Friend Day

Today JT and I got to have a small non-adventure in the morning (I took us to what I thought was a hyaku-en shop... but it was a hyaku-en car rental place... errrr).

In the afternoon we met Limor and Jake (surprise!) for lunch. We met them at Shin-Ookubo station and went to a katsu place. It was SO FUN to catch up with them! I think JT was a bit scarred afterwards though... we are a fairly open bunch, lol.

In the evening, we went to dinner with a former student of mine. We met her at Ueno Station and went to get sushi. She ordered SO MUCH. JT and I were sort of inwardly panicking at the price of the meal, but she paid for it! (Actually her friend did... it made us feel all sorts of awkward! I'm glad that I brought her a gift!)

Funny story: So, the very first nigiri-sushi that JT and I tried was the ebi (shrimp). I'd not had it raw before and was nervous but I always say I'll try something once. It was actually offered to me while I was living in Japan. I guess luckily I was full as that one had to be dug out of the shell. In any case, I was steeling myself for the experience. JT went first. I looked at him and asked, "How was it?" under my breath. "Not bad." Whew... oh wait, JT IS A LIAR! Oh man, I had to rip that thing out of it's shell with my teeth and I kept chewing and chewing and it wasn't breaking apart or going away. I felt like I was turning green. I was taking deep and slow breaths through my nose and this ball of mushy, sinewy, ebi was just globbed in the center of my mouth. I had to pretend I wasn't about to ralph (and there were a few close moments), and I just tried and tried and TRIED to chew some of it off to swallow. The longer it sat in my mouth, the less I felt I could finish it. I decided I just had to swallow the whole thing. I was afraid it would lodge in my throat and I'd throw it back up. (As I explained this later to JT on the subway I told him, "Can you imagine if I puked it all up? Um, excuse me our sushi is covered in vomit. Pretty sure it came that way." He was laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants. So I had to follow it up with, "There's vomit on my chin and then *pointing to him* 'He did it!'") Luckily I was able to swallow the entire thing. Yeesh. Everything else was great other than the uni (sea urchin). So yay for good sushi and boo to the disgusting texture of others! HAHAHA

Today was another great day in Japan!

Highlights

Here are some of the highlight stories:

Sunday 13 - I told you all how I caused us to miss our first Shinkasen by a whole two minutes, well I was NOT going to miss a second one. JT and I went to the platform and waited in line to board. That is, we lined up to enter the car in which our seats were found. We were first in line. We chatted and were chilling and next thing I know I realize that the Shinkasen that had pulled in previously was our ride! By this time there were Japanese people lined up behind us. I asked the guy behind us in Japanese if it was the right one and he nodded. Well the doors are all closed.... I start to panic. We're going to miss another train when we're standing outside the door! I take off to check the other end of the car. I walk up to the door and am looking to see if there's a button I can press to enter the door. Then a lady comes up to me and says, "Excuse me. Line." Then she points to all the waiting people who are irked at the fact that I tried to cut in line. So we walk back to where we were waiting and the nice man who helped us before leans over and says "クリにング" - cleaning. DAH!!! I lived here... In my defense I didn't travel by Shinkansen - too expensive for me.

Monday 14 - At the end of the day JT and I had our shopping finds with us. When we weren't able to find my friend, I took us three blocks over to catch the でんでん虫 bus (snail). It's a bus that runs a clockwise and counterclockwise circuit around Morioka (盛岡市). All rides are ¥100 (essentially $1). This is a nice and cheap ride and we wanted to go to the station so off we went to the stop. As we were waiting, I took my goods and set them on the bus stop marker base (stone). We chatted and shivered and I talked to JT about Morioka Koen (park) which was right behind us. By the time the bus came, we were ready to jump on. Which we did. I turned to look at JT and saw him holding his things (at this point he was carrying my bag - he is a very sweet boy and has periodically done that for me - he'll notice I'm in pain and help me in that way). I realize then ... I don't have my things. I panic and ask JT "Did you grab my bags?" "No." I jump up and start running back and forth on the bus, lol. Well I ran to the side door (where we entered) saying, 「ちょっと待って、ごめん！ごめん！忘れ物！」(Sorry! Sorry! Forgotten things!) The bus driver says something and I run to the front of the bus since the bus driver has opened the door (the official exit). However since I had first gone to the side door, he has already started closing the front door and is opening the side. So I ran back to the side, which is open. And jump down and grab my things. I get back on the bus to bow and apologize to everyone who had to wait for me. JT apologized and said "I didn't know I was supposed to grab your things." I set him straight and told him I'm in charge of my own things and that it was my own fault I'd forgotten. I was just hoping he'd been more aware than me. LOL I apologized one more time when I got off the bus and thanked the driver. Good to be back!

Tuesday 15 - So when we checked into our hotel, they gave us the thing with the room keys in it. She explained our room was on the 5th floor. And off we go. Well on the paper it looks like (legit) 5.7. On the way up the elevator I remark to JT that I've never seen hotel rooms written that way. I've seen 507 but never 5.7. As you may have already foreseen... Our keys did NOT open room 507. We stood there a good 3-4 minutes trying our keys and jiggling the handle. Then JT tilts his head, "Maybe that's a 1?" Yeah.... Our key opened room 517. There may or may not have been a poor panicked person in room 507. "Foreigners are trying to invade!! At least they're not breaking the door down...." HAHAHAHA It's like I forgot how to function as an adult on this trip... Lol. Poor JT. But hey - at least I've been providing him with a valuable "don't" list as well as recovery from those don'ts if you commit them.

Wednesday 16 - A story of how I messed with other foreigners: as JT and I were leaving 清水寺 (Kiyomizudera) to catch a bus to Ginkakuji, we passed some other Caucasians who loudly said, "Hello!" I answered "Bonjour." Then the guy repeated back "Bongiorno!" I laughed and turned, "J'ai dit bonjour" "Bonjour!" "Ah! Parlez-vous français?" "Uhhh un peu." Other guy: "Hablo español!" "Oh si? Yo también de haber vivido en Argentina!" "I uh... Estoy necido (sic) en México!" "I speak English too!" *collective sigh from the two guys and girl* I'm a mean guy - what can I say? In our five minute conversation some Japanese slipped in and they were shocked. They told me I'm the ideal traveling companion. Then they introduced a friend who walked up that they called "Our Russian." Vlad was born there and speaks the language but grew up in the US. In any case it was a pleasant conversation and Anson (the guy who first greeted me) wished us well saying, "Do weird things!" I thought that was a fabulous send-off!! The girl's name was Sarah and they all were drinking fairly heavily but my favorite part of that conversation was the guy who told me he spoke Spanish. When I started speaking Spanish to him he got that "Oh crap what have I done!?" Face. Hahahah - I think I just made him super nervous. (He did make a mistake with the past participle but hey I understood him!) Great times on a hill in Japan!!!

Wednesday 16 - A story through me from JT. I didn't realize this until he told me last night but when we got into the station, we showed our Rail Passes and Shinkansen tickets to the gate guy. I have been entering first (so JT can follow me and we don't hold anyone up) and each time I've been told 「はい！どぞう！」(Yes/good/ok go ahead). Apparently they've been saying "Yes! Continue!" to JT. I didn't know until last night he said to me, "Apparently you look more Japanese than me." Me: !? He explained and I theorized that I probably just walk more confidently than he does. I'm not afraid of anything they may say or do. JT's been paranoid about speaking Japanese and people speaking to him this whole trip. Part of it, I'm sure, is handing things the Japanese way, bowing at the correct time and to the correct level, etc. Just something you learn living here. Made me really happy to hear that! After all, こころの中に日本人です！ - In my heart I'm Japanese! - One member from the church told me that. It was very kind of them to say and made me feel great that they have really loved and accepted me to that degree - even with all my Shinkansen missing, line cutting, wasuremono (forgotten things), bus ladders (which I hated in gym but hey things are always better when you're not being graded on them, eh?), and being mean to other foreigners! Hahaha What a fabulous country! Luckily they are very forgiving, lol.

Nara & Oosaka

Three highlight stories from the day - Nara Koen is the place where the deer bow to you to get you to feed them. I overheard someone say "They train them to do that." WE train them to do that. They learn that they get more food if they make the people squeal in delight. So...

1) While JT and I were buying deer senbei, a deer ATE MY MAP OUT OF MY HAND! I felt something tugging on it and I tugged back and the deer sort of snorted at me (which startled me) and I didn't know quite what to do... I tried again to wrestle the map back but the deer wouldn't give it up. JT then fed him a cracker, big mistake! Then it knew JT had food and wouldn't leave him alone. When JT didn't give him another senbei, it started nibbling on and pulling at his shirt. Poor JT started to panic. His shirt was all wet with deer slobber for an hour or two.

2) Further into Nara Park, JT and I suddenly hear this loud grunting sound. JT looked before I did. The guy was out of food, but his hands were still up. He was videoing the deer, but the deer thought he was withholding snacks. So the deer starts to nibble on his shirt. Dude flips and tries to jump back. He got caught on a low chain and down he went (from JT). I look back and the deer is FREAKING OUT. The guy was sitting with his back to the deer and the deer is, essentially, screaming at him and kicking him in the back. We are all stunned (I tried to get it on video and failed). This dude's friend runs over screaming (in Korean I believe) and throws at empty can at its head. The can just glances off this deer's head (in hindsight it was hilarious, "LAKJDFLKDJFLKJ *dink* LKJOWIEJ!!" (Korean screaming)). The friend starts trying to kick the deer so the deer decides the odds are not in its favor and runs off. I was shaking and really disappointed I didn't get a video!

3) As we're taking the local train to Oosaka, an old woman boards with all these bags. I jump up and motion her towards my seat, "Douzo, suwatte kudasai (go ahead, please sit)." She tried to wave me away but I wouldn't have it. As she's sitting there, she realizes I'm with JT (who, poor kid, is now sitting between two Japanese strangers) and she starts trying to chat with us. She tells me she knows no English but then doesn't simplify her Japanese! I did my best to talk to her and found out a few things. Next thing I know, she's giving me two little paintings she'd made that day. I tried to turn them down. They are beautiful and I was so grateful to her. JT and I wished we had something to give her. Then later she gets another seat and had me sit back down next to JT. Well... fast forward a few stations and this obaachan is asking us why we're not getting off the train. Well, we're just going to Oosaka-Namba. Oh no, we're not. Obaachan ain't havin none! She gets these two boys who JUST graduated high school and forces them to get us to Oosaka station. JT and I felt so badly. They had to pay a fare adjustment (as did we), but they got us to the right place. Oh man, I believe we all felt super awkward. Yeesh! Sorry boys!

Hope you enjoyed these highlights and have a nize day!

Yup that's pretty much how they are... 

The biggest bronze statue in the world!

Kyoto!

JT and I were up early but didn't get out the door until 740. We grabbed breakfast at our hotel and then headed to Tokyo Eki and grabbed our tickets for Kyoto. The train there took three hours. I listened to music. JT slept.

ARRIVAL! We got our bus day passes and headed to Sanjuusangendou. It was beautiful!

Sanjuusangendou

Yay! Cherry blossoms!

I made him take this picture.

Then off we went to Kyomizudera!

Kiyomizudera

In front of Kiyomizudera

Then off to Ginkaku-ji!

Isn't it beautiful!?

Good thing we didn't live back in the day...

A view of Kyoto from up on the hill

JT and I planned on going to Kinkaku-ji as well but just didn't make it in time (it closed). Still, we are happy we got to see the things we did and we had a great day! 

New chapters!

I am planning a trip to Senegal in the fall. Next year I hope to get back to South America... I just want to see and do everything! So I resurrected this blog as my travel blog. I would have posted earlier but technical difficulties, blah.

Friday, March 11 to Saturday, March 12 - 

• 2:00 am - Wake up because my neighbor still has his TV blaring. At least it drowned out his snoring!
• 2:30 am - Alarm goes off
• 3:00 am - Papa and JT pick me up to go to the airport.
• 3:40-6:00 - JT and I check our luggage in (once the office opened), eat some snacks, yawn and feel exhausted, wait excitedly for our flight to LAX.
• 6:00-7:00 - JT sleeps most of the flight. I wake him up for take-off and landing since it's his first flight ever.
• 7:00-8:30 - Land at LAX, change our money to en (yen), wander around the airport, take a shuttle to our rental car place
• 8:30-9:00 - Take a mini adventure in one of the "ambassador" vehicles since they had run out of economy. We drove to JTB in Torrance and picked up our train passes.
• 9:00-13:40 - JT and I kill time until our flight is boarding. (We were able to get our seats together on each flight.)
• 14:20-FOREVER (18:50 Saturday, March 12 Tokyo time) - We flew for 11 hours. JT slept the majority of the time. I can't sleep on planes and the guy next to me kept elbowing me and moving the arm rest. It was driving me nuts! I watched a series of movies.
• 19:40-21:40 - Catch our shuttle bus to the hotel and I shower. I try to not feel crazy and scatterbrained. Set the alarm for 5:30 so I can shower and then try to sleep.

Sunday, March 13 -

• I, of course, wake up far too early and am just awake until my alarm goes off. 
• We get ready and walk to the nearest train station (Keisei Narita) and head to Tokyo Station. At the station, we activated our Rail Passes and got Shinkansen tickets to Morioka.
• We grabbed breakfast at a French bakery. JT was FREAKING OUT about how much he loved the food. I neglected to watch the time.
• Missed our Shinkansen by TWO MINUTES. DAH! Get new tickets, and have to wait a half hour.
• Arrive in Morioka, grab the first bus to Takamatsunoike to go to church
• Walk into church a half hour til finish to gasp and many hugs
• We stayed at the church for a couple hours. I asked about members who weren't present - phone calls were made, cars driven, and I got to see nearly everyone. It was AWESOME! The members kept remarking how much better my Japanese was.... Not sure if that's a compliment or not, lol.
• Shiwa-Kyoudai, my former home teacher, drove us all the way to our hotel (out in Tsunaji Onsen) and then back to Nanak in the center of the city (to give you an idea, we're talking about $80 in cab-fare or $27 in bus fares)
• Yasue comes with us and we go to Mister Donut, Michel (bakery), Tartes des Demoiselles Tatins (cake shop), Hachnimanguu (largest Shrine in Morioka), and Daiso (where JT proceeds to fall in love - as one does and should).
• Yasue rides with us to the Eki (train station) and sees us to our bus stop
• (Note: It was SO amazing to see my friends in Morioka. I gave many hugs and it was like coming home to see them all. I'm so grateful I got to spend so much time with my oneechan!)
• When we get to our hotel, I force JT to try to onsen. I only last 15 minutes because of my heat thing, but I am stoked!

Monday, March 14 - 

• JT says to me at some point, "You REALLY love Japan, don't you!?" Understatement.
• We eat breakfast, and take the bus into town (to the bus center)
• We wait and then are able to take a bus to near Morioka Minami (one of my old schools)
• None of the former Principals/VPs are there - o.0 - one VP still allows me to visit (thank goodness!)
• Only one of the English teachers is still there and my friend Oikawa Koichi - we chat with them and catch up (they had to pull Hashimoto-sensei out of proctoring a test - oops)
• It was AMAZING to see them! Hashimoto-sensei told JT that the school was so lucky to have had me, and that I was an amazing woman and he should show me a lot of respect. That meant SO MUCH to me!
• Koichi finds out that we are going to my other school and offers to drive us (saves us a lot of bus fare!)
• I show up at Chokkaku Shien and Kaori-sensei is SHOCKED to see me! (I TOLD her I was coming!)
• Everyone is freaking out and shaking my hand for a LONG time and so happy to meet JT and so happy to see me and I them
• They gather ALL of my former students who are present and not-yet graduated and we have a class period to talk and so on
• I spoke to the students (in Japanese) but Kanako-sensei translated for me (into Nihongo no Shuwa) 
• The students ask me questions - most of them just want to know if I remember them - OF COURSE I DO! They are so excited when I say their names! One girl tells me that she often looks at my facebook. ^ - ^ The whole exchange is incredibly amazing and heartwarming for me. JT feels pretty awkward as the Deaf students are all signing at him and he doesn't even know ASL. Poor guy. 
• Lunch time comes and JT and I hit the road with many handshakes and I tell them I plan to come back in 2.5 years (to pick up JT from his mission)
• JT and I head back into town and we grab lunch at a soba place in Nanak.
• We hit up Maruichi (grocery store) and buy some awesome goods (to eat, to take home, to save for later meals here, etc)
• We then walk into the center of town and visit the other Daiso
• We go to Karaoke for a half hour and then head to where we're supposed to meet my friend Yoshiko-san
• We can't find her and I accidentally drop and break something I bought at Daiso
• JT goes alone to buy a replacement for me (it was only a block away) - he gets the wrong size and I tell him what to say in Japanese to exchange it - he starts to panic and says he'll just use his money to buy me the right size since it was his fault he got the wrong one. I told him, one of us had already wasted a dollar and no way, etc. We walked back together and I showed him how to exchanged goods. ^ - ^
• We catch the dendenmushi to the station because I know I can use foreigner wifi there to message my friend who never showed up. Even though it was an hour and a half later, she answers quickly and says she's coming. We wait for her and meet her at the station.
• We go to Aeon and make JT choose where to eat (hahah poor guy) - he chooses Tiger Gyouza. We share our food and enjoy conversation.
• Yoshiko-san drops us off at our hotel and it's 21:45. The onsen closes at 22:00 so I book it to the room to grab a yukata and get in before it's closed. JT confesses he really disliked the onsen (which makes me sad because I love it so much but it's ok that he doesn't like it). 
• I onsen as long as I can and then can't fall asleep until around midnight.

Today! Tuesday, March 15 - 

• I wake up very early again (this whole trip I'll been feeling like I'm in some sort of dream state - the exhaustion plus my insomnia -- even though I have my sleeping pills here --)
• I head to the onsen and get to spend a nice long time there while JT sleeps (JT has slept on every plane and train at this point... except for one. I am very jealous of his ability to just sleep when he wants but I wonder if he has CFS or something. It seems like sleeping every available minute is too much...)
• We have breakfast and the owner of our Ryokan finds out that we are going to 手づくり村 (Tezukurimura) and he insists on driving us there
• He finds out we're also Christian and starts shouting glorias and hallelujahs - FANTASTIC!
• We arrive there 20 minutes after the place opens
• We make senbei and wander in and out of some of the shops - we each buy one of their wooden goods and some sweets specific to Iwate
• We then wait outside for 20 minutes (under the impression that a certain shop doesn't open until 10). The wind is blowing but we find out that walking halfway down the hillside shields us. We end up dancing to some music on JT's phone while I laugh about how the Japanese may now think of Americans.
• We get into the shop and make reiman - I LOVE it and JT doesn't care for it (he doesn't care for it because it comes with kimchi - which he gave to me - and it's a cold noodle dish). I eat and relish my dish! 
• We head to the bus stop and make it back to the train station
• We had a plan to go to Kakunodate, but since things are closed and our bags are too big for the train lockers, we decide to head to Tokyo early.
• We get to the hotel (after getting help and directions from workers at the train station) and check in. We sort of veg and use internet and eat dinner from the things we bought at Maruichi.
• We head to Roppongi and I can't find the shop I had been to before - we find a hyakuen shop and stop there instead. I am able to buy a three to two prong converter and charge my laptop (thank goodness it wasn't an expensive paperweight on this trip!)
• (On the way into the hotel, I hear people skyping someone in French. I internally FLIP and excitedly tell JT how they're speaking French and I decide not to talk to them... now I'm regretting that!)
• We watch a little bit of a Chinese movie on my laptop until JT tells me he'd rather watch Naruto and I type this.

Tomorrow I will tell some highlight stories from the past few days. The nice thing about feeling this tired/weird is that the days are lasting really long! LOL Of course we're packing a lot of things into them... in any case... I have some good stories that I will eventually all get typed up. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Kyoto!! WOOOO!!!!

XOXO, A

Morioka Koen

The backwards T-Rex is gone! But at least the screaming bear is still around.

JT and I went to Tezukurimura ^ - ^

Betta watch yo baby!

I ... what!? Throw away my suitcase???