Our trek to Kyoto

Well, Friday I went to Kyoto, and, for that matter, Saturday as well. On Friday almost all the new international students went to Kyoto as part of a tour set up by the university… that is, depending on how broadly you define the word “tour.” We were split up into groups (my group consisted Daniel, Tommy, and Niklas from Sweden Arum from South Korea, and Kara from Minnesota) and assigned a guide (a Kansai Gaidai student). Our guide, however, did not seem to have much idea where to go and wasn’t terribly familiar with the workings of the Kyoto rail system, so we ended up getting lost a couple of times. We were fortunate to run into another international student who knew a little bit more about the area and that helped.

Eventually, we made it to Fushiminari Shrine, which is famous for its thousands of tori, which are those iconic red gates you might see in a picture of Japan in a tourbook or some such thing. The tori are all placed together along the paths that wind up the mountain through a forest, creating a kind of tunnel.


From left to right: Our guide, Arum, Evan, Kara, Daniel, Niklas, Tommy. Everyone's camera was used to take a similar picture, so I was getting bored with the same ol' facial expression. This was an unfortunate variation ;-)



Entering the shrine, we came upon a washing station. In Shinto (which, if I recall correctly, means something like “way of the gods”), purification is very important so at the entrance to most or all shrines is a basin with water and ladels. Before entering, it is customary to wash ones hands and mouth with the water. So we all stopped at the basin to do some purification before climbing the mountain (but, as fate would have it, the climb would turn out to be quite purifying…)


Note: This is not the washing basin at Fushiminari, but a washing basin I saw at another shrine near Ginkakuji

Also near the entrance was a place where persons could get their fortunes on a slip of paper. Some of the others did this, but, since it was in Japanese, we were mostly out of luck in understanding them. I believe the idea is that if one receives a negative fortune, one ties it to a nearby tree or post, thus parting with that unfortunate future.

Fushiminari is a shrine to the fox god, and so on either side of one of the first tori were two fox statues. I am not sure if they were guarding the way or what their function was. I actually would love to get a book (or maybe I’ll just talk to a professor at Kansai Gaidai) about the iconography of Shinto shrines and Buddhist Temples in Japan.



We passed through and began the climb up. The sun was setting and so we tried not to tarry too long taking tons of pictures, but, of course, we did. One of the interesting things about each of the tori is that they are all owned by some one or some family and have to be replaced every 30 years I believe (because the wood rots due to the humidity). I have no idea how expensive this must be, but I think it’s safe to assume that it is something only the very wealthy can do.

Along the path there are various shrines (and the ubiquitous vending machines – I suppose some, including some Japanese vending companies, would say that Coca-Cola is the nectar of the gods), to which persons make trips to make offerings and prayers for good fortune or cures to ailments.

Towards the top of the climb, there is an overlook from which all of Kyoto can be seen. It was dusk when we reached this point and the city was beginning to light up.



At this point a Japanese woman stopped and directed us (as the path forked into three directions) to what she said was the top. So we made our way in that direction up a very difficult climb and finally reached the peak. We were hoping to be able to get a better view of the city from this point, but trees and a building blocked any view may have had. Legs were aching, and many were complaining. We had all bundled up for the trip, but none were without sweat by the top. Some commented that it was getting warmer, but the sun had set. It was not an external change, but an internal one. Who sees this?

It began to rain lightly for our descent, and one girl had a wool coat, which apparently does not mix with rain and so we, with gravity as both an aid and a danger on the slippery steps, made our way down quickly.

I was hoping we might stop somewhere in Kyoto to eat as there was no shortage of places, but the others elected to return back Hirakata and go to the conveyer belt sushi place again (it’s fairly inexpensive and good, so why not).


From Left to Right: Tommy (Sweden), Kara (Minnesota), Daniel (Sweden), Me, Arum (Korea), Niklas (Sweden)

The next day, I woke up with my legs aching from all the walking the day previous. But, I really wanted to go back to Kyoto to see some temples and begin to get oriented in the city (as we only saw a very very very small part). So I toughed it out and went back.

I was hoping to start my trek at Kyoto station. After some confusion about doubling back on the rail system (as there express and local trains, sometimes it would seem advantageous to take an express past one’s destination and then go back a couple of stops, but occasionally one has to pay for a transfer, and I’m frugal so I opted to walk instead), I arrived at Kyoto station, which, as I had heard, was gigantic. Within this train station, there is a movie theater, a department store (like a 6 story department store, not like a JC Penney in a local mall back home), and all sorts of other things. I was mostly interested in stopping at the Tourist Information place and picking up some maps and information about bus schedules. So, after getting some info and a donut from Mister Donut, I found a bus and headed off to Ginkakuji.



Ginkakuji is known as the “silver pavilion temple,” but this is a misnomer. There is nothing, nor was there ever, anything silver about it. It was simply named that to differentiate it from Kinkakuji (The Gold Pavilion Temple). I got there sometime around 1:00 and paid the admission fee (500 yen) and made my way in. Ginkakuji has beautifully kept gardens, mixing architecture, rock elements, plants and ponds into a beautiful arrangement. I made my way through slowly, trying to be mindful of all I was experiencing.









The temple was a temple in the Rinzai lineage of Zen Buddhism. I am not sure if it is still an active temple, though. I did not see any monks, but it is possible they were hiding away in the part of the temple off limits to tourists. And of course, what attraction is complete without a gift shop… apparently not even a temple.

I had hoped to visit another temple as well, but it was nearing three and I was hoping to take care of one more thing downtown before heading back home to go out with some friends for dinner. So I began back towards a bus stop. Before doing so, though, I picked up a free sample of something from some sweet shop. It was a sweet, cinnamon jelly (from talking with others, I would guess it’s made of red beans or something) wrapped in a soft something. Whatever it was, it was absolutely delicious, and I would like to find more of it.

Back towards downtown, I was looking for a record shop to buy some concert tickets to a show coming up in Kyoto. It was in some shopping district that has kilometers of covered roads (well, I guess it’s not too dissimilar to an indoor mall), and though I had a hand-drawn map (read: bad idea), I had no idea where to go. Fortunately, I was able to ask some people for directions to landmarks near the shop and was able to locate it. For the most part, I have yet to really feel lost thus far in Japan. By lost I mean the feeling of not only being in the “wrong place,” but also feeling unable to find one’s destination.





I bought the tickets (Joanna Newsom on Feb. 19 in Kyoto – I’m stoked!) and headed back home. Not having a cell phone, it is always an uncertainty as to whether I’ll be able to meet up with the people I want to or not. Fortunately, I ran into my friend Daniel in the dorm and we headed to meet a group for dinner.

The restaurant we went to was near the Seminar Houses and served Okonomiyaki, which is a mixture of lettuce, egg and some other things (this is actually only a guess, I’m not exactly sure what goes into it) and your choice of something (like shrimp or vegetables or meat of some kind) and then covered in some sauce and cooked (like a pancake). I had one with Shrimp (Ebi). This was actually pretty good, except there were occasionally bites of something that didn’t quite suit me. It’s a taste I encountered the other night when I unwittingly ate octopus. Oh, I didn’t tell you this story did I.

I was out and about in Makino (an area right by the Seminar Houses), hungry and looking for something to eat (tonight is the first night we are allowed to cook in the kitchen). I saw this one guy in a stall wide enough only for him frying up some balls of something. I was hungry, and they didn’t look too bad and so I got some and took them back home. I bit into it and it was chewy and then there were tough bits to it. It didn’t taste too pleasant, and the texture was a mix of too chewy and too tough. I ate four and then decided I had no desire to finish the rest. After digging around on the internet, I have since determined that I was eating octopus (a food called takoyaki). So I can now tell you quite objectively that I do not like octopus.

Today was the day that the homestay kids moved off to live with their host families. My best friend here, Daniel, left, but we have a class together so I’ll still be certain to see him regularly.

Speaking of classes, I registered on Thursday and, after being fortunate in drawing lots (#97 out of over 400), I got all the classes I wanted – Death in East Asian Thought and Sumi-e (brush painting). I also found out yesterday that I made it into level 2 of Japanese! I’m really glad about this. One semester of Japanese at Elon covers half of what level one does here (Lessons 1-4 in Genki vs. Lessons 1-9 – of course they meet every day of the week), and so I was worried that I would be in level one and spend half the class repeating what I already know. So over January I started studying and got through lesson 8 in Genki, albeit not absorbing as well as I had lessons 1-4 in class. So Level 2 should be a little difficult, but I’m glad I’ll be challenged and hopefully make some big improvements in Japanese.

That’s about all for now; I hope I’ll be able to take some film this week of my journey to or from school and of the Seminar House and maybe I’ll have a video tour of the immediate area in the next couple of weeks for you all, but that’s all time-dependent.

Culture Shock like Lightning Bolts!

こんにちは！ (Good Afternoon!)

First, a little verse…

Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins?
Who finds us here circling, bewildered, like atoms?
Who comes to a spring thirsty
And sees the moon reflected in it?
Who, like Jacob blind with grief and age,
Smells the shirt of his lost son
And can see again?
Who lets a bucket down and brings up
A flowing prophet? Or like Moses goes for fire
And finds what burns inside the sunrise?

Jesus slips into a house to escape enemies,
And opens a door to the other world.
Solomon cuts open a fish, and there’s a gold ring.
Omar storms in to kill the prophet
And leaves with blessings.
Chase a deer and end up everywhere!
An oyster opens his mouth to swallow one drop
Now there’s a pearl.

A vagrant wanders empty ruins.
Suddenly he’s wealthy.

Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things
Have gone with others. Unfold
Your own myth, without complicated explanation
So everyone will understand the passage,
We have opened you.

Start walking toward Shams. Your legs will get heavy
And tired. Then comes a moment
Of feeling the wings you’ve grown,
Lifting.
(Rumi)

I begin with this poem, entitled “Unfold your own myth” by Jalaladin Rumi, because it is with this spirit that I am trying to approach my study in Japan. I come here with, I think, few expectations, but with what expectations I do have, I am making myself open to finding the unexpected. That is to say that even though the journey may take me in to the realm of the unknown, the frightening, and sometimes delightfully surprising, ultimately I think my time here will bear good fruit, even if it is an apple where I thought there would be a pear.

Thus far, I have experienced a great deal of fear and excitement. After the fourteen hour plane ride from Detroit, through which the sat fixed above the horizon, never giving in to night, we finally arrived in Kansai International Airport in Osaka. Here the sun gave in to darkness. Riding on the bus (which took 90 minutes – Kansai Int’l Airport is actually some 36km from Osaka, and it’s even further to Hirakata-shi), I tried to stay awake. We passed billboard after billboard, all filled with kanji (Chinese characters) I could not understand. At this point, I began to realize that I am not in Kansas anymore. Stripped of the security of friends and family and a language I am comfortable with, my mind began racing. Uncertainties and doubts began to fill me.

We arrived at Seminar House 4, my home in Japan, at around 8pm (Osaka time). Having not but closed my eyes for perhaps 30-40 minutes on the plane, I was quite dazed and confused. For some strange reason, the people who had been there for the Fall semester announced to us that they would be giving us, exhausted though we were, a tour of the area in 15 minutes. Stranger still, I decided to go. So we walked around and I saw some places but I didn’t remember any of it.

I did not have much difficulty sleeping (on my futon pictured below), even though I was beginning to feel completely out of place. I woke up at about 6 in the morning and, despite still being tired, could not get back to sleep. I could only think of all that I needed to do this week, and all the worries and great doubts I was beginning to have.



But my fears have begun to come to rest. The first day (Sunday), we had no obligations and I met a few people down in the dining room who were going to go out exploring. I decided I’d go along and we walked to Makino Station (the closest rail station). I began to notice how many people ride bikes here. Everyone does. There are many scooters too. That’s not to say that people don’t drive, because there’s a fair share of that too, but bicycles seem to be the common mode of transportation (especially for students). While near Makino station, a number of children rode by us (5 tall, white guys) and waved and said “Hey” and “How are you?” They were very enthusiastic and seemed happy when we waved back at them. There was a Mister Donut across the street, so the guys went in there and got donuts. We also stopped at various vending machines to take pictures of all the crazy things you can get in vending machines here. Cold sodas, hot coffee… not too unusual, right? Well then there’s also cigarettes, hot noodles, and crazy drinks – a Kit Kat drink?

After Makino Station, we went back down to do some shopping along the main drag nearby (which also goes by campus). We got some groceries and then went down the street to a place beloved by the students here, a ramen place that served large bowls of ramen for 180 yen ($1.49). It had a Waffle House vibe to it.

Later in the day we took a bus to the main part of Hirakata-shi, which is where there is a bunch of shopping. Imagine an American shopping center, like with hundreds of stores, packed into a space an 1/6 the size. Aside from the language difference, walking around the stores didn’t feel any different from shopping in America. Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC? Yeah, all here. Not exactly my place, but the other guys needed some items.



We walked back, through a labyrinth of houses. Fortunately, one of my companions had a GPS and successfully led us through, albeit with many moments of doubt, to our dorm.

The next day I wandered about the area and through campus. The campus here is really pretty. Here are some pictures.




Like Elon, they have a fountain. Unlike Elon, their fountain doesn't shoot 70 feet in the air. They also let their grass brown in the winter. It's actually quite pretty with the brownish-red bushes.



Now get ready for some cool stuff...



So, that's cool-looking, but look at those dots on the glass at the top.




That's right: they're photovoltaic cells... solar cells! Pretty nifty. And there's a display nearby that indicates something about them (how much power they're generating or something, I can't yet decipher what's going on with it. I can tell you that it's showing that no power was being generated because it was a cloudy day).



After all this walking (a good few miles) I decided that I needed a bike. Another girl was looking for one too, so we set off to find one. I thought I knew where a bike shop was, but we couldn’t seem to find it. Up until that point, the only Japanese I had used was the very basic, “Sumimasen,” “Ohayoo Gozaimasu,” “Arigatoo Gozaimasu,” as I had been pretty nervous about trying anything else. But we needed bikes so I asked one woman if she knew where we could buy used bikes (Doko de chuuko no jitensha o kaimasu ka? – I’m not sure if this is 100% accurate or sounds right, but the message got through). She had no idea, so we asked another woman and she pointed us to a bike shop, but she wasn’t sure if they had used bikes. We had passed by a shop that sold motorcycles earlier, but we didn’t think they had bikes. On our second pass, though, we noticed a few bikes and were able to communicate with the woman and buy bikes. I tried to negotiate down the price on my bike, but she would only go so far as to knock off the taxes, which was cool with me. So I now have a sweet yellow bike with a headlight, a basket, and a bell (for 6500 yen, ~$53). It fits me quite well (which is surprising given my height) and rides really smoothly. I'll post a picture some other time.

On Tuesday, I ventured out early to the university and registered my bike and stopped in at the Seattle’s Best Coffee on campus (weird, right?). I noticed they had muffins, and being the muffin-lover that I am, took a look at their offerings. They had a green tea chocolate muffin. Now, green tea and chocolate has been known to be a great flavor combination since a wily alchemist in the late Qin Dynasty in China stumbled upon it. But this muffin tasted funny. I don’t think there was enough chocolate (not like those Cappucino Chocolate muffins back at Acorn). I think my tongue just needs to do a gestalt shift to get used to the tastes here.

After my foray into the world of uniquely Japanese breakfast foods (yeah, I know a muffin isn’t really Japanese), I took the language placement exam. This will decide what level of Japanese I'll be taking. The listening comprehension was ridiculously difficult. I wasn’t the only one who thought so either. But the rest of the exam wasn’t bad. I feel pretty good with how I did, I just hope I did well enough to squeeze into level 2 (so I’m not stuck repeating things I already know, and so I can get much further ahead in my Japanese). But I'm sure it'll be fine either way.

Today was the day we drew lots for registration (which is tomorrow). For this we eached reached our hand into a box of papers and picked out a number. This paper determines at what point in the queue we're registered. I picked #97 out of 408 I think, so I should be able to get all the classes I want.

Aside from that, I met my speaking partner today. Her name is Yukie. She was pretty nervous about meeting me, so she brought over a number of her friends, who all commented on how blue my eyes are. They were all very nice and it was fun to try to hurdle over the obstacles to communication. I was really nervous, so I didn't really use my Japanese a lot. I should have, but now that I think the ice has been broken it should be easier next time.


(Me and Yukie)

Tonight my friend from Sweden, Daniel, invited me to dinner with him and three other guys from Sweden. We went to a conveyer belt restaurant. Here, food comes by each table on a conveyer belt and you pick what you want off it. You then pay about 105 yen ($0.85-0.90) for each plate you get. The portions on each are small, but I had my fill after three (granted others got 9 or so).





That's one of the things about being here at Kansai Gaidai that I've really enjoyed. I feel very blessed for it actually. I have had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. Today I met two girls from South Korea who live in Sem. 4 with me. There's also a girl from South Africa, there's a few from Germany, there's a few from Sweden, some from the UK, a guy down the hall from Lithuania. It's really exciting.

Well, I think that's all for now. Friday I go to Kyoto, so I'll have a post about that forthcoming. I might also compile a post of all the interesting vending machines I'm seeing, and another with a tour of Seminar House 4 (maybe a video version?).

Also, I know this post was incredibly long. Thank you for reading it. I know there were probably many dry, boring details I included that I didn't need to. I'm new to this whole blog thing, so I'm not sure what to include or what not to, so if you have any thoughts or think I should focus on particular things, let me know.