Eels, Watermelons, Sunflowers and Cicadas

These are the things that make summer in Japan. Apparently, eel is the choice food for getting re-energized, especially in the tortuous heat. We had eel for dinner last night. I know a lot of people think that sounds gross, but really, it's just like fish. Quite tasty (if you like fish). Watermelons are a popular summer dish here too. We had a dorm farewell party a couple weekends ago and the dorm manager's wife treated us to big watermelon slices. Beer is a big deal here during the summer. There's an abundance of beer commercials featuring people on beaches or having a picnic, and they all are super refreshed. I think it's funny because I think beer tastes gross. Oh well. In Eda, the cicadas are very loud. Since there is a variety of cicadas, there is a variety in their cries. Weirdly, I haven't even seen one yet - only heard them. I'm okay with that though.

My classes ended on Wednesday. My friends and I ended the semester with a bang: went to karaoke for a couple hours, some of us ate out at a yakitori place (grilled chicken, but they serve other meats as well, served on a stick), and then went to listen to my friend's show in a bar. A very good day indeed.

Now I'm wrestling with a number of farewell parties and events. I'm finding people who would like to buy my things (refrigerator, table, cooking wear, television) for cheap. I was going to send two boxes of things home today, but I found out the post office is closed on weekends. I felt bad for asking my friend to help me, only to find that we had to lug my stuff right back to the dorm. My arms sort of feel like jelly right now, so even typing this is proving to be a tad difficult.

I have to cancel my cellphone, close my bank account, cancel my health insurance, buy some souvenirs, (maybe schedule in one last hair appointment, I want to say bye to Ikko!), pay off remaining dorm bills, and PACK! I've got a little bit more than a week. Oh, and I'm going to see if I can get my luggage sent to the airport so I won't have to drag around two monster suitcases around. I'm sure I can, just need to figure out how to go about doing it.

Home is so close and everything feels like it's in slow motion. But at the same time, I can't help but feel like time is racing by even faster. I look around my room and can't believe I'll be leaving all this in such a short time. I feel like I'll be leaving a little piece of me behind. I'm not sure why, but I just do. I'm not excited about the saying good-bye part of all of this. Cat left for home yesterday and I had to keep from crying. When I see people and we part ways, it's hard to believe that all these people who have made my year live all over the place. Not just across the country, like Montana, Arizona, California, Oregon but across the world, like Germany, England, Hong Kong, Korea...I'm so happy that Japan has brought us all together but I'm so sad that I'm leaving. Everyone asks whether I'm happy to come home. Of course, I am, but at the same time, I'm not happy at all. I hate to leave all these people. I hate to leave this country that has meant so much to me for years. I want to come back. I don't know when I will, but I want to come back. I have so many more friends to come back to. I love this place.

Pictures Speak Louder than Words

And with that, I shall provide the said pictures:
My "Japan is Beautiful" album. A variety of trips, events, and moments documented here.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037709&id=1230390045&l=88436beb0c

My "Redonkulosity" album. I have come across some ridiculous things.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038860&id=1230390045&l=c202a2f738

I really wanted to update this, because I haven't in a while but don't have the time or energy. Please enjoy the pictures I've taken. This is my last week of school and it's going out with a bang.

Tomorrow (Monday): Paper for Japanology.

Tuesday: Art history test (the thing is, I get it all prepared at home, and bring in my materials to write it down in class for an hour), Japanese (on vocabulary and writing) test, a small presentation on societal problem. I picked drunk driving in America ("Designated driver" in Japanese is "Handle Keeper" - this phrase sounds funnier in spoken Japanese).

When all the chaos is over with and if I manage to keep my head on straight, I'll come back and expand upon my recent adventures. It's getting down to two weeks. I've got two boxes packed and when I get a moment to breath, I'll send them home.

I know I just said I wouldn't talk for long, but I just have to say that we had our official farewell party. It was wonderful. So many friends, so many fun memories. We had an after party as well which was delightful and crazy and it makes me smile just thinking about it. I forgot my camera though but fortunately, everyone else had theirs so I've been just collecting other people's pictures from Facebook. Hah, talk about handy!

Tomorrow is Marine Day, a national holiday, but we still have school. Whomp of all whomps in the world.

~HANABI~

On a lighter note from my last post, the exchange students and our Japanese friends/tutors gathered by our favorite river for a picnic...on the Fourth of July! We had soccer, Frisbee, and FIREWORKS (please note the title of this post - this is what that means :) Just so you know)! Small fireworks are sold in convenience stores (and probably super markets too, just haven't been to one lately to see them) here. In Japan, summer means fireworks!

So, we got our own set of fireworks and we had a ball. It was quite a hilarious scene. Our American pride and enthusiasm was a bit over the top, complete with cheering and screaming, "AMERICA!" Our friends from various countries had fun with it too. One of my Korean friends jokingly wished me happy birthday. I'm sure they thought we were crazy at least once during our shenanigans. But we all like each other, so it's all good.

Oh! And here are more pictures! If you go to page three, the newer ones regarding Independence Day start there. (It just occurred to me that I didn't get to watch the movie "Independence Day" this year, like I always do because it's always on TV. Thanks Will Smith, for being part of my American traditions) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037709&id=1230390045&l=88436beb0c

Well, it's coming down to the end of my adventure here in Japanland. I can barely believe it. June just raced on by without looking back and July is here. Finishing up the semester here. So far on my plate I have:

* A take home test for Art History (thank goodness! It would be impossible for me to take this in-class. Translating the notes and then figuring it out the material within the context is a mentally exhausting and very time consuming. The more time to work, the better.)

* A paper for Heiwa o Kangaeru (I will always remember this class and grimace...)

* Several tests for Japanese classes. Just had one of them today. It wasn't too bad.

*I'm done with Creative Writing! I handed in two chapters (16 pages) of my...novella? Novelette? It's definitely not going to be long enough to be a novel (it has no title as of yet). Wrote and illustrated a children's book called "Meet Polly: The Girl with Bottomless Pockets."

*One more paper to write for Japanology. The class has gotten more interesting. We've been watching videos about manga, robots and food. Totally cool.

--

My goal is to have as much fun as HUMANLY POSSIBLE (within reason) this last month (and of course, do really well in school. I know you're reading this Mom). I don't want any regrets (although I already do regret not going to Kyoto when I could have during the spring break...) because I don't know when I'll be able to visit my Japan again. I know I'll miss it here the moment I'm back in America. But I love and miss you America. I can't wait to come home.

Death

My beloved friend and former tutor saw a man jump in front of the express train today. As you can imagine, she's not taking it very well. For those that pray, please pray that she feels better soon. She can't stop thinking about it and it's really bothering her a lot. And for everyone else that watched it happen too.

I wish I could do more for her. How do you deal with watching someone commit suicide? I can't even begin to think of how I would cope. I told her I hoped she would feel better soon. I said I was sorry that she had to see that. I want to give her a hug. Thinking about how upset she is makes me upset, even more so because I can't take her memory away.

The idea of being in her shoes terrifies me. I pretty much only have one month left. I'm still holding on to the hope I won't have to witness this myself. I love you Japan, but this is too scary for me to handle.

Thinking of Peace translates to Bashing Americans

Alright, let me put this into context. Two weeks ago in my Heiwa wo Kangaeru or "Thinking of Peace" class, we watched a Japanese documentary about the Iraq War called, "Little Birds." The focus of this documentary was about both the casualties and fatalities of Iraqi children and the impact it had upon their families. As you can imagine so far, it was very tough to watch. But it wasn't just because the documentary filmed a five year old girl dying while her father sobbed by her side that made me incredibly upset to the point of tears.

It was the way the American military/government was portrayed. They made them look like heartless monsters who killed children and didn't care about collateral damage. And I'm not just blaming the Japanese documentary for showing American's at their worst. I was pretty annoyed (to say in the least) with the soldiers who smirked at people protesting at them or soldiers being mean and rude when questioned. But at the same time, I know I don't act my best in weird situations - I can't imagine how on edge all those soldiers are in that kind of situation. So, when you're on edge like that, you don't say the smartest things or do the best things either.

I'm sure they found some soldiers with decent answers or at least, didn't sound like ignorant fools in the process of filming, but they only kept those that painted the picture of America the Bad.

Oh, and back to the little girl dying. The guy filming...if I could have, I would have ripped the camera from him and told him off. All throughout the film, they would zoom in on the faces of men, women and children who had nothing but the look of despair in their eyes. Their families are hurt or dead, and the person filming didn't have to the decency to treat them like humans. People are sentient. It's not like an animal you can do these kind things to and the animal won't care. These are people, suffering and you're not helping - you're shoving a camera in their face to make the rest of us queasy. I understand that these stories need to be told, but be more dignified about it Japan.

Okay, now that I've finished ranting about that - for class, we had to write a response paper for it the following week. What I said above is essentially what I wrote (in English, the teacher said it was okay) is what I said. Now this week, the teacher essentially told the American exchange students (there's six of us) that our opinions were wrong.

Unfortunately, my Japanese still isn't at the point where I'm able to catch all of this, but some of the other students understood and told me. The teacher also said something along the lines of "war is bad, always, nothing good comes out of it." Our teacher told us that she thinks that Americans are probably mean. She kept suggesting that we must be war-mongering maniacs that think it's okay to kill innocent people for a greater good (which she doesn't believe in either). So next week, we're having a discussion (which, apparently, she planned on having the not-fluent-in-Japanese-yet American students lead the discussion...but she changed her mind).

But I'm not going. For 3 reasons:
1) I wouldn't be able to defend myself.
2) I wouldn't be able to understand the other students either
3) I'd rather not be insulted...again.

What's worse is that the way she says things is in such a nice tone of voice. It sickens me really.

I Got Misty Eyes as They Said Farewell

Well, this last Saturday was definitely another highlight to my time here in Japan. The Japanology teacher, Yoshiba-sensei, took some students to Kamakura to visit temples and shrines and then finally, to see the firefly releasing ritual held at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040717&id=1230390045&l=58fa579bca

The first temple we went to was called Engaku-ji. One of my favorite things about Japan is the architecture of religious buildings. I think they are fascinating - there's always so much detail and it blows my mind that people are so talented to create something as beautiful as the shrines and temples in Japan. What made the trip even more enjoyable was the fact that the weather was simply gorgeous! Sure, it was pretty hot, but there was always a nice breeze. Oh, and the green! So much green! I went a little crazy taking pictures of trees, flowers, etc. :D

We wandered around there for a bit before we moved on. Due to everyone's pangs of hunger and heavily implied suggestions to have lunch (haha), we only spent a short time visiting two other temples. Soon, we found a restaurant with delicious soba and tempura. Incredibly satisfying.

After we filled ourselves, we made our way to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. However, we had some time to kill before the ritual would actually start so we did some more exploring/hunting for sweets. A group of us went to an ice cream shop that specialized in just a few flavors: vanilla, green tea and sweet potato. I know some people may think the last two flavors are strange, but let me tell you...they're amazing. I like the sweet potato flavor the best. I had vanilla mixed with sweet potato and I couldn't have been happier.

We made our way back to the shrine around 6:45 and were sent to our seats. As it was a ritual, it had a strict order of things. (The following explanation came the pamphlet I received).

First, the priests and attendants' hands and mouths are rinsed (we did that beforehand). Secondly, everyone goes to the ritual site. The priests and the attendants are purified (which, if I'm correct, consisted of a man waving some sort of branch in our direction). The chief priest then bows once in reverence the deity, dedicates the food and drinks offerings to the deity and dedicates the fireflies. The chief priest also reads an invocation to the deity. (Now, I'm not sure who or what this deity is, and I remember these processes with the chief priest taking a VERY long time. Not to mention, in ancient/unintelligible Japanese...no, I didn't understand a thing). The miko (shrine maidens) perform a sacred dance along to music. The chief priest and the representative of attendants dedicate a branch of a sakaki tree. A priest takes the offerings down from the alter. The chief priest again bows once in reverence to the deity. Finally, the priests and miko go in a procession to the Yanaihara Sacred Pond, a very short distance from the actual shrine. The guests, such as us, follow afterward and wait on the other side of the pond. At this point, it was very dark and soon, the priests and miko released the fireflies.

I'm just going to go ahead and sound cheesy, but honestly, it was enchanting. There was traditional music playing and slowly, you could see the fireflies darting around in the air. The point of this ritual is to "recognize the preciousness of life and season' passing, and to thank our deities for giving our life and daily bread."

And while I stood and watched, marveling at all of this, I grew a little sad. It somehow reminded me that my time here is coming to an end. It reminded me that I won't be able to see or experience things quite like this in America. It reminded me of how grateful I am to be here and for all the people who supported me. It's unfortunate that I could not take pictures because flash was not allowed, but I'll always have the image in my memory. :)

(Below is a very brief article about what I just explained)

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20100614a4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+japantimes_news+%28The+Japan+Times+Headline+News+-+News+&+Business%29

After such an eventful day, the girls in our group (except for one) made the long trip back to Eda. Some of us got a bit bored and we started getting a little silly. Our silliness cost one of my friends a bit of her dignity though. While lying down on one of the seats across from me, two older men (who I unfortunately forgot about...) starting yelling, "Nee, oneechan! Motto yatte!" ("Hey, older sister! Do more!") and cheering.

For the record, they don't mean "older sister" in a literal sense. In this context, it's more along the lines of baby, sweetheart, honey, etc. - what you'd think a guy hollering at you would say in this situation.....

Yeah. Whoops. She quickly sat up properly and sat back down next to me. After some time, the two men decided to come over and chat with us. In levels of awkward, it over 9,000. But also funny. Don't worry, they didn't try anything. They told her, very enthusiastically, that she was sexy though. We left hastily once our stop came.

All in all, it was a good day.
Unfortunately, the next day, I came down with a cold. I'm thinking it has to do with the fact that the temperature dropped in the evening and my body never likes it when the weather does that. So, I'm sick...again. I was a tired, pain-ridden, snot-dripping, nasally voiced monster at school today. I think I will take off tomorrow to nip this in the butt.

Also, rainy season has officially started. Except for Thursday, every day (for the next 10 days, according to The Weather Channel's website) is either just old rain or scattered thunderstorms. Awesome sauce.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...Just Kidding!

Another little fun anecdote from riding the train.

At some point while coming home with Elizabeth and our friend Devin, I noticed a young girl in a high school (I'd like to assume) uniform looking quite concerned. I heard her say, "Gomen nasai! Sumimasen! (I'm sorry! Excuse me!)" and I thought she was trying to walk past me in the semi-crowded train. But that wasn't what she was trying to do. The second time around, she said, "I'm sorry!" and started touching my back. I twisted my head around to notice she was removing a moth that had hitched a ride on me. Needless to say, I was very surprised and immediately said, "Arigatou gozaimasu! (Thank you very much!)" She then made a mad dash through a pretty thick crowd of people, to the train doors and released it. It was quite fortunate that we were at a stop at that time. When she returned, the ladies sitting in the seats in front of us thanked her with big smiles. I also thanked her again.

It was very sweet of her. It was quite funny too. She got to use her English today ;)

Something interesting always happens on the train. From seeing people in distracting and questionable fashion (daily...it's the best), seeing people pass out and watch how the person next to them deals with the fact that a stranger is using him/her as a pillow.

Anyway, some other nice things that happen when riding the train:

People will sometimes move seats for you to sit down. For example, say I was with a friend on the train and there were two seats available. However, there is a person sitting in between the two seats. While one of us sits, the person will notice the situation and slide over to the next seat, so we could sit together. One time a man moved across the aisle so that I could take his place sit next to my friend. People will get up for elderly people and mothers with young children. It always makes me smile when it happens.

I hope you enjoy my train adventures as much as I do. Or maybe at least a little bit.