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.

It's A Small World After All...

I always thought that Lincoln Center was pretty small - it's only about 1400 undergraduates, which was one main reasons why I went there. My high school was built for 1500 but by the time I graduated, there were 3500 students. When my sister graduated three years later, about 4500-5000. Gotta love the overcrowding in the NYC public school system. (I am being sarcastic).

Consequently, everyone knew almost everyone at LC - if you weren't sure who that person was exactly, you either know someone who does, or at least know them by face. It's always a game of "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon," adjusted to fit the Plaza through the 5th floors (with the 8th and 9th occasionally) at LC.

When I came to Japan, I mentioned that I met Alisa, who is from San Diego, but lived in Astoria for a year. Maybe I didn't. Point being, it was really cool to meet someone of all places in Japan who actually know what Astoria is, and a) is not a native NY-er, b) didn't grow up in Astoria and c) is not Greek.

So imagine my total astonishment when my Kanji teacher asked me what my hometown was, and I said NYC. Too complicated to say Queens, I would have to go into my borough = ward shtick. Nonetheless, I said "Queens," and my Kanji teacher goes on to say, "Really? Do you know Astoria? I lived there for a year."

I was totally happy to hear that! So cool - my teacher lived in Astoria, of all places. Recently, there have been alot of young Japanese people in Astoria, as witnessed by my once twice-daily rides on the subways, and the appearance of three Japanese restaurants in the Ditmars area alone. I told her that I do know of Astoria, I was born and raised there.

"Really? There are alot of Greek people in Astoria."

"Yes there are; my family is Greek, too."

:::smile:::

Only In New York Kids, Only in New York

I like to read the Metropolitan Diary in the New York Times. It's one of my favorite sections, next to David Pogue's tech reviews and blog and the fashion and style section. I like how it chronicles the everyday happenings of NEw York, and some of the great quips that you hear on the bustling streets. There is nothing like catching fragments of a conversation while waiting for a stoplight especially when your iPod is dead. It can be quite entertaining. And it shows that New Yorkers aren't the Devil's Spawn and ready to eat people alive, as popular belief would have it.

I do read the whole paper (albiet online) though - it has some really good articles. I always find myself referring to it in converstation: "Oh yeah, the Times mentioned something like that.." etc. etc.

If there is something really good in the Metropolitan Diary, I post it under the "Quotes" section of my Facebook profile. So today, I remembered to check it, and here was my favorite one:

Dear Diary:

On a Sunday afternoon recently, I was walking down Fifth Avenue right next to a man and his daughter, who was about 6. As we passed Cartier, the girl asked, “What is Cartier?”

He said. “It’s the American Girl Place for big girls,” and I burst out laughing.

So he laughed and said, “Isn’t it?” and I said, “Oh, you are teaching her early.”

He smiled and I said, “Why not!”

***
As a gossip columnist in the Post says, "Only in New York kids, only in New York."

I'm a Survivor, I'm a Blowfish Eater

On a normal, day it takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to get to Kyoto Station. I love the fact that I live right next to two really convenient bus lines. The 206 takes me to Kyoto Station. The 201 takes me to Shijo-Kawaramachi.

But on Thursday (Happy Turkey Day to all!!) it took me an HOUR to get to Kyoto Station. Don't ask me why. I saw alot of people walking around and alot of people at temples; the 206 goes past Yasaka Jinja in Gion, Kiyomizu-dera and Sanjusangendo-dera.

Seriously! What is up with the people in the streets and the temples/shrines? I know that 11/23 was Labor Thanksgiving Day but do they take something like that that seriously in Kyoto? There is always some holiday or festival here, so I have no clue. It's a year long party here.

I got to the Hilton Osaka (where Colleen's mom was staying before heading onto Kyoto) and met up with Colleen. The Hilton is NICE. It beats the regular American Hiltons, hands down. The view was great and in the Excutive Lounge, they had free aperitifs, and little desserts with Moet & Chandon champagne, the whole nine yards. And, the whole hotel was decked with all the boughs of holly that Osaka had to offer. Really nice Christmas Trees.

So, I met Colleen's mom (awesome, nice lady) and we all trooped off for turkey. We went to Tin's-Hall (a DAMN fine bar, according to their website) which had the turkey dinner; unfortunately, the pumpkin pie ran out. It was a total gaijin place, but not as sketchy as I thought. They had COSTCO sized FRENCH"S mustard! The food was good, albeit the potatoes were cold and I wished there was more gravy. Oh well - for turkey dinner 6000 miles away it was pretty good.

Colleen and her mom invited me to stay over with them at the Hilton Osaka. I am so grateful and thankful for the invitation; it made Thanksgiving more like Thanksgiving, if you get what I mean with the families and all. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and sat in the Executive Lounge, we munched on cookies and had coffee and wine. It was really just out of a movie. All that was missing was background music (or was there?)

So the next day, we went back to the Executive Lounge and had breakfast. MMM...I love continental breakfasts. I had granola, eggs, toast, apricots, some dim sum (as there was Japanese and Western breakfasts) and cappucino. After breakfast, Colleen's mom went for a swim and Colleen and I went exploring around the hotel and the adjacent shopping center. We both found an L.L.Bean; there is hardly any L.L. Bean stores (that I know of) in NYC and I find one in Osaka. Go figure. There was a toebag that I liked (the one that Ellen Pompeo's character uses in Grey's Anatomy) but I wanted to double check the price on the American website. It was about $10 cheaper in the United States; however, when you include tax and shipping costs, its about the same price. So it doesn't matter where I get it - so I might as well get it here. Maybe in January. I need a new tote bag for school regardless - my Herve Bag is ready to bite the dust. It's 5 years old, and is ripped on the inside. It did really well and I have taken it everywhere (Greece, London, now here) so it's time to put the French bag to rest.

After L.L.Bean, I said good bye to Colleen and her mom and met up with my Fordham friend, Mayuko. She is from Osaka, but came to the States for college. We hung out and walked all over Osaka - when we got really tired, we headed on back to Mayuko's house. She has alot of cats, but they were so cute! One of them was a orange himalayan, reminded me of Hermione's cat from Harry Potter, Crookshanks.

Amidst all the cooing over her cats, Mayuko asked me where I wanted to eat for dinner. We had ramen earlier at this really famous ramen restaurant. I told her that anything is good; I don't really know Osaka that well and since I heard it's pretty well known for the food I was game for almost anything.

"Do you know blowfish?"

I surely knew about blowfish. I knew that it was ridiculously expensive, somewhat POISONOUS if not prepared properly, and that restuarants needed a license to cook it. I was a bit uneasy about the whole prospect, but I figured why not - Mayuko has been eating it since she was a kid and she certainly isn't dead.

Mayuko's mom is sweet. We had alot of fun at the blowfish restuarant; it was a place that Mayuko's family has been going to for over 25 years - as her mom put it "Mayuko has been eating here since before she was born."

Eating blowfish is a process. There is a bowl of water with seaweed in it boling to make a stock for soup, and you put some of the blowfish and veggies in it - nabe. There is also blowfish sashimi: really thin pieces of raw blowfish. I was glancing at it a bit warily (raw fish that can kill you?) but her mom showed me that I can take the sashimi and swish it through the boiling soup, shabu-shabu style. So I did that for most of the sashimi. I was getting really full, and the shiitake mushrooms were amazing. I even tried a little bit of this sake that has bit of cooked blowfish in it (I think, or was it mushroom?) for flavor. It was really strong, just as strong as tsipuro.

The restuarant was really nice; very traditional, with private tatami rooms for eating upstairs in addition to the stools and bar downstairs for casual diners. The people that owned the restaurant lived behind the restaurant and knew Mayuko's family pretty well, I beleive. All in all it was a nice experience, and I know that this is something I would not have done if I had not known Mayuko.

Mayuko and her mom then dropped me off at the JR Osaka station and I headed back on home. Every time I take the JR, I have to ask someone to just double check if I am on the right platform - they do indicate it on the signs in both English and Japanese but for all the efficiency of the Japanese rail system, it is sure complicated. Took me about an hour and a half to get home - the streets in Kyoto were still crowded, but at least the but was only a half hour.

Turkey for Me and Turkey for You!

I like Turkey Day.

I like it alot. Turkey, gravy, stuffing, my mom's sauteed peas and carrots, pastitsio (Greek lasagna, no tomato sauce), and all the other goodies. Mashed potato! Don't care too much for sweet potato pie though, especially if it has marshmallows. I don't like marshmallows. Only in s'mores, and piping hot.

Every Thursday at the Lincoln Center cafeteria was "Turkey Thursday." They served up Thanksgiving dinner all year round, with gravy, stuffing, mashed potato, veggies, cranberry sauce and mac&cheese. That, next to the quesadillas and the wraps was the best thing the Sodexho (otherwise known as the distributers of poison) made. Great tradition. Bad for the waistline.

Which begs the question: What are you doing for Thanksgiving, Maria?

I am having turkey in Osaka.

As Felicia succinclty stated: "Bet that you would have never thought that you would be saying that."

This is my second Thanksgiving abroad. The first time around, I was in London; the study abroad program that I applied to to go SOAS hosted a big American style Thanksgiving dinner at a hotel. It was a BUFFET. All you can eat turkey and mashed potato!

However, I was somewhat sick at the time; I was coming down with a fever, so I did not have that much of an appetite. For shame! Waste of good gravy.

But today, oh TODAY, I am taking the JR train from Kyoto to Osaka station, meeting up with Colleen and her mom and going to this pub place for turkey dinner, for 1300yen a plate. It was my idea to go somewhere for Thanksgiving - I'll bet there is no kitchen in an apartment occupied by a student within a radius of 50 miles that can handle turkey. That, and I'll bet there is not a whole turkey to be found within a radius of 100 miles. I read in my Kyoto guidebook that there was a pub that had turkey dinner, but (sadly) there is no turkey this year, due to a lack of interest.

So, the wheels in my head began to turn. Obviously, Tokyo will have turkey dinners galore because a) it is the capital of Japan and b) there are alot of expats in Tokyo, more than in any other place in Japan. So, a bit of trivia:

If Tokyo is to Kanto, then what is to Kansai? (No amount of SAT prep would enable you to answer this one, unfortuantely for you).

OSAKA. Kanto and Kansai are specific regions of Japan, and you can pretty much say that the rivalry between the two regions is as hot as a Bosox/Yankees rivavlry. The question is, who is more crazier. (I hear that at baseball games, Osakans go nuts.) Alisa confirmed that Bosox fans are crazy, as evidenced in their first World Series win back in 2004 in god knows how long. Can anyone say, "1918"? (But that was when Babe Ruth was traded, hence the "Curse of the Bambino.")

I am pretty sure it's the largest city in the Kansai area, and hence, lotsa expat places to go to. Generally, it is Colleen's, Ingram's, Alisa's and my prerogative and mantra to STAY AWAY from places where gaijin congregate. No bueno. We do not adhere to that stereotype! However as Colleen said, "It's Thanksgiving. We need turkey."

Yes, I do need my turkey. Colleen needed her turkey too. We both like turkey.

Next step: Google.

I began a search on places for Thanksgiving dinner, and after 10 minutes I found a place in Osaka that not only has Turkey on 11/23, but also 11/24. Since 11/23 is Turkey Day in the States, we go on 11/23 here. As I told Colleen, her mom being here adds to the whole "family-ish" aspect of the holiday, soo I am really looking foward to it.

What is even cooler is that 11/23 in Japan is "Labor Thanksgiving Day" (i.e. Labor Day, without the barbeques and the rule of putting all your white clothes away). The Japanese like their holidays. There was one on 11/3 that was "Culture Day." I think there might be more holidays here than in the US. Since 11/23 is Labor Thanksgiving Day, we had the day off from school. Coincidentally, 11/23 is on a Thursday; 11/23 is Thanskgiving Day back home. It is also the big "November Festival" this weekend at school (don't ask me why or what is going on during that time) so we also have Friday off.

Can anyone say, "FOUR DAY WEEKEND!"

So, today I eat my turkey. Tomorrow, I go back to Osaka and meet up with a college friend of mine who is from Osaka, but came to the States for college. And either Saturday or Sunday, I go to Osaka again with Alisa, to go to a spa.

Alternatively, this can also be called "Osaka to the Third Power."

Or, "Google Saves the Day (Once Again!)" - I found the spa in Osaka on google.

"I Got Munchies"

No, I did not get drunk and then get the munchies. Haven't even had a cup of sake yet, and I prefer plum wine nevertheless.

Colleen's friend Haru said the above statement, at the sushi-on-a-conveyor-belt place.

Sushi-on-aconveyor-belt has become my friend. For 525 yen I get full. And I eat sushi.

Yeah baby! :::Bad Austin Powers Imitation goes HERE:::

Austin Powers aside, last night was fun. I went bowling with Ingram, Colleen and Colleen's two friends Haru and Shu.

Haru is very good. According to Colleen's blog he was on the bowling team in JHS and HS - reminds me of a high school classmate who was into bowlin. I forgot most of what I learned from the "old timers" at my local bowling alley, and sorely missed my glittery green bowling ball. I'm a lefty. Makes things a bit difficult.

Case in point: when Ellie and Kathy used to play softball back in the ICYP days, I ended up playing righty because I was not part of ICYP and thus, did not have my own glove. I always had to borrow, so I played righty. I am a switch-hitter, though I keep forgetting which is right and which is left.

No matter. Point being, the world is made for rightys, and us southpaws either have to shell out the dough (though Mel got my bowling ball for me) to get the lefty versions or customized versions of stuff, or we have to adapt. It's a mixture of both.

Still, my bowling ball back home is cool. Its emerald green. With glitter. And no one else can use it because it's for a LEFTY.

:::Evil Grin:::

Sometimes being a lefty pays off. There is no one around most of the time that can borrow your stuff (at least in terms of sports) unless they want to play ass-backwards. Ergo, lefties are more versatile. We have to adapt to a world made for righties, and we can still switch back comfortably when lefty stuff presents itself.

However, that does not mean I will operate power tools beyond an electric drill. Operating power tools made for righties is the cause for the highest occurence of injury and death amongst lefties. I heard that somewhere and since then, I take no chances.

I digress.

Ingram took the cake when he put on this costume thing that was designed to make you look like a human bowling pin. Not only did he wear the bowling in costume, he wore the PINK bowling pin costume, complete with tartan skirt and bow.

I actually got a few strikes - Mel would be proud. He kicks my butt at bowling all the time. I think I had a personal score of 137 after two games.

Haha. I suck at bowling. But its fun. Another good part was when Colleen fell on her butt, and when Ingram threw back the ball so hard it fell out of his hand and onto the floor. No one got hurt though thank god.

At dinner (sushi-on-a-conveyor belt) Colleen, Ingram and I were teaching Haru the concept of "I got the munchies" and what a "sketchy person" is. However, things got a little bit lost in translation, and Haru ended up saying "All japanese are sketchy." I was sending a text at the time, and my head just popped up in amazament. Colleen and Ingram quickly rectified the situation.

"Munchies" was easy to explain, as Haru told us that whenever he drinks beer (as he was at the moment) he gets hungry. So, Colleen and I pretty much said that "In the States, when that happens, we say 'I have the munchies'".

Did I Mention...

...that my apartment comes with a FREE tv? The person before me left it behind and my landlord said I can use it.

So now I can watch Japanese telly!

Already I Have Been Away for Too Long

A snippet of a conversation between me (in Kyoto) and Felicia (in NYC):

Felicia: they (her b/f and his friend, curently working in Australia) live together on the island
Me: an ISLAND?
Felicia: noo lol long island
Me: ooooo
Felicia: hehehe
Me: ok i have been outta the country for too long
Felicia: uve been gone too long

I am losing my NYC vocabulary.

:::sniff sniff:::

Cue the depressing mortuary music.

My Own Place

I did the one thing that almost every college grad does after graduation:

I got my own apartment. One that is tiny, a studio and I pay utilities separate from the rent. I can afford it with my stipend - I won't be able to save as much as I wanted, but it's my own place. I need space and privacy. I signed the contract today, got the paperwork to get the guarantor, and e-mailed my nice Aussie landlady to let her know that I found a place.

So excited! And it's in the same neighborhood as the one I currently live in right now; has INTERNET, a BALCONY and is pretty decently priced. Semi-furnished as well - there is this unit thing that is a combination of a bed frame and cabinets on the wall. You pull the bed frame away from the wall and in theory push it back up to save space, but I will keep the bed out - with enough cushions it would make a cute little couch.

I like the neighborhood I am in - it's quiet, filled with families and grannies. And there is a post office and Family Mart right nearby so there are the conveniences needed. And a bunch of little restaurants and a coffee shop - Colleen is moving into the neighborhood as well (at a dorm) so we plan to cover all the restaurants and coffee shops in the neighborhood.

I don't have a closet but who cares! I have MY OWN apartment. It's in a great and quiet neighborhood. And contrary to conservative Kyoto belief, I did not have to pay an arm and a leg in gift money (think I deposit that you never get back, it's a horrible system) and my landlord will help me set up the gas and electric and the internet is ALREADY installed and ready to go. It's basically wireless (two routers per floor) but there is a cable running along the ceiling of the hallway into my apartment so I don't need the wireless password, just hook up the cable and ready to go.

Ready to go because I have a Mac - it's just alot easier to set up internet. And I came by the apartment earlier in the week and tested the internet and it was all set. I took some pics to show to parents, sister some other people and Mel for opinions, but I will post and e-mail once I am done furnishing and decorating.

I can go to the 100-yen shop and get Christmas decorations!

Boring Laptop Cases Need Not Apply

In addition to the somewhat eventful "tsunami" of TWENTY-THREE inches in northern Hokkaido, yesterday was interesting for another reason.

I went to my first temple bazaar. There is a temple right across the street from school on Imadegawa. My 4 hour afternoon class was cancelled (HALLELUJAH!) and since I was talking to Chen about the bazaar thats on Higashi-Ichijo-Dori (you try rolling that off your tongue 10x fast) on the 26th she mentioned that there was a temple bazaar right near school going on now.

So I went to the bazaar. I knew which temple it was because I dropped by there when Uncle George and Aunt Stella were in town a few weeks ago; they like to take pictures and see everything.

Very crowded, as it was the middle of the say (around 3pm). Still, some of the stals were starting to pack up so next month - go there early.

I wandered around, seeing if anything caught my eye. ALOT of stuff caught my eye - the Japanese are GREAT at making crafts and little things. But, I am a student, and on a tight budget. I am forcing myself to be on a tight budget.

That doesnt' mean I am allowed a few induglences once in awhile. Case in point: I found a SPA in Osaka run by an Middle Eastern woman that does actual eyebrow WAXING. And FACIALS. All western style - Japanese pedicures are too funky (sparkly rhinestones, anyone?) and they don't believe in the concept of waxing.

No hot wax today. Instead, a laptop bag.

If you read a few (rather, more than a few) blogs ago, I mentioned how I got a MacBook and I wanted a new laptop case. I am not the corporate type (I like the look of the suits, but that does not mean I will wear a black suit with a white button down shirt to work everyday), so that means PLAIN BLACK LAPTOP CASE = NO-NO. I had a plain, black laptop case for my old Sony, and did i ever use it? No.

However, Kate Spade has not issued the Larabee Dot Noel laptop case in MacBook-size, and most of the manufacturing companies hadn't either. The industry thinks that MacBook = 15" Powerbook so no new cases specifically for the MacBook. And hardly any that were interesting. It took me awhile to get an interesting one (khaki burlap lined in fleece) and I had to find it on the net.

But that was a sleeve. And I am digressing. I needed something with handles. Something interesting, and something that fit the laptop perfectly.

I found it at the temple bazaar. A little tote bag - yellow patterned fabric, with army-green canvas handles and a mouse named "Chu" appliqued on the front. I was talking to the lady who was selling the bag and was saying that there were alot (plain pink with cherries and green with mushrooms appliqued) that were really cute! And they were and either 600 or 800 yen which is great. In the end I chose "Chu" the mouse.

Got a tiny pair of earrings and a cute barrette too for under 1000yen as well and 2 cool postcards to put on my wall (matching) but the highlight was the bag, now with my laptop sleeve:

A Lesson in Japanese Geography

I appreciate the concern.

I really do! Honestly!

Thanks for asking if I am fine. No, the tsunami DID NOT hit me.

The earthquake was in NE Japan, slightly off the tip of Hokkaido. Which led to a small, 16-inch tsunami.

As Cat said, "Wow, your knees would have been SOAKED."

Gotta love the sarcasm. Still, there would have been problems if the tsunami hit me, in LANDLOCKED, SW Kyoto.

Dont' worry! I am fine.

Laundry Woes

In London, it was that one particular dryer that still left you clothes damp.

And the fact that there was only ONE laundry room for about 400 students.

In Greece, my grandfather's house was old so it only had a washer. Then again, it was over 90 degrees almost every day so drying was not really an issue.

In Japan - most of the houses usually don't have a dryer. According to a forum member, there is a washer that also does double-duty as a dryer.

Beats me. Japanese always has funky appliances, with more buttons than you can shake a stick at. Don't get me started on the "washlet."

I did my laundry on Saturday. Today was MONDAY. Over 48 hours of drying off hangers and the pole in my little veranda, and they were STILL BLOODY DAMP.

The following things didn't help much:

1) Cold weekend.
2) Me not opening the shoji screens to the veranda, which would have in effect allowed the heat from the electric heater spread throughout the entire room.
3) There is usually a big temp difference between the windows/wall to the outisde and the shoji screens to my room. So my cloths were in a cold hovel all weekend.

When I woke up this morning and felt my clothes, I was utterly pissed. I had two weeks worth of laundry hanging and was resorting to wearing skirts because all my jeans were worn. So, I called my koto teacher, cancelled my lesson and set about the task to taking my clothes down the hill in a laundry basket that was about to rip at the seams (cheap one from the 100-yen shop) to the coin laundry near my house.

Bah humbug. This morning was SO not off to a good start.

But then, I had a eureka moment.

The temperature in the veranda is different from the room--> so if i crank the heat up on the electric heater and stick it in the veranda--> the veranda will warm up and contain that heat to dry the clothes!

Granted, the veranda was so cold that I couldn't tell if the clothes were still damp or just really cold. Its 100 yen for just EIGHT minutes of drying at the coin laundry. I did the whole laundry once there because I needed to wash my sheets and towels and I decided to to the rest along with it - it ended up almost costing me 2000 yen.

And don't worry, I wasn't going to start a fire. My clothes were secure on hangers and on the pole, 2 feet about the heater.

Now I am in the process of ironing my clothes. I am slowly becoming to like ironing - it's quite contemplative.

Them Hot Buns

Today, I was wandering around the co-op in the basement of the University Centential Clock Tower (or "Clock Tower") trying to find something cheap and relatively decent to eat.

The co-op is great. Its like everything a student needs, all in one floor. Dry cleaning, pharmacy, photocopying, and various sundries, stationary and food that you need as a student to survive.

I always thought that the drinks were cold because they have those dispalys with the cold drinks - you know the ones at the delis that dont have the doors, but rather you can pick up the stuff in. Turns out, not only does Japan have ones that cool the drinks, they have ones that HEAT the drinks. I learned this yesterday, so my coffee intake has somewhat increased. I am trying to lay off the coffee though - hence me getting Royal Milk Tea. It's more like English Breakfast tea, but they way they make it is very sweet so I think I will go back to the green tea.

But, buns?

No, I am not talking about rear ends.

Ever hear of sticky buns, or pork buns? Those of you who are Asian/lived in Asia/know about Asia/eat a good amount of Asian food know about them. They are this doughy little balls filled with stuff in it. I never really approached it until today because I had a eureka! moment and finally realized what they were - not poison.

One in particular got my attention. "Pizaa."

Eh?

Of course it was written in KATAKANA (damn that syllabary) so it took me the required 5 minutes of starting at it to figure it out.

PIZZA! A bun filled with pizza flavoring!

Of course, I got it. It was only 100yen.

This is my new favorite snack. Pizza-bun and anything with matcha in it.

Plink, Plank, PLONK

Do you have ANY idea of how hard it is to tune a koto?

It took me over an HOUR and a HALF to tune that damn thing. I was trying to utilize the internet as a means to help me tune the piece of string crap that is the "o-koto" and it wasn't helping much. I kept on getting more confused, as there are DIFFERENT means ot tune the koto.

Bah!!!!

I wanted to practice the songs I learned today in my koto lesson. Thing is, my teacher tunes the koto somewhat differently in terms of placing the bridges, even though the tune is the same. So for now, I will just tune it the way I know how to tune it and just pay close attention to my teacher's tuning. When my ear gets good enough, then I will move the bridges. For now, those suckers stay put. I take no risks whatsoever. I have alot to practice this week - for just one hour, we covered quite a bit.

Luckily, I found a website for little kids that plays the note on each string one at a time. With my new nifty Korg electronic tuner, I played the note on the website and figured out what the note was, then adjusted the bridge for each string accordingly. This was progress after 1 hour and 10 minutes of glaring at that thing.

Plink!