And what better prologue is there to talking about a movie about than a tale of a failure of communication.
The other day I went grocery shopping with my friend from South Korea, Arum. She and I bought a large (5 kilo) bag of rice. But other than that, I was hoping to buy sugar with which I planned on sweetening some tea. I bought sugar (or what I thought was sugar), and returned back to the dormitory to try it out. Now, I have, for one reason or another (perhaps illiteracy, perhaps sheer lack) I have been unable to find black tea with which to make sweet tea (which was my goal all along). So I bought some organic barley tea the other day, which was pictured on ice in a tropical locale. I am quite certain that I bought this simply because of the colorful packaging and picture resembling what I know and love as tea, not because I believed there would be any resemblance. So I was brewing up this barley tea (strange, eh) and began adding some sugar. I added a few spoonfuls, stirred it and brought out a spoonful to taste its sweetness. I gulped it down, and thought to myself, “My, this barley tea sure is salty.” Only after a few moments did it dawn on me that what I thought to be sugar was actually salt and I was salting my tea and not adding sugar to it. It should be noted that this mishap was not for lack of Japanese knowledge (I know the words for sugar and salt and can read both… at least I think I can), but was out of mere carelessness.
Now before I talk about Osaka, I should do a bit to clear up some confusion. I think some have the impression that I am studying in Osaka. This is both true and false. Kansai Gaidai University is in Osaka Prefecture (akin to the US’ counties or states), but it is not in Osaka city (which was I am referring to whenever I say “Osaka”). Rather, KG and my Seminar House (the dorm where I live) are located in a city in between Osaka and Kyoto named Hirakata.
So we arrived in Osaka and found the theater (on the 8th and 9th floors of a very tall building) and bought our tickets. We had about an hour and a half before the movie, so we went out to buy some dinner. And what did we find but a Subway (yes, the sandwich shop). So we indulged our (mostly) western tastes in something familiar (I had a vegetable sandwich that was delightful) and inexpensive. Could it be that a western chain is cheaper in the 2nd most expensive city in the world, I think so.
After lingering for a few minutes after dinner for some of our kids to get their ice cream fix, we returned to the theater.
The movie, which was almost all in Japanese, was largely incomprehensible (in terms of dialogue), but this didn’t keep me from understanding the story or what was going on with the characters (thanks in part to some great acting)… I could even deduce some of the dialogue even if I couldn’t catch many words.
Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the movie going experience was how quiet it was. In the silences before the opening preview, I didn’t hear anyone shift in their seat, munch on popcorn (they had it, but must have been eating with, pardon my terrible stereotype, ninja-like stealth), whisper to their neighbor. This seemed to be the atmosphere throughout the movie though, because of the tragic nature of the film, my friends reported that some were crying (I was tearing up quite a bit too).
After this experience, we didn’t know what to do. The night was young (~9:30) and we were in a major metropolitan city at the peak of our youth. But we had no idea what to do, so we returned to Hirakata and found an izakaya near campus.
As I think I’ve mentioned before, an izakaya is the equivalent of a Japanese tavern. You sit on the floor around a low table and can order all sorts of food (from sashimi to French fries) and drinks. I also commented before that Japan seems to close down early. This is not actually the case. There are many of these izakayas throughout all neighborhoods I have traveled through, but they are not the “bumping” clubs and bars of the west, but quiet hangouts open late.
My friends, Daniel (who can't take a good picture it seems), Arum (who is afraid of having her picture taken), and Tommy (a very funny guy) at the izakaya on Friday night.
We had the second floor to ourselves, and we ordered some food and drinks and spent a couple of great hours talking and laughing and having a good time.
On Saturday, I took the Sabbath to rest and catch up on some homework. This was nice.
On Sunday, I went with my friend Kara to Nara. Connecting to another train line in Kyoto, we arrived in Nara in about an hour. Going to Nara, I expected two things – some deer and a giant Buddha. We found these things came in larger proportions than we realized.
Not ten minutes out the station and we spotted the first of what would be many many free-roaming deer. Some children were feeding two deer alongside a path. Nara is famous for its deer which roam freely throughout the very large park district of the city. The reason for this is that there is a local legend that the god of the famous Shinto shrine in the area, Kasuga Taisha, rode in on a white deer. From then on, deer have been revered here, leading to a tribe of literally thousands of deer that just hang out here.
After walking a bit further, we began to realize how many deer there were – lots! And they are all very tame and people-friendly (as people feed them). We could go up to deer and pet them without them flinching or even seeming to care. It was very cool to see this kind of interspecies community. I wonder what other interspecies communities are possible. Or, perhaps, I wonder how interspecies communities can be brought back to prevalence. Our ancestors of old had to live in harmony with the forces of the wild, while now we strive to keep all things wild outside the city gates, cordoning ourselves off from “nature.” This gate, of course, is illusory.
a deer stands to pose with a group for photo
We arrived at Todaiji, which features the two guardian gods I mentioned in my previous post, only in larger form, and the largest wooden structure in the world. This massive temple is the largest wooden structure in the world.
The temple, being so big, houses the largest Buddha in Japan (Daibutsu – literally, Big Buddha), which simply has to be seen to be believed. Kara and I stopped at the massive figure, made a prayer for the awakening of the Compassionate One within all beings, and continued around the Buddha and his many attendant Bodhisattvas (this a term assigned to those who, at the gates of Nirvana, step back to show others the way).
We returned to the station to find an ATM and grab a quick lunch (Donburi) before going to the National Museum, which houses a great collection of ancient Buddhist statues and art. It’s very hard to look at a figure in front of one and know (in that truly knowing way) something to be 1,200 years old. It is hard to even imagine my own twenty years, let alone the years of many beings great and small that have come and gone in the lifetime of a wooden carving of Buddha, or how many statues will come and go in the lifetime of the earth, or how many earths will come and go in the course of time.
We walked around Nara for a while, admiring the deer, stopped in a Kasuga Taisha shrine for a moment, and, with tired legs, returned to the train station to get back to Hirakata by 6:30.
Unfortunately I spent Sunday night much like Saturday night, by myself and bored. I spent a good while trying to figure out what to do Monday (Monday was a national holiday for Foundation Day which commemorates… I don’t know what). Having done temple after temple after temple in my sightseeing and spending so much time in the city, I wanted none of that.
I began to long for trees and fresh air, having taken for granted growing up in a house in the woods where the trees greeted me every morning in every season right outside the living. So in the morning, I put a book of poetry in my pack and took off, determined to hike up Daimonji, a hill above Kyoto with the kanji (Chinese character) for “big” carved into its face.
I arrived at Ginkakuji, behind of which the trail began, and, with little difficulty, was able to find the trailhead, despite the lack of signs to it. I found myself amongst others, almost all Japanese (which is usually the case, though occasionally at touristy places there will be another foreigner in the crowd) of all ages (8-80) hiking up and down the mountain (it’s not technically a mountain). As I hiked up, every person I passed greeted me with
a smile and a “Konnichiwa” (Good afternoon). This had been the first time I had been greeted by strangers while out and about.
The climb was tough, but it wasn't long, as I made it to the top in 45 minutes. I sat down and drank some cool tea and ate some snacks and enjoyed the breathtaking view. It was so broad, it was impossible to take a good picture.
I spent about an hour or so just hanging around, sitting, watching, and leisurely reading through a book of poems my friend Mike Neely had given me before my departure.
If you could turn your heart
into a cowstall,
Christ would be born again on earth!-Angelius Silesius
I continued up the open side of the mountain to a path that continued on into the woods above. I did not know where this led, as there was no map, so I began following it out of curiosity. I made my way along the path which seemed to follow the ridgeline until I came to a clearing with benches where a couple of people were sitting down and talking. They made room for me and I sat to rest and look out again, this time being able to see another city on the other side of some hills from Kyoto. After a while, the man to my right pulled out some chocolate covered peanuts from his pack and passed them around for all of us to enjoy. This was a great snack, and I was impressed with the atmosphere of kinship among hikers.
After a while, I decided that while the trail continued I ought to head back, as I did not want to be lost in the forest after sunset. I returned and got back to Hirakata in time to make some spaghetti for dinner.
So far this week has been pretty easy and fun (it's already Friday tomorrow!). My classes are fairly easy, though Japanese keeps me challenged. My class, "Death in East Asian Thought," has largely been a disappointment, as the professor is rather spacy and jumps around so much there that is no seeming coherence. The class is more a gathering of people who read an article and then superficially "discuss" it (while being interuppted by the professor every other word) without any clear question or framework. I'm still hoping I can drive the class in certain directions and ask good questions to the class to compensate for the lack of such things on the part of the professor.
And last night I went to a small cafe where a couple of people from KG were playing guitars and singing (including the Italian guy who lives next door to me). It was a fun outing, but the highlight was probably when one of the guys (who is Scottish with a strong Scottish accent) played an acoustic version of "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. Yes, that was quite hilarious.
And tomorrow is the beginning of the weekend. During the day Saturday I'm learning to roll sushi, so that will be quite awesome (I'll bring back that skill to the states... I also ought to figure out Donburi and Okonomiyaki, both of which should be easy enough). I've also already made plans on Saturday night so I won't be left doing nothing (though so far the plans have not progressed beyond "getting together with friends and doing something"). And I was going to a pizza party that my speaking partner invited me to tomorrow night, but that, unfortunately has been cancelled. Alas, I will find someting.
That's about all for now and from here. I might do another quick update on Saturday with something. Until then, さようなら (sayoonara).
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