family – Page 21 – Swankivy's Photos

Japan Trip Day 3

Nov 8, 2003swankivy2003, Vacationsfamily, ivy, japan, mom, patricia

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 8, 2003: Saturday
Japan: November 9, 2003: Sunday

- - - Met with Patricia’s Japanese teacher and her husband.
    - Drove a very long way to Nagano in the next prefecture.
    - Went to Zenkoji temple.
    - Ate soba noodles for lunch.
    - Drove a long way to go shopping at Karuizawa.
    - Drove a long way to go to the hot springs (onsen).
    - Drove a long way to come home.

Riding the train

We got up bright and early to go and meet Mrs. Ogawa, who teaches my sister Japanese. She and her husband had graciously volunteered to drive us around to some rather far-away places (the original plans included seeing Mt. Fuji), thus sparing us lots of money in train tickets and probably hotel fees for staying over.

Cultural Note:

It’s customary in this
sort of situation to buy
a really nice gift for
someone. Japanese people
usually buy something
edible or something that
gets used up, so that their
houses don’t clutter up with
junk from this custom.

We met Ogawa-sensei and she was very, very nice, and a couple of times along the way she talked to me in English and I talked to her in Japanese. We stopped at a rest stop, where I got my first exposure to Japanese-style toilets, and everyone but me had a snack. We decided along the way that seeing Mt. Fuji today was impractical because of the weather; we probably wouldn’t even be able to see it well. So we decided to go to Nagano instead. (Well, I say “we” decided because there was a long conversation between Patricia and the Ogawas in Japanese, after which she gave us the short version of what was said and asked, “is that okay?” Communication was not easy.)

We spent a very long time in the car on the way to Nagano, and ended up in the next prefecture (which is kind of like crossing state lines). Along the way the Ogawas pointed out nice scenery and we did our best to talk about it together. We saw volcanoes and beautiful fall colors and lovely landscapes. It really is a beautiful country.

Cultural Note:

The Japanese pride them-
selves on their four
seasons. Some even believe
that they are one of the
only countries that
truly has four seasons,
so they show it off. (My
sister’s teacher is not in
this category, of course,
but she did enjoy showing
us the changing leaves.)

We arrived in the city of Nagano, and apparently this area was famous for three things: The Zenkoji Temple, the soba shops, and the GIANT APPLES. Our activities during this day did involve all three of these things. We spent a little bit of time wandering the cute shops that lined the avenue on the way up to the Zenkoji Temple, and we noticed a lot of little kids running around in formal “traditional” dress. It was interesting.

Cultural Note:

There is a traditional
festival in Japan at the
time of year I happened to
visit: 3-5-7 week. There
is a tradition for children
of those ages to get dressed
up and go to shrines and
temples for blessings.
3-5-7 week was actually the
next week after I visited, but
many people, due to time
constraints, celebrate early.

I bought some souvenirs for my friends in the shops, and Ogawa-sensei bought us one of the big apples (which we ate for breakfast the next day). Soon enough we approached the temple.

Patricia, me, Mom, Zenkoji Temple

At Zenkoji Temple

At Zenkoji Temple

Waving smoke at Zenkoji

Waving smoke at Zenkoji

We got to stand outside and try to get incense smoke on us for luck in money, and we got to see some national treasures that were in the temple. We had the option of paying ten yen to make a wish to the Buddha, and so we did that and learned the proper way to do it. We then decided to go through the tunnel thing that this temple is famous for; we bought tickets, took off our shoes, and got in line.

As a quest for enlightenment, you’re supposed to go down these stairs and walk through a hallway that is pitch black. You put your hand on the wall on the right side and just walk in the dark, looking with your hand for a wall-mounted key which guarantees enlightenment if you find it. It seems like it could be a really enlightening experience, except that you’re doing it with lots of people who are probably talking and bumping into you. Anyway, it’s a neat experience.

Next on our agenda was the soba. As mentioned, the area was famous for it; soba is a type of buckwheat noodle, and they make it from scratch in many of the shops. We found a shop and argued over what to eat for a while (complicated by my mom’s slight squeamishness of some Asian food, my vegetarianism, and the fact that neither of us could read the menu). My mother ended up getting oyakodon and I got zaru soba. Mine was basically cold noodles with dried seaweed on the top, and I honestly think it was the BEST thing I ate in Japan.

Cultural Note:

Oyakodon literally means
“mother and child.” It has
that name because it is egg
and chicken, which is a bit
morbid. Zaru soba is
dipped in a soy-type sauce, and
after you’ve finished the
noodles, you are provided with
some water the noodles were
boiled in, to add to the sauce.
Then you drink it like a tea.
It is nutritious.

The Ogawas insisted on treating us at the restaurant, and afterwards we took another long, long ride. We went shopping at Karuizawa, where I acquired some more good souvenirs, and when it started to get really chilly and dark, we left for the onsen, also known as a hot spring.

Obviously there are no pictures from this, but my account should be sufficient. When we arrived at the onsen VERY ready for relaxation, we put up our personal things, left Mr. Ogawa on his own because he had to go to the men’s side, and went into the bathing area wearing and bringing nothing but small towels. We had to choose a washing station and scrub down, then we were allowed to get in one of the four available springs. (Your hair and your washcloth are not allowed to touch the water, so if you have long hair like ME you have to put it up!) This bit was frustrating for me because the washing station I chose did not work correctly, and of course since it was my first time using one I thought it was my fault! (When I used one again after the fact, I realized that mine had been very stubborn.)

Cultural Note:

A lot of Japanese people
wash themselves first and
then soak in the bath even
at home. At the onsen
this is compulsory; no one
wants to soak in water with
dirty people. However, since
very young children ARE
allowed in, I’m sure it’s
unavoidable that kids pee
in the water. ^_^;;

The four pools available to us were the main one (with a waterfall!), an herbal bath, a jacuzzi, and an outdoor. We all went in the main one first, and I used the waterfall eventually to give me a little massage because I was VERY sore for some reason. And incidentally I had kind of expected that people might stare at us because we were the only foreigners, but as far as I could tell no one cared. I started getting VERY hot and almost fainted, so I tried the outdoor spring with the others, but I still felt like I was going to black out so I went back indoors and just sat on the side for a while. The others tried the different pools and finally we decided we wanted to finish up. So we rinsed off and got dressed again. It was only THEN that someone stared at me, when I was doing my hair. Some little girls were exclaiming over my hair color and length. That was not the first or last time, though–they seem to really like my hair over there. 🙂

The onsen we visited is famous for its homemade beer, so it is traditional to sample the local delicacy. I chose not to do so of course (I’m not a beer person), but everyone else had something, there was ice cream and noodles and a bunch of other stuff you could order and eat and drink while sitting around low tables talking. My mom and I kind of zoned out because we didn’t know what the others were talking about really, but there was a neat little conversation between my mother and Ogawa-sensei when they shared photographs and Mrs. Ogawa thought the old pictures of Patricia were fabulously entertaining. (Incidentally, I get the gist of most conversations in Japanese, and know just enough of the language to be annoyed by not being able to glean specifics.) Eventually we decided it was time to leave. The Ogawas refused to let my mother pay for the onsen, also, because they insisted it was Japanese tradition. I’m glad we got them as nice a gift basket as we did.

It was very late and very dark on the car ride back, and most of us slept at some point while Mr. Ogawa drove. (He was really a trooper!) They opted to drive us all the way back since it was raining instead of making us take the train again, and we thanked them profusely and went up to Patricia’s apartment. I hadn’t eaten anything at the onsen because we’d had vague plans to meet up with one of my sister’s friends and go to a place called an izakaya, but my sister decided it would be better to save that for another time. Patricia fixed me a small snack and then we fell asleep.

Japan Trip Day 2

Nov 7, 2003swankivy2003, Vacationsbreakfast, coffee, family, food, ivy, japan, mom, patricia, yuichi

Purikura

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 7, 2003: Friday
Japan: November 8, 2003: Saturday

- - - Took our first train ride: Out to Harajuku, Tokyo.
    - Met Patricia’s boyfriend Yuichi outside Meiji Shrine.
    - Went shopping on Takeshita Street.
    - Had lunch at Jonathan’s.
    - Took sticker pictures (purikura).
    - Went to Japanese-style karaoke.
    - Took a train to Shinjuku.
    - Saw Takashimaya Times Square at night, went shopping.
    - Played at a game center and won a prize.
    - Drank coffee at Segafredo.
    - Took the train back to Higashimatsuyama.

In the morning I got to take a Japanese-style shower in my sister’s bathroom, and after that she made us french toast (shown above). We ate at her cute little table and got ourselves ready to go out, after arranging with her next-door neighbor to be home to collect our lost bag. Now it was time for our first train ride: To Harajuku, Tokyo.

The trains are a bit complex, at least to the untrained eye. Because no one in our party except my sister can read Japanese, we couldn’t even buy our tickets on our own; it’s all automated through a machine. My sister bought tickets for Harajuku (we still didn’t have any yen), and we fed them into the proper machines and rode the trains.

Cultural Note:

Trains are usually very
crowded. If you want to
get a seat, stand in front of
someone you think might get off,
and if you’re holding the ring in
front of them when they leave,
you get their seat!

Empty Train

This particular train was very crowded, and we took standing positions holding the rings for the almost hour-long ride. We talked to some little girls who offered us candy, and finally we arrived in Harajuku, where we were to meet my sister’s boyfriend Yuichi outside the Meiji Shrine. (We’d planned to check out the shrine at some point too, but today we didn’t have time.)

Takeshita Street

We met up with Yuichi and decided to go shopping on Takeshita Street, where I was told people sometimes dress up like video game and anime characters and walk around being weird. We only saw a few people like that–apparently the weirdos come out at night mostly–but we did have fun going to shops. There were some funny names on these stores, like “Snobbery” or “Nudy Boy.” My favorite happens to be the hundred yen store.

A hundred yen is a little less value than a dollar, so I got some cheap souvenirs and the place was five floors high. We were on a strict time schedule because of Yuichi having to go back to work soonish, so we opted to quit shopping and have lunch, which we did at a place called Jonathan’s. It was a bit Denny’s-ish because it had a large variety of food (some of which was not remotely Japanese), and we all had a nice sit-down meal, catching up and chowing down. I had miso soup and some rice.

Cultural Note:

At Japanese restaurants
you don’t tip; it is
generally included in the
price of the meal.
Most menus are totally in
Japanese (though some
have pictures), so it’s
best to have someone with
you who can read it!

Next it was time for “purikura,” or sticker pictures. This is one of my sister’s favorite things to do, and she has tons of these little things in her collection. All four of us got in the booth, choosing a machine called “Cameraman” (I think it’s Yuichi’s favorite); after you choose which character you are on the display, it calls you by your name and tells you where to stand for the different picture shots. Afterwards, you decorate them.

Cultural Note:

“Purikura” stands for
“Print Club.” Lots of words are sort of
English slang.

Anyway, after all this fun, Yuichi went back to work, and it was time for us to try karaoke.

Karaoke in Japan

Mom & Ivy at karaoke

Karaoke in Japan is good. You get your own room, and there are plenty of English songs to sing (the directory is almost like a phone book!). In this nice establishment, the lights go down and the walls light up when you sing, and also each person gets a drink with their patronage. Much fun was had.

SONGS WE SANG:

- - - “Butterfly” by Smile.dk (Me)
    - “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor (Me)
    - “Building a Mystery” by Sarah McLachlan (Me and Patricia)
    - “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion (Me and Mom)
    - “Thank You” by Dido (Patricia)
    - “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush (Me)
    - “Thank U” by Alanis Morissette (Me)
    - “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt (Me and Patricia)
    - “First Love” by Utada Hikaru (Patricia)
    - “All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. (Me, I did it in Russian for fun)
    - “Cherish” by Madonna (All three of us)

We finished up our karaoke and went to a discount bookstore called “BookOff,” and I bought a used Ranma ½ manga there, for Jeaux to enjoy.

Now my sister wanted us to go see the Tokyo lights, so it was time to go back on the train. We were getting a little tired (being that we also had a really long plane ride the night before), but that time at least we were able to get seats. We arrived in Shinjuku and it was dark.

We walked around and took some pictures of lights and us being in Tokyo, and eventually found the international ATM we’d been looking for for so long. My mom finally got some yen, and so we decided to go shopping!

Tokyo at night

Tokyo at night

Tokyo at night

We went into a place called Tokyu Hands, but we were running out of time and everything was closing. I managed to buy a postcard for my work pals, which incidentally I ended up sending but it arrived several days after I got back to Gainesville, I checked work’s mail and found my own postcard. Wahh.

Cultural Note:

In Japanese stores there
is almost always some kind
of dish or plate onto which
you place your money.
The cashier gives back change
by putting it on the same surface.
Strangely enough, some places
elaborately wrap purchases
(especially if they seem like
they might be gifts), while others
actually hand you a bag, you bag
your purchases yourself.

Mom with Doraemon

A game center was also there, and my sister played a claw drop, winning a Doraemon on the first try. She gave it to my mother because it is dressed like a hockey player and my cousins like hockey. Unfortunately there was no Dance Dance Revolution game there. It has apparently gone out of style somewhat. Too bad, I wanted to try it.

We got into a bit of a bad mood because we got word that the delivery of our suitcase hadn’t been successful, and we didn’t know what we were going to do. We stopped at my sister’s favorite café, which is called Segafredo. We had some coffee and rested our feet.

Patricia at Segafredo

We had a rather exhausting ride back on the train, annoyed and depressed about the suitcase (since it contained gifts that we were supposed to give to Patricia’s teacher upon meeting her tomorrow); and now here’s the really bizarre part. When we got back to her house, the luggage was just inside, sitting in the genkan. Despite the fact that all Patricia had on her cell phone was a confused message from the delivery people about her and her neighbor not being home, the luggage was THERE! So we unpacked it and prepared the gift basket for presentation to her teacher and all was well. Weirdly enough, we still don’t know how it got in the apartment.

Lost suitcase came!

We went to bed shortly after arriving home, because we were planning to catch an early train and meet with Patricia’s teacher for a full day of fun.

Japan Trip Day 1

Nov 6, 2003swankivy2003, Vacationsfamily, ivy, japan, mom

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:

USA: November 6, 2003: Thursday
Japan: November 7, 2003: Friday

- - - Went to the airport: Tampa, Florida.
    - Got through security and check-in.
    - Took a plane from Tampa to Chicago (Chicago/Ohare).
    - Took another plane from Chicago to Japan (Tokyo/Narita).
    - Took a bus to my sister Patricia’s apartment in Higashimatsuyama.

Technically speaking, this day was more than just one day, and a lot of it was spent on the airplane. It wasn’t terribly exciting, but it was interesting. I had never been out of the country before, and now it was my first time. See my passport photo? I look excited, eh?

We flew United from Tampa to Chicago. For those of you who don’t know, my sister Patricia bought my ticket as a gift, because she wanted me to be able to see where she was living in Japan while she was teaching English over there. It was quite an extravagant gift, but without her purchasing the ticket and my mother coming with me to cover living expenses and provide some moral support, I could not have gone. I fear traveling alone because I hate being lost (and I GET lost easily), so I owe my trip to these two family members. (Also, my pal Jeaux was nice enough to drive me to Tampa from Gainesville, and to drive my mother and me to the airport. Thanks Jeaux.)

I had an amusing thing happen at the Chicago airport while we were waiting to connect. I was waiting for my mother to get out of the restroom, and people kept coming in and standing behind me, assuming for no reason that I was in line to use a stall. They kept getting confused and standing around and sometimes indicating to me that there were open ones. I don’t know why me standing there made them think I must be the front of a line to use the bathroom, but that was the only convenient place to stand (I tried a few others). It was really silly. Anyway, my mother got a salad at the airport, and we got on the Chicago plane.

It wasn’t a particularly comfortable flight. I was next to an uptight Japanese man who got really upset that my foot touched the jacket in his lap once in our close quarters. We were seated in the middle section of an airbus, and it had a nice little video system and earphones and stuff, but overall it was just not easy to relax and very difficult to sleep (I only did so brokenly for about an hour or two during the twelve-hour flight). But I must say one thing was fantastic. . . .

THE FOOD! I will never complain about airline food again. It had been arranged for me to get special vegetarian meals for my flight, and so I was always served first. My first lunch was a salad, veggies, rice, a little package of tiny rye bread slices, and a cookie. The cookie was labeled “Now & Zen.” (The whole meal was vegan. I think they just make it vegan when you ask for vegetarian since that does the job for both.) I later got a snack that was an unidentifiable yellow potato thing with peas in it. It was excellent! The only bad thing was that my final meal ended up being a potato and onion salad and a cinnamon roll. Onions make me gag and I’m allergic to cinnamon . . . but luckily my mother likes those things, so I traded her and she ordered the pasta dish that was available off the regular menu. At one point she also had Chinese noodles, and tried to get the hang of chopsticks since we’d be in for a week of using them. She did pretty well, though the woman she was looking at to copy her eating style probably thought she was strange.

I spent much of the flight drawing pictures for my Ivy calendar and listening to the announcements getting made in English and Japanese. They showed the movie Finding Nemo, which was weird because I’d been telling my mother she needed to see it, but since she fell asleep and wouldn’t wake up for the movie, I sulked and wouldn’t watch it either. My mom and I entertained each other with conversation some of the time that one or both of us weren’t asleep, and finally we arrived in Japan.

We had to stand in a HUGE line to get checked in for being allowed to be in the country, and then we unfortunately got held up by the fact that one of our bags had been left in Chicago! We made arrangements to have it delivered to my sister’s apartment, but that is like two hours away from the airport, so we were a little stressed about the possibility of missing the delivery since we were definitely planning to be out and about a lot of the next day. The bag that was lost was the least “essential” bag, but it contained the gifts we had brought for people we were supposed to see, so it was depressing.

Arrived at Narita!

Finally we got to go out into the lobby and meet my sister. She’d been worried since it took so long! She snapped our picture (above) and we did our hugging and greeting, and then had to hurry out to a bus platform. We got drinks and boarded the bus with our luggage, and my mom had a nice nap on the long bus ride (though for some of it she was awake). Patricia began to give us excited details about what we could do on our trip, even suggesting attending a Sumo wrestling event. (“Wanna see some fat guys?” she asked, then cautioned us that close-up seats might be fun but they were expensive and you also run the risk of getting “sat on.”)

There was a little drama with the taxi (the driver didn’t have change, and so we couldn’t pay him everything the ride cost, but it didn’t really matter), but we got to my sister’s apartment all right. We climbed stairs, took off our shoes, and brought our luggage inside.

Cultural Note:

In Japanese houses, you
take off your shoes at
a special entranceway
called the genkan.
If there’s a step up,
that generally indicates
that you should take off
your shoes to enter.

My sister’s apartment was little, but very beautiful. There was a nice wood floor hallway which led to her bedroom, and the bedroom had tatami floors, plus there were glass doors that led out to her patio. To the left of the hallway, there was a toilet in its own room, a bathing room, and a little washing machine.

Cultural Note:

Japanese bathrooms don’t
seem to include both a toilet
and a bathtub. Also, the
shower is normally separate
from the bathtub, because you
wash yourself and then soak if
you choose to do so.

To the right in the hallway, she had a lovely little kitchen. A low table, all kinds of food and a fridge, the trash receptacles, a sink, a microwave, and a stove. And then, going deeper into the house (also connected to her bedroom, it was all like a big circle), she had a small living room, with a low couch, a Japanese-style table with cushions to sit on, a television, and her computer desk. That’s about it.

Cultural Note:

The Japanese have burnable
and non-burnable trash pickups,
plus god knows how many
specific types of recycling.
Recycling and separating is
compulsory, and if you miss
a certain trash day, you’re stuck
with it until next time!

My mom was a bit stressed out by the trip and so she decided she would smoke in Japan even though she hadn’t wanted to, so Patricia and I went in search of cigarettes. As a result I got to see some of her town right away; we walked around her neighborhood and went to a 7-11 (yup, they have them there). But none of the convenience stores were selling them. So we ended up getting them out of a vending machine. We came back, and I shared my leftover Halloween candy, and we all went to bed. I slept on the futon, and Patricia and my mom slept on an inflatable mattress. The futon was comfortable; I was out like a light soon after lying down.