Golden and Silver Pavilion.

First of all, I have some bad news to report.

DESTINY HAD A FLAT TIRE! I was so upset! I was on my way to the grocery store, and she was making some godawful noises and it was very difficult to bike.  When I got off to check it out, the rear tire was as flat as my sister's chest! It really inhibited my moving for a few days.  Today, I finally got to take her to the bike doctor at Bike Land.  I felt like the hugest loser walking my bike around everywhere, but I knew it would all be worth it in the end.  At the bike shop, I had to wait a couple hours for them to finish.  The best part though, was that I had a full blown conversation in Japanese.  I was just talking to them and they were speaking back, and then they asked me where I was from.  I totally understood the question, but I was so flabbergasted that I had been able to just easily understand them that I stood there in silence! They thought I didn't understand and were like "Americajin? (American?)." I corrected them and told them I was Canadian, and that they'd done an awesome job on my bike and went on my merry way.  Me and Destiny are back in action, ready to take over Japan!

This past Sunday, while my bike was out of commission.  Me, my roommate Fran, and two Japanese friends, Nozomi and Kazuki, all went to Kyoto to see the Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion) and Ginkakuji (Silver Pavillion).  It was my first time in Kyoto, and I got to say I've been missing out.  Kyoto is the place where old traditional Japan meets new Japan.  Everything was so cool!   We went to the Kinkakuji first and it really took me by surprise.  It was at the base of a mountain (I think), and some of the trees were turning red on the property.  There were a bunch of old buildings and lots of Japanese and foreigners there to check out the temple.  But after I bought my ticket and came around the corner, I was flabbergasted! This thin is super gold!

So gold!

My friends laughed at me because the first thing I said was "Holy Crap! It's gold!"  I really thought that it would be a dull kind of gold after all these years (built in 1398), but it's retained all it's shiny glory.  The top two tiers are covered in actual, gold, I'm surprised nobody's tried to steal it (like how the pyramids used to be covered in limestone, but other peeps were like "Yo I want that shit!" and they took it off and now they just look like sand? Yeah, I thought that would have happened to the Kinkakuji).  But yeah, it is super gorgeous and gold.  I loved it.  It was my first traditionally Japanese thing that I've done (usually I'm shopping/drinking/clubbing, which I think is also very culturally enlightening. Kanpai! *Cheers!*).

We got to wander around the property, finding special little wishing wells where you could throw in some change, and if you hit the right spot (the top of a shrine, or inside a wooden bowl), then your wish would come true.  

Kazuki missed, so his wish is NOT coming true.  :P

We then got served some traditional Japanese green tea and some omocha (a sweet Japanese treat, made form rise and a sweat red bean).  It was served to us by a girl in a cute little kimono and it was pretty good!  We were told to eat the omocha first because it is super sweet.  I didn't believe them,  because I've heard that Japanese green tea isn't very good, but it was a good idea.  It was a good thing the omocha was so small, but it was a sweet overload; delicious, but sooooooooooo sweet.  The green tea was actually very good!  It was very green, and the taste was pretty enjoyable.  I highly recommend it!

Ah! Japanese culture!

So sweet! So green!

We then went to the souvenir shop, and I bought some presents for people back at home, though they won't be getting them for awhile.  Then we were on out way to the Ginkakuji.  I had no clue that there was a second pavilion, and I actually thought that we were on our way home.  I was so surprised when I found out the bus we were getting on was taking us to another place, but it was worth it, I think.

Silver...?  Usokakuji (Lying Pavilion) I think.

My feelings about the "Silver" Pavilion

So this is the Silver Pavilion.  It was built in 1490 but never actually finished.  Nozomi told me that nobody knows why it isn't silver, but it might be because the government didn't give enough funding for the builder, or that he died before he could finish it.  Anyways, it's now a Zen temple, with a few Zen gardens,that aren't really gardens at all, it's just a place for people to rake sand into cool patterns:

How are there no footprints!?!

Anyways, it was still a really cool place.  We got to climb up a bit of the mountain and see some views of Kyoto and the changing colours of the trees.

After the trip at Ginkakuji, I found a store selling only bunny paraphernalia.  This upcoming year is the Year of the Rabbit, and I'm freaking psyched because everywhere, everything has rabbits  all over it,  I bought some souvenirs there too, and they've infested my room.  Hurray cute overload!

Alright, now I have a poor story to report on.  I don't know if I have told you about this before, but I will go over it again quickly just in case I have talked about it.  Gaijin Hunters are the Japanese girls and boys at school that are looking for a Gaijin (foreigner) boyfriend/girlfriend.  Your a big target if you are blonde, tall and/or muscular.  My friend told me I could put this story in my blog as long as I didn't give out his name, so we'll just call him X-san.  

X-san was asked to be a wingman one night for his friend at Karaoke.  Being the good friend that he is, he obliged and went.  Now the girl that he had to be wingman too wasn't that easy on the eyes, but he tried to look past that.  She got his number, and would text him and call him multiple times a day.  He asked me for advice, and I said just make friends with her, it'll be okay, she looks like a happy girl anyways.

Worst.  Advice.  Ever.

So she called and texted all the time.  She would find him and corner him in the school and never leave him alone.  Stage-5 clinger.  She emailed me and one of my friends saying that she wanted to confess her love to him, even though he was blatantly ignoring her.  One time she asked him to go to Karaoke again, and he just told her that he had a girlfriend.  Then things got even worse! Her calls and texts were even more numerous everyday until eventually she texted him and told him that he she loves him (along with a bunch of other mushy stuff that hits my gag reflex).  He handled it eventually, and I don't think they've communicated since then.

Now, I know that this last part of my blog might seem a little mean, but it's what we have to put up with.  Not all of the Gaijin Hunters are this persistant, but they're numerous.  I've had to deal with it a couple of times on my own already, and it may or may not be turning me into a mean person.  I'm not very good at saying no in general, but I'm starting to get good at it now.  It's definitely difficult saying no to pretty much the politest race of people on this earth, but sometimes it has to be done.  Now, I try to hang out with guys (either Gaijin or Japanese, as long as it's a guy I'm friends with), and the Japanese naturally assume that I am dating the guy that I am hanging out with.  So far this plan has been flawless, and my Gaijin guys are always looking out for me.  If my Italian friend sees me with a guy he always asks "is he bothering you?" and the guy never is, but I always appreciate the gesture.  I love my Gaijin boys!

Anyways, I suppose I should start studying or doing something productive.

Will probably just read some more One Piece though :P

Peace and Love!

October

As I sit down on this highly unentertaining Sunday, I decided that it's time to update my blog (which it's been more than a month, sorry!)

So at the beginning of the month, I went to a parade with my friend Tom, Fran and Hi-Chan.  I thought it was going to be a parade like I knew, but it was more like all the vendors in the area came out onto the street to sell their stuff.  I got to try umeboshi, which are pickled plums.  Extremely sour! Extremely awesome!  We kept trying the free samples and taking pictures of the mascots that were everywhere.  We ran into the Kintetsu rugby team, which made my month.  Japanese boys are a little on the thin side, so when I see some with muscles I get excited.  There were some Aussies and New Zealanders on the team too, accents are always a  bonus.  They were doing line-up throws to little kids, so I went up to one of the Japanese players and said that I used to play rugby in high school so they threw me up too:

I wouldn't have worn a skirt if I knew I was running into them, or I would have worn a shorter one (^_-).  Later we saw a university sumo team teaching little kids how to do sumo.  I saw enough big Japanese butts that day to last me a lifetime, but they were surprisingly flexible:

We continued on our way and found a Hard Rock Cafe that was a little expensive, so we went to Shakey's a buffet restaurant.  They had pizza, pasta, fries, fruit and salad.  Since we don't have much access to fruit, that's what I loaded my plate up with.  We did some exploring after, and some creepy guys would try to come up to me to say they wanted to speak English, but Hi-Chan would just tell them I didn't speak English.  I love you Hi-Chan!  Thank you for the wonderful day and for protecting me!

The next day I had my first visit with my home-visit family.  Their oldest daughter, Ayaka, goes to Kansai Gaidai.  She met me at the train station at 10 and we started the long trek to her house in eastern Osaka.  She had a fairly modern house, with one room that was more traditional with tatami mats and a low table to eat at.  I met her mother, father, her younger sister Sayaka, and her grandma and grandpa.  Her grandparents didn't speak a lick of English, so I was able to practice a lot of Japanese with them.  I could mostly just say adjectives like sugoi! Oishii! (cool! Delicious!).  Ayaka's mother had made lots of sushi for us to eat and two great big dishes of nabe.  Nabe is just a large pot that a soup is cooked in, but they refer to the final soup is nabe.  It had some sort of broth with egg, cabbage, udon, fish, and lots of veggies.  Oishii!  The sushi was amazing too.  Not like california rolls, it was the whole raw fish deal.  I know most westerners think its strange, but it definitely carries a freshness to it that you can't find at home.  She was a wonderful cook!  I had brought some desserts for us to eat, so afterwards we ate that.

All the girls in Ayaka's family are really into Korean things (Korean dramas, food, singers, boys etc) so we watched a DVD of their favourite Korean boy band.  I understand why they like them.  Korean boys are conscripted into the military for a minimum of two years, so Korean guys tend to be pretty muscular.  Oishii! They were pretty cool and sexual with their performance.  Boy bands are big in Japan, I think that trend ended in the late 90s in Canada (though Backstreet Boys are still a big deal here in Japan).  After we played on their WiiFit, and I found out my balance is shit.  Her grandmother gave me two beautiful handkerchiefs and her family gave me some very cute tea towels! ありがとうございます！Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Her grandmother then went to karaoke with some friends and her grandpa went fishing.  I was supposed to go with him, but then they told me there were poisonous snakes where he was going and they didn't want me to die.  So the rest of Ayaka's family and I went to yakiniku (Korean food lol).  Yakiniku is "grilled food" so at the restaurant you have your own grill built into the table, and the waiters bring you raw food to cook.  We ate every kind of meat you can imagine! It was totemo oishii (very delicious!).  Ayaka's mother was acting very much like my own; she never let my plate be empty, and she made sure I tried everything.  I liked everything she made me try except for one thing.  I always seem them in the grocery store and I think "Wtf mate?"  They're tiny dried up fish.  Like minnows that were left to bake in the sun.  They taste like, words can't describe, but at least I can cross that off my list.  The restaurant was close to my rez so they drove me home afterwards.  I had a lot of fun and I look forward to my next visit!

Later that week, I had one of the best days I've had in Japan.  My friend/personal trainer Take took me on a ride on his motorcycle.  It was pretty bad ass.  I made sure I dressed the part so that I could fool people into thinking I was a badass too.  He took me for a tour of the area and down to the other campus that is more in the countryside, all the while telling me about Japanese things and testing me on kanji and such.  It was just such an awesome feeling, who expects to go there and hop on a newfound friend's motorcycle and go out and discover it! I LOVE JAPAN!

That weekend I started hitting up the clubs in Osaka.  Going to a club in Osaka is a full on commitment;  the clubs usually don't open until midnight, and that's when the trains stop running, so you have to wait until at least 5 in the morning to make it back home.  I didn't think I'd be up for it (since 2:00 am seems to be when I max out from partying) but I did it! I had a blast! The club was called Beronica, and I was friends with one of the DJs, so I got to be on stage most of the night.  It was a costume themed party, but I didn't have my costume yet so I just went in a normal clubbing dress with the boys I hang out with.  It was a grand night.  Turns out if you tell the bartender he's ichiban (#1) He'll give you 3 shots for the price of 1.  This didn't work in my friends favour (he was hugging the porcelain throne later), but it worked wonders for me!  I can't wait to go back for the Christmas shabang!

Oh yes, fun times!

Then it was midterm times.  Now, I don't know about other universities in Japan, but the midterms at Kansai were somewhat... of a joke.  The only problem was that they kept me super busy.  My Japanese midterms were a little difficult, but I got 91% and 94% on them.  In my Japanese monsters class I got 100.5%, and the other two classes I had papers too write so I don't know what I got on them yet (but if they're what I think they're like, then I'm not too worried about it).  Lots of Japanese friends kept asking me to hang out, but I was always studying for these midterms.  Not that I regret it since my grades are amazing, but if I would have known that a 2-year old could have wrote them, maybe I could have found more time to hang out with my friends.

I told my friend Rina that I would hold a Karaoke-Birthday party for her when she turned 19.  So around 20 of us, half Japanese, half international, went to Ring Karaoke for her birthday.  It was lots of fun, and most of us got meccha yopparai (very drunk).  I tried to sing a long with the Japanese songs, but the words went by too fast! I'm sure the Japanese people thought the same about all the English songs we sang too.  

Me with Rina, the Birthday Girl!

Me with Take (the guy who took me on the motorcycle ride) and Naomi

Later, Rina took me out costume shopping for Halloween.  We went to a store called Don Quihotei, which is pretty much like Spencers and the IT store back at home.  They costumes there were very expensive, and they were all size small.  My body could fit in it, but my chest is more endowed than the Japanese ladies, so that would have been a no show (oh yeah, you weren't allowed to try on the costume before buying so it was all about guessing).  I decided on a costume that was a free size (like socks, should fit anyone) and was the cheapest one there.  It was a little short, but I stretched it out over the week before Halloween.  

Yep that's me, the impractical skirt-wearing sailor.

There was a giant costume parade at Kansai Gaidai, and since I had to run home after class to change into my costume, I didn't get to be a part of it.  But while standing back in the sidelines, I had a bunch of Japanese people come up to me and ask if I could take a picture with them.  I felt like a celebrity! The more outgoing ones came directly up to me to ask for a picture, but the more shy ones approached Take and asked him to ask me if they could get a picture.  I took at least 20 pictures with some randoms that I will probably never see.  I think it was a mix of the whole blonde/short skirt thing that made them want pictures.  Oh and it wasn't just guys, but girls too! They just wanted pictures with me! If you ever want to see my ego inflate, just ask to take a picture with me!

After that we went downtown again.  The club Onzieme was holding a bargain: come with a costume, free cover.  That is a wicked deal, since cover in Japan is usually around $25 for girls, $40 for guys (sucks it guys!).  So me and the guys all went downtown dressed up:

Left to Right: Canadian, American, Italian, Mexican, Pole, Swede and another Canadian.

Diversity at it's finest! But where are the Japanese?

The club was filled mostly with Japanese people.  I think that we may have been the only international people there.  I thought that the Japanese would be really shy in the club, but they were pretty outgoing and ready to dance with us! Unfortunately at this club, saying the DJ was ichiban didn't get you any sort of a deal on drinks.  Maybe next time, it's always worth a try!  They played pretty good music, and the inside was like a laser light show, not like any club I've been to in Canada (at least not in Ottawa).  The DJ's were all dressed like SuperMario characters, and it was my goal by the end of the night to get a picture with them.

Success!

It was a beautiful night.  We lost some friends somehome in the night, but we all knew to meet up at the Drunks Haven at 5:00 am: MacDonald's.  I had my first McDonald's breakfast (which is a beautiful thing, can't wait to have more this weekend).  I was home by 7:00 am, and I was supposed to go see a Takarazuka (a musical play where all the roles are done by female actors) play at 9:30 am, but my drunk body was incapable of waking up.  So I missed out on that cultural experience.  On Sunday, the actually Halloween, me and the running club did a 10 km run! I was still recovering from a cold, but I had to lead the group.  My lungs were BURNING by the end, but I made it! I did the whole thing without stopping! And the best part is there was a BBQ waiting for us at the end of the run.  Yes!  Thank you Prof. Tracey for the wonderful meal, I had a blast, and it was a wonderful end to my wonderful Japanese October.

Clearly I'm the only one loving life right now

All right now that this post is done, I'm going to continue to enjoy my umiboshi and set up another motorcyle ride.

Peace and Love!