Today, I had an impromptu English club meeting with the former-first-years-new-second-years who are super into English and are some of the sweetest girls ever. We were talking about what to do in club and the topic of what to do for culture festival came up and they were like "hmmmmmmm" in the kind of I'm not really sure way, but then I remembered that when I first came to Takahashi, they had me put up a bunch of pictures and it was kind of like a welcome/get to know the new ALT kind of thing in English club. Maybe I can do something like say goodbye... or something. Or maybe I can skype with them. :) That would be super fun!
But yeah, I remembered this and then casually kind of said "Oh yeah! But you guys are probably going to have a new ALT in August so by culture festival you'll probably be able to do things like pictures and so on." I completely forgot though that I hadn't actually told them that I wasn't recontracting and that I was going to be leaving in August.
The looks on their faces nearly crushed my soul. Mostly it was shock. One student (bless her) responded immediately with "No." I was like awww. So much love for my students. They're kind of awesome. I always get a tiny bit jealous when other ALTs receive ridiculously cute things from their students (since I have a nagging self-doubt that goes "DO THEY NOT LIKE ME?!" which is probably ridiculous also).
But that was kind of touching, while also making me feel ridiculously guilty. Then they told me that I had to stay until culture festival haha, and that it was probably in the beginning of August. Bless them, but I think it's around the beginning of September, not August. I'd love to go but in all likelihood, I will be not in Okayama and probably in the US by the time that starts.
Then we talked about the meaning of "Make every moment count" haha.
I suppose - and a couple of friends have pointed out - that it's probably better for them to find out sooner rather than dropping a bomb on them the last day. I really hate telling people though... I was kind of planning on telling people that I was leaving right before I left and then woosh, disappear. I don't really like goodbyes. I never know what to say, and I feel really awkward when when all the attention is directed on me (especially if it's positive attention for some reason). That's why when I left my last job, I didn't really tell anyone and just kind of... disappeared on my last day (or tried to haha).
Monday, March 26, 2012
So much for internationalization...
When I'm upset, I tend to write things out since it's a much more effective way (for me anyways) to take a look at the way I feel and think about it critically.
This is something that I've kind of been upset about for a while; probably since 2007. Or well, I don't know if upset is the right word for it. It's part frustration, part feeling helpless, part feeling really annoyed, part unhappy, a small dash of sadness and disappointment and a huge heap of worry.
Today, I overheard a conversation between my JTE and a student about a cultural exchange of sorts. My JTE explained to me later as well (since I only understood some things) that this student, last year, had been interested in going abroad to Australia, which I think is awesome. This year, however, she became uninterested in going. The reason, she was telling my JTE, was because she had a pocket wifi device that allowed her to talk to foreigners and stuff via games on the DS (specifically - pokemon). She said that while Europeans were kind, Americans tended to be really like... unlikable. She used a word that I forget, but basically it was like inconsiderate and mean. My JTE, bless her, pointed out that *I* was American and really kind, but I think they took this as the exception to the rule, rather than as an indicator that there are kind Americans in addition to there being douchey Americans.
And for some reason, she associated this with Australians (I am so so sorry Aussies). Or well, it would be more accurate to say she associated this with foreigners in general, which makes me feel really sad, frustrated, and slightly upset. Part of me wants to go "seriously Japan?" but it's not just Japan that does that. Everyone kind of does this, basing impressions of entire nations, ethnicities, races, off first impressions. I noticed on my study abroad that people had a set attitude towards me once they found out I was an American; it felt like I was always defending my country because people were unable to separate the actions and official policies of the state with the individuals from that country (nevermind that our country seems to be evenly split between polar opposites of many many issues). It got tiring, which is why I was so frustrated and unhappy about this impression the world had of Americans (or to be super politically correct, "citizens of the United States of America") because people would automatically associate that with me. Yes, I'm American. No, I'm not white. No, I don't wear my shoes in the house. Yes, I can eat with chopsticks. No, I don't consider myself rude and inconsiderate. Yes, I think I'm friendly. I hope I'm friendly. No, I'm not really that religious. Yes, I speak English only. Yes, we have lots of people from different countries who live and study in America.
If you meet enough people who act the same way, since our brains automatically search out patterns (which is why optical illusions work so well), our brains link the next time we see something that fits the pattern of the type of person we saw before with the behavior and attitudes associated with that person. And thus stereotypes and racism are born.
Avenue Q, a musical off of broadway, expresses this quite well when they said, "Ethnic jokes might be uncouth but ya laugh because they're based on truth..." Based on the truth of what we have observed before, whether it's from one person, two people, or a whole group of people. Admittedly, there are trends and tendencies for ethnic or cultural groups to behave in certain ways, but personally, I think that's almost like saying the same thing except for you acknowledge that there are some people - in the minority - who behave differently.
Honestly, that's why I feel like programs like the JET program are so important. They set the expectation (or try to anyways) that being accepted into the program isn't just another job where you teach English in another country. It's more than a full time job. It's a job you must do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no holiday, because it's an incredibly important job. As JETs, we are not only ambassadors for whatever nation we come from to Japan, but also for our cultures, our race, and for foreigners as a whole since Japan - despite actually having a bunch of foreigners from Asian countries (oh my god, I've met so many Chinese people) - considers itself to be homogenous and basically one race.
I don't think this is a load of BS. I do think it's important, and I think (I hope) JET tries to pick people who are willing to do this kind of promotion and to basically watch the way they act. Japanese people - and people in general - pick up impressions about foreigners (or anyone not belonging to their particular in-group) that influence the way they think about and interact with other foreigners in the future. Granted, there are probably people for whom firsts impressions matter little, but I do think that it's much easier for a bad impression, or rude behavior, to make a larger and more memorable impression than a favorable one. So I think it's really important that as foreigners over here, especially ones who are at schools where we interact daily with kids -- who in my mind are slightly more impressionable. So living here, interacting with them, they might not come to associate our behaviors and attitudes with all foreigners - but there's a chance that they will.
I know there are times when I do really dumb things, or rude things (I have a small tendency to be a few minutes late - though arguably, these kind of things, and whether or not they are "rude" vary depending on one's culture) so I'm not saying I'm perfect as someone on the program. But I do try. And I do believe in the JET program. This reason - the fact that there is an emphasis on it since we're associated with and directly employed by the government rather than a private company - is why personally, I think the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program is more valuable than that of private dispatch companies. Yeah, we get paid more than them, but a) our application process is usually more vigorous and b) we're basically asked to be "on the job" 24/7 without overtime pay. This is communicated to us at the start of the program. Community/School/etc event that your supervisor asks you to go to? You're *encouraged* to go, which means, if you don't have anything else to do, you're kind of expected to be there.
I expect people from other companies kind of get the same kind of general talk as well, but the impression I've gotten - and everyone I've met has been lovely - and they've gone to local stuff too, but the kind of attitude I've seen has been kind of... flippant? Some people anyways. Though that can certainly be said about some JETs as well. I suppose basically it just comes down to us being aware of our status as global citizens and doing what we can to help leave positive impressions rather than be be the exception to negative ones.
EDIT: lols, well, after that, I walked out into the hallway and the student happened to be sitting outside. She saw me and immediately was like, "JESSICA. I LOVE AMERICA!" and then she kept telling me that she loved America (bless her) and we got into a nice discussion about Nintendo and Playstation. Hooray my work here is done!
Turns out the people who made a poor impression on her were 30 and 40 years old - holy crap. There is a part of me that does NOT want to be that kind of 30 or 40 year old, talking via pokemon to 16, 17 year olds and younger. Another part of me is like "who cares" and thinks that would still be a little fun haha. But the moral of the story? Don't use people from the internet/games as examples of good behavior. It's kind of sad that we kind of expect that now.
This is something that I've kind of been upset about for a while; probably since 2007. Or well, I don't know if upset is the right word for it. It's part frustration, part feeling helpless, part feeling really annoyed, part unhappy, a small dash of sadness and disappointment and a huge heap of worry.
Today, I overheard a conversation between my JTE and a student about a cultural exchange of sorts. My JTE explained to me later as well (since I only understood some things) that this student, last year, had been interested in going abroad to Australia, which I think is awesome. This year, however, she became uninterested in going. The reason, she was telling my JTE, was because she had a pocket wifi device that allowed her to talk to foreigners and stuff via games on the DS (specifically - pokemon). She said that while Europeans were kind, Americans tended to be really like... unlikable. She used a word that I forget, but basically it was like inconsiderate and mean. My JTE, bless her, pointed out that *I* was American and really kind, but I think they took this as the exception to the rule, rather than as an indicator that there are kind Americans in addition to there being douchey Americans.
And for some reason, she associated this with Australians (I am so so sorry Aussies). Or well, it would be more accurate to say she associated this with foreigners in general, which makes me feel really sad, frustrated, and slightly upset. Part of me wants to go "seriously Japan?" but it's not just Japan that does that. Everyone kind of does this, basing impressions of entire nations, ethnicities, races, off first impressions. I noticed on my study abroad that people had a set attitude towards me once they found out I was an American; it felt like I was always defending my country because people were unable to separate the actions and official policies of the state with the individuals from that country (nevermind that our country seems to be evenly split between polar opposites of many many issues). It got tiring, which is why I was so frustrated and unhappy about this impression the world had of Americans (or to be super politically correct, "citizens of the United States of America") because people would automatically associate that with me. Yes, I'm American. No, I'm not white. No, I don't wear my shoes in the house. Yes, I can eat with chopsticks. No, I don't consider myself rude and inconsiderate. Yes, I think I'm friendly. I hope I'm friendly. No, I'm not really that religious. Yes, I speak English only. Yes, we have lots of people from different countries who live and study in America.
If you meet enough people who act the same way, since our brains automatically search out patterns (which is why optical illusions work so well), our brains link the next time we see something that fits the pattern of the type of person we saw before with the behavior and attitudes associated with that person. And thus stereotypes and racism are born.
Avenue Q, a musical off of broadway, expresses this quite well when they said, "Ethnic jokes might be uncouth but ya laugh because they're based on truth..." Based on the truth of what we have observed before, whether it's from one person, two people, or a whole group of people. Admittedly, there are trends and tendencies for ethnic or cultural groups to behave in certain ways, but personally, I think that's almost like saying the same thing except for you acknowledge that there are some people - in the minority - who behave differently.
Honestly, that's why I feel like programs like the JET program are so important. They set the expectation (or try to anyways) that being accepted into the program isn't just another job where you teach English in another country. It's more than a full time job. It's a job you must do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no holiday, because it's an incredibly important job. As JETs, we are not only ambassadors for whatever nation we come from to Japan, but also for our cultures, our race, and for foreigners as a whole since Japan - despite actually having a bunch of foreigners from Asian countries (oh my god, I've met so many Chinese people) - considers itself to be homogenous and basically one race.
I don't think this is a load of BS. I do think it's important, and I think (I hope) JET tries to pick people who are willing to do this kind of promotion and to basically watch the way they act. Japanese people - and people in general - pick up impressions about foreigners (or anyone not belonging to their particular in-group) that influence the way they think about and interact with other foreigners in the future. Granted, there are probably people for whom firsts impressions matter little, but I do think that it's much easier for a bad impression, or rude behavior, to make a larger and more memorable impression than a favorable one. So I think it's really important that as foreigners over here, especially ones who are at schools where we interact daily with kids -- who in my mind are slightly more impressionable. So living here, interacting with them, they might not come to associate our behaviors and attitudes with all foreigners - but there's a chance that they will.
I know there are times when I do really dumb things, or rude things (I have a small tendency to be a few minutes late - though arguably, these kind of things, and whether or not they are "rude" vary depending on one's culture) so I'm not saying I'm perfect as someone on the program. But I do try. And I do believe in the JET program. This reason - the fact that there is an emphasis on it since we're associated with and directly employed by the government rather than a private company - is why personally, I think the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program is more valuable than that of private dispatch companies. Yeah, we get paid more than them, but a) our application process is usually more vigorous and b) we're basically asked to be "on the job" 24/7 without overtime pay. This is communicated to us at the start of the program. Community/School/etc event that your supervisor asks you to go to? You're *encouraged* to go, which means, if you don't have anything else to do, you're kind of expected to be there.
I expect people from other companies kind of get the same kind of general talk as well, but the impression I've gotten - and everyone I've met has been lovely - and they've gone to local stuff too, but the kind of attitude I've seen has been kind of... flippant? Some people anyways. Though that can certainly be said about some JETs as well. I suppose basically it just comes down to us being aware of our status as global citizens and doing what we can to help leave positive impressions rather than be be the exception to negative ones.
EDIT: lols, well, after that, I walked out into the hallway and the student happened to be sitting outside. She saw me and immediately was like, "JESSICA. I LOVE AMERICA!" and then she kept telling me that she loved America (bless her) and we got into a nice discussion about Nintendo and Playstation. Hooray my work here is done!
Turns out the people who made a poor impression on her were 30 and 40 years old - holy crap. There is a part of me that does NOT want to be that kind of 30 or 40 year old, talking via pokemon to 16, 17 year olds and younger. Another part of me is like "who cares" and thinks that would still be a little fun haha. But the moral of the story? Don't use people from the internet/games as examples of good behavior. It's kind of sad that we kind of expect that now.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Okinawa
(now with pictures!)
I swear, some day, there will be a post written about the Philippines. Before I forget about everything even. Sadly, that day is not today, since what's fresh in my mind right now is the trip I took with some friends this past weekend down to Okinawa.
Okinawa - for some quick basic geography and facts - is a cluster of islands (and a prefecture I guess?) southwest of Kyuushu. From Takamatsu in Kanagawa Prefecture, Shikoku, it takes approximately two hours to fly to the main island of Okinawa and the capital city of Naha. This is further away than Korea is. There are a bunch of islands, and it's often referred to as the Hawaii of Asia (or of Japan).
Indeed, it is kind of like the Hawaii of Japan as far as climate and culture goes, but with a more Japanese twist. The main city is Naha, where most of the flights go into. The airport is ridiculously close to the rest of the city proper, and connected via monorail (called the Yui Rail I think?). From there, you can travel down the line for a fairly decent price; about 290 to Kokusai Dori (one of the main tourist shopping areas) or double that(ish) down to the end of the like where Shuri Castle lies. Either way, it would have been a nice airport to have a layover in, since the domestic security area took a relatively small amount of time to go through (can't say anything about international though). Fly in, pop over to Kokusaidori for an hour or two, pop back in to the airport.
I went with two other JETs - both ladies - so we had a kind of girl's trip. My friend, who's amazing, organized the hostel we were staying at, which was about halfway down the monorail and a short walk from the station. We managed to get a discount through booking through hostel world, so the hostel - called Guest House Kerama - was ridiculously cheap: 1000 yen only (about $11 per night). They had a washing machine and drier available, as well as a bunch of games and a kitchen, refrigerator, and showers. Oh, and probably most importantly, free wifi.
For the price that we paid, we got a pretty sweet deal. The showers were relatively clean (though there was a pervasive kind of moldy smell) and there were always people hanging around. We kind of chalked this up to islander attitude. The staff was friendly and helpful (even if sometimes the places they told us about were closed) and the whole place had this really relaxed attitude. Can't say too much for the quality of sleep though. I'm biased and can sleep almost anywhere, but like, occasionally, despite it being lights out in the rooms the downstairs was still fairly noisy enough to where I almost pulled out my headphones. Oh, and it was really really warm in the room, but no plug for the fans and no air con (though, they did have a unit, it just wasn't warm enough I guess, despite the fact I was sweating). We were really close to the ferry terminal as well, which is where a lot of the day ferries depart from for the Kerama Islands (another archipelago). I guess I'd stay there again, if I was really looking to save money. I think though I'd need a day at least in a nicer place. Call me spoiled but after years of using the public showers at swim meets, I'm willing to pay a little extra for a nice clean shower area.
We landed sometime in the afternoon, and after dropping off our stuff, made our way to visit Shuri Castle (and stopped for some amazing Taco Gratin. That probably took a year or two off my life, since it was potatoes and taco meat and cheese and cream sauce and ohgod heaven. But this was because they didn't have rice {wtf} to make tacorice with).
Shuri castle is very very different than the rest of the castles in Japan. Rather than being built in the typical Japanese style, it was built in the Ryuuku kingdom style, which feels distinctly more... Chinese. Probably because of all the red painted onto the buildings and the dragons. So many dragons. It's like they combined Chinese and Japanese styles into a fusion or something. The Okinawan kingdom was famous for dragons, and used this motif EVERYWHERE. Even the tops of the castle - which, on Japanese castles, often have this kind of fish thing on the edges and corners - are full fledged dragons in the same kind of pose as the fish things on Japanese castles. I wonder if they're better at keeping the birds off the top of the roof.
Inside was also pretty amazing, though these castles, due to all the fighting and wars that have gone on in Okinawa, have been rebuilt multiple times. The interior was more Chinese or Korean in design, with a couple of sliding panel doors here and there. There were also lots of pillars (red of course) and small Japanese courtyards with bonsai around it. The castle also has a bunch of people dressed in period wear, which is pretty cool.
Actually, it took us a little bit of time to find the castle at first. There were signs, yes, but they were spaced out just far enough for us to question whether or not we were going the right direction. Such questions led us past a small lake with these wild... I'm not sure if they're ducks or if they're geese. They're as big as geese are, definitely (which honestly, made me slightly paranoid about walking too close to them). But obviously, we eventually found the castle.
The castle, in addition to its multi-language brochures, also turned visiting the sites into a kind of game, presumably for the kids that visited it by encouraging them to collect as many stamps as they could (and alas, only junior high school and younger kids were allowed to win a prize for collecting all the stamps in a given path). Oh Japan. Our own trip slightly transformed into "spot the stamp booth" as well, and we merrily stamped our way through the castle grounds. Quite an interesting way to go about doing that though. Not too expensive either, after the initial setup costs. You basically just need to keep buying ink, assuming the stamps don't get stolen. And man were there a lot of stamps. We didn't even get half of them.
We walked back to the station and decided to hit up Kokusai Dori, a street with a bazillion different shops geared specifically towards tourists and Okinawa souvenier gifts (omiyage). There were several stores that I think had one shop on both ends of the long street, and a dozen places that sold pretty much the same snacks and pretty glass cups. The street is actually really pretty at night though; everything is lit up, giving the street a very different feel than if you walk down it during the day. Also, since it was saturday evening, we saw a lot of foreigners (probably Americans) and marines walking around. Despite the list of food things that one of the girls had on foods to eat in Japan, we ended up at an Indian place with a fairly cheap all you can eat curry special thing. It wasn't too bad, but I had like... so many bowls lol. We also ran into this group whom we saw at the castle, then had separated from, then saw again getting off the monorail, then saw again in the restaurant. Stalkers. lol. They were there first though. But it was like the Philippines all over again.
Oh, and my personal favorite:
We saw two Green Rangers. You know, from the Power Rangers? Tommy the Green Ranger. Two guys (my friend confirmed this with the power of uh... observation) in the green ranger spandex suit, shoulder gear, boots, and helmets. I mean, these were really good cosplays of the green ranger. One of them had a video camera as well. We were kind of like "...wtf?" while some inner part of me (and a little outer bit too) freaked out and was like "OMG OMG OMG GREEN RANGER." Actually, seeing other people's reaction to seeing two Green Rangers walk down the street was kind of priceless... especially because people were usually really loud and vocal in their reactions. I heard two guys across the street flip out about it haha.
Ahhh, the 90's. My childhood. Good times. It makes me kind of sad that a bunch of my students have probably never actually watched the Power Rangers (or at least, seen them in that style/version).
Thank you Japan, for making that day freaking awesome.
Okinawa Part II (coming soon)
I swear, some day, there will be a post written about the Philippines. Before I forget about everything even. Sadly, that day is not today, since what's fresh in my mind right now is the trip I took with some friends this past weekend down to Okinawa.
Okinawa - for some quick basic geography and facts - is a cluster of islands (and a prefecture I guess?) southwest of Kyuushu. From Takamatsu in Kanagawa Prefecture, Shikoku, it takes approximately two hours to fly to the main island of Okinawa and the capital city of Naha. This is further away than Korea is. There are a bunch of islands, and it's often referred to as the Hawaii of Asia (or of Japan).
Indeed, it is kind of like the Hawaii of Japan as far as climate and culture goes, but with a more Japanese twist. The main city is Naha, where most of the flights go into. The airport is ridiculously close to the rest of the city proper, and connected via monorail (called the Yui Rail I think?). From there, you can travel down the line for a fairly decent price; about 290 to Kokusai Dori (one of the main tourist shopping areas) or double that(ish) down to the end of the like where Shuri Castle lies. Either way, it would have been a nice airport to have a layover in, since the domestic security area took a relatively small amount of time to go through (can't say anything about international though). Fly in, pop over to Kokusaidori for an hour or two, pop back in to the airport.
I went with two other JETs - both ladies - so we had a kind of girl's trip. My friend, who's amazing, organized the hostel we were staying at, which was about halfway down the monorail and a short walk from the station. We managed to get a discount through booking through hostel world, so the hostel - called Guest House Kerama - was ridiculously cheap: 1000 yen only (about $11 per night). They had a washing machine and drier available, as well as a bunch of games and a kitchen, refrigerator, and showers. Oh, and probably most importantly, free wifi.
For the price that we paid, we got a pretty sweet deal. The showers were relatively clean (though there was a pervasive kind of moldy smell) and there were always people hanging around. We kind of chalked this up to islander attitude. The staff was friendly and helpful (even if sometimes the places they told us about were closed) and the whole place had this really relaxed attitude. Can't say too much for the quality of sleep though. I'm biased and can sleep almost anywhere, but like, occasionally, despite it being lights out in the rooms the downstairs was still fairly noisy enough to where I almost pulled out my headphones. Oh, and it was really really warm in the room, but no plug for the fans and no air con (though, they did have a unit, it just wasn't warm enough I guess, despite the fact I was sweating). We were really close to the ferry terminal as well, which is where a lot of the day ferries depart from for the Kerama Islands (another archipelago). I guess I'd stay there again, if I was really looking to save money. I think though I'd need a day at least in a nicer place. Call me spoiled but after years of using the public showers at swim meets, I'm willing to pay a little extra for a nice clean shower area.
We landed sometime in the afternoon, and after dropping off our stuff, made our way to visit Shuri Castle (and stopped for some amazing Taco Gratin. That probably took a year or two off my life, since it was potatoes and taco meat and cheese and cream sauce and ohgod heaven. But this was because they didn't have rice {wtf} to make tacorice with).
Shuri castle is very very different than the rest of the castles in Japan. Rather than being built in the typical Japanese style, it was built in the Ryuuku kingdom style, which feels distinctly more... Chinese. Probably because of all the red painted onto the buildings and the dragons. So many dragons. It's like they combined Chinese and Japanese styles into a fusion or something. The Okinawan kingdom was famous for dragons, and used this motif EVERYWHERE. Even the tops of the castle - which, on Japanese castles, often have this kind of fish thing on the edges and corners - are full fledged dragons in the same kind of pose as the fish things on Japanese castles. I wonder if they're better at keeping the birds off the top of the roof.
 |
| Sweetest chair ever. |
Actually, it took us a little bit of time to find the castle at first. There were signs, yes, but they were spaced out just far enough for us to question whether or not we were going the right direction. Such questions led us past a small lake with these wild... I'm not sure if they're ducks or if they're geese. They're as big as geese are, definitely (which honestly, made me slightly paranoid about walking too close to them). But obviously, we eventually found the castle.
The castle, in addition to its multi-language brochures, also turned visiting the sites into a kind of game, presumably for the kids that visited it by encouraging them to collect as many stamps as they could (and alas, only junior high school and younger kids were allowed to win a prize for collecting all the stamps in a given path). Oh Japan. Our own trip slightly transformed into "spot the stamp booth" as well, and we merrily stamped our way through the castle grounds. Quite an interesting way to go about doing that though. Not too expensive either, after the initial setup costs. You basically just need to keep buying ink, assuming the stamps don't get stolen. And man were there a lot of stamps. We didn't even get half of them.
 |
| This is what 8 bowls look like. Pretty! |
Oh, and my personal favorite:
We saw two Green Rangers. You know, from the Power Rangers? Tommy the Green Ranger. Two guys (my friend confirmed this with the power of uh... observation) in the green ranger spandex suit, shoulder gear, boots, and helmets. I mean, these were really good cosplays of the green ranger. One of them had a video camera as well. We were kind of like "...wtf?" while some inner part of me (and a little outer bit too) freaked out and was like "OMG OMG OMG GREEN RANGER." Actually, seeing other people's reaction to seeing two Green Rangers walk down the street was kind of priceless... especially because people were usually really loud and vocal in their reactions. I heard two guys across the street flip out about it haha.
Ahhh, the 90's. My childhood. Good times. It makes me kind of sad that a bunch of my students have probably never actually watched the Power Rangers (or at least, seen them in that style/version).
Thank you Japan, for making that day freaking awesome.
Okinawa Part II (coming soon)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Okayama Adventures
Normally, I don't get to go to places that you need a car to get to (since that means relying on the kindness and time of the people around me who do have them). Today though, I went with one of my teachers (whom I'm losing in the spring due to the Great Teacher Shuffle, sadface) to an onsen in the eastern part of Japan called Notoro Onsen Tenkuu no yu 「のとろ温泉天空の湯」って。It's up in the mountains - the highest onsen in Okayama, according to my teacher. It had three baths for the women: two indoors and one huge outdoor bath that had a super amazing view of the mountains.
Oh yeah, and it was snowing. HECK YES. So we had the view of the mountains, trees covered with snow, and it was outside. :) The only thing that wasn't super awesome was the little worm thing I found on my teacher's arm from the wood haha. That was kinda gross. I blame it on the warm weather (despite the fact that it's getting colder now for some reason!).
I love onsen though. We ate lunch, stopped by a 「道の駅」"Michi no Eki" or "road's station" that sold a bunch of kinda rural things haha. I bought strawberries and veggies and zucchini seeds for really cheap. I was thinking of growing zucchini again (or trying to at least haha). Who knows how that'll go...
The last place we visited (before the supermarket anyways) was one of the three sets of caves in Okayama. I forgot the name. But there are two famous caves in Niimi City: Ikura-do and Maki-do. Ikura-do is accessible via train, while you must drive to maki-do.
We went to a different one. It was called 「備中鐘乳穴」（びっちゅうかなちあな）"Bicchu Kanachiana." It was really really pretty inside, and kind of hidden in the middle of the mountains. Like seriously, we had to drive up the mountain and then walk down to the cave. We were walking and suddenly, it was like WOAH there's a huge crack in the earth WOAH cave. I was so busy looking down (trying not to slip) that I didn't notice the entrance until really late and was so startled I nearly fell. XD
Inside was simply amazing. It's so crazy to think that inside these mountains are caves like this (I was warned not to go exploring in this area, since there were more of these kinds of hidden caves here). To me, seeing these caves is like looking at those amethyst rocks - the ones that look plain on the outside, but on the inside is just, woah. SPIKY. And beautiful.
My teacher was really surprised that I liked these kinds of things though. She told me that ALTs who like caves are kind of rare, and I think was really amused that I was constantly like "WOAH NATURE" and "OMG BEAUTIFUL" to everything along our drive to and from the onsen and inside the caves haha.
I'm working on the post for the Philippines, but it's kinda long haha. Oops. Maybe sometime this week (I hope!). Also sometime I need to post about 大味 since I think it's an absolutely fascinating topic.
Also, facebook reminded me that today marks the one year anniversary for the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami disaster. I've been so impressed and so touched by the compassion, the hope, the whole... feeling of the entire country banding together to help out this one area. That area is still in need of help, make no mistake. It's been a long year (or short year) and there are still people who have no jobs, no livelihoods, who are still missing...
Stay strong Japan (and everywhere that has been affected by large scale earthquakes, tsunamis, and disasters).
Oh yeah, and it was snowing. HECK YES. So we had the view of the mountains, trees covered with snow, and it was outside. :) The only thing that wasn't super awesome was the little worm thing I found on my teacher's arm from the wood haha. That was kinda gross. I blame it on the warm weather (despite the fact that it's getting colder now for some reason!).
I love onsen though. We ate lunch, stopped by a 「道の駅」"Michi no Eki" or "road's station" that sold a bunch of kinda rural things haha. I bought strawberries and veggies and zucchini seeds for really cheap. I was thinking of growing zucchini again (or trying to at least haha). Who knows how that'll go...
The last place we visited (before the supermarket anyways) was one of the three sets of caves in Okayama. I forgot the name. But there are two famous caves in Niimi City: Ikura-do and Maki-do. Ikura-do is accessible via train, while you must drive to maki-do.
We went to a different one. It was called 「備中鐘乳穴」（びっちゅうかなちあな）"Bicchu Kanachiana." It was really really pretty inside, and kind of hidden in the middle of the mountains. Like seriously, we had to drive up the mountain and then walk down to the cave. We were walking and suddenly, it was like WOAH there's a huge crack in the earth WOAH cave. I was so busy looking down (trying not to slip) that I didn't notice the entrance until really late and was so startled I nearly fell. XD
Inside was simply amazing. It's so crazy to think that inside these mountains are caves like this (I was warned not to go exploring in this area, since there were more of these kinds of hidden caves here). To me, seeing these caves is like looking at those amethyst rocks - the ones that look plain on the outside, but on the inside is just, woah. SPIKY. And beautiful.
My teacher was really surprised that I liked these kinds of things though. She told me that ALTs who like caves are kind of rare, and I think was really amused that I was constantly like "WOAH NATURE" and "OMG BEAUTIFUL" to everything along our drive to and from the onsen and inside the caves haha.
I'm working on the post for the Philippines, but it's kinda long haha. Oops. Maybe sometime this week (I hope!). Also sometime I need to post about 大味 since I think it's an absolutely fascinating topic.
Also, facebook reminded me that today marks the one year anniversary for the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami disaster. I've been so impressed and so touched by the compassion, the hope, the whole... feeling of the entire country banding together to help out this one area. That area is still in need of help, make no mistake. It's been a long year (or short year) and there are still people who have no jobs, no livelihoods, who are still missing...
Stay strong Japan (and everywhere that has been affected by large scale earthquakes, tsunamis, and disasters).
Korea Part II
Time to finish writing about Korea :) Part I in case you missed it.
One of the major things I did on the second day I was in Korea was go to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was one of the royal palaces in Korean history. They have free tours in English, so since I knew absolutely nothing about Korean history, I decided to join in on one of those. We had stopped at one of the East Palaces (the smaller, non-World Heritage one) and I had gone through it really fast and read some of the signs... but it was only slightly of interest. Figured hearing more about the place would be more fun than just cruising through it (as much as I wanted to spend the whole day just eating haha).
A lot of the architecture was really similar to Chinese palaces, which isn't much of a surprise since both Korean and Japanese cultures kind of stemmed from Chinese (Confucian) classical culture. The four directional guardians were there as well, surrounding some of the structures within the palace ground: the red phoenix in the south, white tiger in the west, blue dragon in the east, and black turtle to the north. Thank you, Fushigi Yugi, for teaching me about these mythological creatures.
There were three main gates in the front of the palace, which extended so that from the front palace, the royals could see the peasants in the street (and be reminded of who they were supposed to be representing, our guide said). The road to the palace was also divided into three: one road for civil servants, one for the military, and one for the royals (I think? Or was it two roads...).
What was super interesting to me was the color choices the Korean royals decided to paint this place (since presumably, despite this being a reconstruction, they tried to keep the colors true to the originals that had been destroyed by the Japanese during wartimes). Normally, palaces in Japan - not that I've seen the Imperial Palace beyond the gated walls - tend to be fairly earthy colors, or blacks or something. Chinese palaces tend towards the auspicious color red. But this place... was painted green, and had bands of other very bright primary colors all over. There was also this amazing structure with a square pond (that had frozen over since it was so cold). I swear it looked like the scene from some kungfu movie or something.
In the rear of the palace, there was yet another pond - this one more "feminine" because of its roundness, or something. Our guide also informed us that these rear gardens were the home to tragedy as well, since one of the Empresses was actually murdered back there by Japanese assassins. That was kinda crazy to hear about, how that happened. Actually, I've been reading a little bit (and by reading a little bit, I mean looking on wikipedia) on the Korean Joseon dynasty and daaaaaaang, it's super interesting and full of drama. It was really interesting to hear them talk about the Japanese though, since even in Koreans today, there's still this kind of dislike that seemed to be voiced whenever something Japanese came up in our tour (though, after looking at the history, I guess I can't really blame them for really hating the Japanese).
Before meeting back up with my group, I had to get lunch from somewhere. My original plan was to grab pho or korean deliciousness... but unfortunately, I ran into a problem and had less than half an hour to eat. I was in a 大パンニク - big panic lol. I also didn't know where to go for food, since everywhere looked good, but also looked like I was going to maybe not make it in time.
Then it happened. I saw people walk down the street with a huge hotdog on a skewer... with a whole (probably) potato spiraled around it and deep fried. What. I thought those were only in places like county fairs in the US. So I found myself one of those, got it with some Korean spices added, and bam, there was half of lunch. A few minutes later, I ran into a small vendor that was selling these mochi-like things in cups. Inside though, were different things like kalbi, bibimbap, and pizza. The outside got all crispy (since it had the same mouthfeel/texture as mochi, but the outside wasn't sticky really) and the inside was an amazing explosion of flavor in your mouth. THe kalbi and the bibimbap ones were SO AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. And so, since I was running out of time, I decided that those things were going to be my lunch, and that I was probably going to die early from a heart attack or something. Either way, I moved my death date up by at least a year from that lunch haha.
The ride back was fairly uneventful; we made one last stop at this last minute places where you could buy Korean souveniers and food to take back home (like nori and kimchi). They were a little more expensive though, and I also grabbed a coffee (and was a little late back to the bus because they were so. freaking. slow.)
The rest of the plane ride was rather quiet and nice. I watched Cowboys vs Aliens rather than sleeping on the way back.
And that was South Korea (or well, really, just Seoul), in less than 48 hours. Amazing. Exciting. Tasty. Gorgeous. Full of history. Full of food. NOT ENOUGH STOMACH.
I definitely want to go back. ♡
One of the major things I did on the second day I was in Korea was go to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was one of the royal palaces in Korean history. They have free tours in English, so since I knew absolutely nothing about Korean history, I decided to join in on one of those. We had stopped at one of the East Palaces (the smaller, non-World Heritage one) and I had gone through it really fast and read some of the signs... but it was only slightly of interest. Figured hearing more about the place would be more fun than just cruising through it (as much as I wanted to spend the whole day just eating haha).
A lot of the architecture was really similar to Chinese palaces, which isn't much of a surprise since both Korean and Japanese cultures kind of stemmed from Chinese (Confucian) classical culture. The four directional guardians were there as well, surrounding some of the structures within the palace ground: the red phoenix in the south, white tiger in the west, blue dragon in the east, and black turtle to the north. Thank you, Fushigi Yugi, for teaching me about these mythological creatures.
There were three main gates in the front of the palace, which extended so that from the front palace, the royals could see the peasants in the street (and be reminded of who they were supposed to be representing, our guide said). The road to the palace was also divided into three: one road for civil servants, one for the military, and one for the royals (I think? Or was it two roads...).
What was super interesting to me was the color choices the Korean royals decided to paint this place (since presumably, despite this being a reconstruction, they tried to keep the colors true to the originals that had been destroyed by the Japanese during wartimes). Normally, palaces in Japan - not that I've seen the Imperial Palace beyond the gated walls - tend to be fairly earthy colors, or blacks or something. Chinese palaces tend towards the auspicious color red. But this place... was painted green, and had bands of other very bright primary colors all over. There was also this amazing structure with a square pond (that had frozen over since it was so cold). I swear it looked like the scene from some kungfu movie or something.
In the rear of the palace, there was yet another pond - this one more "feminine" because of its roundness, or something. Our guide also informed us that these rear gardens were the home to tragedy as well, since one of the Empresses was actually murdered back there by Japanese assassins. That was kinda crazy to hear about, how that happened. Actually, I've been reading a little bit (and by reading a little bit, I mean looking on wikipedia) on the Korean Joseon dynasty and daaaaaaang, it's super interesting and full of drama. It was really interesting to hear them talk about the Japanese though, since even in Koreans today, there's still this kind of dislike that seemed to be voiced whenever something Japanese came up in our tour (though, after looking at the history, I guess I can't really blame them for really hating the Japanese).
Before meeting back up with my group, I had to get lunch from somewhere. My original plan was to grab pho or korean deliciousness... but unfortunately, I ran into a problem and had less than half an hour to eat. I was in a 大パンニク - big panic lol. I also didn't know where to go for food, since everywhere looked good, but also looked like I was going to maybe not make it in time.
Then it happened. I saw people walk down the street with a huge hotdog on a skewer... with a whole (probably) potato spiraled around it and deep fried. What. I thought those were only in places like county fairs in the US. So I found myself one of those, got it with some Korean spices added, and bam, there was half of lunch. A few minutes later, I ran into a small vendor that was selling these mochi-like things in cups. Inside though, were different things like kalbi, bibimbap, and pizza. The outside got all crispy (since it had the same mouthfeel/texture as mochi, but the outside wasn't sticky really) and the inside was an amazing explosion of flavor in your mouth. THe kalbi and the bibimbap ones were SO AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. And so, since I was running out of time, I decided that those things were going to be my lunch, and that I was probably going to die early from a heart attack or something. Either way, I moved my death date up by at least a year from that lunch haha.
The ride back was fairly uneventful; we made one last stop at this last minute places where you could buy Korean souveniers and food to take back home (like nori and kimchi). They were a little more expensive though, and I also grabbed a coffee (and was a little late back to the bus because they were so. freaking. slow.)
The rest of the plane ride was rather quiet and nice. I watched Cowboys vs Aliens rather than sleeping on the way back.
And that was South Korea (or well, really, just Seoul), in less than 48 hours. Amazing. Exciting. Tasty. Gorgeous. Full of history. Full of food. NOT ENOUGH STOMACH.
I definitely want to go back. ♡
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)