Where in the World Is Marta Senn-Diego? Part Three: You Don't Know What You're Misen

I bid a fond farewell to Kyoto en masse: to Mr. Peanut, to Pink Momo, to Gion, to Kinka and Ginka-kujis, to the sakura that I would unfortunately miss the chance to see in full bloom. But the time had come and I was on the train and off to Hiroshima!

From my journal the night I arrived in Hiroshima City: "Long day. Very long. Goodnight." I devoted about ten hours to riding the JR local trains, at times standing the whole ride between cities because commuters were packed onto the trains. No gloved platform attendants were needed, thankfully, but it got a little tight at times. You wouldn't think just riding the train all day would wear you out but I was dead on my feet and cursing the world for too few crosswalks in Hiroshima by the time I made it to my hostel.

When they teach American high school students about Nagasaki and Hiroshima, they cover the very basics. It's almost like we're too embarrassed to admit the effect of the bombs, so at least in my case, the whole ordeal was glossed over in a very uncomfortable couple of classes. But nobody talks about how well Hiroshima has recovered and what a lively and diverse town it is! Nobody talks about the magnitude of the Peace Park and how every monument erected stands for the injured or dead victims or just in honor and hope for peace. To America, Hiroshima stopped in its tracks the day the bombs fell, but to the citizens of Hiroshima, the city is a phoenix and it's singing a song for the end of nuclear war.

Hiroshima's a great example of not turning your back on the past, but rather recognizing it's importance and devoting the future to never going backwards.

Reminders of the past sit mesh with the present

After I finally settled all my stuff on my bunk bed in the hostel, I introduced myself to two other young women in the room, Sara and Hannah (you know, I'm just going to write it like "Hana" for the sake of symmetry. She never told me how to spell it so I can feign ignorance. Nobody tell her!) are both Americans from Arizona and Kansas respectively. They are also a vegetarian and a picky eater respectively: they told me about how they'd been struggling to find something they could both eat in each city they've been to so far on their backpacking trip. I was just trying to picture them both in an izakaya and they told me they'd been to a bar with lots of little skewers of things on sticks...needless to say, they ended up giving their generous leftovers to the guys sitting nearby. Fortunately, Japan knows how to dish up some good veggies, so the girls were happy.

They also told me they were headed to Kyoto after Hiroshima and here, after 10 hours of talking to no one, I launched into a diatribe of where they should go, what they should do, and how to take enjoy Gion without being a camera-thrusting douchebag. (Ladies, if you ever read this, sorry about yakking your ears off, but I hope you enjoyed Kyoto as much as I did!)

In the morning, I happened to see a tide chart in the hostel lobby and decided that I'd change my initial plans to see the famous "Floating Gate" in the afternoon and go to Miyajima Island in the morning while the tide was up and the Floating Gate, Otorii, was well..."floating."

You've probably seen it in every Google search of Japan: a big red Japanese gate standing in water like a bather wading along the beach.

For just 800 yen, I got a day pass to ride the city trams and the ferry to and from the island. It was a slow trip, but a great way to see the city. It was a beautiful day, too, and people were all over Miyajima. Mixed in with the crowd and begging for food were, you guessed it, deer!

I know, I know, after Nara you'd think I'd be over them. Nope. Miyajima is a wildlife lover's dream, full of lovely, Disney-esque, bitey deer. Fortunately, I didn't get bumped, kicked, or bitten like I was at Nara. Island life has made these deer very chill.



I walked the whole complex and got a good look at the temple ground and the beautiful Otorii itself.
On the island, there's a steep mountain called Mt. Misen: on top of this mountain, a Buddhist master ages ago spent 100 days meditating in a secret Buddhist practice and founded the local Buddhist sect.

The fire that he meditated over is kept burning today, centuries later! The flame is called "The Flame of Love" because they like to compare it's burning with the burning of desire. However, I sort of like the endurance of peace instead. Why the leap? Who needs to jump that shark? Anyway, this flame was also the pilot light for the peace flame in the Peace Park. Cool, right?

To get up there, you have two options: ball up and hike it or be like me and ride the "Rope Way." It's really two series of funiculars that take you up to the summit. As you ride, you look out the windows at the primeval forest which is considered a national treasure and has never been felled so it's still in its natural state! Once you're up there, you get a gorgeous view of Hiroshima and the beaches below. There are about a dozen or so different shrines to visit as well a number of very interesting natural rock formations including the "whale rock" which looks like a beached whale and comes with a blowhole and what's called "Scabies Rock." Rumor has it, if you have a skin disease, it's removed when you walk by the rock, but if you don't, you'll actually gain the disease!

I walked past it twice just to be sure.

A little passive aggressive, no?

As I was riding the Rope Way back down, I was in a car with four other elderly Japanese. I'd sort of lagged behind a group of Americans, not because I didn't want to be associated but because the guys were big and they reeked of B.O. As we left the platform in the car the mountain dropped off suddenly below and we all let out a very startled/thrilled cry like you would as you crest a roller coaster.

Back on the ground, I decided I'd better head back to town while it was still daylight to see the Peace Park. Right now, the Atomic Dome is undergoing stability surveys, so it's covered in wiring and mesh and framework. Still, the gravity of it weighs as heavy as the bricks that still lie where they fell decades ago. Across the river in the park, I found something that actually really affected me for a little while.

When I was in middle school, I found a book in the English classroom. It was about a Japanese girl who was exposed to radiation when she was two and later developed leukemia. While she was sick, she started making paper cranes hoping that if she made 1000, she'd be cured. She died before she finished.

I had no idea that there was a monument in her honor and the honor of children like her. The statue is a girl holding a framework crane. Under the monument is a bell you can ring for peace and behind are large glass cases full of cranes people have donated.

After seeing that, I walked around a bit, glad I was alone but also sad for the same reason. It was incredibly moving to see the number of advocated for peace. I just wish more people were aware of this simple way to send the message that they stand with Hiroshima and want the same thing.

That evening, I walked around the downtown area a bit. Do you know Hiroshima's local cuisine? Okonomiyaki! It's vaguely described as a "Japanese pancake" but that does it no justice: batter, chopped seafood or pork, egg, cabbage, pickled radish, a scrambled egg, yakisoba noodles all cooked on a hot oiled surface and stacked. There's even a section of town stacked just as densely with okonomiyaki restaurants called Okonomiyaki Mura or Village. That's a lot of okonomiyaki.

It was a good day in Hiroshima and I feel I spent the time well. When I left the hostel, I signed the guestbook and left an origami crane along with the others on the bookshelves. The next stop: Fukuoka.

Where in the World Did Marta Senn-Diego? Part Two: The Re-Kyoto-ing

My journey from Tokyo got off to a very good start: from the train, I got my first look at Mt. Fuji. I was on the local train to Shizuoka and got a beautiful view of Fuji for a good long while. The way the 10am sunlight hit the clouds around the mountain's base, they faded into the same pale blue as the sky behind. The tapered snowcap then floated serenely over the horizon, completely disembodied from the earth below. 

And so began my Kyoto adventures, part three. I divvied up the day between local trains and shinkansen and made it to Kyoto at a reasonable hour around 3pm. My hostel this time was just a few blocks north of the ryokan where my parents stayed last summer. Kyoto was already off to a good start mostly because it wasn't all typhoony.

I wasn't looking so nice, though. For starters, I hadn't changed clothes since the previous day, had slept in my internet cafe cubby overnight, and spent the day bustling through stations. It was also a very warm day! I hadn't expected it to be so warm, but I was still wearing multiple layers to save on luggage space: silk underthings, pants, two shirts, a jacket and my coat. By the time I got to my hostel, I was pretty ripe.

I peeled off all that nastiness and showered. Sweet, blissful, euphoric...these words flowed through my mind as the warm water hit my face. Clean, fresh, and ready to go, I went back out to troll the streets and get some photos before I lost the sunlight.

My first stop was Nishiki Market. Parallel to Shijo Avenue, it's an old and famous covered market street stuffed with shops and vendors selling everything under the sun from bags to shoes to chopsticks, cookies to nuts to all manner of seafood. And most of the stands hand out samples! I was hungry, naturally, but had no idea about the samples until I walked up to a pickles store.

"Pickles" in Japan just refers to the method of pickling something and can be daikon radishes, cucumbers, Western radishes, beets, greens, and little Japanese eggplants. And the pickling liquids are just as varied in flavor! At these pickle stores, little dishes were set out full of samples and you just use little tongs to pick up a sample, pick it off with your fingers and pop it in your mouth.

For a while, I camped out at the various pickle stores, filling up on veg, but found samples galore at cracker stores and even had some honey samples at a honey store. I never thought I'd eat yuzu honey alongside buckwheat honey, but in Kyoto, anything is possible!

After sufficiently haunting Nishiki, I walked over to another shopping arcade and ran smack dab into a street musician. Pink Momo, as he calls himself, was a man in a pink jacket, bleach blonde wig, bat wing head dress and holding a white guitar, singing original songs on the street. I stopped and watched for a while as he played, but when his song ended, he approached me and asked all sorts of the usual questions: Where I'm from, how long I've been here, etc. He was also eager to practice his English with me. We talked a bit about Kyoto, but suddenly, remarking on my blue-grey eyes, he decided he wanted to marry me. I played along and as he took my hand to shake it, I grabbed his hand and mock pulled him saying "Let's go! Let's marry!" We rapped like that for a few minutes. He begged my indulgence and handed me one of his flyers to continue practicing his English. He even gave me a little gift: a preserved scorpion in a block of glass.

By then, it was starting to grow dim, so I hurried back to Shijo and across the bridge to Gion. I got a few pictures of the tea houses, but was getting very hungry, so I didn't stick around to geisha spot. Instead, I found my way back to Shijo and found a cafe for some hot, soul-fulfilling curry before heading back to the hostel.

Last summer, my Kyoto-ventures were all in the Western part out in the mountains enjoying Arashiyama, Kinkakuji, and Ryoanji. This time, I followed my parents' advice and explored the East side. I started by walking along the river. The weather was a stark contrast to the previous day: cold and windy with occasional clouds. When it wasn't windy, it was bearable, but the wind and spotty cloud cover was a challenge. The river was especially windy, but I enjoyed the few sakura that had bloomed already. Most of the trees in Kyoto were just budding, a few days away from full bloom, making the few blossoms that much more precious to me.

Eventually, I went underground to catch the subway out to Nanzen-ji to see the beautiful shrines and parks out there. Unfortunately, my Japanese city map reading abilities are way out of practice and I ended up walking the wrong direction once I got to my destination station. After about 15 or 20 minutes, I figured it out and turned around and walked all the way back to the station before finding a tunnel that leads to the park.

I will never own a selfie stick. I think they just show how socially isolated we're slowly becoming, that we can walk around a crowded city or park and instead of asking someone to take a picture of us with our camera or phone, we'll stick the thing out into the crowd and clothesline someone just so we don't have to talk to another human being.

As I walked away from a giant temple gate, I noticed a man taking his wife's picture. I offered to take one of them together, and they were so grateful, they actually offered to take a picture of me with my camera. Now I have photographic evidence I was there, and it doesn't look like a nasal examination!

Up next was Eikan-do Zenrinji. The temple grounds offer a breathtaking view of Kyoto, but to get that view, you have to climb up to a pagoda. To get up there, you have to climb the stone steps that about about 7 inches deep and maybe a foot high. Calves begging for mercy, you pant and grasp the handrail as you observe the distant city below.

Back on earth, I strolled up Philosopher's Path. The stream runs along one side and the whole path is surrounded closely by sakura trees and people's homes, with the occasional cafe or tea shop on one side. I can imagine the early citizens strolling under the sakura trees and contemplating the brevity of life.

Before I realized it, I was at the base of the street leading to Ginkakuji! Ginkakuji isn't as visually impressive as Kinkakuji, but it's tranquil and the grounds are still lovely. In the water garden in front of the temple was a white egret, strutting on his stilt-like legs between the shrubs. People kept calling it a crane though, and maybe the egret fancied himself a crane because the way it withstood the noise and movement of the crowd, I think it knew exactly what it was doing.

By the time I rode the bus back to the heart of Kyoto, I was feeling peckish and decided to get some pickles before going back to the hostel for a shower. And then I met Mr. Peanut.

I was walking by the stands and found a peanut stand. As the proprietor plopped two peanuts into my hand, he asked in perfect English, "Where ...are...you from?" I said Washington, D.C., just because it's easier than explaining Maryland.

"D.C.!" said he. He then recited a good part of the Declaration of Independence and together we hummed a little of the anthem, saluting each other as people walked by, regarding these two nuts.

He loves America. "It has many...fine qualities. The population of Japan...is detrimental...to economic stability. America...it's big!"

True, I said. But Japan is also very beautiful. And safe! No guns, right?

He shrugged. Guns are still here. We both know it.

We said our goodbyes and wished each other a good day. By then, I was starting to feel tired, so I went back to the hostel to take a shower while everyone was still out. When I left the hostel again, I had one goal in mind: spot geisha.

About 7pm, I ducked into a noodle shop and got the bowl of vegetable udon that sank the Titanic. To work it off, I made my way up to Gion. I was about to round the corner to the alley when a business man walked around towards me and I had to step out of his way. But I was shocked to realize with him was a beautiful geisha! She wore a kimono in several shades of blue and a red and pink obi. She was on tall lacquered shoes, but she was still no taller than either the business man or myself. I didn't even have time to pull out my camera before they were gone. But I'd seen my first geisha! I'd been so close to her and I was both startled by her sudden appearence and stunned by the ornamental beauty of her clothes and makeup!

Around 8:45, I found myself outside a teahouse. I happened to look through the slated gate and into the open door in time to watch a young geisha in full hair and kimono and ghostly makeup pick up her phone to use it as a mirror while she touched up her eyes. The ancient world of the geisha and the tiny flat technology in her hand was a shocking clash of two worlds.

I stood outside the house, sure that someone would come out or go in. While I stood to the side away from the door, three other tourists noticed me. I told them to take a quick look, but when they looked in, the mamasan of the house was blocking the view. From time to time, they'd ask me "Is that the geisha?" but it would just be a maid or someone in a yukata.

Then a geisha approached from the alley across the street! One of the other guys took out his phone and began taking pictures quickly as she dashed past. At one point, he stuck his phone almost against her head and as she slid the gate shut she pressed it against the bars for one last shot.

I couldn't help it. I told him he should be more respectful. He brushed me off and showed me the pictures he got. While one was certainly very nice, I still disapprove of the manner in which he got it. I understood then why she'd been so quick (impressive considering how tight kimono are and how those shoes restrict much movement) and avoided looking up. For the rest of my time there, I kept a distance but tried in vain to get some pictures of geisha and maiko as they dashed and darted into tea houses. They are slick! And while I may not have any pictures to show off, I'll have those images in my memory forever.

Where in the World is Marta Senn-Diego? Part the First

Title no longer pending, my adventure has already begun!

Yesterday (wow, was it really only yesterday??) I unloaded the last of my junk on a new teacher in Kitakami (incidentally, named Marty...go figure), shelled out a few thousand yen to cover my water, gas, and electric bills (the water guy came on Friday, but said he'd leave it on for another day so I could clean...guess who camped out in her apartment under a towel that night?) and I was on my way!

Day 1, Tokyo. I was waffling about what I'd do for the night. It's still not warm enough to sleep outside comfortably, despite all the layers I had on: for the record, silk tights, a silk undershirt, jeans, 2 pairs of socks, a sweater, a jacket and my coat. And I didn't want to spend money on a hostel or hotel. I just figured I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

I got to Tokyo at a pretty reasonable hour, around 3pm. It was a little overcast when I arrived, but at least it wasn't 4th circle-of-Hell-hot like it was the first time I went! By the time I dropped my bags off in a locker and made my way up to Asakusa, the weather had cleared. It was still cool, but the clouds were dissipating nicely (I use words like that so I sound like I can still speak English without making informative gestures). My first stop was the restaurant supply store district. Yes, there are stores that sell woks and pots big enough to bathe in. There are knives that can peel a cranberry or cut the head off a gigantic tuna. But there are also the glorious and beautiful sample foods.

What a tease!

I treated myself to a couple magnets: a shrimp tempura and a matcha taiyaki. But they sold everything from phone charms to lifesize samples worth up to a hundred dollars or more. But looking at the quality and the craftsmanship, you understand the price. When a glass of beer looks like it's dripping frosty ice or that grilled fish might as well be begging for it's life, $80 doesn't seem that unreasonable.

You've granted your last wish, Nemo

When I arrived at Senso-ji, I was happy to see that summer time isn't their only busy season. The rickshaw drivers were sprinting through traffic like always and vendors were calling people to their stands as loud as ever.

If I could give a tip to anyone planning on taking a trip somewhere very popular, I'd say don't stop where everyone else is taking pictures. Chances are, you're going to get a few shots with a lot of people's selfie sticks and iPhones in the lower part of your picture. Instead, go around. Find an angle nobody else appreciates and make it your own.

The avenue leading from Kaminarimon to Senso-ji temple was just as lively as it is in the summer! Walking up and down the streets, you take in the bright lights, the high voices shouting the stalls' specialties, the water smell of cut flowers, the salty tang of senbei wrapped in roasted nori.

All around, there were men and women dressed in yukata and kimono for no other reason other than it's spring, school's out and the sakura are starting their nationwide bloom.

Hope is a universal language

I walked to the eastern part of the park grounds where a small children's kabuki stage was being dismantled. Across the gravel courtyard from all this action was a small temple and inside I noticed there was a wedding being performed! Not the Westernized version: I could see the girl wearing the white kimono and large headdress! I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and watched. I guess as I stood there, I attracted some attention because before long, more and more people were coming over and looking into the temple too.

Eventually, some taxis arrived and parked to escort the wedding party to the formal dinner. I wanted to stick around and get some photos of the bride and groom but after 15 minutes, I decided I wanted to keep moving. Who knows how long it would have been. I did get a picture of the bride's shoes. Does that count?

So by this time, the sun was going down. Time to explore Akihabara! I considered going back to Shinjuku again to relive my pancake epiphany, but Shinjuku was far...I didn't want to make the extra trip back to Tokyo Station in the morning, blah blah blah. Akiba and it's neon lights it was!

The last time I was there, I was there almost begrudgingly because I was dragged exclusively into game shops and UFO machine centers. I love exploring UFO centers (the prizes are always outrageous or super cute), but I wanted to see the seedier side of Japan, too. This was my opportunity.

Without much of a game plan, I decided to start at one end, work my way up the street, cross the road and go back down. The first place I stumbled into? An "adult store." Six floors of DVDs, books, costumes, whips, gags, lotions, potions, dolls and dildos, many of which were accompanied by large and graphic instructional posters hanging behind them on the walls. Six. Floors.

After that bit of entertainment, I hit the bricks again. For a few hours, I just trolled the street, popping into stores, looking at merchandise, stopped at a cafe for a bite and to charge my phone (bless this country and it's glut of sockets), and basically killed time while I decided where I was going to sleep. As I mentioned, it was too cold to stay outside and I know my grandpa would absolutely lose his mind if I slept on a park bench.

I was running on 5 hours of restless towel-blanket sleep and train dozing, so the pounding headache and slight nausea at 11:30 convinced me to find an Internet Cafe and sleep there. I haven't actually been in one before, but I had heard they were like halfway houses for men with nowhere else to go. I find that hard to believe because they're kind of pricey. Not terrible enough to keep me away, but unreasonable enough to call it a shelter for the destitute.

Bed, Sweet Bed

This place was nice. You don't pay until after you check out because it's a by-the-hour establishment. And everything is included in that price! Drinks, food, internet, massage chairs, the lounge, the bank of gaming computers where a small army of wide-eyed WoWers or whatever the kids are into these days, sat with steely-eyed determination. There are also magazines and manga if that's your thing. My thing was getting a cubicle and crashing for about 6 hours. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it was a reclining chair, four walls, and legitimate blanket. I was happy to cocoon like that until dawn.

In the morning, I paid my fee and made my way back to Tokyo Station to collect my bags and head for Kyoto!

Graduation Speeches and Wedding Bells

It's been a doozy of a weekend! Yesterday, the third year students of my beloved なん中 graduated with great pomp, and today I finally achieved a minor dream in a major way and got to be a model for a few hours.

So Saturday was the graduation. We finally saw sunlight again after a surprise blizzard interrupted the beginning of spring like a giant middle finger in your eye. But on Saturday, the snow was mostly melted, and weak sunlight poured into the cavernous gym where students and parents sat in folding chairs, dressed as formally as though for a funeral...

Actually, as depressing as it seems, it is a sort of funeral: the departure from childhood and the carefree junior high school days. But the students face a sort of new life, as well. Many of them are going on to high school, and some of them will even go to some prestigious schools in Morioka City. I wish those students the best of luck: the better the school, the more pressure they put on the student. One of the teachers told me her niece who was sitting not too far from us, had the chance to go to Morioka, but opted for Hanamaki instead. Apparently, her aunt went to Morioka for high school, but after a few years, the stress finally became too much to bear and she walked off (I believe) the school's balcony. Now her mother supports the girl's decision to look after her mental well-being and know her limits. I applaud that, too.

So what's a junior high school graduation like? Well first of all, Dad, it's a big deal. The gym is decorated with flags, banners and flowers. The younger students make decorative flowers and "Thank you" and "Good luck" signs to cheer on the graduating class. Directly in front of the stage are two blocks of chairs for the third years, one for girls, one for boys. A few feet behind are the chairs for the second and third year classes, again, divided in half by gender. On either side of those section along the walls are chairs for parents dressed in suits, skirts and kimono as well as bearing video cameras. Against the eastern wall is a long table and several chairs for town officials and PTA officers. Opposite is a long table for the principal, vice principal and third years teachers. The rest of us sit in rows behind them.

I'm just going to put this out there, the teachers were looking sharp! I think it was the first time I ever saw the gym teacher wear a skirt and nylons, and the principal looked ready for the opera!

So what goes into a graduation? A lot of songs, speeches, and sharp 90 degree turns. The third years are almost robotic in their execution of every step: shout "Hai" when your name is called, stand, 90 degree turn, stop at the center line, turn, approach the base of the stage, wait until the student before you receives their diploma, walk up the stairs, bow in sync with the other student, receive your diploma with your left hand then right, step to the side, bow with your arms outstretched and at the same level as your head, bend the diploma in half without folding, tuck it awkwardly under your arm, turn, walk to the side of the stage, stop at the stairs, walk down, deposit your diploma on a table, return to your seat. Breathe.

After several speeches from the principal, the PTA, and the students, it was time for the singing. First the third years sang their class song as well as a beautiful a cappella piece about thanking Mother Earth. Then the younger students sang a couple songs. Finally everyone stood and sang the school song.

During this latter part, I had to avoid looking at other people. I looked at the Japanese teacher and the second I saw her crying, I started to feel tears, so I quickly looked at the math teacher. Nope. 'Look at the chair, girl, that's a nice chair!' I happened to look up: weeping students. Nope. Nope. Nope. 'Wow, hands are the coolest!' Then, it was the parents. Oh, Lord, the chairs, the chairs...look at the freaking chairs!

After the ceremony, everyone gathered outside to say goodbye to the students. Friends gave flowers and cards, graduates gave their bags, pieces of their sports uniforms, and even their school uniform jackets to their junior friends. Students vied for buttons off the graduate boys' coats, a common memento. I saw several boys walk by without any buttons at all! And everyone took pictures...I was even invited into a few!

Today was a bit different, and by "a bit" I mean "very." After months of eager anticipation, concern, and fear it wouldn't happen, my friend invited me to her hair studio to model some wedding styles! The focus was on the hair and the flowers which her friend, who owns a flower shop, was providing.

Courtesy of Hummingbird!

Freshly scrubbed and wearing the bear minimum in make up, I met Izu at her salon where she was waiting with her friend whom I will call Miss Hummingbird (that's the name of her floral shop). I was immediately taken into a room and changed into the first, long wedding dress. Then Izu plopped me in the chair and the make up process began.

Brava, Izu, brava!

I wasn't really sure what to expect, I thought it would be a clean, fresh, nude look, but instead, when she stepped back, I was a pin-up! She did a great job, even though I was startled at first! I don't often wear a lot of make up, so it took some getting used to. Nevertheless, we were well on the way.

Over the course of the next couple of hours, Izu and Miss Hummingbird put me into two dresses and several hair styles, both up and down, all with floral accents and gorgeous bouquets.

The shoot took place downstairs in none other than the one, the only, MOUNTEE! While the staff listened to One Piece on the TV and prepped for lunch, the ladies and I ran around the beautiful new dining room, taking pictures. Izu is a great artistic director and would move around quickly and ask me to "Look me" or "Flowers look" and tell me to "Smile" or "Chin down." Love her! I tried to take Tina Fey's advice for photo shoots and remember to not let my eyes go dead and to avoid mashing my arms against my body to create "negative space."

I loved to forget-me-not crown! Made me feel like I was getting married to the shi shi gami in "Mononoke!"

Chisa even came and watched with her lovely daughters. When all was said and done and shot, we had lunch together in Mountee. If I was a legitimate model, I don't think I'd ask for a paycheck: I'd just ask for every photo shoot to be followed with a catered meal from Mountee.


And by the way, to my future husband, we're celebrating our union in Hawaii. I already promised my Japanese friends.

Adventure Title Pending

The sucky thing about early spring is the unpredictable weather. While the south of Japan is getting beautiful sunshine and already enjoying the beginning of sakura season, Iwate is getting royally screwed. Yesterday there was a severe wind warning and all night, it snowed and snowed and snowed. Today, it's still windy and snowing. It's March! Enough, already! I'm going crazy trying to get through all the move out processes and just dying to spend all day outside again.

Like those terrifying little raptors in Jurrasic Park, I'm lurking in the dark inner sanctum of my apartment, scratching the floorboards and growling in hungry anticipation.

Just a week and a half from now, I'll be on my way! It's time I wrote down my itinerary for my family and friends' sakes...those who actually look at this weak little self-indulgent blog, anyway. Love you, guys!

Day 1, March 21
Move out day. Utilities Man will come and turn off all the knobs and gouge me for the last month's bill. Then I will lock the door, slip the key through the mail slot and turn my back for the last time on my apartment. I will walk to the station and take the train or shinkansen. I'm not sure yet if I will ride the "shin" all the way to Tokyo or if I'll get a night bus from Sendai. Ugh, decisions.

Depending on which I do, I do want to get to Kyoto for a day or two. Kyoto in spring? I'll weep bitter tears if I miss that!

March 24
Hiroshima Day 1. I want to make the pilgrimage to the memorial park, see the eye-sore statue, and learn a bit more about the Japanese perspective of the war. I learned a lot from my trip to Sendai last year and want to see what else has been glossed over in the US history books.

Day 2. Get out of the city area and see the coastline. There's a nearby island called Miyajima...you may be familiar with the orange tori gate in the water? Yeah. That place. There are also monkeys.

March 26
Fukuoka. Spending most of the day on local trains probably and checking in just in time for the night life to kick in. I need some Hakata ramen in my life...preferably without the pork and bone broth. Maybe I'll find Allan, too.

March 27
Sasebo Day 1-4! Back in Sasebo, I have a lot to do. Over the next few days, I'll meet with a local historian, investigate my grandmother's family records at City Hall (if they have anything), check out Nagasaki, visit the 99 Islands, and just get some more atmosphere of the area.

March 31
Fukuoka Flashback. I'll set up camp for a few days in a hostel and use that as home-base. Then, I'll check out the city life, ride the train west to check out the west coast towns and get my bearings together before finally leaving Japan.

April 3
FWOOSH! Off to Thailand! I'll land in Bangkok and spend two nights there checking out wats, night markets, and soaking up a new country.

April 5
Chiang Mai. I'll ride the train to Chiang Mai and enjoy the countryside the whole way. I'm spending one night in a hostel in the city center, so I'll check out some night life...maybe see a lady boy show.

April 6-11
Elephant Nature Park. I'll be picked up from Chiang Mai and taken to the northern jungle to stay at the ENP for a week.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/enp/en/visit-volunteer

The difference with this volunteer program is that this isn't about riding the elephants. It's about helping them and being a volunteer at their sanctuary.

April 12-16
Chiang Mai. Songkran begins! I'll be dropped off at my hostel for a few more nights in northern Thailand. I'll get to experience the big "water throwing" festival which actually marks the Thai New Year. The whole tradition of water sports began with bathing your grandparents' heads and feet in respect, but now it's all out water-war!

On the 14th, I'll take a break from getting doused in the streets by taking a cooking class at the Baan Thai Cookery School.

http://www.cookinthai.com/activities/activities.php

Prepare yourselves, friends: I'm cooking dinner for you!

April 17
Le ZIP! Off I go to gay Paris! These plans aren't so nailed down yet. My general idea is to stay just 3 days or so seeing the sights, checking out cemetaries, the Seine, Versailles, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, street art, the catacombs, and the foooooooood!

April ? - 23
Have Eurail pass, will travel. I want to trek around for a few days and be homeless, sleeping like a hobo on night trains while I spend the day checking out provincial towns.

April 24 - May 8
Amsterdam! On the 24th, I'll land in Amsterdam and check in to the apartment building I'll be staying in, take a long overdue shower and get ready for two weeks of exploration! My dad has a good friend in the Netherlands who I'm hoping will help me get my bearings and will recommend a few good "browns."

Some highlights on my list:
Museums
Parks
Flea Markets
Flower Markets
Red Light District
Cafes
Canal tours
Architectural Delights
Baked Delights
Art Shows
Delft, Hague and or Haarlem
Tulip fields and windmills

Day trips to Ghent, Belgium and north maybe to Edam for good cheeses! 

And who knows what else! I'm open minded!

On May 8th, I'll catch a plane (the same airline my father took when he did his Euro Trip a good century and a half ago) and land hopefully at a reasonable hour and sans derecho Friday evening.

And here's a fun little thing: I'm bringing my camera of course, so if anyone who reads this has photographic requests during my trip, please let me know and I'll do my best to be accommodating! Do you want to see me can-can under the Eiffel Tower? Should I fist-bump a monkey? Want to see me eat raw pickled herring? I'm up to the challenge!

Bowing Out

Today I left my last school with a tad more grace than last year, though still with plenty of awkward clapping and a few tears.

I've officially ended my position here as a teacher so I can admit this: I went out for 女子会 Girl's Night with Harue, Chisa, and guess what...the hair stylist who wants me to model!...last night. We started strong at Mountee and I stumbled out of Bar Roots close to 12:30am. I have my foolproof preventative hangover method (Ibubrofen, apple cider vinegar and water, and a banana before bed), so this morning I wasn't a total wreck, just a little hazy.

Still, I managed to pull out some fun last classes for first and second graders, if I do say so. On Friday, I brought in a CD and the third graders learned "Rude" by Magic. They were actually really very good! Today, the first and second graders got off just as easy playing games like Simon Says, a word-writing game called Shiritori where you write a word that starts with the last letter of the preceding word, and Fruits Basket. The second grade I challenged with a flag activity. I asked them to design a flag of themselves showing what they want to do in the future, their hobby and the most important thing to them (it followed some of the grammar points they learned: fun and functional!). Then, they can use it to introduce themselves to the next English teacher.

After lunch was my goodbye ceremony. I was escorted by the principal to the gym where the students and teachers were waiting. They directed me to a chair on stage and the principal gave a speech. He told the students I had lived in Japan for two years, thanked me for being there and making the classes enjoyable, and generally stated that the school would wish me luck in the future.

Or maybe I'm fantasizing.

After his speech, they asked me to give a few words. The thing about this little school is even though I was only there for two days every couple of weeks, and only for a single school year, I ended up crying a little at the end of my speech. They called themselves "a small family" when I met them last spring, and I actually saw that. I encouraged the students to challenge themselves, be a little crazy at times, and if they make a mistake, it's okay and to just smile.

I hope they saw me demonstrate all those principles over the past year, especially the crazy and the smiling.

Stress Translates

I found out something very interesting at last night's dinner. I was invited to eat with ゆう中's principal and his family. To my surprise and delight, we were joined by one of the English teachers I worked with at Waga-chu last year! She brought her incredibly genki little daughter who was our main source of entertainment for the evening, and we shared stories about my "American Culture" class with the Special Education students. Powerpoints and puzzles: no wonder those kids loved me...they got away with murder!

It was a fantastic dinner: a chirashi rice dish with a chopped up whole fish nestled in with the vinegared rice (head included!), salad, a grilled beef and tofu dish, and spring rolls (after all, it's spring. You  hear that, weather? It's spring! Enough of this snow and ice crap!) We drank an interesting beer. I say "interesting" because it was like an alcoholic soy sauce. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely different.

The party was myself, the English teacher, the principal, his wife, his junior high school daughter and his freshly graduated daughter. The guest list is important and I'll tell you why.

At one point of the evening, the principal asked me what my plans were for when I went back to America. I told him my general idea: live close to D.C., look for work during the summer that could become part time over the fall and winter, and hopefully substitute teach in Fairfax, VA.

"Oh," he said. "You can apply for work any time of the year?"

"Well, yes," I said. I was a bit confused: why wouldn't I? "For 'seasonal' work, like a summer camp, or helping a depa-to for the holiday season, you have to wait to apply at certain times of the year. But for most work, yes, you can apply any time."

The group actually seemed a little surprised in the way that they look surprised when you tell them that there are no transcontinental trains or taxi doors don't open by themselves. It's a novelty, a look into the other side of the looking glass.

They filled me in. Here in Japan, you stress  in high school about your university tests because your time in university isn't so much for studying: it's for pegging your career for the REST. OF. YOUR. LIFE. No pressure.

If you get into your university, your time is best used pursuing a few classes, but all the emphasis is put on where you will intern and then where you will interview to work and finally where you will be for your career. Those last two years are for part-time work. The last one, they told me, is when you spend all your time in a black suit, interviewing.

The principal's oldest daughter just graduated and will be working at a post office in Ichinoseki (no joke, post offices here: you handle shipping, citizen registry a bit, people's pensions, bills, mail of course and basically the functioning of a city...they're like the express city-hall). And basically, she will be there until the day she retires...or marries. That depends on her. Yes, there are women who leave their work after they become mothers whether for an extended period or just altogether.

I was really stunned! I remember how stressful it was to look into colleges, consider career paths, take tests, look for internships...but that pales in comparison to this "DO OR DIE" method in Japan. Fluttering my hand over my heart, I looked around and said, "Wow! Sutoresu! Stress!"

It's the same word here. But the sentiment is intensified to the nth power.

The youngest daughter is upstairs studying...a lot!

The whole time, the younger sister stared at her salad. She knows wait lies in wait and I can only wish her the best.