convivial living.

Wow, so its been almost a month since my last post. I didnt intentionally take so long to post again but since I've been on Obon Vacation for the last 2 weeks, I didn't want to spend precious freedom blog writing. hehe.  its pretty freaking cool to have two weeks off during the summer... i havent had this since i was in school... and its FANTASTIC! lol. AND I GOT PAID! im amazed at how many people had this time off...

So I figure this will be a long-ish blog.  Please sit down, have a cup of coffee ready (possibly tea) and buckle down for the large (albeit super interesting) reading you are about to do!

Just before my vacation started, my friend Emmanuelle visited Japan! I haven't seen Emmanuelle since about 2009, so it was such an awesome reunion! We met at Kyoto station, in Kyoto, and spent the day wandering around the city.  The day was super hot, so we went to a random hotel for a while and sat and talked for hours until the sunlight relaxed a bit.  I love talking to smart people about smart things.... Talking to Emmanuelle reminds me of all the things I love about studying English literature and living in France.

Highlights from our day in Kyoto:

Emmanuelle's first Purikura

I found these little guys hanging out in front of a restaurant in kyoto... sooo cute!

these mocchi were to die for. you picked the flavoring of the mochi and then the filling you wanted. mine was a cinnamon pink outside with a berry filling and emm had something with peach. fantastic!

the view from where we ate dinner was beautiful!

special veggie dinner. 1 of 6 courses.

We asked the people at the restaurant if we could sit outside on the balcony and they said we would have to eat the set menu.  I usually cant eat the set menu because I am vegetarian and they almost never have a veggie option, but the people at this chinese restaurant offered to make me the same set menu vegetarian! ZOMG! it was soooooo good!!! ^_^

It was a really fantastic day.  We rode the shinkansen a bit of the way back together and then parted ways. It was such a wonderful feeling.  For someone like me, who puts so much meaning into friendships, this kind of thing is really important.  She is about to embark on some amazing adventures of her own and I am so excited for her.  I am constantly in awe of the people I know... !

So its summer here.  That means many different things to many different people but here in Japan, fireworks are abundant.  Almost every city has a festival with a fireworks display.  They are big and beautiful (only time youll hear me say that out loud. hehee)... but since it rains so often during summer, both festivals that I wanted to go to got rained on. T_T One major difference here too is that fireworks are sold just about everywhere. You can buy them in department stores, in convenience stores and malls. It's very strange to be in a place where there is so much faith in people to be responsible... 

One of the other really crazy things that happens here is the invasion of bugs. not little tiny bugs, but biiiig, large, gigantic, bugs. roaches that are about 3 inches long with wings that allow them to fly like a small bird. >_<;; The other invasive bug is the cicada.  They are noisy little creatures. Walking down any street at any time of day in Japan, you can hear them. The noise is almost deafening. I took some audio with my phone but realized that I can't upload just sound, so I found a good example of them on YouTube for you all to watch/listen to. This is pretty normal too. You don't even have to be in nature. Just walking down the street. THEYRE EVERYWHERE! Thankfully they usually keep themselves out of plain view of people, though as summer subsides, I am starting to notice their dead bodies littering the streets.  

noisy noisy noisy. >_<;;;

One thing I didnt see at all was the olympics.  Not that I didnt want to... but my natural aversion to TV and my general laziness prevented me from ever putting in any sort of effort to watch it.  That being said, it was a huge deal here in Japan.  Every time Japan won a gold medal, I would hear about it from at least 10 different people that day.  Anytime the US would play Japan in an event, I would hear about the result.  I was amused. I vaguely wish I had watched it a bit more but knowing that we crushed China in the medal count makes me pretty happy. ^^;;

One of the first things I did over my summer break was visit Ise Shrine. You might remember that I visited this shrine earlier in the year but it rained so hard that I decided not to go to the actual shrine part. This time I met my student Hiroshi and he insisted that I go all the way into the shrine, so we did. I made the trek like so many others before me. It's probably the most famous shrine in all of Japan. It was a pretty hot day too! Also the cicadas were super noisy.... 

the main gates leading to ise.

my student says that now that ive been to ise and prayed at the ise shrine, i am basically japanese. i said my prayers, then made the way back down the mountain. it was interesting... though i must admit, i dont feel any different... maybe im turning japanese but only on the inside. ^^ this is one of those things that people in ancient times used to do once in a lifetime.... 

one of the really weird things about ise shrine was the lack of omikuji. when they said they didnt have any, i was a bit shocked.... but i guess ise doesnt want to be liable for handing out fortunes??? 

picture of women tying their omikuji.

the next thing we did that day was visit Pearl Island. it was a super awesome experience. i am not sure exactly how i feel about the culturing of pearls, but i learned a lot. 

women divers traditionally dive to find the clams

pearls!

i got a little doll made from pearls. ^^

on the way back, we stopped for a rest. let me tell you, the rest stops in japan are VERY DIFFERENT from the rest stops in the US... these rest stops had heated toilet seats for one. they also had about 15 different vending machines selling everything from the newspaper to fresh sandwiches. they also had soft serve ice cream. also, THEYRE SOOOO CLEAN! 

this was the view from the rest stop area where we were. are you jealous yet?? 

all in all, it was a beautiful day.  

the next day i went with my friend cara to look at the orchids. i went with mandy to the same place over christmas and theyd turned the orchid center into a winter wonderland. this time the theme was orchids from around the world. they were really pretty. 

im not sure where these are from. o.O

almost every day of vacation i did something amusing. one major event was my move to a new apartment. its quite a huge change for me but like most changes, its not necessarily bad. the good things about this place are: i have much more space than i did before. i have a japanese style bathroom which means i have a very large bathtub/shower area. traditionally people first washed themselves off and then soaked in the bathtub. and the toilet was in a separate room. 

this a sample of a japanese style bathroom. (not mine)

i have pictures of mine but i havent uploaded them yet. lol. that will probably happen at some point this weekend.... but i think you get the idea. large bathtub with a shower head off to the side so you can wash before entering the bath. it makes showering/taking a bath so enjoyable! wherever i settle, i really must have one of these!

my kitchen is also bigger. and i have a balcony. i also get heaps of sunlight! i can have plants finally! the apartment is run by a family and we have excellent customer service. i have a gym, a small library, access to bikes, data center and all my utilities are fixed! my rent is about $200 cheaper per month as well. sounds pretty sweet right? 

the down side is that i live in what they call the "gaijin ghetto". basically its where all the foreigners live. gaijin (slang) meaning foreigner. foreigners are loud and obnoxious. so far it hasnt been too bad. i dont seem to live too close to where the noisy people are. ive also been keeping the exact location of my apartment a secret because i dont want any visitors. ^_^ 

freebell also has a roach problem. in all honesty though, japan has a roach problem. its not like in the states where basically the poor people have roaches. pretty much everyone here has them... though i was lucky in my old building. i never saw one bug. here i know they exist and live... and i am cautiously waiting to find one and then be faced with the dilemma of killing it or trying to capture it and take it outside... though i am pretty sure it will be the former and not that later and that makes me a bit sad. T_T

i also have a roommate. her name is susie. shes a bit older than me and has been living in japan for a year now. she used to work for aeon but now works for a smaller eikaiwa (english school) around here. she doesnt speak any japanese but seems to be getting along here just fine. shes also traveled to many places all over the world... in fact, shes going to turkey next month.  shes a religious person, christian, and not nearly as type a as me. all of these are potential pros and cons in my life but im looking at the glass as half full for now. she seems like a really nice person and for me, that weighs huge on whether or not i can deal with someone.  im sure ill update this more as i get to know her better, but thats all i really know right now. i am cautiously optimistic.  

pics to follow in the next update. ^^

august 6th was the day of the first atomic bombing in hiroshima. now i know as americans, we all learn about wwii and the japanese, etc., but its a totally different experience being here and seeing how it has affected the people as a whole. as an outsider i can understand why so many countries are angry with japan for not showing enough remorse (remorse in the way we think is necessary) but being here and experiencing the culture from within (and feeling the japanese way of showing remorse), i must say its very different than you would think. first of all, at least one of my students brings up wwii once a week. they talk about how japan was/is affected by the war and how theyve changed as a whole. its something that deeply affects a lot of people here. i dont think i heard about it nearly as much while living in america... and maybe its because its a war we won... but ive had many students ask questions like, "whats the difference between nationalism and patriotism?" and other questions that would be difficult to answer even in english.  many of my students talk about the dangers of getting too absorbed in an idea or ideology. its something i think about a lot more now that im here.

being here on august 6th was hard for me. i obviously dont like war. i know the justifications we had for dropping the bomb and i realize that many people in america still think it was the right thing to do... but i also understand that many mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, children... pets... loved ones who had nothing to do with the war, were murdered by the bomb. when looking a friend in the eye, its hard for me to tell them that i feel justified...

many japanese people are against nuclear energy. personally i dont have a problem with it but i also think that in a place like japan where we have so many earthquakes and potential natural disasters, perhaps its not the best place to build a plant with energy we cant control easily. donno. lots of heavy stuff around these thoughts... 

i dont think ive mentioned this but did you know japan is about 73% mountainous? well its true. the total land size is about 11% smaller than the state of CA. That means that almost 100% of the people live on less than 30% of the land. i asked my student if people took to living in the mountains, like people do in CA, and he said no. he said that would be silly because living in mountains is dangerous. lol. of course i laughed and then wondered why so many people insist on doing it in CA. >_<;;

^ obligatory picture of mt fuji ^

the last part of my vacation was highlighted with my trip to osaka. zomg i love osaka. its such a fantastic city. the people are so nice and lively... the city is so warm and more international feeling than nagoya... *swoons* the first day i was there, i met my friend maiko! we shopped a bit in namba and then ate dinner at a famous negiyaki restaurant! it was soooo good! 

maiko is on the left! circa 2009.

maiko and beka thanksgiving 2009!

obligatory purikura 2012

purikura 2

in front of a famous restaurant 2012.

negiyaki. 

negi means onion. it looks like a pancake... its made with a batter made of eggs and onion, etc. you can choose different filling like fish, cheese, kim chi... i had kim chi. ^^

it was sooo nice seeing maiko. it was just like meeting emmanuelle. shes doing wonderfully. she has a job where they pay her to travel around the world checking out hotels and tours that her company provides.... shes traveled everywhere! i am soooo jealous! but i am so very proud of her too. 

while we were in namba, we stopped in and met our old friend junko. she works at a place near where we were and even though she was working until 11:30 pm, she came out to see me. <3 junko is easily one of the coolest people i know... aaaaah!!! sooo happy! it was soooo nice seeing everyone again... i feel soooo loved. <3 i can hardly wait to visit them again.... this time it wont be 3 or 4 years.... 

the next day, i met my friends atsumi and yasuha from ecc.  they are both staff. atsumi works at handa, and yasuha works at toyota, but they are both from osaka. we met about 11am and went to tsuruhashi, which is where korea town is located in osaka. ZOMGIWASSOHAPPY!!! i had amazing food! ok, i guess if you know me at all, i am always eating amazing food, but we had soooo many korean dishes.... the bim bim bap was sooooo freaking delicious... and then we had korean shaved ice and these pancake thingys with syrup inside... *swoons* happiness was all i had that day!

we also made our way around korea town and around all the different shops they had.... we mustve spent about 9 hours on one street alone... o.O i couldnt resist the urge to go into every single shop and see if they had my favorite korean actor Kim Hyun-Joong! and of course he was everywhereeeeee!!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! 

everything about this guy melts my tiny little heart. lol. so naturally i bought a plethora of stuff... let me show you: 

meet the love of my life. 

korean shaved ice! freaking fantastic! 

a plethora of k-pop/drama idols!

every type of kim chi you could want! and i did! i bought almost 3 lbs for under $5! ...ive been eating it for every meal for almost a week and im not anywhere near tired of eating it! ^^!!!

my loot. look at all my pretty pretty boys. (i am not lying when i say my bedroom looks like a 12 year old girls room....)

and yes... i even bought socks. i wore them today. no shame whatsoever. 

...yes. my life is fantastic. i am so happy i made the decision to come here. i am so very happy here. now i am back in nagoya... boring ol nagoya. its nice that it feels like home, but i am also realizing how much less of a city this is... i miss big shiny lights and having places to go... i am not really a night life kinda person, but i really miss having the option. i also miss having the ability to be in an international city... i also know that i dont have the ability to grow in this city... but my decision has been made. i will spend 2 years in japan (though perhaps not in nagoya). after that, who knows. 

current goals are only in place to keep me moving forward. 

and that concludes another riveting blog....! does your butt hurt from sitting so long? perhaps you should take this time to stop staring at the computer for a while.... lol. o.O 

thanks for reading....!!!