On the Go'o Shrine and Japanese Kindness

I am homesick. No getting around that one. Other than one super friendly, lovely girl from England whom I shall name "T", I haven't made any friends. I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, and hopefully, things will pick up when school officially begins next week, but I really want to share all the little experiences I'm enjoying with some friends! T has been here for half a year already, thus has her own social network and club activities and I don't want to hang off of her and be, what she would call, a "drip".

So! I remind myself, "Rocketfrog, you big baby, how often are you going to have the opportunity to be in Kyoto as a student?! Go out and study life!" So, instead of stew away in my room while staring at my contact list on skype for someone to talk to, I've been walking to get to know this city as well as I can. And today was quite the lesson!

Without planning it, I made my first Jinja visit today. After my oral interview to help determine what level I should be studying Japanese at, I walked my way from my university, down Karasuma-dori with the intention to get to Sanjo-dori and the Nishikikoji-dori food market around lunch time, but I came across this jinja first. The Go'o Shrine is across the park from where I'm staying and it is so lovely and I felt refreshed when I saw it! It is overrun with boar statues, bells, paintings, even mounted boar heads, all since a Heian-era advisor was protected by a herd of wild boar while injured. I kind of meditated on the symbolism of boars, what they typically represent; since stubbornness and diligence came to the top of my mind, both qualities that I dearly, dearly desire for my year here studying. It felt right that I found this place before my classes should officially begin. The little spiritualist inside of me felt a little like I was guided there, since being alone gives me time to meditate a little and in retrospect, that feeling is ever so slightly strengthened, as apparently people with leg injuries go there to be healed, since the Heian-era advisor suffered a leg injury. With my knee problems, I need all the help I can get!

After bowing, praying, and paying the gods a pittance in hope for their good will, I looked around a bit. There were other people in the small shrine to make their prayers, not including several Shinto priests, shrine caretakers, and a kind Miko (shrine maiden) who took the time to explain the different omamori to me since I couldn't read the kanji on all of them. Needless to say, I bought the omamori for good luck in studying for myself and picked up two others for my dear roomies back in Victoria.

After the Jinja, I kept walking until I got to the shopping streets of Teramachi-dori, Sanjo-dori and Karawamachi-dori. When I got there, I went to a kaiten-sushi restaurant for theeee...fourth time? In five days? I'm a big fan of raw fish.Would you believe I used to be vegan.... I'm a bad person. Mother Nature is going to punish me somehow for my broken moral compass, I know it. T.T

At least kaiten-sushi is.....cheap?! Does that make things better...? Anyways, there are two kaiten-sushi places right across from each other at Sanjo-dori and Kawaramachi-dori and instead of going to the usual, cheaper chain restaurant one, I went to the other that has slightly higher quality fish. It was a little crowded since it was lunch time and I was sat next to this skinny, middle-aged man with a few missing teeth. Being a big girl, I kind of dwarfed him, but whatever! I was just there for some lunch, so I kind of just tried to focus on what was on the conveyor belt in front of me. Anyways, he was halfway through a mid-sized bottle of wine and I could tell he really, really wanted to talk. Once he realized I wasn't Japanese, but could speak a bit of Japanese, he just gushed over.

He quickly ordered me four pieces of sushi and began telling me about his daughter who is my age, working at a company. It's rough being a parent, he said, and that my parents must miss me very much, which I agreed with (how could I not? I may not be a parent, but I know my parents miss me as much as I miss them). As I drank cup after cup of green tea and hesitantly ate the sushi he had ordered for me, he told me about his life, how he lost his job and being middle-aged means that getting rehired is incredibly hard, and then his wife died a few months ago and right after lunch, he had to go off to the bank to try and figure out what to do about the expensive funeral costs he had to pay. He whipped out the actual bill to show me too, though I couldn't read the characters. He went on to talk about the earthquake and that Japanese people, while they were kind, were like people everywhere else in the world and that the National News station was refusing to cover the cases of theft that were occurring... He covered a whole lot of conversation territory in about an hour!

I couldn't say too much, not that I really knew what to say. I tried to share the four pieces of sushi with him (he had only eaten six pieces), to which he refused, saying he couldn't eat anymore. Something about....I'm not sure if I heard this right, but he had gotten severely sick and had to have half of his stomach excised?! I felt really uncomfortable, because I had a feeling that he was going to pay for my sushi, despite having money problems and what could I possibly have to say about the terrible challenges he was facing? He wasn't greasy or scary; he was just looking for someone to talk to, and I'm ashamed to say that all I felt was the desire to leave. When I excused myself and said I had to go and study, he told me to study my hardest at Japanese so I could grow up and give my parents a daughter to be proud of. Let me tell you, I can't remember the last time I've felt so guilty, especially because no matter what I said, he insisted on paying for the food I had eaten because, he said, talking with me had made him happy.

Needless to say, I spent the next three hours wandering around Kyoto with that man on my mind, feeling guilty for excusing myself when I could have sat there longer and talked with him. I hope I can learn from this to be relaxed and more easy going so that the next time I am in such a situation, I can focus more on whomever is speaking with me and their happiness, instead of getting stuck in my own head.

I don't know that man's name, but I wish I had taken the time to find out. Perhaps the best thing I can do, aside from not make the same mistake twice, is to try and share that kindness and warmth with another stranger someday?

In retrospect; I may feel homesick, but I can hardly say that I am lonely. Walking and looking at the shops is distracting, and there are some really kind people here. I am resolved to be open-minded enough that I can recognize the opportunities that present themselves to me and make the most of them! I want to be the kind of person that will make my parents proud, but more than that, I want to be the kind of person I can be proud of. Quietly. :)

<3
Rocketfrog

On Toilet Paper and Japan...

 Culture Lesson #1: The Japanese approach the subject of toilet paper with a mind-boggling mix of utmost seriousness and unbridled whimsy.

Why...was I worried that I wouldn't be able to get toilet paper in Japan? Not only could I find it everywhere but I had such, um, colorful selection. Here's just a few samples of the diverse selection offered in everything from the grocery store to the dollar store.

For the person who enjoys the smell of oranges and peaches in the bathroom while their sitting on the pot, there's "Fruit Basket"! But if you're like me and the thought of food in the bathroom is a little much, there's "Herb Garden", promising to make your toilet smell like lavender or roses.

And for the person who just loves Hello Kitty (or really, really hates Hello Kitty), there's a toilet paper out there for you too!

So, there I was in Daiso, unable to find toilet paper that wasn't covered in cartoons, so in frustration, I grabbed the only one without faces to look up at me or namby-pamby garden smell. I thought I went for the safe choice until I really looked at it. Who designs ivy-vine covered toilet paper? Or are those grape leaves? It wasn't till I got home and actually read the packaging and realized that this is extra special bidet toilet paper. I don't know how that fact changes the product except that it's a little thicker than average.

Oi. Whatever. I surrender.
<3
Rocketfrog

Arrived, safe and sound!

Well I've been in Kyoto now for two days and it's lovely here. If not for the news channel, I'd have no idea that a disaster had struck so recently.  Still settling in and getting used to everything, though. The flight was predictably very long. I misinterpreted the instructions my parents gave me and stayed awake all of the eleven and a half hours to try and reduce my jetlag, which meant I spent eleven and a half hours fidgeting, writing letters, reading and finishing "Japanland", listening to music and generally annoying the really nice guy sitting next to me.

It just so happened that the guy sitting in front of me is also here on the same exchange, so we went to get our bags together, and then caught the train out of Kansai airport to meet our volunteers. Having slept on the flight and downed a redbull, he was very chatty... I hadn't slept for a very long time.... But I was polite! Just very quiet!

A volunteer picked me up at the Kyoto station, got into a cab and then went to my dorm. She was so nice and sweet. She showed me my room, explained a bit about dorm rules, and then walked with me to find a conbini because I hadn't eaten much of anything on the flight. After a dinner of onigiri, salad and green tea, I settled in to spend a night freezing my rumpus off because I didn't know how to work the air con.

I was surprised how large my room was. There's a fridge, a bathroom and plenty of space. I didn't take a picture of my bed itself, but you can get the general gist of the place. Richard's House was made in 2006, I think, so it's nice and new.

 <-- I have my own bathroom!! It's small but mighty!

And this is what I bought at Daily, the local conbini. Mmmh natto.
















More posts to come!
<3 Rocketfrog

So I'm going! ....is it premature to be writing "I pine for you" letters?

So, long story short, after much deliberation and consideration; I will be flying out to Japan. Tomorrow, actually! From the same airport that roughly 1,000 expats will be landing in on the same day, from Japan. I keep stopping myself to consider if my brain is still firing on all cylinders. Trace amounts of radiation has now been found in milk from Fukushima, spinach from Ibaraki and the water in Tokyo... and I'm electing to go to this country out of my free will? Is there something funky going on with my survival instinct? Maybe subconsciously I'm trying to fulfill my childhood dream to become Godzilla. Or an X-man! It only took a lil spider bite for Spiderman to get his powers! .... and knowing my luck, I'll end up eating Ibaraki spinach and turn into the glowing, female equivalent of Popeye the Sailor man, complete with bulging forearms, thinning hair and that gravely, I'm-one-puff-away-from-small-cell-lung-cancer voice. Mmmh, sexy! Those Japanese boys have no idea what's in store!

On a really positive note, my extended family in Ibaraki-ken are all safe. We finally heard back from them, though I don't know exactly where they are right now, and there was damage to their house but everyone is alright. I don't know what to bring to them, other than a box of cookies and that seems just really stupid, considering what they've been through...

Packing usually drives me right up the wall, but my mom knows all the tricks of packing inside and out, so that made things a lot easier. Hopefully none of the presents I'm bringing will be crushed. I'd been seriously considering bringing rolls of toilet paper after a blog post by Sarahf on how people are stocking up enough to keep the store shelves naked. But, in the interest of saving space, I just ended up packing a whole box worth of tissue paper....Worst case scenario, I can beg my friends to FEDEX me toilet paper to save my dignity...I guess?

All the excitement I felt when I used to think about going to Japan, which turned to anxiety, sadness and worry after the initial disaster, is now premature homesickness. Awesome. Brilliant. I'm such a baby! I haven't even left yet and I'm missing my parents and friends!

One of my dear friends has indulged my closet addiction to fine papers and cards, and bought me a packet of limited edition stationary which I will unseal and start using as soon as the plane takes off. I'm going to be so popular on that plane, sniffling and blubbering over my letters. Luckily, my dad gave me some coupons for complimentary booze that I can use once I'm on the flight. After I'm quite done being dramatic and tear-spotting the letters, I can make friends with everyone around me. Yes, this is a great plan.

<3
Rocketfrog

Prepping to go pt. 2...should I still be prepping to go...?

I am down to about two weeks to take off...I wish I could say that I am absolutely bubbly with excitement and anxiety but instead, most of my excitement has been muted by stress and worry. In regards to school, I have three weeks worth of work left to cram into just under a week.  Most of my professors are understanding  and helpful, though I am hitting a few speed bumps that I should have been informed of much earlier. And then there's the earthquake and tsunami.

Last Friday, I woke up at seven in the morning, opened my laptop and found out about the disaster that hit. I was glued to my seat, watching news clip after news clip on cnn and bbc, until it really sunk in just how serious an event this was. I've been sending out e-mails and checking facebook regularly to find out how my friends and family are. Thus far, I've heard from almost all of my friends (most of whom are in Kansai) but my extended family in Ibaragi-ken have yet to reply. My dad talks about spheres of influence and that I shouldn't worry about what I cannot effect and I'm trying really hard to take it to heart. It's hard to think about how quickly everything happened and how many people were impacted but I have faith in the resilience of the Japanese people. Avoiding news websites is helpful but torturous. On another note, though, I feel so grateful for all the people in my life who have given me their sympathies and been supportive, but more than that, it really raises the spirits to see how many people care about the Japanese people and are organizing to raise money to help out relief aids.

First thing I do after I settle into my dorm at Doshisha is register with the Canadian embassy....if my program is still on. I can't shake this heavy dread that I'm going to open my email and have a note from Doshisha pop up declaring that my exchange has been canceled. The last time I was in Japan in 2009, I was enrolled in a summer program at Konan University in Kobe. Anyone remember anything significant occurring in 2009 in Asia? Yesssss, swine flu.

In my experience, Japanese people are generally cautious about germs, and compound that with a general wariness of foreigners and you have a good mix for some rather uncomfortable experiences. And a canceled summer exchange program.

Well, nothing to do but wait, influence what I can and try and finish this term strong.

<3
Rocketfrog