Each day passes so easily, almost too easily. Quickly the moments are filled when I planned to spend the time studying or taking a walk around the little side streets of Kyoto. However, I have decided to be more aware of my time for at least this week.
Orion and I meditated yesterday morning (Sunday) at the same temple (Shokokuji) next to campus. Again it was excellent and we are still searching for a place to go to every morning.
Cathryn cooked Ayano and I lunch yesterday and then Orion took the three of us to a little kimono/yukata store to by the most loveliest yukatas at a reasonable price. (We have been all wanting to get them for the Gion matsuri on July 17.)
This week, I have most of my afternoons free and plan to prepare for a serious grammar test this Friday. As I realized that today is my two-month mark in Japan, it is clear to me that four months is simply too short a period of time. Everything is no longer so scary or so foreign; however, it is still so new. It feels fresh and exciting as at the start of a new relationship. To truly assimilate to a new place, it is not necessary to reach a place were day-to-day life feels less crisp and a little more soft and comfortable like a warm winter sweater and a cup tea? However, before that time, the happiness I feel and the beauty of this new culture is certainly enchanting.
Monday, May 28, 2007
My birthday!!!
I had such a wonderful birthday weekend! Mom and Anne took me out to cake in the afternoon and then a delicious dinner on Thursday before they left. I had parfaits with Ayano, Cathryn and my EWS friends Friday afternoon. Saturday morning Rachel and I went rice planting What a unique experience!
And Saturday, I threw myself another birthday party. We had a pot luck dinner with about 15 people in my tiny room. Everyone cooked such delicious food and there was even a pile of Mister Donut donuts with birthday candles and singing. Everyone gave me a little Happy Birthday card with a personal message, pretty hair clips, and a lovely navy summer sweater! After dinner, Orion helped me with a tea tasting: genmaicha, puhyr (sp?), macha, and the homemade sencha mom and Anne and I had made the week before. Afterwards, a smaller group of us headed to a club called "World" on Kiyamachi were we danced for many hours into the night. It was a bit of an odd club but we had a good time since we were all together.
On Sunday, we went to Arashiyama to a boat matsuri (festival). We actually rented boats (Grace, Orion, Cathryn, Ayano, and Rachel) and we rowed around this wonderful river while certain special boats were performing Heian period dancing and playing koto music. It was a wonderful day out in the sunshine.
Lastly, on Monday, at EWS, my subarashii Japanese friends bought me a cheesecake, made me a string of paper garland, and sang happy birthday! After class ended, we went to sing karaoke, which I love!
Perhaps it is because we are so far away from home, but friends have become quite dear here in a very short period of time. I believe it was the same in Paris. The thoughtfulness of those I have surrounded myself with here is so striking, I find myself in a sustained state of happy awe.
And Saturday, I threw myself another birthday party. We had a pot luck dinner with about 15 people in my tiny room. Everyone cooked such delicious food and there was even a pile of Mister Donut donuts with birthday candles and singing. Everyone gave me a little Happy Birthday card with a personal message, pretty hair clips, and a lovely navy summer sweater! After dinner, Orion helped me with a tea tasting: genmaicha, puhyr (sp?), macha, and the homemade sencha mom and Anne and I had made the week before. Afterwards, a smaller group of us headed to a club called "World" on Kiyamachi were we danced for many hours into the night. It was a bit of an odd club but we had a good time since we were all together.
On Sunday, we went to Arashiyama to a boat matsuri (festival). We actually rented boats (Grace, Orion, Cathryn, Ayano, and Rachel) and we rowed around this wonderful river while certain special boats were performing Heian period dancing and playing koto music. It was a wonderful day out in the sunshine.
Lastly, on Monday, at EWS, my subarashii Japanese friends bought me a cheesecake, made me a string of paper garland, and sang happy birthday! After class ended, we went to sing karaoke, which I love!
Perhaps it is because we are so far away from home, but friends have become quite dear here in a very short period of time. I believe it was the same in Paris. The thoughtfulness of those I have surrounded myself with here is so striking, I find myself in a sustained state of happy awe.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Rice Planting (taue)
I took Rachel on a crazy adventure with me to go rice planting! This activity involves wading knee deep in muddy water and sinking well past our ankles in mud while planting little stalks of rice into the mud. A very unique and wonderful experience! Although I found out about the event from Japanese students on Doshisha campus, there were mostly Japanese families there with lots of children. It was great to see how the families interact and participate in a family oriented event. They prepared us a delicious vegetarian lunch as well. A good morning.
Our EWS Circle
Being part of this EWS circle in Japan has been such a rewarding experience. We regularly go out with our Japanese friends and speak an odd mixture of English and Japanese. Friday, after mom and Anne left, Ayano, Cathryn and I ate delicious parfaits at tsujiri, supposedly the most famous parfait mise in Kyoto, with Taro, Marie, Daiki, Hama, and Maya.
Afterwards, Hama, Maya, and the three of us went bowling! and to dinner at a good pasta house. A good day.
Afterwards, Hama, Maya, and the three of us went bowling! and to dinner at a good pasta house. A good day.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Mom and Anne's trip
Mom and Anne were here in Kyoto with me from Tuesday evening 5/8 until Friday morning 5/18. We had such a wonderful time together! and I think that they really enjoyed Kyoto. (I hope!) While I was in class each morning, they toured a different temple and then we would meet for lunch and an afternoon adventure. Each day was better than the last and mom said that she would not be able to pick the best moment. In brief:
5/8 (Tues) arrived.
5/9 (Wed) Toji temple, lunch on campus, Philosopher's walk and Ginkakuji temple; dinner at home in my room.
5/10 (Thurs) Botanical gardens in the only rainy day, lunch at a little cafe, dinner with Ayano and Cathryn in Porta.
5/11 (Fri) Mom and Anne spent the day on rented bikes touring the city. (Ryoanji, Kinkakuji, Kamogawa)
5/12 (Sat) Tea picking, tasting, making with a delicious lunch in Wasuka near Uji!
5/13 (Sun) Spent Mother's day in Hiei near Yase with Rachel - hiking, outdoor flower garden/museum, temple; dinner at home in my room.
5/14 (Mon) Nanzenji temple, lunch on campus, Candy Museum, shopping, dinner at Hamac de Paradis
5/15 (Tue) lunch on campus, Fushimi-inari. Hiked up a long mountain underneath a bridge of Toris. It was excellent!
5/16 (Wed) Shopping in the morning, touring Higashiyama with Anne's student's mother's friend from Kyoto. Dinner on the 11th floor Isetan departo!
5/17 (Thurs) Shopping, lunch on campus, cake at Lipton cake store, more shopping, dinner at a lovely Japanese traditional restaurant near Kyoto eki. Anne and I were in a bit over our heads but we ate it all!
5/18 (Fri) かなしいいいいい！ I took mom and Anne to the bus terminal to Kansai Kukou before class began and they departed.
It was a very full and fulfilling trip. Because we took several trips to the outskirts and outside the city, it was refreshing for me to be around so much greenery, and was in some ways similar to Koyasan.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
New Purchases
In addition to A LOT of new clothes and shoes, I made a very important (although expensive) purchase - a denshijisho. This is an electronic Japanese-English dictionary and I can also draw the kanji onto the screen making reading books in Japanese a possibility for the first time!
Jazz in Japan
Last Friday and Saturday I spent exploring the jazz scene in Japan. On Friday, a friend and I went to an outdoor jazz festival in a small nearby city (Takastuki). For 7 hours, we wandered from cafe, to temple, to bar, to park listening to the most wonderful jazz, bossa nova, blues, and fusion music. Saturday night we had a girls night out in Kyoto and spent the evening sipping delicious drinks in a tiny basement jazz piano bar we all decided that we would be frequenting much more often.
Golden Week - Ikebana
Before Koya-san, Ayano, Cathryn, myself, and several others spent a day in Oosaka. In addition to much shopping, we saw a wonderful ikebana show in the Takashimaya department store. Ikebana is such a beautiful art. Moreover, it was striking to see how it is being modernized in Japan with electronics, odd colors, and certain artificial elements.
A first
On the way to Koya-san we ate at a fast-food, stand-up noodle restaurant. It was such an interesting experience to be slurping noodles alongside business men and other travelers while standing. I must admit I prefer to dine sitting down.
Golden Week - Koya-san
This past week was "Golden Week," which means all students have a week off from school. Many of the UC students traveled to Tokyo. Friends Cathryn, Rachel, and I took a different path, and traveled to a small, magical, mountain village called Koya-san. To arrive there we traveled first by JR, then chikatetsu, next train, followed by a cable car, and finally a bus! There, we spent three days and two nights in a Shingon Buddhist temple where we were served the most amazing dinners and breakfasts in our room by monks-in-training. They also laid our futons out for us at night and prepared tea for us as well. We awoke early in the morning for service from 6-7:15 am. The monks chanted the entire time and we gave symbolic offerings of tea and incense while another monk prepared a fire. Afterwards the head monk asked us back to his quarters for tea and mochi. We chatted for sometime with the other monks and I made several connections and received some recommendations for my dissertation research. Excellent!
Koya-san is such a gentle place. The people there are incredibly kind, gentle, and welcoming. This village, three thousand feet into a deep green mountain, brought such a peace and quietness to me and the busy, city life we lead in Kyoto.
We were fortunate and were able to participate and in special mandala ritual that only occurs twice a year. We were inside a large temple, in the dark, blindfolded, our hands twisted in a mudra linking body and spirit on a lotus leaf, and chanting "omsamaeosatobun" over and over again, while we dropped flowers onto a mandala. It was quite powerful I must say and supposedly we are all one step closer to becoming a monk!
As a final note, the most important aspect of the trip to me was perhaps less significant to the overall peace I felt while I was there and am attempting to keep with me now. The monks let me rake the rocks! I was overjoyed. Cathryn took several pictures and I will put them on Flickr as soon as possible. Honestly, I would be quite content in my life if I lived in a temple and was the "rock raker." So much for my PhD, I've decided to become a rock raker!
I plan to return to Koya-san again before these four months are over.
Koya-san is such a gentle place. The people there are incredibly kind, gentle, and welcoming. This village, three thousand feet into a deep green mountain, brought such a peace and quietness to me and the busy, city life we lead in Kyoto.
We were fortunate and were able to participate and in special mandala ritual that only occurs twice a year. We were inside a large temple, in the dark, blindfolded, our hands twisted in a mudra linking body and spirit on a lotus leaf, and chanting "omsamaeosatobun" over and over again, while we dropped flowers onto a mandala. It was quite powerful I must say and supposedly we are all one step closer to becoming a monk!
As a final note, the most important aspect of the trip to me was perhaps less significant to the overall peace I felt while I was there and am attempting to keep with me now. The monks let me rake the rocks! I was overjoyed. Cathryn took several pictures and I will put them on Flickr as soon as possible. Honestly, I would be quite content in my life if I lived in a temple and was the "rock raker." So much for my PhD, I've decided to become a rock raker!
I plan to return to Koya-san again before these four months are over.
EWS Circle
Joining and being part of circles (or clubs) are a very significant part of college student culture. Ten of us interviewed and were selected to be part of a circle to teach English to Doshisha college students. My friend Ayano and I teach on Monday evenings. This group is so very much fun! For an hour and a half we play games and have conversations in English with other Japanese students. Afterwards, we go out for dinner or drinks and speak an odd mixture of Japanese and English. There are monthly parties for the entire group. This month was a nomihoudai (all you can drink) and next month is bowling! It is great to meet Japanese students and make friends. My Monday group all believe I look like the Japanese singer Angela Aki and so have started calling me "Angela" instead of Jane. It is quite amusing; however, in my quest to blend in and be more Japanese, it makes me quite happy.
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