Ron's birthday weekend

Ron is 25! Yay!

Ron is very happy. He got socks from his dad and cereal from his wife. Our English conversation students got Ron 8 slices of cake. Of course it is meant for everyone to have a slice, but it was a sweet gesture from the sweetest ladies.



Ron's birthday weekend took us two hours away to the city of Aomori, specifically Hakkoda Mountain. The best place we found for skiing. It has a long ropeway and the mountain is slightly groomed, which makes the snow powdery and a great challenge. It isn't for the faint-hearted and the family weekends. This is where the hardcore snow goers go. We spent two days going up and down this gorgeous mountain. I got multiple faceplants full of snow and Ron lost his skis while skiing and had to hike up knee height powder snow for 45 minutes. We found the skis. We plan on coming here every weekend.

Our New Year's Day

Soon after our fire, onsen, and Chinese food, we made it to Tokyo just in time for the new year. We spend the countdown singing karaoke with Kunino's family. We would have forgotten about the New Year if we weren't paying for our karaoke at the time. I know that we were in Tokyo and there were probably a billion things to do to ring in 2009, but being with a close family, singing songs, and NOT driving was the perfect way to finish off the year after so much adventure.

The next day, like last year, we helped Kunino's family with preparing the New Years meal. Her mother made everything and it all tasted so good. Before we left for our trip back to Morioka, I made the family Morioka's famous Jajamen. Probably the only thing I am confident of making for her connoisseur mother.

A Foreigner's Fire

Japan has small portable stoves that are used to put on the dinner table to make one-pot stew. In our case, we used it to cut our food costs in half by cooking the food ourselves. After all, we live here. We know what the food tastes like. So after a long morning of driving, we stop by a rest stop in Nagoya on our way to Hakone for some onsen. We find a really nice spot away from the restaurants and we were planning a wonderful meal of corn pasta. I assembled the small stove, put in the gas can, and turned on the flame... It started to burn much bigger than usual. Becky and I looked at it with the same amount of strange curiosity when... BOOM!!

Our stove burst into a large fire. I put in the gas can improperly and the gas was seeping into the fire. Becky and I took the water in the pasta pot and pour over it, but the gas was still leaking through making more of a fire. Afraid of an explosion, Ron quickly took the stove and tossed it far away from us. Unfortunately, where he threw it was a large amount of dry grass. We screamed for Ron's attention and he again tried to pick up the stove and started to bash it with his foot. By the all the luck in the world mixed in with a little grace from God, the gas ran out and the fire stopped. My jacket singed a bit, but that was the most damage, besides to our new broken stove. Looking behind us, Japanese families stared speechless at the foreigners who tried to burn down a Japanese rest stop. No wonder they hate us. Ron yelled out a "Daijyobu desu" (We're alright!) and they snickered away.

The worse part was that we were still hungry and in a couple minutes we took out some money that we hoped to save for another time and headed into the restaurant with our tails between our legs. These are the challenges we faced on our voyage. May we be a lesson learned to any traveler who does not look at their gas can when attempting to make a fire.

The Japanese Fantasy

Since Ron and I had been to Kyoto, I wanted to do something different rather than look at temples all day. One of my students recommended taking maiko and samurai pictures. A maiko is like a wanna-be geisha. They are much more decorated and probably what most Americans think of when they think of a geisha. I really wanted to do it. I wanted to see what I would look like as a maiko and Ron being the good sport that he is, joined me as well. The experience was excellent. It was strange to see the process. I got covered in white paint. I looked like a ghost. Then the make up as put on. I still can't get over how different I looked. And then they put the wig on me. Luckily, they used the front of my hair and weaved it into the wig so that it looked more natural. In the end, I was stunned. It didn't look like me at all. I was a little disappointed since I thought that I would look very beautiful and elegant. My first impression was that I looked like a clown. Even after choosing the beautiful kimono and taking the pictures with Ron (who looked very good in his kimono), I still did not feel very confident in the makeup. I guess I just don't think I look good with a lot of makeup. Even with regular makeup, too much overwhelms me. I think after this experience, I missed my face. After washing it all away, I was pleasantly welcomed by my original face. It's not the most beautiful thing, but in that time of playing dress-up and becoming a lady of traditional Japan, I really appreciated the face that I have and the comfort I felt by not wearing makeup. I do, however enjoy the souvenir pictures. It is a great memory of Japan.

The Myth of Kansai

December 26-29

NARA

Nara deer- not as friendly as Miyajima



Spoiler **Japan bubbles will be busted**

After Hiroshima, our energy started to fade. It's the halfway part of our trip and after the driving, sightseeing, waking up at random early times, and just not getting enough sleep is starting to take its toll. But we move on to Kansai, the traditional Japan. I appreciated what I saw in Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka, but as a resident who has traveled most of Japan, I am starting to see past the "rose-tinted" glasses of the serenity of the temples and the "must see" attractions. Unfortunately, a temple is a temple. Sad to say, but true. I would probably have enjoyed seeing the temples, but to get to the temples, one must pass seas of vendors, numerous Starbucks, temples selling their charms, and loud foreigners trying to get a picture with the local deer by feeding it and screaming when the deer decide to eat their jacket when not fed. Actually, it is a very entertaining thing to see. Even in Nara, home to complete Japanese history and the largest wooden temple which houses the largest golden Buddha, the tour ended with postcards, keychains, T-shirts, and candies being sold IN the temple. It felt like that story of Jesus going in the temple to see the people disgracing it by selling local goods. It felt dirty and offensive. Even in Kyoto, where many Americans feel is the heart of traditional Japan, I heard more English than Japanese. I was pushed in all directions from travelers trying to get a glimpse of the gardens. My pictures were always messed up by the hoards of people walking in front of it, getting in the way. And this is in winter, a low tourist point.

KYOTO
Kiyomizu-dera, this was the temple we didn't see last time we came

I thought this was interesting, people lining up for 30+ minutes to drink "temple water." Luckily I brought my own.




Anyway, this will not end in unhappiness. Simply, the guide books have it all wrong. If they want to show the true tranquility and beauty of traditional Japan, people need to venture to Tohoku. As a first time foreigner to Japan, I can imagine seeing Kyoto as the "true Japan" despite it's neon signs and lines of taxi cabs. However, as a person who has lived here and can safely say that they have traveled, I wish I could tell these travelers of what they are missing by not coming to Northern Japan. The magic of being the only visitor on the temple grounds, not hearing any noise but your own, and selfishly soaking up all the feelings of Japan are unable to be described with words. That's the beauty of Tohoku.

OSAKA

Back to life...Back to reality

My first day back at Ichi-ko and I am late. I wobble through the doors and everyone does their surprised "I can't believe you came to work today even though I have been at school all week with nothing to do" face. I get that face a lot. These teachers need to take a quality vacation. I give them all the sweets that I promised them, MOMIJI manju (soft cake shaped like a maple leaf with sweet bean in them). Little do they know, the manju is a week past its expiration date. I realized that by taking a 2-plus week trip, I have destroyed the freshness of an omiyage that is meant for the typical 5 day vacation Japanese person. I'm a failure. I quickly reasoned the hardness of the cake being from the coldness of the weather...nice Juni. The teachers ate it with relish. But here I am, back at work, which I did miss a great deal while I was away. Not really the boring nothing to do quiet workroom, or getting up at 7 am, but I did truly miss my students. I guess that's a good sign. But here I am at work, doing nothing because there is nothing to do, so what do I do with my time? I start to plan my next trip, a 10 day vacation to Kyushu and Okinawa, which would make it the final lap of completing the Japan travel circuit. I feel a bit glutonous, planning for a vacation just after finishing another. I try to hide my guide book so that my English-speaking teachers won't see what I'm up to. I make a very showy deal when I do a little real work so that it qualifies me reading about the tropical beaches of the Okinawan Islands. And although Morioka is still not snowy, the coldness makes me look forward to tropical weather. So here I am sitting at work, dreading and counting down for my next class and wishing for warmer weather.

We've Made It!!

4 people
2 Americans
1 Britain
1 New Zealander
17 days
3 holidays
4 nights sleeping in a car
8 onsen

2,264 total driving miles!

We have arrived back to the -what should be snowy- town of Morioka. It's amazing how the clean air, wide span of sky, amd the smell of Jajamen and your own tatami can make a 17 day excursion come to a close. The four of us felt that we could return to our normal lives, which is a pretty good sign of a successful road trip. I am very proud of our group for being able to handle each other and still manage to find the jokes in every situation for that long of a time. We experienced the traditional Japan (Chiiori House- Shikoku), the very modern (Dotombori- Osaka), the "what should be appalling, but came out peaceful" (The Atomic Bomb Museum- Hiroshima), and the "What should be peaceful, but came out appalling" (Kiyomizudera- Kyoto). We had very good memories (Summer Wine) and very dangerous times (almost blowing up a service station). All in all, it was the best way to end the year and to start a new one and with my new ACCEPTANCE into the China program, it was a great way to see most of Japan before having to leave it. The beginning, middle, and end was satisfying.