Octoberfest...?

Hello everyone! I finally seem to have a lot of time on my hands so I will try to recap a little of whats been happening in my life this past month. Once again it seems like so much has just happened to me but i want to try and tell you about the great weekend I had earlier this month. I heard its been an average October here but it seems like spring weather to me. Its still way too warm for a jacket but nice sweater weather. When its sunny it is really nice. I actually went swimming a couple of weeks ago(definitely for the last time of the year). The water was freezing but it was still a nice day to be at the beach. Overall its been a pretty wild month but I will get to that later.

10-10-09

So I decided to head out to Yokohama. The fourth largest city in Japan, it has fallen in the shadow of Tokyo but still has its own unique feel and livelihood. I got invited by some Americans i met on a Tokyo boat cruise. The couple work for the US Airforce(but they hardly fit the part) and live on a base on the west coast of Japan. The guy, Quinn had hair down to his back when i met him and his wife, Kristen is a bit of a treehugger too. Kristen first got the job because she is a speech therapist and works with kids. So I left home to meet them in Yokohama to check into a hotel they booked. Since we were coming from opposite directions equidistant apart I thought we would arrive around the same time but I ended up getting there pretty early. I got off at the stop we were meeting and with time to kill I went out and explored the area. I stopped by a few shops, looking at winter clothes and books. I was already starting to like Yokohama. I had a good feeling about the place. It is much smaller then Tokyo and is more friendly and traversable. I also thought it wasn't as cold. Soon I realized i got off at the wrong stop and rushed back to meet them. When I finally figured out where they were I got out off the train to find a smiling group of gaijins(foreigners) all staring at me. It took me a second to recognize Quinn and Kristen so I was a bit freaked out. Quinn has cut off all his hair! It turned out they all worked on the Airforce base in some form or another. After some brief introductions we grabbed some beers at the next 7-11 and headed to this US army hotel to drop off our bags. I was expecting just a normal hotel plopped in the middle of the city that was just owned by the US. But that was not at all what we found. We climbed a big hill to find a full US navy base. Yes I stayed on US soil for the first time in 3 months. It was also my first time entering an international US navy base so i was a little unnerved at what to expect. To my surprise it was very nice and everyone give or take a few was really friendly. The base stood on what was an old Horse race track. It was on a big hill so there were beautiful views of the city. The eerie part though was that is was just like being back in the states. Even all the money used was US dollars! The hotel was really nice though and it was only $40! We then ventured down to the heart of the city. We had originally come to celebrate Octoberfest, but since it was Typhoon season it got pushed back to Sunday. Kristen reserved a place at a Lebanese restaurant so we headed in that direction. Though we found we were to early so we walked to China town, the famous attraction in Yokohama. It was great! I was a bit hungry so I ordered fresh dumpling on the street, delicious! There was also some festival happening so there were a lot of dragons and bands parading down the streets. It was quite the scene but really cool. When we got to the Lebanese restaurant we were a little disappointed to find the only had a set menu but the ambiance was right and we were hungry. The place started to get packed and we soon found out why, there was a belly dancing show. It was pretty awesome. The dancers had a routine and incorporated the diners. It was really funny to see some of men getting a show while their wives were sitting in the next sit. By the end of the show every one was up dancing in a big circle. We stayed until closing and again perused the streets of the busy city. We stumbled across a Karoke place and unanimously decided to go for it. We eventually made it back to base, only a easy 15 minute taxi ride, and crashed for the night. The next day I woke up early and still couldn't believe i was on a US Navy base! It was surreal. I wasn't allowed to leave without my sponsors Kristen and Quinn so I explored the base. It had everything. A full restaurant, a movie theater, a Walmart equivalent, and even a Library! I was amazed by how American it all felt sitting in the middle of a big Japanese metropolis. After what seemed like forever we all left to go to the waterfront district of Yokohama. An Octoberfest celebration was happening that was supposedly the biggest in Japan. I ended up parting ways with the group at the train station though because I was invited to a BBQ actually more held in my honor! Mr. Sakama who works at the Board of Education wanted to invite the new jets in the city to his house. I was a little bummed to have to go but man was it worth it. Not only was it a feast but it was at a beautiful house in the countryside with an immaculate Japanese garden. It left me with a whole new meaning for the words Japanese hospitality. It was Will and I, four young women from the BOE office and Mr. Sakama with enough food, beer and Saki to feed 20 people!! We ate outside watching the sunset playing with his dog and two cats. The night ended early because it was getting cold and Mr. Sakama drank far too much. I thought the weekend was over but since it was a three day weekend I got a call from some other Jets in the south looking to play the game Settlers of Catan and since I have the big house. I was up for it though and we ended up staying up until 4am playing apples to apples! It was a lot of fun! I woke up on Monday morning realizing that I had three guys throughout the house I decided to make a big greasy American breakfast of hashbrowns and scramble eggs! Two of the guys, one being from Canada and the other from England, had never had an American breakfast and really enjoyed it. After recovering for most of the day I went out shopping and cleaned the house. As I realized the weekend was over, I thought were else but in Japan could have such a experienced and done so much in only two days!!! It was a good feeling, not that i always need to be out doing so much every weekend but rather just knowing this time spent here will be anything I make of it. Or rather any experience, life is just what we make of this time spent here...

To fill you in briefly on the crazy new events of my life, I broke my foot on Tuesday!! Yeah it sucks! I was playing basketball at my elementary school and they have small hoops so i was dunking but i was asked to play so I wasn't prepared and only had sandals!! I landed awkwardly and fractured my 4th metatarsal in my left foot. The doctor said I will have to be on crutches for a month. So I will be house bond for awhile since the train station would be a forty minute walk in my condition! Have a Happy Halloween!

Pictures!!

So I finally got around to puting up some pics on flickr. Its sunny and actually pretty hot here! Not like Minnesota from what I hear. Heres the link... http://www.flickr.com/photos/nihonbouken/

Happy Fall!

Ch 3 Matsuri, Matsuri, Matsuri(Festival time)

It has felt like forever since I have posted on here! Though I am beginning to see a trend here of my long bi-weekly posts. Hope you don't mind long bouts of reading in front of the computer. Well to start off I should tell you about the end of my long holiday, called Silver Week. The government actually added another day off to stimulate the economy. I guess there will be no Silver Week next year as it depends on the calender, so I was pretty lucky. I had a total of Seven days off, which was a huge relief from the 8-5 days and getting up at 6:30 every morning. The last four days off I considered going on a big trip to Hiroshima or Osaka but this was the one time I really couldn't leave my small town of Ohara. The annual Hadaka Matsuri was happening!!! This is the one thing my town is famous for.

10-07-09

I guess I will start off on Tuesday when a friend of mine called me out of the blue and asked me to go to Tokyo for what was my fourth time in a row. We went to check out the Cycle Messenger World Championship! Yes, it was just like walking into a fixie grunge scene in San Francisco. There were hundreds of flashy custom bikes and lots of Japanese bike teams and shop stands. There were a number of events including some of the crazier ones like BackWordCircles, where the winner rides in small circles backwards for the longest time. Also the FixieKing and FixieQueen compitition, a last one standing game, where a big group ride in tight circle and try to force each other out with out using hands or feet. It was a lot of fun to see them practice but i couldn't see the actually races because it was the next day when my towns festival was happening. We had some free time to wander in Shibuya and stupidly(I will get to that later) decided to go check out a movie. We found a theater in the area and i was surprised to fin that it was what looked like a small art house theater tucked behind a huge shopping center. So we payed the ridiculous price of about $14 and entered the strange four floor building. We decided to see the new Jim Jarmusch film called The Limits of Control. When we got seated though we saw that the screen was about half the size of an American theater! I guess even with Japans advanced tech society, their theaters are still stuck in the 90s. Anyway the movie was a let down, I have to admit I almost fell asleep many times. The worst part though was that when we made it to the train station I realized I would never make my last train home. Luckily Zack lives in Chiba city which is both closer and has much later trains going to Tokyo. So I ended up staying at his house and being late to my own towns festival! I had planned to host a bbq after the Hadaka Matsuri for all the other foreigners that where coming down. When I got home it was already crazy, the streets packed. Earlier in the week decorations started appearing on my street, hanging banners, streamers and Japanese paper lantern lights. There was a feeling of excitement anticipation the air was electric. On Wednesday and Thursday the town completely shut down and people began to poor in. When I finally managed to make it to my house, picking up five Jets along the way i was feeling very rushed. I had to prepare for the party, take a shower get before the sunset. Needless to say I missed the famous tradition where half naked men run into the sea carrying six hundred pound shrines. There was plenty more to see though. My street, one of the main routes for the constant parading of the shrines, was lined with vendors. Although they were mostly the standard food stands that Ive seen at every Matsuri, there were a few strange ones in the mix. There was a stand to buy baby turtles, the gold fish stand(where you actually try to catch as many as you can with one scoop of a plastic bag, and lots of stands selling all kinds of BB guns. Along with the many stands there where people sitting out in front of their homes with coolers of beer, tents and food. All the men from the youngest to oldest were wearing the traditional garb and many of the women too. There was a float(kind of moving stage) with kids playing Taiko drums, a traditional music. The sounds were interesting too with the occasional loud or faint grunting song of the men carrying the shrines up and down the streets. After a little people watching I headed towards the ocean and met my friend Will and his sister who was visiting. We ended up going to a Japanese chain restaurant bizarrely just like a Dennys(festival food is not something you can eat all day) with a few of Wills teachers. It was really fun. I was now not the only one understanding nothing since Wills sister was there. I actually translated a bit too. After that we walked to the elementary school across the street from my house. A large crowd had gathered around the soccer field. When I finally was able to get a view of anything I saw all these different groups carrying their shrines around in a circle. They all had different color headbands on and started to show off by performing what could only be described as shrine carrying acrobatics. I learned from one of the teachers that this last gathering represented the last time to appease the gods before the winter came. It is actually a celebration much like many to celebrate the harvest and pray to the gods or ask them for a good crop. It was an amazing sight to see! They continued to sing and march until the sun set and it was pitch black. I made it to my house soon afterward to find a gathering crowd of foreigners waiting outside my house. We fired up the grill and started eating. It was a beautiful night; the weather was perfect. I continued to hear the crys of the marching songs well after everyone had left.
The next day the festival continued but there were far less people. It was actually a work day for everyone who didn't live in Ohara. I got up and there were still people drinking, setting up stands and singing in the streets. I tried to be active though and headed towards then next biggest city, Mobara. When I returned I could hear the same roar of lots of people gathered at the school across the street but this time i was too tired. I decided to go to another festival that night in a small town not too far away. This time I tried to eat well and got the baked potato's. They are actually steamed and then picked out, cut and loaded with a huge spoon full of butter. It was delicious. The most interesting thing I saw was the sign for a game stall where you tried to shoot a target that had a picture of Mickey mouse and Pooh bear holding AK-47s! Definitly some strange ways American culture has been appropriated here.
As the weekend approached i heard of an Indian Festival going on in Tokyo. I know another festival! I ended up heading there on Saturday and it was amazing. This was not so much a festival as just an excuse for Indian restaurants to set up food stands and make money. But there was a lot more too. It took place in Yoyogi park a famous park in Tokyo. There was a stage with traditional Indian dancing and music. I wandered through the stands and ate delicious food. I also could help buying some goods too. There were many vendors selling everything from packaged food to DVDs to cloths and rugs. I ended up buying a huge can of Indian Chai and some hard to find spices. It was a hot day and I ate some delicious samosas, chana masala, curry and fresh naan. I ended up walking back to the station early I came alone but planed on meeting some people who never show up. Right as I got to the station though I saw Zack and some other foreigners i didn't know. They were heading to the Indian festival too. So I ended up heading back which I am glad because there were some amazing musicians at night. Great sitar and tamba jams. I finally made it home late that night realizing my vacation was almost over. Thinking of all I had done over the past week. It was truly amazing to have so many new experiences. I was exhausted though and crashed immediately. I still had a lot of work to do for school and I was not looking forward to having a full schedule and no time again but I was excited too. There were many new experiences to be had, people to meet and get to know and skills to learn. So I was ready for another day to begin and with it, all it would bring unknown and wonderful upon my life...