play. We kinda just stared at each other then we watched TV together. Marino's husband came home (I really need to learn his name) and we sat down for dinner. He's a bigger guy than most Japanese men. He's gained some weight, Marino told me. Dinner was good, but there were some things I didn't finish. Marino said if I don't like something I could just leave it. So I left the fish and tofu and mushroom pudding. But the rice was good. They told me that after dinner we were going to go to the public bath. Marino said I should bring a change of clothes, hairbrush, and facial soap. So, I packed up those things and we all got back into the car. Fuminori (husband) drove and Marino sat in back with Yuki and Taku. The kids weren't in seat belts or anything. Once we got there I fully understood why it's called a "public bath". It was as big as a YMCA and as crowded with as many people. Both children bathed with Marino. Everyone stared at me. I was probably the first American to ever bathe there. I was embarrassed for the first 10 minutes but after that I guess I just got used to walking around naked. The facility was huge. There was a small cold-spring, a big swimming pool-sized shallow hot part, jacuzzi part with 5-6 individual spa sections- all three inside. We went outside (it had tall walls) and there was a rock pool (I stubbed my toes a few times), waterfall, cave area, and Chinese scented pool. There were also what looked like two faucets about 10 feet in the air that shot down water onto women's backs. I don't know how long we stayed there, but Marino noticed that my face was very red and we got out. Once we got dressed there was a room with mirrors and hair dryers. Marino dried Yuki's and her own hair. Again, women were staring. Once in a while they would talk to Marino about me but I never knew what she was saying.

Back in the main area, Fuminori had bought the kids ice cream and they were filthy again. In the main area was a restaurant, a snack bar, video games and a bar. The atmosphere was very social. We left there and stopped at the video store to get the videos we picked out earlier. A last stop at Lawson for bottles of water and more ice cream for the children, then we went home. Fuminori left again for the hospital, Marino started doing laundry, the kids fell asleep soon and I watched my movie by myself. Marino folded laundry and watched the end of the movie with me. The girl's father dies. So I cried a little bit and she didn't understand why the movie made me sad. It was after midnight when the movie was over- so then I just went to bed and had the best night sleep ever.

9/21/2001

7pm Kimura House
There is so much I want to write about today- but first I have to try to remember yesterday! After class G went to change money (again) and we went out for lunch. We were hungry for sushi and found a place with nice-looking plastic sushi. We went in and were greeted by a hostess in kimono. Immediately we knew we were in trouble. Hostesses usually mean expensive. The sushi wasn't on the menu and it didn't look like the type of place where we could take the waiter outside. So G ordered what was a whole lot of raw fish (no with rice, just the fish) and I ordered something that looked very much like fried something. I assumed beef, pork, or chicken- worst case scenario fish. But I took one bite and it wasn't any of those. I choked down 3 of the 5 and made G eat the other 2. After lunch our goal was to find "Ray's" and experience Kyoto pottery.

We only got a little lost, but we did eventually find it. We had a very nice teacher whose name I don't have with me. She showed me how to make sake cups and G how to make a vase. G went to town and made a nice vase. I ended up with a huge scrap pile of clay under a wet towel. My sake cups were always too big, the clay too thin, and the mouth too big. I tried to say it was wabi/sabi but she just shook her head and said that only tea cups can be wabi/sabi. She compared the rim of my cups to a beautiful mountain range, and started laughing. G made 1 vase and put some feet on my sake cups. I made 2 sake cups and a bowl, maybe it's a tea bowl. By the end I was pretty frustrated.

Then came the bill. As the man who I assume was Ray came out, a woman brought out some cups with Calpis and little chocolates. For both of us instructions and shipping home pottery to my house it was Y9700. It seems a lot to me, but Dr. Prescott said it's pretty cheap.

We came back and indulged in hand lotion, then ate dinner. After dinner we found out there was a 7pm meeting. We went to that and I took a shower. Soon after, Meghan had a french fry emergency so we went to McDonalds. We got there just as they were closing but got food anyway.

When we got back to the Hostel there were tables set up with snacks and the dining room floor was cleared. Apparently, Norio wanted us to have a party with his staff members. At about 9:30pm he made an announcement, "It is now time for dancing. Please come down and dance now." The lights turned off and the music started. I didn't really know any of it, but we all danced anyway. The Australians came down and we all had a great time. It was just the experience we all needed to get over the bad stuff that's been going on.

Someone even took out the Emergency Only flashlights and we played with those for a while. I felt right at home making patterns on the ceiling with flashlights.

9/20/2001

5pm HYH
I really don't remember anything about the temple. Maybe it was closed. We walked from there backwards through the covered mall and near the subway station to meet the rest of the group. We all got back ok, ate dinner, and showered (we didn't all shower together). G and I then went out to find The Hub- a supposedly great and cheap bar close to the Hostel. It took us a while to find it and it wasn't all that impressive once we did. A few scattered tables of Australians, some Y500 mixed drinks, and we were bored by 9pm. We stopped to buy some CD's for G's new CD player and came back. We had and 10:30pm meeting about E and H going home and that was it.

9/19/2001

4:15pm Train from Nara to Kyoto
Today seemed longer than it really was. First thing we all boarded subway cars, then a train to Nara. We went first thing through the Deer Park and on to Todai-ji Temple. It is the biggest wooden structure in the world- and really looks like it too. We really took tons of photos, even with the temple horns on G's head. We purified our hands before lighting some incense. Inside was a huge Buddha. The dimensions are on the ticket we got and says it's the Virocana Buddha. There were other statues equally as massive on each side of the Buddha. Behind those were big- I think wooden- warrior statues guarding the middle three. We walked behind the statues and found the holy nostril pole. There's this support beam that's huge and in the bottom is a tiny little hole. This hole is supposed to be the same size as the nostril of the Great Buddha. If you can fit through it you are supposed to be able to reach enlightenment. Lots of people reached enlightenment. The most enlightening fact is that you have to go through with both hands first. It honestly looked as wide as a toaster. Despite its apparent small size, lots of people fit through, though many needed help. Sula, this tall guy (bigger than Jimmy) had a really hard time getting through. He got exactly halfway through with a lot of pushing and pulling, and then took a break. Eventually they did get him out. G went through with little effort, and so did I. As we were watching people try to get through we saw tons of little children with matching hats all walking together.

They were maybe three years old. They were knee-high and not too stable on their little legs. They were in groups of maybe 20, each group with a matching bonnet color. They were paired up, one boy and one girl, holding hands at all times. The boys all had identical blue backpacks and the girls had red. They pulled each other down the stairs and walked away- the three groups led by leaders past the door.

We stopped, bought deer cookies for the crazy, biting, slobbering deer. They were nuts! The tiny ones were cute but it was hard to get food to them because the bigger deer were so pushy. The cookies were really thin, cookie shaped wafer things. The deer knew as soon as you bought them and flocked to where you were. And they attacked! Head-butting, chewing on clothes, jumping. They were like puppies but bigger. I got some really funny pictures of G and Eric being attacked and trying to make the deer line up in some sort of order.

We tried to find people-food after that for lunch. Actually we stopped at an ice cream shop and had sno-cones before we walked near the covered mall in Nara (as opposed to the covered mall in Kyoto). We chose a restaurant by the plastic food outside and went in. It turned out to be an okonomiyaki restaurant with grills in the tables. The waitress again cooked the pancakes, but this time there wasn't as much fish in them and they were less gooey. Regardless, I had yakisoba. It was really good.

After lunch, G and I went to the National Museum in Nara. It was about halfway between the train station and the Todaiji Temple. Admission was only Y170 for students. Inside was a beautiful collection of Buddhist statues, some wood, some bronze, and most from the 7th or 8th century. They were really impressive. I don't think I've ever seen anything so old in person (except perhaps dinosaur bones). Some of the signs were in English but about 90% of the information was only in Japanese. We walked around there for a while (see pamphlets in English for more information) and found the gift shop. From there we went to the other part of the museum, the East and West wings. There were more temple and shrine artifacts, this time many bells, scrolls, paintings, and archeological pieces of statues. Almost none of this information was in English so it was hard to fully understand what we were looking at. We took our time walking out.

To go to different areas of the museum we had to use our original ticket. It had a bar code on the back and we had to scan it to get through the gates.

We sat down in front of a pond to relax in the shade. While we were looking over the map (G's map) a deer came over and started eating it. G tried to put it away but the deer kept at it. They were playing tug-of-war for a while. Once he got the deer away from the map he went to buy more cookies. Obviously the deer was hungry. When he left, the deer opened his backpack and started sucking on his museum pamphlet. We fed the deer for a while- another scary deer experience- I ended up being chased through a pile of deer poop. Then headed to another temple (the name of which we don't know since the deer ate G's map). There wasn't anything outstanding about it -except that we were approached by junior high English students on our way there. They had some pre-written questions to ask us like, "do you like tempura best or sushi?" We answered as best we could. Then they took our picture and asked us to write down our addresses. They are going to send us the picture and a letter.

9/18/2001

7:15pm HYH

The officially broken air conditioner is now officially fixed. Yesterday was a very casual day. After our first midterm we (and many other Augie students) went to Shakey's Pizza for all-you-can-eat (but not all-you-can-drink) lunches. Most types of pizza had sauce, but some were just dough and vegetables. Yes, there was corn on almost everything, and fried potatoes too. To add some flavor we put tabasco sauce on everything and it ended up being great. It was a pretty good meal for about Y800 each. We stayed in the shopping area for the rest of the afternoon. It was kinda nice to just stroll around, not looking at anything historical, for a while. I stopped and bought new dress shoes- the largest size the store had- and G... wait.... G didn't buy anything at that point. Later he bought some sweet Golden Graham things, but that was much later.

We decided to walk up to the Kyoto version of the Oriental Bazaar. It took a while to get there, and my new shoes turned out slightly less comfortable than I thought. There were tour busses parked out front, and inside it was filled with tourists, usually Westerners. I went up to a counter to look at jewelry and the Japanese woman said, "Hello. How are you?" in perfect English. I stood totally still for a full 20 seconds. I couldn't really understand that she spoke English. I'm so used to hearing "Shamimasen" or whatever it is they shout at you when you get near a store. I stammered back, "You speak English!" and she smiled and gestured down the line of counter-women. "We all do!" I backed away slowly and found G.

We spent a long time there, and a lot of money. G bought two kimono for his sisters. He had me try them on first and the sales lady dressed me all up with the special white tying thing and all. It was kinda fun. Then we went upstairs and G bought a CD player. I bought a (gulp) Kittens of Japan book and some postcards. They filled out tax-free forms, but I'm not sure what to do with them now. They said something about the airport, but I don't really have a clue. On our way down we got to try our luck and get free prizes. G got a fan. I got a bookmark. They probably cost Y25 each.

We passed the Heian Shrine on our way back, but it had already closed. Dinner, shower, studying. Except for a half-hour mission to find CD's at the Book Off (which netted exactly 0 CD's) our night was boring. I fell asleep very early and did not like waking up.

Today was much more interesting. After our second midterm, G and I hopped on bikes and headed West. He finally got the CD's he wanted at a CD store in a covered mall.While he was inside I tried to park my bike. As I was doing so a security guard came up. I looked around and saw a sign that had a picture of a bike with a green line through it. I looked at the man and tried to convey a sense of confusion. He spoke at length with me in Japanese. So I left my bike there and went into the store. Once inside I watched the man through the window. He turned both bikes around so they were facing out and ready to ride. He did the same for another guy who parked his bike there. When G was finished we walked out together and the bike guy moved the other bike out of the way so we could get out. This "security guard"'s job was to be a sort of bike valet. Later on in the day I saw several such bike valets.

It was a rough bike ride up to the Ryoanji Temple. The map doesn't have all the street names so we tried to just count side streets. A nice lady on a bike tried to help us but the only word she knew in English was "straight". G claimed to have understood every word, so he led the way. We found it eventually after a 2 hour trek. Parked the bikes, paid admission to a UN historical place, and walked towards what was supposed to be the ultimate rock garden in the world... I thought it would be bigger. I took a lot of notes in my field journal, and got a pamphlet, so I don't really want to get into it again. Plus, I have to write a 3 page paper for the Culture class.

We left there and found the Golden Pavilion or Rokuon-Ji to the North. Again an admission charge, but the Golden Pavilion was very impressive. The gardens were more extensive, and the pond surrounding the pavilion reflected the light back onto it, making the gold sparkle. There were many tourists there, but not as many as at Ryoanji. We walked around for a long time, passing a waterfall and other small shrines. I stood downwind of a pile of incense for a while, just to feel more sacred. We took lots of pictures here and bought huge amounts of postcards. Something felt different here than at Ryoanji. Here, we didn't have the pressure of being moved on purpose. We weren't looking for enlightenment at Rokuonji. It made the whole experience more of an experience than an assignment.

I'll take a few minutes to describe bike-riding in Kyoto. It's like a driver's ed video from hell. There's other bikes coming at you from all directions, and cars, and people who don't get out of your way, and other cars and bikes parked on the sidewalk and streets. Little old ladies with walkers that look like strollers, mothers with babies, and sidewalks that are 3 feet wide at the most- not including the lampposts so often blocking the way. My handlebars glanced off a scooter's rearview mirror, and I hit another biker once also. She stayed on the bike so I assume she's ok. I fell off dozens of times, lost my balance and narrowly avoided crashing into fruit several times. But overall it was a great experience. I could never have made that walk, and this way I got to see more of the city, while learning about bicycle riding in Japan.

Density: Kyoto must be less-dense than Tokyo. People drive faster and crazier, bike crazier, and generally do things faster. There aren't so many high-rise buildings for apartments and parking garages. The bank had very high ceilings and was bigger than those in Tokyo. Maybe space is more available here, cheaper maybe?

9/17/2001

8:15am HYH
Density observations: walking, people raise umbrellas when they walk past people, wait at crosswalks even when its a side street and there are no cars coming. "Sumimasen" is always heard.

9/16/2001

1:20pm restaurant in Higashioji-dori
I feel like I've had a full day already! First thing I headed out to see some temples and shrines. G was on a bike but he kept pace with me until we got to Chion-in Temple. It wasn't open yet (it was 8:15am and said it opened at 9) so we walked around it for a while. There were many buildings and one main temple. I waited for it to open (although there were already people going in and out) while G looked for a big Buddha he said he saw. I waited about 20 minutes for him, but when I heard bells from inside the temple I went in. Two monks were chanting and using percussion instruments (bells and sticks). People in the inner part took turns walking up and doing something at a side shrine. I watched for a while and went out to find G. He still wasn't back and when I looked for his bike it was gone. So I took off. I got a little lost but eventually was able to identify Ryozen Kannon and go in. The admission was Y200 and I got an English pamphlet (yea!) and a stick of lit incense to put by the temple. I have extensive field notes about what was going on there, but it turned out to be a festival day! I learned a lot from a group of fortune-tellers, one of whom spoke decent English.

After explaining that it was a flower festival from 11am-3pm with karaoke, the fortune teller man convinced me to have a reading for Y700. I didn't learn too much because his English wasn't THAT good, but I took notes and got a bag of salt for my luck. I'm supposed to spread it around- I think.

After I left I got lost again before working my way up to Kiyomizu Temple. By the time I got there I was so exhausted I walked around, but didn't pay any admissions or look too closely. I took some pictures though. Now I think I'm on the right track to get back to Higashiamya YH, but I'm not sure. I haven't found G yet. But this ham, egg and mushroom rice is pretty good. I'm waiting for my Oshibori to cool down so I can use it (it's hot!).

10:15pm HYH
That was pretty much it for today. I walked slowly back to the hostel and slept once I got here. The rest of the day was a combination of studying, sleeping, and avoiding studying. Now it's time for more sleeping in this very hot room with an officially broken air conditioner.