Japan: Week 14

14 - Homestay

With time ticking horrifically fast now I spend a lot of time working. However I'm glad to be able to say I'm still doing at least one interesting thing a week. This week's occurred on Saturday, when I had a day out with a Japanese family.

It seems typical that I start to find yet more interesting people who I should have spent time talking to with less than a month left to me, and this is certainly true of the girl who joined me on the visit. Patricia, you're wonderful, and I'm so glad I got to spend the day with you.

We were met by three quarters of the family - Mother, Father, and youngest daughter, aged 8 - at I-House, and headed for the next-door prefecture of Gifu. My host-mother had an amazing talent for making you feel incredibly interesting just by telling her about your normal life on your own continent. She asked us about our families, our hobbies, our schools, pretty much everything about our everyday lives. She was also happy to answer questions about their home life as well, and I'm still learning about how Japan works as a society, so it was an educational ride for all of us.

We arrived in a small town called Gujo, famous for the purity of its water. The river water only has to go through a brief cleaning process before it is clean enough to be used in homes, and there was a theme of water apparent throughout the town, as well as the fish abundant in the sparkling river.

The town is clearly old, and beautiful for it, but in a different way from Kyoto. The cobbles were different, and the street lay-out... It was just interesting being in yet another place that had a feeling I've not yet experienced. The rain helped, too. The same smell as that of early Spring showers in England, I felt quite nostalgic as the water soaked through my shoes and the drops made their fantastically unique sound, falling amongst the leaves.

We ate soba for lunch, and the meaning of the trip to this town was made known to us. Gujo is famous for making sample food, a concept unheard of in the West, but an ingenious, albeit simple, one. In the windows of restaurants are plastic versions of the menu - yes, just like the food you used to play with as a child - so that hungry customers can see at a glance if that restaurant is the one for them that night. There are many grades of pricing restaurants can pay for sample food, and in the most expensive places you'd think you were looking at a bowl of tempura. So, in the town of Gujo, it is possible to make your own sample food!

It was a new experience to say the least. Unskilled at any type of art, I was unsurprisingly very poor at moulding wax around my plastic prawn to make it look battered, but it was enjoyable and interesting, and my host sister was brilliant at it.

After another walk round we headed back to Nisshin to my host family's house. It was in a nice neighbourhood, the sort of place you'd create with your bare hands to raise your children, and the house was lovely. Bigger than if you lived anywhere near a big city, and more recognisable as a family home than Westerners might imagine, complete with piano and family pictures.

I met the older of the two sisters, aged 11, who promptly demonstrated for us how to prepare for Kendo, and then how to fight! An interesting experience, being instructed by an 11-year-old who's house you're visiting to hit her over the head with a giant bamboo sword, but when the parents are encouraging you to try it harder, what exactly do you do?

Kendo practice finished, the girls demonstrated that they've been making full use of the piano, and it was time for dinner. The meal was temakizushi, or roll-your-own sushi! Fish and other fillings are laid out buffet-style, with a pile of nori (seaweed) squares and bowls of rice, and that's it, dig in. Cleverly orchestrated for a home-stay, I'd imagine, as there's less chance of a heart-stopping moment when the visitor doesn't eat the main part of the meal. It was delicious, of course, and fun.

After dinner we played card games, and this was clearly a normal occurrence. It was pleasant to see that neither of the girls glanced longingly at the giant TV even once, they really wanted to spend time and play games with us.

The day had to come to an end however, and after signing my host-mother's visiting book, we had to say goodbye, taking our home-made sample food with us as a pretty cool souvenir. It was sad that we only had one day to share in each other's culture, but as we left to countless invitations to return and see them all again, and as I've already had an email from the oldest daughter who adores to practice her English, maybe I'll see them again.

Discovering the similarities, not the differences, between our ways of living was the best part of that day. We're all human, and we interact in certain ways because that's how we're comfortable living. It seems wonderful that I can go half-way across the world and still find a place that's entirely recognisable as a home. This was definitely an experience I won't be sorry I spent the time on in Japan.

Yours, Abby

Japan: Week 13

13 - Ayana and Hana

This week was rather work-heavy but luckily I had a most interesting weekend to make up for it. On Saturday I had the unique experience of meeting up with two girls from Tokyo who I originally met in England and giving them a tour of Nagoya, where they had never been before. Ayana and Hana are both fabulous frisbee players, so naturally we're good friends.

We visited Nagoya Castle, of course

First stop was the castle. I felt proud of all the knowledge I've managed to pick up about Nagoya, and the castle specifically, so that I could keep coming out with Japan facts which genuine Japanese girls didn't know. Luckily my head was saved from becoming too over-inflated by my stumbling attempts at Japanese versus their fluency in English, which extended to topics such as the social comparisons between the two nations. Their conversation skills are exactly as impressive as that sounds.

Possibly because it was a Saturday, and possibly because it was a beautiful day, it was all happening in Nagoya Castle grounds, with food stalls, tombola (we won a packet of Nagoya Castle tissues each!) and some sort of play involving historical figures. As Hana and Ayana were unsure of exactly what was going on, I didn't feel the need to worry about it either.

Free theatre!

A new part of the castle was also open, the palace, with incredible replicas of the sliding doors it would have once contained. Art which encapsulates Japanese culture, in my opinion.

After a brief stop for a lunch of famous Nagoya chicken, we headed back out, this time to the Orchid garden which I've been dying to see for a while. Aichi prefecture is Asia's leading producer of orchids, explaining the existence of this gorgeous flower garden displaying many varieties (I'm afraid I didn't count) of orchid.

It was peaceful and relaxing, and enjoyable to see people who probably lived nearby, sketching and even reading the newspaper. We continued to explore Nagoya on foot, and I had some minor epiphany moments when I realised how different places I'd visited previously joined up when the right path was taken. We window shopped in Osu and took purikura (the hilarious photo booths which give you bigger eyes and rosier lips), but unfortunately all good things come to an end, and I had to say goodbye to the wonderful girls after one final stop at a cafe.

But time will fly, and I'll be back playing frisbee with these two at uni in no time. Thank you so much for visiting, you two!

Japanese photo booths. I'll be building some in England.

Sunday's weather allowed us our third hike, in Nara this time. The walk was slightly different from the previous two, which were very mountainous and through forests. This one was much less hilly, and is apparently one of the oldest paths in the prefecture. It was the sort of trail where you're walking through forest one moment, a rural village the next, and all of a sudden you're at a shrine with cockerels in trees.

Okay, so maybe that's not really a type of trail, but you see my point here. It was interesting and full of surprises. The feeling of accomplishment upon completing a walk makes these excursions delightfully worth the effort.

So it was back to I-House after an exhausting weekend, where I'm almost scared to add up the miles I walked. On with a week of work, as deadlines are fast approaching, and what will be another exciting weekend...

Yours,

Abby

One Year

What's a year? It's nothing at all. Not even a blink of the universe's eye, barely a flutter of its eyelashes. This show is infinite. In a truly never-ending spectacle of distance and time, how could we have the audacity to think that one year of our tiny earthly home is worth anything at all? Our own planet will not remember us forever. Our own tiny waterlogged stamping ground, who's largest leap has so far only taken us to the planet next door. There are entire galaxies undiscovered, why do we think surviving one rotation of our greenish blue planet around one small star is in any way spectacular?

There are several billion people living out their lives here every day. Sorrows they feel we may never come close to, certain happinesses will never be ours. Even their triumphs could never be matched by us. The longest-living couple have been together 87 years, did you know that? So just one of those little years together, how dare we think it's special at all?

I'll tell you why. This is our infinite we're living. This relationship has outlived whole lifetimes of some creatures, it's all relative. In reality, someone else's triumphs don't make yours any less great, and we can't  go around not feeling as proud of what we've achieved in order to congratulate others. Luckily, happiness isn't limited in this world, and there's no reason we should feel less content than a couple celebrating 100 years together in the future.

We've gone through four seasons, a handful of arguments, a thousand kisses, a cluster of frisbee tournaments, too many lengthy separations... and come out the other side. I'm all for holding myself to unrealistic standards, and this aspect of my life is not one of them. One year's an achievement, and one I've not experienced before. I enjoy your ongoing film education of me, I enjoy cooking with you, I enjoy hotly disputed frisbee tactics on-pitch, and the promises and that it was nothing personal once we're calm and off-pitch. I enjoy your little eccentricities, and travelling with you. How safe, how happy, how comfortable I am with every aspect of being with you; it would be impossible to deny that this is something I've got right.

Level up: Round 2...

Japan: Week 12

12 - Rainy season, 'Tsuyu'

We enter a new month already, and I cannot express my thanks at gaining over 1,000 views again in May. It makes me feel a little more connected, knowing that lots of you want to keep up with my antics, so thank you.

The rainy season has begun in Japan. I think my fellow Brits would scoff at what the Japanese consider a rainy season. I haven't kept track faithfully (maybe I should start a weather diary...) but there's only been a couple of occasions so far when the rain's been heavy enough to warrant an umbrella; I think what Japan means by 'rainy' is 'not gloriously sunny at all times'. The humidity doesn't let up though, and I can no longer tell the temperature outside by looking out of the window. Overcast, yes, but you do NOT need a cardigan.

This week was very much normal, as perhaps we can tell by a post on time for once. I did my show and tell for English tutoring, and took my frisbee as I thought it might make an interesting topic. Lots of new vocabulary, at least. I tutored a different group as well, this one made up of local residents of all ages. Many of them want to visit England, and seemed very happy to have someone British to speak to. It was interesting speaking to a different type of people, rather than just students as it has been up til now, and seeing the variations of questions they ask.

On Saturday I took a trip to Sakae with a couple of friends. They both had things to do and I had a little time to myself in which to wander. There's always something cool to see in Japan.

Shop budgie guarding the watches

I discovered that there was a Hawaiian festival taking place in Oasis 21 that day, and saw many groups of dancers to take to the stage and a variety of stalls selling dresses and jewellery and paintings. I suppose, just about to enter the rainy season, Japanese people need a reminder of what summer will be like eventually.

Today was relaxing. I did some work, I went out for lunch, and I ran up a big hill which I need to return to at some point with a camera. There were some amazing sights and I want to share them with you.

Until next week, friends.

Yours,

Abby