This will serve to update my travels and experiences of the passed two weeks to the best of my ability. As the days have worn on, less and less time has been available for updates. On 7/6 Monday, Minami and I had an appointment with Ikuko, our representative from LST. I met up with Minami in the Shijo area. I have gotten accustomed to walking around Kyoto. Again this is a very large city: however, my walks are good exercise as well provide me with a good feel with where I am. It takes anywhere between 20-40 minutes to walk to Shijo dori, depending on the cadence of my steps. Dori means street and when I say Shijo area it refers to an actual street that stretches throughout the city. The specific area I am referring to is around 7-8 blocks filled with western stores and native businesses. It is the most familiar place outside of Takashima.
Ironically there is a huge seven-story department store at the end of Shijo called Takashimaya. Ya means store or shop, and Takashima comes from somebody’s name. Each floor is filled with expensive merchandise of the utmost quality and most of all ice cold air. There are also chairs if you know where to find them. Japan does not have many places to sit. There are rarely benches. In fact, I believe the benches I have seen have been in parks, never in places where one is traveling during the day. So of course, while traveling around Kyoto, I know I can always head to Takashimaya, sit down, and enjoy some air conditioning. Mind you that it takes a lot of walking to get to this destination. Japan is hot in an unexplainable way. There are periods when one feels comfortably cool to absolutely dripping with sweat. Because of this people walking around wiping their faces with hanker-chiefs or small pocket-sized hand towels. They do become an outlet for fashion expression. I purchased one and enjoyed having it. As I am writing this, I have since lost this one. I may be overstating the sweat factor. In my case, I am the giant that sweats like some beast, while everyone else seems more comfortable than I. Nonetheless, they have these tools for wiping their sweat.
It was around 1:30pm and I met up with Minami outside of Takashimaya. We were going to get a quick lunch and make it to our appointment at 3. We walked towards a restaurant chain called Sukiya. Sukiya is a type of Japanese food. It consists of donburi, which is rice topped with various vegetables, meats, or eggs. Minami and I both ate our fill it was around $6.70. I know, cheap. While eating I notice a button on the table. I had been staring at it during the whole meal. Finally I asked “What is this.” Unfortunately, I didn’t wait long enough for an answer and pushed it. A loud ding sounded, like a doorbell, and a young man ran from the back of the store over to our table. Minami, thoroughly embarrassed, expressed the mistake to him in words that I could not. Lost in laughter, I was blinded by the enormous humility of the situation. This is my explanation for not being embarrassed.
Being here brings an enormous feeling of humility to me. Here I was, living my life in a country for my whole life; I’ve developed a strong sense of values and have grown roots solidly grounded, never knowing that an entirely different world could exist. To discover that my Minami could be a part of a different world, has uncovered a side of her that awakens the senses and tingles the heart. This world does exist and there are many qualities here that I would like to have and reflect within my own experience. I can only imagine what it would be like if I could actually converse with people here.
We rushed up Shijodori towards the mountain. We were trying to find Saami, the restaurant where we were planning on having our after ceremony lunch. I started to sweat again. She was sweating to. I was dripping, she was not. We finally made it to the restaurant with Ikuko waiting out front. We went inside and it had….. air conditioning. The lobby area was quite beautiful with many picturesque qualities. We visited several rooms, including the one we were booked to use. Overall, I am certain of the enchantment that will be experienced during that day not too far into the future. Afterwards we headed back to the LST office to make it official; handing in the application, money, and answering the final questions.
Minami and I then met up with a friend of hers. Minami then did what girls do—went on a shopping frenzy. I followed them around with the camera, trying to make embarrassing comments or involve my self in their activity. I learned the word Kawai, which means cute. It is funny that it took this long to learn how to say cute in Japanese, while hanging out with only girls here. Minami bought a pair of shorts that looked like genie shorts, with big pockets. She then tried to purchase a shirt to match. Unfortunately, and don’t tell her I said this, she got one that did not match… Sorry, but if you ask--- “It looks Kawai, sweetie.”
The three of us headed to a café. I got a mango slush thing, while Minami got tea and Chocolate cake. It looked like good cake. I should have gotten myself one, too.
I am afraid I can’t totally recall what happened on Tuesday or Wednesday. I know that I woke up with 10 minutes to get ready and headed to school with Minami on Wednesday. I can mention the growing desire to purchase a dictionary at this time. I still had not went and purchased one yet. Now that I am in that moment, I believe it was Wednesday, Minami and I left from school and walked to a local Shrine. It was the Star festival, as fable of two lovers torn apart. People come and tie colorful string with wishes on it to the ends of bamboo stems. I read about the story later that weekend. The festival must have been over, and not much was going on. From there we walked down Senbon, a street that heads down towards Kyoto Station. From there we stopped in a convenient store, family mart. Minami paid for bus tickets to Tokyo there. We also picked up a drink with some snack. Walking down the street we ate, drank and commented on stores we passed. At the train station that would take us to Kyoto station, was a large bookstore. The plan was to look for a dictionary(じしよ- sounds like jishyo) there.
There were many dictionaries there, but were all printed for Japanese speakers learning English. If it was a Japanese-English English-Japanese dictionary then it would have English to Kana and Kanji-Japanese and Chinese Characters. So, instead, Minami helped me pick out a kids book that had the correct stroke order(writing) for Hiragana, Katakana, beginners Kanji, and vocabulary. Walking to the counter, we found a book about Japanese etiquette. It was written in both Japanese and English. Opening the pages, we found specific information about a traditional Japanese style wedding, which means I had to get it. Heading back to Takashima, I had two good book purchases under my arm. Her parents were equally impressed with the buys. When her mom saw me practicing stroke order, she supplied me with a notebook made for that very task.
Thursday the 9th, Minami and I woke up late and rolled out of bed and then down stairs. After eating brunch, it was the rush to get ready for that night’s English lesson at RIP(car body shop). We had to pack for the weekend, as well. Our plan was to hop on a Night bus and get to Tokyo in the morning. After packing, it was lesson plan time. We made another dialogue together about the same guy from last week’s lesson bringing a friend in to get his truck raised. We headed Kyoto arou
Minami got off before Kyoto station. I was to entertain myself for the next 4 hours. This was nothing new. In fact, Minami is in class now, which will be about 5 hours. I walked to where?—Shijo. I stopped in a 5-story book store. I decided to go ahead and get the dictionary. The drawback was that the jishyo that I needed was 1170 yen = approx. $11.70, while on the cover it says $6.99. In Canadian dollars it was $8.99. I guess that is the price for import. I sat there for a few moments, pondering whether to make the purchase. I have had it for almost a week now, and realize it was worthy enough for purchase.
Walking back, slowly, to Kyoto station, I knew I wanted to find a spot to sit an look up words. At 10:20, I was reunited with Minami. We, by escalator and stair made it to the top floor of Kyoto Station. This area is known as Sky Garden. It is a garden on top of the building. Sitting there, we had what would be our dinner—onigiri(rice balls), and a host of other junk food. We then found a bathroom to wash up once more before our trip. Minutes later, we found the buses and then waited to board.
The bus was quite large(ookii), inside it was chisai (small). The seats could recline very far backwards; however this would impede on the space of the person behind you. I squeezed into my seat. People were already on the bus. It had been traveling from Osaka already. The seats had another peculiar attribute; a half umbrella like feature that could be pulled down over a traveler’s head to block outside distractions from the main activity—sleep. Sleep was hard to come by on the trip, but after a potty break at around 3 am, I slept until our arrival at 7.
Friday 7/10- The bus dropped us off in a street not yet bustling by early morning goers or business persons. Minami worked our way to a subway stopped and we headed to her brother, Akitsugu:s apartment. We purchased a one day pass for 1000yen. We were worried it wouldn’t be worth it. Aki was just waking up and getting ready for work. I knew and was told that her brother could speak English. After exchanging greetings, Akitsugu left. Minami and I took showers and helped him clean his apartment. I folded his clean clothes; washed dishes and scrubbed the sink. I felt like I was helping my own brother.
The days task= see Tokyo and buy new shoes that look good enough for me to wear when meeting her aunt and uncle. People are not fans of my sandals in Japan. I don’t know why. Tsujiku was our first stop. This is a famous fish market in Japan, where everyday the fishermen bring in the fish from the night and early morning catch. Business and people participate in an auction for the best ones. Tourists go up and down the isles to look at the items for sale. We walked down many isles and some a lot of stuff. I stopped when I saw different seafood items on Cell phone(Kaite Denwa) straps. Cell phone straps are huge here. They are the small kind that can go on digital cameras. They are all sizes here. Some people even sport small teddy bears off the side of their phone. I stood there with Minami looking for a cell phone strap/ Omi miage(souvenir）for Etsuo. Minami spotted the tako, and I knew I had to get it. Lunch was also a notable experience, but first we went to get a razor and some water in a convenient store. The bottle of water we chose had a hanker chief attached to it and was only 10 more yen then the bottle next to it. In the store I saw some Americans. I asked where they were from and their reply came to me as no surprise. He said Miami. I wasn’t surprised because his shirt said Ft. Lauderdale. I replied with saying that I was from Miami Shores. Every time I see a foreigner here, I analyze the individual to determine if they are American. It is pretty easy to tell Europeans apart from Americans. It’s in our demeanor, style, and complete look. This was the first time that I’ve acted on the desire to ask where they were from.
Minami and I had lunch at a standing ramen bar. Ramen here, as I said before, is much more prized. It is still instant; however, the preparation is more than heating water and letting it soak. Minami found us a spot at a the busy bar while I stood in line. It was on the side of the side walk and there were people every where. The chef noticed me, as everyone seems to. He said something to me and I replied with Ramen ga suki desu(I like ramen). I watched him prepare the grub: boiling the ramen, setting bowls up and putting a soy sauce inside, putting broth to fill the bowl, and then putting ramen into each. A man next to him cut up pieces of pork and placed them in the bowls with some green onions. I got our bowls of ramen and headed to where Minami was. It was probably an common experience for a Japanese person; however, it was one of the best meals. My chopsticks skills had improved so much, which allowed me to eat the whole meal standing up. It was so delicious, I even drank all the broth.
We looked at many shops and used of the all day pass. We would count the fare then comment every subway that it was paying for itself. After seeing many shops we set out on a mission to find shoes. So many stores later, we found a pair of deck shoes that were reasonably priced. By this time it was after 6. We head back to meat up with her brother. Aki was already home and getting ready for the night. He led us out of the apartment and down the street. After a short subway ride, we walked out into a busy street filled with people, restaurants and stores. The first food we got was at a standing bar. After scarfing down a fried beef patty, that was delicious, we went into a small restaurant and had barbeque pork. Meals in Japan are rarely an individually portioned thing. Besides having one’s own bowl of rice, a lot of things are taken from a middle bowl or plate. Some times people use their chopsticks to eat out of one bowl. After having a small amount of food we quickly rushed off again. Minami and I trailing behind, Aki led us to a sushi bar. This was a genuine sushi bar where all the fish and items were prepared in front of the customers. The food was great. The employees were quite excited to here that an American had come to visit that he was eating in their sushi bar. I was equally pleased to be there. We order a countless amount of food.
It was getting late at this point, but a friend of Aki’s had come so we followed Aki again. This time we went up a long flight of stairs and ended up in a smoky bar filled with foreigners. It was an Irish pub, but the band was very Japanese. People cleared the way when they saw us and we got a seat 6 inches away from the guitar players. The next 30 minutes had to be the most mind blowing since I was here. They played Memphis blues and Jazz music. This was so mind blowing, because here were 4 Japanese men playing blues from the deep south, and sounding really good. Guitar solo after guitar solo rang through the bar. The crowd ate it, native and foreigner alike. There was a point where the lead singer brought his guitar to our table and played a solo for us. We all started acting like the guitar had turned us into the best dancers in the world.
We parted ways with Aki’s friend and hopped into a cab. This cab brought us closer to the apartment, but we stopped into a bar. When we entered, everyone erupted with cheers to see Aki. Apparently, her brother gets around the town. Even the people at the Sushi bar lit up when he came in. In a small aquarium at the bar, there were two gold fish. At some point I started making fun of British people and Aki chimed in. All of a sudden Minami eyed a guy at the bar. She suggested he might be from England and to tone it down a bit. A shrugged this off thinking what would chances? I tapped him on his should and asked where he was from. He replied with somewhere in Northern England. This we found very funny. It is extremely difficult to balance one’s own dialect in a dark smoky bar, in surroundings quite unfamiliar, with beer, and then the mixture of a British accent. Simply speaking, I started unintentionally copying his accent. When I noticed this I sat back and let everyone else do the talking. After our new friend had left we moved over to the bar, and I sat next to the goldfish (kingyo) This was exciting for the fish. They were very active when they saw me coming. It was a mutual feeling.
Aki is comparable to a wined up toy or the energizer bunny; once he begins his night, he doesn’t stop until there is no juice left. It was about 2 am at this point and Minami knew we had to meet her family the next day. Not wanting to confront her brother, she grabbed my shoulder and drug me out of the bar when Aki visited the restroom. She kept saying hurry, hurry. We hurried down the street. We didn’t know where we were, but there were maps all over the streets. Stopping at each one she was navigating our way back to the apartment. After a long time of fast walking, we made it back. Unlocking the front door, we stumbled to take off our shoes and to our surprise there he was with a friend who had come back. They beat us back even though we had left and were walking fast. Maybe we were walking in circles. I have learned a very important piece of information since being here, Minami and maps is like putting underwear on your head, it just makes no sense. We stayed up a while longer, and I got to talk to Aki a bit more. It was a bonding moment, while Minami prepared a futon for us to sleep in the other room. After Aki’s friend left, the three of us fell asleep in one room: Minami and I on a futon next to Aki’s bed.