Guess Who's Back, Back Again...

Here is my version of the Mastercard commerical:

1) Plane ticket from Osaka to NYC: 1400 USD
2) Shuttle bus from apartment to Kansai International Airport: 3000 JPY
3) The looks on my parent's faces: priceless.

The flight was really long. There was a guy in the next section over playing Final Fantasy 3 (in Japanese) on his Nintendo DS Lite. At that very moment, I resolved that I had to get myself a Nintendo DS. I was somewhat concerned about the lack of a pink DS in the States because DS's are rather expensive in Japan as compared to the States. However, when I finally went on the internet and to the Toys 'R' Us site - pink! I am going to get it today. On a side note, the DS will prove usefull - there is a game that serves as a denshi jisho. Until I scrape the money to get the real thing, it will do for now.

Regardless, I couldn't sleep. Too excited and was still suffering from my cold. Detroit was well, Detroit. Gray and industrial. Our flight was delayed because of baggage issues from connecting flights and I landed at LGA at 4pm, a good 20 hours after I left Osaka. Flying to Japan is one thing. Flying to New York is quite another; with the jet lag, I think it's harder to come stateside than it is to go to Japan. It is now 5am here in NYC and I am still jet-lagged.

I met up with Mel at the airport - so happy! We drove back to my house - I live 10 minutes away from LGA - and Mel didn't park the car in the driveway. My mom tends to look out the front window when she hears a car pull in and we didn't want her to see any vestiges of me. So I sort of had to duck as I went to the basement door (the entry to the garage and the basement outside slopes downward. Mel and I entered quietly and then we began to make our way upstairs.

Mel: (coming through the basement door) Can I give you my present now?
Mom: Sure! (Goes out of kitchen into dining room to get Mel's gift, returns to kitchen) Oh my GOD!
Me: Hello! I come from Japan, bearing gifts and a cold.

My parents were totally shocked. They had NO CLUE. As in, my dad was in disbelief for a few good hours and still laughing about it and my mom nearly had a heart attack and said it was a good thing she wasn't holding anything.

Pretty much, anyone in my circle under the age of 30 (with the exception of Mel's parents, as we asked his mom for help in finding a plane ticket) knew. My mom called her friend Katherine who is Ellie's mom:

Mom: Katherine. Ask Ellie if she knows anything about my Christmas present.
Katherine (calls over to Ellie): What's this about Helen's Christmas present?
Ellie: I dunno.
Katherine (turns to mom): What are you talking about?
Mom: Ask Ellie if she knows about Maria.
Katherine (turns to Ellie): What's this about Maria? isn't she in Korea?
Ellie: Um, no. She is in Astoria.

I even called my relatives in Florida and they were shocked too. My mom is going to have the best story to tell at work; like I mentioned, she told all her coworkers (as they like to keep updated on my status) that I was going to Korea.

Got them!

The Name is Fuji. Mr. Fuji.

Japanese Lesson #11:

1) San - "Mr." or "Miss," "Mrs." etc. Honorific tied onto the names.
2) Yama - mountain

I was trying to doze off and keep an eye out for the flight attendants who were giving out the lunches at the same time when the captain of the plane made an announcement:

"If you look onto your right, Mt. Fuji will be coming up on your left." Naturally, everyone in the plane began to go gaga, myself included. Who gets an aerial view on a clear day of one of the most well-known symbols of Japan? Sometimes I wonder if those maiko I saw back in October were really tourists dressing up as geisha (which is quite common) so the prospect of seeing geisha in general is extremely slim.

Mt. Fuji is one of the most famous symbols of Japan. Everyone knows what Mt. Fuji is regardless of whether or not they have anything to do with Japan. One can climb that mountain - :::cough cough::: volcano - and it's famous for being really pretty from afar, but gross up close. The place is covered with trash.

It's also famous for the "Black Forest." Not the one in Germany - no, this Black Forest's floor is covered with iron from the volcano, rendering regular Boy Scout compasses and cell phones useless. People go in there to commit suicide. The police conduct a round-up of the bodies once a year, and have to tie ropes around their waists so that they don't get lost in the forest.



There is something funny about Mt. Fuji. The Japanese call Mt. Fuji "Fuji-San," as opposed to "Fuji-yama." There are mountains that have the name + yama to create the official name of the mountain, but dear ol' Fuji is the only one with "san" at the end of the name. I know that this harks back to respect for the mountain and several thousand years of custom and traditional Shinto belief, but it's kinda funny when you say "Fuji-san, and it can also mean quite literally, "Mr. Fuji."

I wonder if the mountain likes his lava shaken, not stirred.

Over the Ocean and Across the Continent...

...to my parent's house we go!

One important thing about this blog entry:

I am not publishing this until December 24, 2006. My mom reads this blog and thus, publishing this on the date when I begin this journey of 6000+ miles and my American Express card doing some tough exercise to the tune of about $1400 entirely defeats the purpose of being on my parent's doorstep on December 24, ringing the doorbell and saying "Yoo-hoo! Guess who is here?" in a high-pitched, grandmother-ly voice (which, I think, is hilarious). Or, I can come up through the basement, and then just APPEAR in the living room.

Oh, the options and elements of surprise. I just hope I don't give my parents heart attacks.

(Note: Obviously, this is going to be a LONG entry. You were warned.)

November 21, 2006: Operation - Surprise the Parents

It all began with the following premise: I have two weeks off at the end of December. Before I came to Japan, I was exploring my options of what I will do over the holiday break, which I probably have sketched out in previous entries. To clarify:

1) Go to Hong Kong with Deena

OR

2) Go to Philippines with Mel.

Over the course of my first two months in Japan, another option presented itself, because a ticket to Hong Kong is $1300 from Osaka (WTF?!?!?!?!?):

3) Mel comes visit me in Japan.

The idea of visiting Deena in Korea over Xmas was nil, precisely because I have those 6 weeks off between Kyoto Uni and Ritsumeikan Uni. So I knew I was going to Korea in February or March. Hong Kong was out because of the ticket price; I found an amazing hotel that was reasonably priced from The Frugal Traveler column in the NYTimes so that was ok to go, as Jodie Foster would say. However, since I did not know when my vacation was exactly (and neither did Deena hers), I couldn't make any travel plans before I came to Japan (when tickets would have been cheaper). So, bye bye Hong Kong. I'll visit it through Wong Kar Wai movies for the moment, even if they do take place in the 60's.

Obviously, I did not want to just sit on my butt during the holidays. Yeah, I know "OMG, COME ON you are in Kyoto! Celebrate it Japanese style!"

I got a year and a half here. Don't worry. There is still another October-March set come next year. So I get two chances to see pretty autumn leaves and two chances to see the temple bells ring 108 times at New Year. Besides, I am coercing the familia (that is my parents, Leah and probably Mel, if he can) to come HERE for Xmas and New Year '07, as opposed to my mom and sister coming in spring '07. I want my dad to come too and since he runs the ice cream truck in the spring and summer, he isn't able to travel for extended periods of time during the hot months. We go out when it rains. It's a quirk of the family. All families have quirks.

Quirkiness aside, the idea of Mel coming to Kyoto was slowly being put on the back burner because of this revelation and another option:

4) It is cheaper for me to come home than for Mel to come to Japan,

SO...

I will come home for two weeks. Specifically, 17 days.

It's holiday season in the U.S. In Japan, people go back home for New Year (remember the inaka from your lessons!) and Christmas is more of a couples holiday. So travel is normal, not crazy. Hence, ticket prices aren't unreasonable.

And besides! Nothing kicks butt more than Christmas in New York. I have been to Times Square on New Year's twice already. It rocks. And I still need to go ice skating in either Rockefeller Center or Central Park's Wollman Rink. Last time I went skating, I was 5 years old at the Queens rink. There is a video of me, going around on my toepicks and whining the whole time. Oh, the embarrasing memories.

I had mentioned in passing to my mom (gotta love Skype) that I am considering coming home, but I haven't brought up the subject again. Since she knows that it's too expensive for Mel to come to Japan, I told Mel, Deena and my sister (who I told that I wanted to surprise the 'rents) that I am going to KOREA. To visit DEENA. NO NYC.

So now, I am in the process of finding my ticket. Mel is better at searching than me, so he was able to get the Osaka-Detroit-NYC and vice versa; I was getting results that would have me either in a 12 hour layover in Honolulu going to NYC (via Minneapolis, so then it would be two connections), or an overnight layover in Columbus going back to Kyoto (then Detroit, then Osaka so two connections again), and me losing out on time with the familia.

Granted, a 12-hour layover in Honolulu would be sweet. I was looking foward to getting a lei. But I would have arrived in NYC on December 24, at 10:30 am (at LGA which is like a hop skip and jump away from my house, but still). Yes, it makes the whole ambiance of "coming home for Christmas" very sweet, but no.

Need.To.Maximize.Time.In. NYC.

Hence, I am skipping class on January 5, a Friday. We have vacation from 12/23 to 1/4, but we come back on the 5th and THEN we have a three day weekend. They should have just given us the Friday off. Bah. I double-checked the requirements for that class, and since its just weekly quizzes and no midterm, I can skip safely. Plus I am going to tell my teacher; we had to write an essay in Japanese on our "O-Sho-Gatsu" (New Year) but for the kids from the US and Europe, New Year is just one big party where you're up all night then you pass out the next day (because you were up all night), she told us we can write about Christmas. I wrote two pages on Christmas in NYC, so I think I will be in the clear, as I got really nice comments about my essay.

Stay tuned - still need to get my ticket.

November 22, 2006: The Most Essential Piece for the Plan

I got my plane ticket. Or rather, Mel got the ticket for me and charged it on my credit card - I was on Skype when he did the whole thing. Unfortunately, I will not be arriving on the 23 of December as originally planned, but on the 24th. Nonetheless, there are two upshots:

1) ticket is $100 cheaper

and

2) I do not have crazy layovers lasting more than 12 hours. This is a neat and tidy KIX-DTW-LGA and LGA-DTW-KIX plane ticket.

So, turns out I will be surprising my parents on Christmas Eve. However, I will not jump out of a box, as someone (I won't mention who) hysterically mentioned.

I'm still debating on just coming up through the basement (point being, totally shock them by just simply acting as I would if I was already in the house, leading to the reaction of "Where did you come from?!?!?") or ring the doorbell. Unfortunately, I cannot take a poll on this, as it will spoil the surprise.

Think, think, think. As Winnie-the-Pooh would say.

November 29, 2006: Of Bed-Lifts and Coercion

I was complaining to my mom about how the curtains in Japan are ridiculously expensive (4000 YEN A PANEL?!?! WTF?!?!) or this cheap crap from the 100yen shop that will fall apart within a week. I got curtains for now (lime green and totally clashes with the pink and brown motif of my apartment, but I need them for now), being that I know that when I go home, a trip to Ikea is in order. My mom was going to send me a care package anyways with cereal (as in right proper Corn Pops, Costco size!) bed sheet set, etc. because she is a mom, and was clamoring for my new address.

I then told her my fib: "Ma, don't send me anything. I am going to Korea to visit Deena for about a week so if you send me anything, I probably won't be home to accept it. So mail me the stuff AFTER the Christmas break."

She totally bought it. Even asked me when I was going to go - "Oh, December 24th so I can be there Xmas Eve and all," was what I said. Haha. I am going to be flying in her direction the 24th.

But I almost let it out. Instead of just a mattress, I might be buying a bed frame and keeping that bed unit thing up against the wall, since the mattresses at Muji and Nitori (Japanese version of Ikea) don't fit the unit's bed frame exaclty. However, if my futon mattress fits in the part that is slightly sunken in so that the mattress will lie plumb with the frame and won't sink, then I will get just the mattress. Maybe.

Point is, I was looking at bed lifts (you know, the ones college kids use to raise the beds in the dorms so that they have extra storage underneath) and I told my mom as I was explaining my mattress problems, "I am looking at Bed Bath and Beyond right now so that I can buy bed lifts to raise the bed frame...which you are going to have to ship to me in January." OoOoO, I almost left her hanging there.

And I think I will go with the coming-through-the-basement route. Cat told me that when she surprised her parents on Columbus day, she just walked into the living room and since her mother wasn't expecting anything, the look on her face was priceless. I will probably get the same reaction if I ring the doorbell, but I think coming up the stairs in my slippers and with a "Ho-hum, what's for dinner?" attitude, the reaction will be even better.

December 3, 2006: A 25-Day Late Cake

I am still going to have a cake, but in NYC. I’m thinking that Mel and I will celebrate our birthday’s together, as his is on December 31. And I will go out with the girls as well so not only do I get to see them but I also go out for my birthday. 25 days late but who is counting?

December 16, 2006: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!

I really need to shut up. I almost let it out to my mom on two separate occasions. However, according to Leah, the parents are totally oblvivious - even though we got 4 tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. My mom found out about that; she was planning to go to Florida after Xmas and Leah was like NO!

Mom: "Why?"
Leah: "Because...oh drat, we got you and daddy tickets to Phantom of the Opera."
Mom: "OoOoO...Daddy is going to love that! But why four?"
Leah:".......Mel is coming too!"

December 23, 2006: Subbering brom a Stubbed Ub Dose

I was reading over this blog, checking for spelling mistakes because I am a horrible typer. I noticed that I wrote that I would come up from the basement in my slippers - but I don't wear slippers at home.

Point is, I wear slippers in Japan because everyone does. Shows that I am getting used the Japanese lifestyle here.

Nonetheless, I return home to the States a sick person. My parents will be recieving an "Ill Maria" for Christmas.

It never fails. Almost ever December/Janaury, I get sick. I have been taking Vitamin C pills, using Purell, washing my hands AND I live in a country where people wear face masks when they are sick so they don't get the people around them sick. My immune system is WEAK. Boo, immune system.

On Thursday night, I felt the all too familiar tinglings of a sore throat. All too familiar because I have a LONG and extensive history with them, especially as a child. I was in a bit of a panic, because I didn't want to get any worse - anyone remember when I had the abcessed (sp?) tonsil before I came to London? I didn't want to get any more sick than I was.

So, Friday morning, I hightailed it to the doctor at the health center. He probably thought I was a paranoid American pill-popper. Seriously - the first question that my flatmate asked me back in England was, "Are all Americans pill poppers?"

It's not that I am a pill popper. It's that I have a history of bad sore throats. Do I want to get any worse? Plus, I have over 24 hours of traveling ahead of me. Thank god I was able to get an aisle seat at least.

Cost of session with doctor and prescriptions: 320 yen. Awesome. I got medicine for 4 days. One of the medicines is actually this salty powedered stuff - heaven help customs if they try to take that away from me. My prescriptions don't come in the standard bottle that they have in the States with the printed label, its just in an official little envelope bag with my name (in katakana) and indicating how long the medicine is for and how many times a day I have to take it (3x, with food). My pills are Mucosolvan anyone heard of it? I googled it before I took it and apparently, its one of the most common medicines in the world used for coughs and colds. Go figure, I don't know it because the FDA hasn't approved it yet.

Good thing is that within a day or too the tingling was gone. Preventative measures worked! So now I have just a cold. My mom just noticed on Skype so I had to admit that I had a small cold, which is nothing major anyway. Just that sore throat thing worried me.

So my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, and I'm standing here in the airport with a lot of packets of tissues in hand. My mom is totally clueless. She told her coworkers at work that I am going to Korea for Christmas. The only people that know I am coming are a few friends (both college and family), Mel and Leah. None of my relatives know, and none of the relatives of my family friends (which are like family) know.

Tee-hee. EVERYONE is going to be surprised.

"Hi - achoo! - I'm home!"

Nintendo: More than Just Mario and Luigi

Japanese Lesson #10:

1) Karuta - "card game," derived from the Portuguese word "carta." Incidentally, "Carta" is the Greek word for card as well. Gotta love the Europeans and their amagalm of languages.
2) Waka - traditional Japanese poems, predominantly dating from the Heian period.
3) Kotowaza - Japanese idioms

My Japanese reading teacher is one of my favorites, next to conversation and the crazy grammar teacher. Instead of having class on Friday, which was the last day before vacation, she decided to forgo the lesson and teach us karuta for the New Year. In particular "uta-garuta" and "iroha-karuta." (There are tons of karuta, but two are especially played in the New Year.) We still had our weekly vocabulary quiz - I totally forgot about it, but I knew the words regardless. I got lucky this week.


The first is "uta-garuta." There are two sets of card in this deck, amounting to 200 cards. One one set of 100, there are "waka," with a picture of the composer underneath. The other set has the last two lines of the waka printed on it. You scatter the cards (the ones with the last two lines of the poem printed), face-up, and then a person takes the waka card and reads the poem aloud. The first person to get the matching two-lines card from the scattered pile wins the round. Whoever has the most cards after reading out all 100 wins the whole game. There are actually professional uta-garuta competitions that can get quite nasty; even from hearing the first syllable of the waka, professionals can grab the card from the pile of two-line cards. Even towards the end, most of us were competing with one another when we both saw the card at the same time.

You can play another game with the same deck, using the cards with the waka and the illustration on it. Get 4 people and arrange the cards into 4 stacks, facedown. Draw a card - if its a male, draw another; bald man, lose your turn. Draw a female, and you take all the cards that the person before you has. Play until all the cards are drawn; whoever has the most cards, wins. This one can get quite interesting, since it is all due to chance, rather than skill.


Iroha-karuta uses kotowaza for its phrases. It's played the exact same way as uta-garuta. Each card that is spilled out face up has one hiragana character, which corresponds to a kotowaza that begins with that same character, and has a picture that expresses the meaning of the idiom. Unlike uta-garuta which is probably a really old game, iroha-karuta dates from the Edo period, which is around the 15th century.

Little bit of trivia: who usually makes the karuta decks, at least the uta-garuta sets?

Nintendo.

Nintendo is actually much older than people in the States think, and is not just known for Mario and Luigi. Nintendo dates back to the Meiji period (19th century) and mostly started making the card games. I had known that but totally forgot about it; so I did a double take when my teacher said that she got these from Nintendo.

Nintendo should make a video game of the karuta. Play against the computer. Since the DS Lite has a little stylus, you can definitely pick the cards from the deck with the phrases on it. Or since DS has infrared, play with other people.

No Speak English

Japanese lesson #9:

1) Unn...Chotto...: VERY useful phrase to indicate "Umm..." - used in awkward situations, when you are put on the spot or when you just don't want to answer the question. No effective version in English, unfortunately.

Today after class, I went to the post office to get some money. For those that aren't in the know, the post office also serves as a bank. It's called the "postal savings." Every person in Japan (at least every adult) has one. You can pay your bills, make wire transfers, etc. etc. What's great especially for foreigners is that in a pinch, you can use your international ATM card. They won't work anywhere else. And there is a pretty useful guide in English. I am comfortable enough with my Japanese to use the ATM in Japanese; I just dont want to screw up. Every Monbusho scholarship student has to have one - it's how we get our stipends.

Went to my local post office, which is less than a minute bike ride away. I could in theory walk to the post office, but whenever I do go there (as well as Family Mart, the local combini) I always use my bike. Why? I get there faster. Plus, it's not like I have to lug a bike up and down a hill anymore. Each officially designated neighborhood in Kyoto has its own post office. Within my neighborhood of Yoshida, there are three to five smaller cho, or groups of blocks. My neighborhood also has a local shrine, aplty called Yoshida Jinja. I plan to go to it (finally!) tomorrow. I kind of feel stupid not going to the local shrine, especially when it is a one minute bike ride away.

So I did my personal housekeeping (as they call it) schtick at the post office, and went back outside to go home.

Head down, key in bike, unlock bike.

Head up, and all-smiley Japanese lady practically right in my face.

Japanese lady: "Hello. Do you speak English?"

Me (thinking that she was going to solicit me for English lessons, which is something that I don't want to do here): "Unn..chotto...hanasemasu." (Umm...I can a bit)

Japanese lady: "Oh, no speak english? I am from a Christian group...yada yada yada..."

I decided to blank out at this point. For one thing, it would contribute to the "Umm, I don't speak English so well," so it would shorten the conversation and make me look a little clueless, and second, I didn't like the fact that this lady stopped in the middle of her bike ride just because my face isn't Japanese to talk to me about some evangelical Christian group she belongs to. Furthermore, even though I did perfectly fit into the stereotype of "Caucasian = Non-Japanese = English speaker = Christian," what if I wasn't really an English speaker or a Christian of one stripe or another?

This is why typecasting and stereotyping is a) somewhat rampant here and b) utterly ridiculous and inherently flawed. My friend Alisa is trying to get internet in her building and in spite of the fact that her Japanese is very decent for her to get the account, she told me of how the internet representatives (when they were at her building for an information session) actually panicked, and had to shove one of the guys in the front to talk to her. She is constantly being pushed from one person to the next over the phone, even though she is speaking to them in Japanese. She says something in Japanese which is totally coherent (for her Japanese is better than mine and she is more comfortable using it than me, I am still a bit shy) and they tell her, "Sorry, no speak english." Same thing went down at the bank - the ladies at the information desk actually said, "YOU go speak to the gaijin."

Being Caucasian an American automatically does not make. In theory, I can say I am Canadian and actually would be telling the truth. I can thank my mom for that.

This is also why I kept replying in Japanese to religion pushing Japanese lady. When she finally finished talking and handed me a Jehovah's Witness magazine, she finally asked me where I was from. For a minute I kind of blanked out (because I was finally coming back down to earth), and then she repeated her question:

Japanese lady: "Dochira kara kimashita ka?" ("Where are you from?")

Me: "Girisha" ("Greece." Serves her right for her thinking automatically that I am an English speaker.)

Japanese Lady (In English): "Ah! Greek! ...Welcome to Kyoto!"

It's not that I am against the religion. Practice what you wish. What I don't agree with are solicitation tactics.

And don't bloody stereotype me.

Treloi anthropoi.

ニューヨークはクリスマスで

米国のクリスマスはお正月より人気がある。家族と一緒にクリスマスを祝って、友達と一緒にお正月と祝う。日本では、たしか反対だと思う。

ニューヨークはクリスマスの祝いで有名です。５番街の商店はクリスマスの飾り付けでまどを飾って、ロックフェラーセンターに一番大きいクリスマスツリーがある。大学生だッた時に、私はロックフェラーセンターで働いた。クリスマス時期に毎日ツリーを見たわけです。ツリーは大抵色々な電気で飾っている。でも、２００１年９月１１日の後のクリスマスツリーは特別な電気で飾った。電気の色は米国旗に似ているために、赤と白と青いだった。

マンハッタンの道と繁華街は旅行者とクリスマスの買い物する人が多いので、いつもすごく込んでいる。ニューヨークでは、買い物がスポッツに似ている！人は道を速く歩いて、時々珍しい商品のために競う。皆は大安売りで買い物する。私は、群衆がきらい。しかし、めちゃくちゃな景色を見るのは楽しい。

一番大好きなクリスマスの思い出は子供時代から来たのことだ。クリスマスの前の２週間、家族と一緒に５番街に行った。第６０通りから始まって、FAO Schwartz という有名なおもちゃの店に行った。第６０通りから第４９通りまで５番街に沿って歩きながら、商店の飾りつけを見た。第４９通りに着いたら、ロックフェラーセンターのツリーを見た。それから、ツリーの前写真を取った。

大抵、家族はクリスマスの前夜にプレゼントをあける。高校の２生時、家族はフロリダに行って、母の家族と一緒にクリスマスを祝った。とても違った！伝統的なクリスマスツリーの代わりに、やしの木でクリスマスの電気があった。

それでも、若い人にとって、大晦日が人気がある。ニューヨークでは一番有名な新年会タイムズスクエアの新年会だ。たしか３百万の人がタイムズスクエアに行って、クリスタルびょうよみのボールが落ちるのを待っている。これは「Ball Drop」と呼ぶ。２度タイムズスクエアの新年会に行ったことがある。寒くても、楽しい！

Here, Piggy Piggy Piggy...

Japanese Lesson #8:

1) Iruka: Dolphin

I always wonder why the Japanese sometime use katakana for animals when they have proper kanji to begin with. For example:

Cat‡ Neko‡ネコ‡ 猫
Dog‡ Inu‡ イヌ‡ 犬

The same thing goes for the word dolphin, which I provided above:

Dolphin‡ Iruka‡ イルカ‡ 海豚

My Japanese grammar teacher is rather eccentric, and likes to make fun of everything, including us. So if we have trouble understanding the grammar, she makes examples and draws us on the board. However, it does keep us on our toes, and from falling asleep. Everyone knows she is one of the best teachers in the department. Today, when explaining what a dolphin was to a Chinese student, she drew a pig with fins on the board.

“Sea pig!”

Everyone else knew what a dolphin was, but to hear it described as a “sea pig” was quite hilarious. Everyone burst out laughing – a pig for a dolphin? When I typed in the word for “pig” (“buta”) it was right, the same character popped up. The first character is for sea, so a dolphin is literally a sea pig. Given the fact that the Japanese borrowed a lot of words from the Chinese, we have to ask Chinese people or speakers why a dolphin is a pig in the sea.

The question of pigs is rather appropriate these days – 2007 will be the year of the boar. Pigs are very popular now. Cute pigs are even better.

On a wry note, I also noticed that if you pronounce the word for pig in Japanese with the wrong accent and add “na,” it becomes a bad Greek word.

Here, piggy piggy piggy...here piggy!

Have Bike, Will Slog

Something possesed me last night:

"Here is an idea, Maria - ride your bike to Kitano-sensei's (my koto teacher) house! It's ok if its south of Kyoto Station and is going to be 46 degrees out!"

Maybe it was the fact that I am going over budget recently, and I needed to save the bus money. Maybe it was also that after several days of incessant rain (and it rained last night too!) I was itching to enjoy the (cold) sunshine.

So, I hoofed it. On bike.

Oh but wait, the story gets better.

Higashi-oji Dori has narrow sidewalks at one point or another - so narrow in fact that there is only room for one person. It can be a bit risky at times; for the first time in my life I actually rode my bike on the street for several lengths of time. Of course I went slow. I always get to Kitano-sensei's house rather early, and I didn't want to sweat alot with the going-up-the-mini-hills brou-haha. Didn't the city works committees way back in the day when they paved the roads hear of LEVELLING it? Oh well.

At least there are only two big hills (Shijo and Gojo), as opposed to too many little hills on Kawabata/along the Kamogawa. I still had to take my sweater off. When I wear my navy blue plaid peacoat (many of you have seen this peacoat) I wear this gray, zippered cardigan from J.Crew. It's friggin' cold out, man!

It's important to mention this sweater right now. Most of you probably know that I am a very big devotee to that store (and that is still an understatement). All that aside, there is a nice memory associated with the sweater:

When I was 15, I got some birthday money from my Nouna (godmother) and my dad took me to the J.Crew store on Prince Street in SoHo - WAY before it decided that $158 cashmere sweaters were the norm as opposed to $48 merino wool sweaters (basic wool sweaters are now $68 - I wait till stuff goes on sale, as I always have). We were looking around trying to figure out what I could get with my birthday money, when my dad picked up a gray, zippered cardigan with pockets and a drawstring:

"Ah, I had a sweater like this when I was your age, but with buttons. This is a good sweater."

My dad used to work in the garment district as a furrier, making mink coats for designers like Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Valentino, etc. He once made one specifically for Vera Wang (the person). So when I go shopping, I go either usually with my dad, or ask him what he thinks either before I get it (online) or after, when I buy it.

I knew then that that was a good sweater. So, I got it.

Seven years (and many wears and trips to the dry cleaners) later, and I still have the sweater. There is not one hole in it. So I usually wear it in the winter when I wear short sleeved stuff, or as an extra layer. I was getting hot as I rode to Kitano-sensei's house so I took it off and shoved it in my bike basket. Never thought to put it in my bag.

Plink, plink, PLONK (my right hand is really not used to all the grunt work) and an hour later, I am making the reverse trip back up Higashi-oji. I had an errand to run - I needed to get my re-entry permit, since I am going abroad for Christmas. The subject of re-entry permits and my beef with them are the subject of a later post.

On the way, I remember that there was a shop I wanted to go to but it wasn't open yet. I keep forgetting that shops here open at 11, not 10 am. I go to a cafe and sit there for the next 45 minutes, drinking a weak and expensive (500 yen!) Cafe Au Lait. Coffee and Japan - another post. 11:15 am rolls around and the shop is still not open. Bah! I then head onto my errand for the morning: Kyoto Immigration Office.

I go to Immigration and fill out the application. In order to get the revenue stamp that says you paid the money for the permit in order to get the permit, you need to go outside the building, walk around the corner to another building and go to the Revenue Stamp Office. Japanese bureaucracy and my beef with that will be another post as well. Stay tuned.

I go to the office and get my stamp; I was in a bit of a rush. I had a craving for nabe-yaki udon from the cafeteria and I wanted to see if Chen was around for the usual time of lunch at 12pm. It was now 11:45am. I am biking back up to my house to get my books and laptop before I head to Rune (the cafeteria) when I realized something. I actually exclaimed aloud:

"WHERE IS MY SWEATER?"

I practically brake so hard that my bike squealed in protest. Good thing I parked it under the shelter last night - as I mentioned before, it rained AGAIN. I turn around, and go to the Immigration Office.

Not there.

I go back to the cafe where I had my coffee.

Not there.

The shop that I was waiting for earlier was actually open by now so I decided I might as well check it out. The minute I parked my bike, it hit me:

I left my sweater at the REVENUE STAMP OFFICE, not the Immigration Office. I was so tired at this point, I had no choice but to continue my morning slog. I leave the shop, head back to the Revenue Stamp Office. It was closed. I had forgotten that Japanese offices actually have a set lunch hour, usually from 12 to 1. I actually bang on the door, praying that someone was there. Luckily, someone heard my banging and when I said I regrettably forgot a greay sweater (as that was the direct translation) she handed it to me.

O thank god. My sweater has been restored.

Unfortunately, no nabe-yaki udon. It was already 12:45 by the time I got back to my apartment so I went for the next best thing:

Piza-man and Bifu-karee-man from the Clocktower coop shop.

How You Like Your Coffee???

This week's Metropolitan Diary was particularly hilarious.

Dear Diary:

After the New York City Ballet’s opening-night performance, the promenade lobby at the New York State Theater was beautifully set with decorated tables for the gala dinner. Exquisitely dressed patrons and socialites were making their entrances, and lovely music set the scene. The tables were adorned with sprays of delicate flowers, and waiters stood at attention to serve the guests.

We ordinary audience members from the upper rings passed by this lush setting, and a mother with two 8- or 9-year-old girls was overheard to say, emphatically, “There are a lot of speeches, very little eating, mediocre food, and WE'RE NOT INVITED."

Dear Diary:

Leaving a delightful concert at Carnegie Hall recently, I walked to the 57th Street station to catch the F train back to Queens. In the station, I first heard and then saw a man playing Vivaldi on his violin. A group of young people were gathered around the older man, quietly listening to the lilting sounds.

When the piece was finished, one young man admiringly said, “Yo, you play that violin like Tupac raps!”

Dear Diary:

The other morning there is the usual purposeful chaos at the corner store’s deli counter on 14th Street.

The counterman shouts, “What you want?” and people shout back, “Black with a buttered roll,” “Two, light and sweet,” and so forth.

A young guy in construction-worker clothes steps up to the counter. The counterman shouts, “What you want?”

Young guy answers in a thick Eastern European accent, “I - want - coffee.”

Counterman shouts, “How you like your coffee?” The young guy looks puzzled.

Counterman shouts louder, “HOW YOU LIKE YOUR COFFEE?” The young guy doesn’t understand, so the counterman really shouts, “HOW - YOU - LIKE - YOUR - COFFEE?”

The young guy now understands and is pleased to answer with complete confidence:

“I like my coffee ... very much!”

スーヨンちゃんの手紙***

拝啓

もう十二月の冬になりましたが、京都はこのごろ寒くようになります。最近、京都にたくさん雨が降りました。時々ロンドンの天気のように天気さえです。たしか、ロンドンは雨がたくさん降ります。ロンドンはもちろん悪い天気で有名です。雨の長靴をはかないで済みました。でも、足をいつも濡れるなります。京都の天気は別に悪いですけど、今雨が降りそうです。

私にとって、それはいいです。昨日クリスマスショッピングのために、クラスを終わったら、私とマレージアから「チェン」と呼んだ友達一緒に四条の繁華街に行きました。妹のクリスマスプレンゼントのために、傘をかいました。私のためにも！日本の傘はきれいだし、独特なです。でも、新しい傘を使いたいけど、いつも雨が降るわけではありません。

日本語は勉強すればするほど、日本語を使うことに慣れるのではないかと思います。私に成績をつけるから、毎日勉強しないわけにいきません。京大で授業を完成した上で、リラックスできます。それでも、よく日本語を分かることに気がつきます。日本語の文法は覚えにくいですが、せっかく練習します。そして、この手紙を書いて、新しい習った文法を使います。いったん手紙を書けば文法は覚えやすい。楽しい代わり難しいです。例えば、漢字がなかなか覚えません。つまり、毎週末、いつも十時間ぐらい図書館にいます。人たちは私に「いつのまにか、ペラペラになる！」と言います。私は時々反対と考えます。今、勉強ばかりです。研究を始めるかまだ分からなくて、困っています。時々、「日本語でペラペラになりますか」と考えます。

しかし、勉強は難しいことは、楽しいです。いつも図書館にいると限りません。何度も授業をおわったら、私と友達一緒に遊びます！京都は四条の繁華街近いし、レストランの値段が安いし、それに面白い所が多いので、賑やかな町です。しかし、もちろん天気によって違います！：ー）雨が降れば、私と友達は自転車を乗れなくて、バスに乗らなければならないので、遊びが高くなるわけです。自転車を乗って初めて、衝突について心配しました。道が込んでいると、遅く乗ります。

じゃ、この手紙を終わったばかりです。手紙でとても書けません。来年の秋に京都に行けばいいのに！

敬具

二〇〇六年十二月十六日

***It's bad. I know. But I tried.

A Disclaimer

I have been writing a few essays in Japanese for my classes recently. And when I get them back, I get corrected - obviously.

You are probably wondering where I am going with this.

I am going to post those corrected essays on my blog - in Japanese of course. I figured it forces me to go over my corrections slowly and in depth, as I am not a fast typer in Japanese. It's rather tricky and time consuming to switch between hiragana, romaji and katakana on an American keyboard.

To begin, I post a letter I wrote to my friend. I have a midterm this Wednesday and I thought what better way to practice all that grammar than to use it in a real life situation? So, using my grammar notes, I conducted a letter filled with uncomprehensive gibberish. This is not corrected by the teachers; so in my own head it works. As for the real world, I'll bet I got 90% of the letter wrong. I try. This letter took my FOUR HOURS to write so I hope I did ok.

For those that can't read Japanese: tough luck for you. Consider it a break from the barrage of posting that I do.

:-D

For those that can read Japanese: 分かれば、コメントを書いてください！ありがとう！

KAJI!!!

Japanese Lesson #7 (we continue from 7!):

1) kaji - fire
2) KAJI!!! - FIRE! Get your buckets and join the brigade!!! (Every house has its own little fire bucket. If there is a fire, a brigade is formed until the fire department comes.)

In the midst of my reading class yesterday, a BIG siren started to wail.

Everyone was a bit alarmed, even the teacher. I thought it was the signal for an earthquake; I know Kyoto doesn't get as many earthquake, but it never hurts to think the worse and be prepared. So our teacher goes to the window, peers out and says,

"Oh, it's just a fire drill."

I know I heaved a big sigh of relief.

When class had its fifteen minute break, I went downstairs to get my coffee and go to the bathroom. before that, a big spray of water hit the side of the building where I have my classes - probably part of the drill. According to Chen, one guy was caught in it and got totally drenched. He was also wearing a suit. Poor guy. It was pretty chilly out there too.

So when I went downstairs, I turned my head to left and burst out laughing. There in front of the administration building was a big flag with the character for "Kaji" haning out a window and about 200 people all in suits or in fire department gear. The whole seriousness of the drill - as comparaed to my memories of elementary school fire drills - was very funny, albeit in a perverse way. I know that fire drills are meant to prepare you. But I couldn't help it; I went back to my class and snapped a few photos of the organized chaos.

Rather, chaos it was not - the whole place was silent. All the suits were just standing there watching the fire truck drive by. I think what striked me as very funny was that sure, the administration will know what to do in the case of a fire, but what about the students?

Take it When You Get it

FINALLY!

No more rain.

But when I went to see Noh/Kyogen on Thurdsay it was pissing down proper. I REALLY need rainboots and that little thing that attaches my umbrella to my bike - imagine when it's rainy season come June and I have to go to Ritsumeikan. I really don't want to spend money on the bus, especially when I have the bike in the first place.

So I convinced Colleen to go to "the theatre," Japanese style. She told me about it at the weekly Ki-Zu-Na tea party and said it was free. She had some reservations about it since she has a paper to write (in Japanese! I tremble, though my essays are getting a bit better) and has to hand it in by Wednesday.

Colleen: Um...I don't know, I have my paper....
Me: This is a RARE opportunity. You take it when you get it! When are you going to be able to see Noh and Kyogen for FREE?

So off we went, with some kids from the Nikkensei group (Japanese Studies, 1 year Monbusho students). We walked. The blocks here are really long. Three days later, and my Uggs are still drying. I really need rainboots.


Turns out, the free Noh and Kyogen was sponsored by Kyodai and was offered to the Kyodai community (and I guess whoever knew someone who was in Kyodai in one form or another). The hall where the performances were held were specifically for Noh and Kyogen.

Kyogen is a form of comedy - it is always performed before Noh, which is VERY slow and VERY serious. The Kyogen piece was about a man and wife who were in the midst of a nasty fight and it then becomes a question of who is going to commit suicide with a sickle. I understood maybe like 1% of the dialogue since it was a bit arcane, but I did get one sentence, and laughed along with everyone else.

After the intermission, the Noh performance began. It was abut a priest who was walking around the ruins of an old palace, and meets up with Lady Rokujo, one of Prince Genji's lovers from "The Tale of Genji." I have tried to read that thing for several years on end now; it is a good book. So, since I knew a bit of the story, I was very interested.

The whole thing started at 6:30pm. It was 9pm, and Lady Rokujo JUST arrived on the stage. I told you it was long. Colleen and I left because it was late; the weather was still crap and I was getting a bit antsy. But I do know where the theatre is and I might go back again.

So, Noh and Kyogen are down. I am learning the koto. Need to see kabuki and sumo, and geisha dances. There is a tournament in Osaka in March.

Lessons in Cat Prevention

My Japanese classes not only teach me how to speak, read, write etc. in Japanese properly, but interesting tidbits of Japanese culture. I know quite a bit about sumo now, for example. I plan to go see the Osaka Basho in March.

So, in addition to sumo, I learned something really interesting a few weeks ago in my reading class:

Want to know why there are 1L bottles filled with water surrounding the base of some of the houses in the neighborhood?

To prevent cats from peeing on the houses.

There is actually one house in my neighborhood that is totally surrounded by 1L water bottles. I never knew why until now.

My Japanese classes ARE good for something!

:::wink:::

Only in Kyoto kids, only in Kyoto.

Ame, Oh-Ame

Japanese lesson # 5 (6? Whatever. You still learn):

1) Ame: rain
2) Oh-ame: big rain

It was raining cats and dogs yesterday. In my opinion, Kyoto gets more rain than London. Then again, I wasn’t in London during March 2005, when my former flatmate emailed me during vacation and told me “Good thing you went home, the weather here is so bad, we don’t know whether or not to go out.” I am presuming that what she meant by
“weather” was rain. I never got to experience a right proper downpour until my last day – I had been wanting one for so long (yes, it does seem twisty, but I haven’t experience right proper rain until then) so I did leave home happy. There is a picture of me on the 73 bus going back to my dorm sopping wet – and with a big grin on my face.

But that downpour was in June. Earlier that day, the weather was very nice. It is December here, and then add to the rain a cold atmosphere. However, it’s not that cold – yet. According to a girl who used to live in Westchester for 5 years, Kyoto gets colder than New York. We shall see about that. And in the meantime, I won’t rush out to by an electric heater (though Professor S. highly recommended a kerosene one, he uses it and I noticed one in my koto teacher’s room as well) – I finally figured out how to heat my room with the lowest fan setting at 20 degrees Celsius, as opposed to 30 degrees Celsius and the highest fan setting. The key is in the orientation of the vents – one day I was playing with my remote and pressed a button and noticed that miraculously the vents changed their orientation. Eureka! That’s why there is hardly any hot air in my room, it was blowing down as opposed to out because the vents were facing down as opposed to out.

I have been drinking a lot of HOT English breakfast and Greek tea to warm my un-acclimated innards. So the experiment is working, for the moment. Let’s see what happens when I get my first real electric bill. I got one for 349yen for like my first three days but I have no clue why I got one so fast. I just went to the combini and paid it.

I figured that by the time I become totally miserable, it will be mid-February and I plan to travel that month and a half around Japan and Asia (latter part if possible) so I won’t be around much to justify the purchase of an electric heater. Then spring comes, and I would have survived my first winter, so that means I can get through another one.

So back to yesterday. In spite of all the rain, the people at the International Students Center still hosted the mochi-tsuki event. Mochi is sticky rice cake, often covered with powder to prevent it from sticking it into your hands. I had some when I went to the temple bazaar on Imadegawa a few weeks ago; that mochi had a strawberry in it. Yum!

Traditionally, they make a batch at New Year with a stone bowl and a BIG pestle. You want big? See big:



It was about 400 yen for pretty much all-you-can-eat mochi, tea (as always) and this miso soup thing that you pour on top of the mochi, the kind that is not rolled into rice cakes and covered with the powder. The miso soup was a little too salty though. I was really happy when they started to make the little rice cakes. I had mine with kinoko – something that is like a cross between cinnamon and brown sugar, I think – and adzuki, red beans. Red bean is used a lot in Japanese sweets; I like it a lot because it’s sweet but not too sweet.



I didn't pound the mochi myself – the pestle thing is really heavy and I am left-handed so I would place my hands somewhat backwards on the handle. It was already rather crowded under the tents since there was little space to stand around. Just as I was leaving for class, they began to make matcha-mochi and adzuki mochi. The bastards! I wanted that from the start; luckily during a class break I had some adzuki mochi, since they were still pounding away even at 3pm. No more matcha-mochi, unfortunately.

I asked if there was any kinoko left and I dipped the (big!) mochi in it – the lady manning the mochi trays said “Ippai!” (More!) good-naturedly.

So I had my mochi, and kinoko too.

Furnished!

When Colleen and I went to Nitori, we used our bikes. It was about 55 degrees outside, but still, we went with our bikes.

Always.Use.Bike.In.Kyoto.

it's the way of life. However, not when you are going very very long distances - i.e. from Kyodai to Kyoto Eki. Phew! I did that and I got all icky and sweaty because it was cold so I was wearing layers, and then I slowly took off the layers as I got hot.

But when we went to Nitori, all was well. All was even better when we finally got there; it's on the western side of the city, and I live on the eastern side. It's even further past the koto shop that I went to when I got my koto picks. When Colleen and I got there we were amazed - it's like a shopping mall! And Nitori is right there!

So we walked in and OoOoO...it IS like Ikea! Cheap furniture, good quality for students. I began to tick the things off my list:

1) Comforter (I have the one Mayuko gave me, but I really needed another one, so cold!) - check
2) Two pillows - check
3) Pillowcase (already had one) - check
4) Mattress - check
5) Desk - check
6) Chair check

Not check - storage rack thing. I am not going to use the television that came with my apartment, as I need a cable wire to get the signal. I normally do not watch alot of tv anyways (yes I know the listening practice is good for me but I can get that listening to Japanese podcasts) so that means I only need one horizontal surface, for when I get my "oben renji" (oven range - a microwave that also acts like a grill, oven and toaster!). So, I will stack up all 4 of my plastic drawers, get a wooden cutting board to put underneath the oben renji and there we go.

Colleen pointed this out to me as I was looking at the desk options that I had - one was a regular table with one drawer and the other was a slightly smaller table but it came with a chest - both were same price. Colleen goes to say, "You can put your dried goods in the chest and then you dont have to get the storage rack." I kept on thinking, "What am I going to use a chest of drawers for? I already have my school stuff put away."

So Colleen saved me 2,990 yen. And I think that shipping is free - nothing of the sort showed up on my reciept, and in true Ikea-ish fashion, I assembled the furniture on my own. Good thing I noticed the other week that the Shop 99 (100 yen supermarket) on Kawabata and Marutamachi has screwdrivers, pliers and hammers.

Collen and I brought back my comforter and pillows on our bikes. Have bike, will carry. we stopped at Shijo for some dinner at Nakau - the fast food-ish place Deena and I went to my first week, where you put your money in a machine, push a button for what you want to eat and then you bring the ticket to the counter. Next to sushi-on-a-conveyor-belt, students have two good places to grab some dinner on the cheap. Afterwards, we went to Ogawa Coffee, this really really AMAZING coffee shop on Sanjo. The barista there drew a dog into the foam of my cappucino and it didn't taste like burnt Starbucks. Nuff said. I will go there from now on - it may be a bit more, but the service and quality is so worth it.

So my furniture came on Monday, a half hour before the scheduled delivery time. Good thing I was home already! Colleen and Ingram came over to help assemble the furniture, and celebrated the fruits of our labors with Dominoes Pizza. I never knew I missed pizza that badly, I practically attacked it and devoured my portion. So we pigged out and used my new furniture and jsut had fun. So now, I have furniture. My legs and back are crying with relief. I have gotten used to the futon (which is now cut up so it can fill the gap between the bed frame and my mattress) but sitting on the floor for extended periods of time is something that is more difficult for me. I have bad knees.

Nonetheless - dum da de dum! My apartment (or at least the bed/table area):

Chanting for a Viennese Coffee

I really wanted to stay at the reception for the conference on Saturday night, but I had made another engagement that I couldn’t get out of, and was really looking forward to as well.

I had probably mentioned something about an International Poetry Festival going on at a café near my house. Colleen knows a guy from Okinawa (and when I met him, the first thing that came to my head was “He doesn’t look like Japanese” and Colleen conferred, Okinawans are different) and was hosting a poetry festival and was looking for people that speak other languages. Colleen had mentioned me to him and I emailed, interested. One way or another, I ended up chanting in Ancient Greek Andromache’s speech to Hector from Book 6 of Homer’s “The Iliad.” I was last; each of us had to explain what the poem meant in either English or Japanese. I knew that I had to do that but at the last minute, decided to do my explanation of the passage in Japanese. With a little bit of help from Jesse (another kid on the Monbusho) I was able to pull it off pretty nicely, for last minute. Maybe that’s a good sign.

I did it because this was something that I would not have done normally at home; Colleen had mentioned that the café culture in Kyoto is really good and she wanted to “get in on it” and to some extent, so did I. The café where the poetry festival was held at was amazing – I felt like I was at an old café in Europe. It was very homey and the building it was in actually had a turret-style room and on the outside was red ivy. I definitely plan to go there again – maybe next weekend when I have to study for my midterm and try to tackle an article from Nippon VOGUE. It’s closer to me than is Sanjo Starbucks or Ogawa, and a lot homier. It has a great atmosphere.

There was an artist there sketching each of the speakers. Afterwards, I asked if I could see the drawing he made of me out of curiosity, and I ended up bringing it home with me.

It’s tacked onto my wall in my apartment now and when I move home in 2008, I plan to frame it (as my Kate Spade ads from Nippon VOGUE; I like the design of the advertisements, and I am a Kate Spade junkie. To each her own fix).

Doctor Ja Arimasen, Kenkyuusei Desu

To all the professors that read this blog:

What was it like for you when you first saw your name in print?

I can easily tell you how I felt.

As my crazy grammar teacher goes to explain the concept of surprise with intransitive verbs (the devils themselves) – “‘Oh my god-do’ desu.”

Multiply that by a million.



This weekend was the East Asian Urban and Architecture History Conference – everyone probably already knows this by now. Obviously, since my paper was accepted, I knew that it was going to be published – but it’s quite another thing when you ACTUALLY see it in print and you hold the physical copy in your hands. The longer version of my undergrad thesis is on the internet, but books and journals are still preferred.

When I got my hands on the conference proceedings, I searched for my paper. When I found it – in Volume II – I just kept looking at it. That’s my NAME! Interspersed with people who have PhDs and graduate students with Master’s degrees, my name is THERE! The volume has an actual ISBN number! I practically molested the book – I just kept hold it and turning back to my paper to look at it the whole day.

I was a bit nervous about my presentation – I had timed myself and was a bit over the time but I figured I would just play it by ear and talk really fast. I was supposed to be second in my panel, but the first person wasn’t there so I went first. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t very prepared to go first because I knew I was going to be second. I wasn’t able to get to my last slide, but that was alright.

The kicker was when the moderator (who was Japanese) tried to pronounce my last name. It’s pretty simple for a Greek name, but imagine if it was something like “Hatzicharalambous.” She says my name but calls me “Dr. Marangos.” Again they do that – oh dear, it is a nice feeling but I still feel that I need to correct them because it’s not true. Plus, I was still afraid that with my presentation, my head was going to be put on the butcher block and I have this feeling that students have a bit more license to make mistakes. So in front of everyone, I say “Iie, sumimasen, doctor ja arimasen, kenkyuusei desu.” (Sorry, but I am not a doctor, I am a research student.)

The interesting thing is I was placed in the “Modern Urban Planning” panel. The “modern” part I get easily – rule of thumb is anything after 1868 is “modern” no holds barred. I don’t do Tokugawa/Edo stuff so I am not in the fuzzy area – at least in that respect. What is fuzzy is under what sphere does my project really belong to? I thought I would be under “Modern Urban History” if anything but either the organizers know better, or there was too much in the latter panel and not enough in the former.

When I first got to Japan, I felt rather discouraged to be quite honest; I was afraid that I wouldn’t get enough of the language or even master it well enough to get even to the contemporary Japanese works. Every era of Japan has different Japanese as one person I met at the conference pointed out – he changed from Taisho to contemporary Japan simply because the Japanese was too hard. I knew that with my project I have in effect signed up for academic torture but before I came to Japan I felt that I could do it. When I came here, I felt very discouraged and thought that it was totally pointless and that maybe I should have listened to the relatives and done pre-med. Maybe it was the result of watching too much Grey’s Anatomy (that show is ridiculously addicting). I surely wasn’t the only one with the “GA Effect” – however, Alisa and me know that it isn’t as glamorous as it looks. McVet, McDreamy and McSteamy do not exist in real life. Pre-med is just as hard as mastering Japanese and company but at least it was in English.

Pretty much, I was at a standstill – as I told Professor S. of Columbia, I feel that there is this really really thick concrete wall called “Japanese and the Archives” in my way and I am barely making a dent in it. I have a chisel the size of a toothpick. I need a bloody sledgehammer, dammit. And that is what is really frustrating.

Being at this conference helped a lot in terms of whether or not all this is really worth it. I got a lot of good feedback about my paper from various professors back in the States and as Professor S. of Uni Sydney points out, my project falls under various “fields” if you will –

1) Architectural History
2) Cultural History
3) Urban Studies/History
4) Urban Planning
5) Modernity Theory
and
6) The overall narrative of Modern Japanese history

According to him, this is a good thing because it can appeal to many audiences at the same time. It’s multi-tasking. Problem for me come this summer and next fall – um…which graduate program do I apply to? I would have definitely wanted to work with Professor S. ,as according to one professor I met here, he is the “granddaddy of urban history” (Columbia) but he is in Kyoto now. Not Columbia. Plus, I want to work at Columbia (may the academic gods shine on me PLEASE come 6 years from now) and word on the academic street is, “Don’t go to school where you want to teach.” So anything in NYC proper is out (including NYU) and that idea is down and out on both counts.

Applying to grad school (the second time around!) is going to be a hell of a lot messier than I thought. I need to make charts again. And start emailing a lot of people. And do a lot of research on the profs and use my sister’s account to hack into JSTOR to see what these profs have been writing about. I am totally clueless right now so many things to consider, like can I take courses from multiple departments such as History and East Asian Civilizations? Can I take introductory courses on architectural theory and methodology? Will all of this count?!?!?!?

Bah bloody humbug. Nonetheless, in spite of the fact that I am now more confused than ever at least on the “What subject am I?” question, some good things came out of this conference:

1) I am published!
2) I meet people – who actually like my project
3) I get some more ideas on my project
4) Got some ideas for resources on project
5) Eye-opener in terms of the confusing question of “What subject am I?”
6) Get practice speaking in front of people
and
7) I really know that my project is worth something.

I have to start on my background reading – I know of a few books that I am going to definitely need to read all of so I am going to get those off of half.com for my own reference and get those shipped over to me here. I am going to meet Columbia Professor S. on Tuesday so I will ask for some more suggestions from him, and read his books while I am at it. And look up this one Japanese guy – he was mentioned in a paper so I am going to look up that exact reference. I need to be proactive, so that’s why I am going to look up the book (And read Nippon VOGUE for fun as well. If I am going to read Japanese magazines, might as well start with a good one.).

Say a prayer – I am taking the plunge.

"FEEETTAAAAAA!!!!" or, My Salads are Complete

I think everyone, regardless of whether or not they read the book or saw the movie, knows that Marlon Brando's character Stanley screams out "STEEELLLAAAAA!!!!" in "A Streetcar Named Desire."

"The Simpsons" have immortalized it with Homer yelling out something of the sort. I don't watch the show but Chen told me that it was on it, that's how she knows about it. So, the whole world knows.

So imagine what was going on in my head when I went to this supermarket/mall place with Chen after class and I saw:

FETA CHEESE.

With a GREEK FLAG on it.

This is important - when one buys feta cheese, one gets the feta cheese from Greece. Nothing else will do. It wil cost a bit more but there is a big difference in the taste. Greek goats are just better. Hehe.

I have been missing the following things:

My great-grandmother's olives,
Taramasalata
Dolmades
and
FETA CHEESE

Forget the larger portions and the prospect of a steak - that can be found, even at the Shop 99 - you just have to get alot of 99yen little steaks and then you get your big steak. I want my greek food, dammit. I have found only ONE greek restaurant and that's in TOKYO. Guess where my first stop will be.

Getting my great-grandmother's kalamata olives are obviously impossible, unless I either a) make a trip to the olive orchard in Sparta (they were a part of her dowry) or b) call up Theo Stavros and ask him when the next batch of olives and olive oil is coming to my house. (They come by the keg. Our "keggers" involve olives and olive oil, with the occasional soda bottle filled with tsipuro inside.)

I was able to get taramasalata on a regular basis in London - obivously as I was in Europe. Dolmades were a bit expensive. I think that those two are a lost cause when it comes to Japan - as was feta cheese. Or so I thought. I saw jars of the stuff from TheFlyingPig.com (site that gets the stuff from Costco Japan and ships it to the rest of Japan) but I wasn't sure of the brand.

Then - the cheese counter at the supermarket.

"FEETTAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

OH.MY.GOD. They have FETA in JAPAN.

There were two kinds - the first packed in herbs and olive oil and incidentally, made by the same company that is on TheFlyingPig.com. There was a little Danish flag on that so I thought, "Ok, maybe I will try TheFlyingPig stuff, it won't kill me." (The price isn't that bad either). Then I see the little Greek flag. And then I get sticker shock.

200 grams of feta = 800 yen. That is about EIGHT DOLLARS.

Holy crap! I can get a POUND of the imported stuff even at a fancy supermarket like Whole Foods for eight bucks. The Japanese supermarket system has no justice. Even down to a stinking apple.

I bought it though. I had to. I need my feta. And now, my salads are complete.

Researcher, or Tourist?

Today, I went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Last Friday, Chen asked me if I wanted to go since a girl had backed out and I expressed an interest in going before.

Granted, I had a kanji midterm the same day but thats ok! Note - everyone screwed up on that midterm anyway, the teacher was so surprised. Not our fault that she didn't tell us what the format would be like and what kanji out of the HUNDREDS of compunds would be on the test. There were ones that we didn't even cover in class.

Anyways...going there was pretty important/imperative because it's a topic of research. So for now, a tour of the place seems like a good idea.

The tour for the Imperial Palace was about an hour and conducted in English. I was worried that I was going to be late, so I hailed a taxi at the bus stop - I think I missed the 201 bus that goes in the direction of the Imperial Palace and I needed to be there at 9:50 so I was worried that I was gonna be late. Taxis are expensive! Bah. Oh well - not like I take them all the time.

Turns out, I got there before Chen, but I had no idea where I was going. I whipped out my phone, called her and said "Doko ni iku?" ("Where are you?") The funniest thing happened - a tourist couple probably from Canada or the US just whipped their heads around and just looked at me, as if a foriegn person carrying a cell phone and speaking Japanese was a rare species of person. Then they just walk around asking "English? English?" because they were lost too. I spoke to them, saying that I was there for the tour too, but waiting for my friends.

The tour guide was cute. The waiting room had lockers, so I didn't have to lug my bag around, which was really convenient.

The buildings were cool - I took alot of photos in case I needed them and FINALLY got some momiji pictures:





"Momiji" or "Kouyou" are autumn leaves. The reason why the streets and temples and buses in Kyoto were so crowded a week or two ago? Everyone was coming in to see the autumn leaves. Mid-late November is peak season for tourists, as is cherry blossom madness in April. I am now using the first picture as my new desktop wallpaper.

I unfortunately wasn't able to get to the good momiji viewing spots like Kinkakuji and see all the autumn temple viweings because of moving, school and general craziness, but I will definitely make it next fall.

One of the highlights of the tour was the garden:





I should consider myself lucky. Japanese rarely get the chance to see stuff like this - they can only get into the Gosho or the other Imperial Palaces (there are more in Tokyo and a bunch of villas like Katsura Villa in Kyoto as well) by lottery. All I had to do was show my AR card for identification.

Ice Cream and Birthdays

December 1 was my birthday, and I turned 22. According to Mel, I am officially “in my twenties” now – I am done with that year known as 21, which is known for one finally being able to drink legally in the United States. In Japan, the drinking/smoking age is 20, England and most of Europe is 18 and in Greece and other parts of Europe its whenever. So once your are done with 21 and begin 22 the fun is supposedly over – at least that immature-ish stuff. Probably. Most of my friends (except for one because she skipped a year of high school and in essence graduated college even younger than me) turned 22 when they were still in college; as they bemoaned the fact that they are becoming “old” and still in college, I snickered at them gleefully saying that I was STILL 21 and in college.

When I came to Japan people (both Japanese and non-US) would ask my age and would be totally shocked at the fact that I was 21 and already graduated college. My main reason was that I was born late in the year, and the NYC Board of Education doesn’t have a cut-off date for entry into kindergarten. So when I started kindergarten, I still wasn’t 5 but according to my mom I was going to be left back.

But now, I am in Japan and you all are probably wondering how I spent my birthday, if I haven’t told you yet. I spent my morning moving into my new apartment. It took about 5 trips to lug all my stuff from the house-on-the-hill-with-steps-that-will-make-me-fall-and-break-my-neck to ground level. Since I was going down as opposed to up a hill, it was pretty easy. After her class, Colleen came and helped me with the final two trips and saw what I had to go through every day when I wanted to use my bike. Pretty much I had to make sure that my bike doesn't fall out of my hands going down, and that it doesn’t fall on ME going up. And since the stairs aren’t paved, I really didn’t want to wear any of my “nice” shoes for fear that I will slip in them and that the soles will get ruined. I already need to get my navy-blue ones re-soled.

So now, I am in my new apartment and today, I am going to Nitori with Colleen to get some furniture for my room. Nitori is the Japan version of Ikea; there is an Ikea in Japan – two actually – but they are both in Tokyo. Sometimes, it’s just NOT fair at how most of the stuff is ONLY in Tokyo. I know that there is a Costco in Chiba (suburb of Tokyo) and I think that there is one near Osaka but still! Oh well, at least I was able to navigate the Nitori site without the Google translator function (yeah!) to figure out where Nitori is, and what buses I need to take.

After I moved all my stuff in – and left my apartment a disaster in the process – I went to class. In the middle of class, my landlord called me; I asked my teacher if I could go to the bathroom and practically ran out of there. Turns out, the gas company man is going to be at the apartment at 2:30 and can I be there? I thanked my lucky stars that there is a break in class at 2:30; I told my landlord that I might be a bit late. However, I finished my exercise early, told my teacher that the gas company man is going to be at my apartment at 2:30 – I do live right near Kyodai but I might be a bit late coming back to class. She said it was fine. My teacher is nice. And I get 100 % on the weekly quizzes anyways (but not this week, I was too busy with apartment stuff. Oh well).

So on the day of moving in, I have electricity, Internet and hot water. Very very lucky. Sometimes it takes maybe two weeks for the Internet and hot water, but the building is already wired, and my landlord called the companies for me.

After class, I went with Colleen, Chen and Estie (another Monbusho girl from Israel also doing Meiji history) to Ippo-do, a teashop. Unfortunately, the café part of the tea shop closes at 5pm so we couldn't have sweet; nonetheless, the road that Ippo-do is on is filled with little cafes, so we all went to one and had either butter or cinnamon toast. I had cinnamon toast with a cappuccino. Good stuff. No cake for me this year – cinnamon toast did the job quite nicely. Colleen treated my to a “kukki paafe” at lunch (cookie parfait) so I still had my sweets fix. I always make it a point to have ice cream on my birthday – I never had it as a kid b/c I am a “winter baby” so I always make sure I have it now.