emager in Japaradise

So every so often a grade school kid comes to my host family's house until his mom can get him from work. He's not the cutest kid, but he's funny and fun to play with. He's part of what introduced me to Osaka-ben (accent), since he would use it without restraint, so I had to ask what things meant so I could understand him. Anyway, last week was his birthday, so my host mom made him a cake! It was a sort of strawberry shortcake and delicious.

Taro's cake

One day Taro (fake name for the kid) brought his friend Shun (another fake name) to the house, and while Taro is funny, Shun is absolutely ADORABLE. For some reason he decided to introduce himself in English: "Mai neemu izu Shun!" OH GOD SO CUTE. He's a year younger than Taro, and where Taro likes to watch TV, Shun likes to play games. So I played cards with and tickled and had fun with a cuuuuute Japanese infant. I'll miss that kid. Unfortunately, Taro's mother only needed him babysat for a month, her work's busy time, so he probably won't be coming over after this week. Sob. I had fun and got to watch cartoons with Taro around. Ah well.

The following weekend Rachel and I went to Kyoto to see a movie. I really wanted to see Nodame Cantabile the movie (I LOVEloveLOVE the drama), but we couldn't find the theatre, so we saw a movie called Parade instead. I thought it was really interesting, and there were several things I understood, but in the end, I really didn't know what was going on. The ending is still a mystery, so I'll have to see if someone subs it in the future... That day, though, Rachel and I just stayed in the shopping district near the movie theatre, so we didn't get much exploring done. But it's Kyoto, so of course there were shrines and temples stuffed into every corner of the area. That's not even an exaggeration. Something I thought was a backalley was actually a shrine. Kyoto's rather cool like that.

The cutest Ojizousan EVER!

Me being awesome and touristy

Really, just a little.

CRAZY BIG PARFAIT

Hambaagu! They're more like meatloaf or something than a hamburger. I like them a lot, actually. This thing was good, but I couldn't finish it. Luckily I had Rachel, who has a hollow leg to fill.

The parfait we shared! I insisted on this restaurant because of the huge parfait display on the outside.

The next day Rachel and I just went shopping for a bit because Rachel wanted to find a dress to wear for going clubbing that week. After that, we split, and I went to Namba in Osaka for a gyoza-making party! I just got randomly invited by an Australian girl who was randomly invited by a Japanese guy in the computer lab. Someone had rented a party room, and we all went to a local grocery store to buy supplies and drinks and such. I don't know who was paying for all this, but whoever it was was very kind. I made a few Japanese friends (whose messages on facebook need answers) and a few Australian ones as well. Over half of the people there were Japanese students, and some of them were from Osaka Gaidai (like my school but in Osaka, not Hirakata). A lot of them were English majors, but we ended up talking mostly in Japanese unless I really couldn't understand what they were trying to say. I met a guy who really liked animation but who didn't get much opportunity to talk about it because he didn't want people to think him an otaku. He got really happy when I told him I loved animation, so I made a new friend that way. I just need to find time to hang out again with these people. I feel like I shouldn't squeeze things in during the week, so I only have the weekend, and those get short... sigh. Ah well, the gyoza party was fun, and I was happy I managed to do something on my own.

People promoting visiting Okinawa. Come visit, we have dragon heads!

All the cool kids practice dancing in the train station, yes they do.

The ouside of the station in Namba. Isn't it pretty?

Namba afternoon view

Namba night view

Making gyoza

Kampai!

Pouring the water for steaming

Everyone besides me!

My future husband (once he divorces his perfect wife) and me. Yes, he is wearing lipgloss.

Two weeks ago, March 3rd, was Hina Matsuri! Anyone remember that Princess Day episode of Pokemon? Well, I do, and that episode is based off Hina Matsuri. There are apparently lots of special things people do on that day, although my family only did a few. My host mom has a full set of Hina-Ningyo, Princess Dolls. It comes with a princess and prince at the top, three handmaids on the next level, five musicians on the next, two warriors (one old, one young) and some mochi on the next, three servants (one smiling, one angry, and one crying) with two trees on the next, and the dolls' special boxes and tools on the last two tiers. I got to help set them up the day before with my host mom. She said that they probably wouldn't have taken them out if I weren't here; since they got Cheru (the black dog) three years ago, they haven't set them out at all.

The whole set!

The dolls were set up in the room next to mine, and at night my host mom turned on the lamps. The light from the lamps came through the carved holes in between my room and the next one like this.

The princess

The prince

I can post close-ups of some of the other dolls, too, if y'all want.

The day of Hina Matsuri, I had a calligraphy lesson, so my teacher had me write the kanji "nin-gyou" for doll. When I got home, we had special Hina Matsuri food whose name I cannot at all remember. It was really good, although I wasn't a huge fan of this eggy stuff my host mom made. Yaaaaay Hina Matsuri!

My calligraphy, Nin'gyou

Those are clams in there!

You think that's chicken, don't you? NO IT'S UNAGI

Weird eggy stuff, also with unagi inside

IT'S A BUCKET

The pretty thing things I ate... not mochi, not daifuku, but there was red bean paste inside. What WERE they?

Finally, last weekend Rachel and I went to a place called Den Den Town, an electronics shopping district that is supposed to be full of otaku. I did see a few otaku roaming, but I wanted to see hoards, and I think we were in the wrong area of Den Den Town to see them. We mostly just looked around and had lunch there; it wasn't a huge success. I'd like to try it again, though, perhaps with a Japanese friend as a guide. We really should start planning where to go better. Ah well.

Den Den Town

Fruity sundae!

Tsuutenkaku Tower in Den Den Town

A Nodame mongoose I bought! I don't think any of you will know the reference, but she's adorable and will live on my bag as soon as I find a good way to keep her attached.

The next day we wanted to see Nodame Cantabile: the Movie (I really really REALLY wanted to see it), but it closed only a few days before we were to see it. So instead of seeing a movie, we went to a flea market at a temple in Kyoto! Unfortunately, it was raining, so the sellers all wanted to pack up early, but Rachel and I bought a few things (like always, I didn't buy what I really wanted because of the price and instead settled for things I won't use), and the people were really nice, too. But whenever I asked what the price of something was (in Japanese), they would reply, "Sree handred!" "...so, san-byaku en?" "Ohhh, your Japanese is so good!" They never seem to expect foreigners to be able to speak Japanese at all. Well. After the flea market, we got lunch at KFC (AMERICAN FOOOOOD) and headed home.

The next one should be coming sometime soon! This is my midterm week, so I'll be busy until after classes on Friday. Meep!

...it still had its head on it. It disturbed me so much that my host mom just ripped the head off for me.

They're Piyokos! Actually, it's a Hiyoko! There's red bean paste in the middle.

Apparently that was a closet! Japan is full of these sort of secrets.

...a kitty.

AIEE I'm SORRY I'm so infrequently updating this! I think I'll split the posts to make all the new stuff more bearable to read. Carry on!

I mentioned last week that my host parents took me to Ise Jingu, a shrine at the base of a mountain full of beautiful trees and a creek! It was in Ise City in Miya Prefecture. We went to two different shrines, the second whose name I just can't remember. Ise Jingu had four special shrines, one big one that was important and only the special priests could go in, and three smaller ones, one for wind spirits, one for earth spirits, and another for... something spirits. My family couldn't tell me. I've found that there are several of things Japanese people in general don't understand about old Japanese culture. I can't seem to think of an equivalent in the US, but they often can't explain things that I would think Japanese people would know by default. Ah well. It was really pretty, and after that we went on to the other big shrine. Along the way was a big street with all sorts of shops and little entertainment things on the side streets connected to it. We went to the shrine ahead first. This shrine was a little similar to the first one; it was in a wooded area and had lots of people. There was a lake in/next to it, too. We walked up to the big shrine whose importance I do not comprehend, waited with a bunch of people to get to the top, and then left when we got there. My parents don't seem to be into giving the shrines money or anything. If I wanted to, they'd have stopped, but it was really crowded with people, so I didn't bother. I really wanted to make a wish/prayer at the wind shrine at Ise Jingu, but I didn't ask to stop. It was rather cold that day.

Why didn't my host dad tell us he was taking the picture, dammit? We're in front of the major shrine in Ise Jingu. The middle is my host mom, and to her right is her friend Tomoko.

The wind shrine and its name plate.

All Ise Jingu pictures

One of the first flags I've seen flying here; I just noticed it that day.

We are way too flag-happy in the US.

The second shrine. The trees were beautiful.

There was a horse at the entrance of Ise Jingu, too. I'm not exactly aware of the meaning, but just in case Stacey reads this, I thought I should include it.

After the second shrine, we got lunch at an udon shop. It was really good, although they gave me miso. We shopped around a bit, and my mom bought be a Hello Kitty-year of the snake thing, which is adorable. There were tiger figures everywhere, since it's currently the year of the tiger. We moved onto some of the side streets, where we got to watch a taiko performance (I love me some taiko, which my parents told me is weird for foreigners), and my mom found a store dedicated to maneki neko stuff, so I bought a little towel. I wanted EVERYTHING, but it was all way too expensive. So CUTE. Later adventures included eating an Ise specialty and getting a fish bone stuck in my throat. The specialty, Akafuku mochi, is pretty much just reversed daifuku. The mochi is on the inside, and the outside is covered with red bean paste. It was fresh and DELICIOUS. I found that I could get it at the convenience store as well, but it wasn't nearly as good. Sigh.

The bustling street!

ISN'T IT CUUUTE? It's a Maneki Neko SUGARBOWL.

My lunch! That IS maguro in my rice, Shelley.

Taiko performance. Both girls, which made me extra happy.

They faked us out about three times, making us think the piece was finished and then continuing when people started clapping.

...there were monkeys on the roof.

A GIANT Maneki Neko! Of course I had to get a picture with it.

Making the delicious...

AKAFUKU MOCHI

The famous place where you can buy said mochi. Of course, I can't read the kanji.

Lay eyes upon my photographical prowess.

Tsubaki! They're everywhere! The red ones are even prettier.

In English I think they're camillias.

And after this, another carsick ride back home. It was a nice day.

The zodiac snake Kitty-chan my host mom bought me.

The next weekend Rachel and I went to Shinsaibashi, a shopping area in Osaka. We went to a place called Amerika Muura, whatever that means. It was supposed to be America-themed, I think, completely with a Lady Liberty and gangsta mannequins. All we did there was shop around, and as it had a lot of cool shops, this was fine by me. I finally bought a pair of cute boots, although they're not knee-high like I want, and the ones I really wanted were not available in my size or anything I could pretend was near my size. So ended another day...