A couple weeks ago, my friend invited me to go to her homestay home to have dinner. I really love the Japanese house, although I have to duck between doorways... and there are a lot of them in their houses! Dinner was oishi! delicious! We all sat in the kitchen, because Japan doesn't have central heating and so there is one designated warm room, and ate using a Nabe cooking pot. The pot sits on the table and raw food is placed in it to cook and then you pull out what you want to eat with some broth and rice. We put niku (chicken), taco (octopus), ebi (shrimp), and various vegetables in there. After a long dinner (all meals are an event it seems), we went to karaoke!! Her okaasan and obassan were adorable and sang together. My favorite song was an Okinawa song that involved participation with whoops and claps. The most fun I've had at karaoke, yet! They were very sweet to invite me over with my limited (err basically non-existant) language abilities. Her okaasan didn't speak much English, but she was cute and "very animated" (according to the obaasan. So far my best times in Japan have taken place in local homes of Japanese families. I feel this is the best way to get to know who the Japanese are.
The next day, my Japanese speaking partner, Hiromi, her two Japanese friends, my roommate, and I went to Arashiyama. This is a mountainous area in Kyoto. We ended up renting bikes and then hiked up to the monkey park! After our strenuous hike up this mountain, we got to see many monkeys! There were about 150 monkeys on the top of this mountain. Hanging off of the building, climbing on benches, and playing on the park worker's motorcycles.
We then hiked back down, got on our bikes, and rode across the Togetsukyo Bridge, a wooden bridge where the name of the river changes based on which side the person is standing on. We also went through the bamboo forest and did a little omiage souvenir shopping. Lastly, we got some ice cream!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Kyoto: Imperial Palace & Nijo-jo
Last Tuesday was Kansai Gaidai's Foundation Day. Therefore, students got the day off. I wish Elon would adopt this idea.
Anyways, four of us went to the Ancient Kyoto Imperial Palace on the only day that we could get the English speaking tour without having to skip school. Turns out, they closed the Palace in order to clean that particular Tuesday afternoon. We still enjoyed walking around the grounds and I ate some yummy Japanese hot cakes.
Afterwards, we took the train to Nijo Castle. The castle burned to the ground in 1791, but the Ninomaru Palace for the shoguns still remains. We took off our shoes and walked through the palace. While walking, the floor squeaked like chirping birds. They're known as the 'Nightingale Floors". It was said that the way the floor was designed made it so no one was able to sneak into the palace. The chirping noise makes it tolerable. Pretty neat, eh?!
Anyways, four of us went to the Ancient Kyoto Imperial Palace on the only day that we could get the English speaking tour without having to skip school. Turns out, they closed the Palace in order to clean that particular Tuesday afternoon. We still enjoyed walking around the grounds and I ate some yummy Japanese hot cakes.
Afterwards, we took the train to Nijo Castle. The castle burned to the ground in 1791, but the Ninomaru Palace for the shoguns still remains. We took off our shoes and walked through the palace. While walking, the floor squeaked like chirping birds. They're known as the 'Nightingale Floors". It was said that the way the floor was designed made it so no one was able to sneak into the palace. The chirping noise makes it tolerable. Pretty neat, eh?!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Oh my, Onsen
Well, I just got back from my first Onsen today. If you don't know... it's a natural burning spring that the Japanese go to take a bath with everybody else in the nude. I was told the nude part was optional and some underwear was allowed. Not the case however, but I had already taken a 2.5 hour subway ride into the mountains and was not going to pass on this cultural experience. (Plus, today we got school off because it's a national holiday --Cultural Day!)
We first ate a full Japanese buffet, which was oishii (delicious) and then headed to the onsen where we paid $5.20 to get naked and enter the hot spring bathing area. The water was interesting. Since it was a natural hot spring, the color of the water was gleaming a golden color. Very helpful to cover up little bits you don't want showing! The Japanese girl we went with was all about going nude, but the rest of us worked out a system to cover our eyes while we got in and out of the Onsen. I didn't mind the other ladies staring at me (which, ohhhh they did!) due to the fact that I'll never see them again! After lasting in the 42 C water for about seven minutes, I was so light-headed that I got out to rinse off in the "shower room." The shower room was in the same room with the pool area, and just as naked. However, by that time I was getting used to the nakedness. We then dried off, put our clothes back on, and sat in the lobby for about thirty minutes just to get our faces to stop looking like fire trucks.
We first ate a full Japanese buffet, which was oishii (delicious) and then headed to the onsen where we paid $5.20 to get naked and enter the hot spring bathing area. The water was interesting. Since it was a natural hot spring, the color of the water was gleaming a golden color. Very helpful to cover up little bits you don't want showing! The Japanese girl we went with was all about going nude, but the rest of us worked out a system to cover our eyes while we got in and out of the Onsen. I didn't mind the other ladies staring at me (which, ohhhh they did!) due to the fact that I'll never see them again! After lasting in the 42 C water for about seven minutes, I was so light-headed that I got out to rinse off in the "shower room." The shower room was in the same room with the pool area, and just as naked. However, by that time I was getting used to the nakedness. We then dried off, put our clothes back on, and sat in the lobby for about thirty minutes just to get our faces to stop looking like fire trucks.
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