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Published: August 19th 2006
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Well folks, I've been on the move. This past week has been Obon holiday in Japan. Other than having a week off to travel, I wasn't sure what this holiday really meant. The question "What is Obon holiday?" made for a great conversation starter/time spender in pretty much all of my classes. Lesson planning, my ass! So I found out that during this week the Japanese people are visited by the spirits of their loved ones who have passed. People travel to wherever they need to in Japan to visit the grave sites of these people and say prayers for them. It seemed kind of sad to me, but my students all assured me that it was actually a great celebration of the spirits. Either way, it was a week off!
I spent a few days just here in Hekinan checking out the city and finding my way around a little more. I really like to be acquainted with my surroundings. Many long bike rides proved to be fruitful in this endeavour. I will tell more about my home city in my next entry though. First, my travels...
The greatest city in Japan to really see the culture is
Obon Festival
Dancing and drumming and snow cones a-plenty Kyoto. I made a day trip there myself. The two key words in the last two phrases that will help to sum up my day are "Kyoto" and "myself". I was warned before I went that it is very hot in Kyoto. I thought, "It's very hot everywhere in Japan! No worries.". The night before my departure, I spent time reading my Japan travel guide and did some research online. Made a list of a few things I would like to see while there. As I was not too familiar with the transportation system yet, I decided to stick close to the train station and do the day on foot. So, I woke up early. Jumbled through the train stations getting lost at most every turn. Hekinan, Chiryu, Nagoya, and finally Kyoto. Now for those of you like me who are not really used to train travel, you should know that these train stations are huge and wonderfully confusing. I knew I wanted to leave from the East side of the station, after about 15 minutes, I accomplished that much. Then it was a matter of finding a street that was actually on my primitive map. After checking a very
backward tourist map on the street and asking a man, who I can only guess was trying to have a little fun with the gaijin, I was more lost than ever and sweating buckets in the Kyoto heat. I decided that if I kept walking, eventually I'd stumble upon a street from my map. Sure enough, about an hour and a half later, I did! It was surprising then how quickly my mood went from, "What the hell am I doing in Japan? Why the hell did I think I could do this on my own? God, I'm so stupid!" to "Yeah baby! There's the temple! I'm awesome! I love Japan!".
And so my love affair with the city of Kyoto began. First, I saw the Sanjusangen-do Temple. It was awesome! The grounds were beautiful and the temple itself was extraordinary. There were a thousand statues of the Kannon and 28 statues of the Buddhist deities. Buddhism has always really intrigued me as a religion so I was very excited for this first temple visit. Mostly though, as with many new learning experiences, I learned that I have so much more to learn.
Next, I headed conveniently across
the street to the Kyoto National Museum. Again, the grounds here were beautiful. Fountains, ponds, fish, gardens, trees, a tea house, a coffee shop... all very nice. The exhibits inside were good too, of course. I especially liked some of the paintings. There was one medium on long paper, like scrolls that seemed to tell a story, but on crack. It was like trying to following one of those really wierd dreams that only makes sense when you're in it. Dragons and people multiplying and things like that. I think I liked those the best.
From there, I walked to the Gion District. This is the area best known for geishas, tea ceremonies and shops. I did not see any geishas this time, and I plan to take in a tea ceremony next time, but the shops... oh the shops. I was in Kara's heaven and Levi's hell. By the time I arrived in the District it was well into the afternoon, so I took my time and worked my way back to the train station for eight o'clock. The day, I decided, was a success!
My next travel destination was Takayama. I went on this two day
trip with six other ACC people, 3 Japanese and 3 Canadians. They say Takayaman is the Little Kyoto. I could see why. Both have beautiful mountainous landscapes and Japanese tradition and culture everywhere you turn. Takayama actually reminded me a little of Banff too. A small touristy town that you can't help but love for its nature and beauty. We spent most of our first day on the streets of the Old Town area of the city. And again... oh the shops. It was, as all of Japan seems to be, hotter than hell. So we spent some time dipping our feet in the river, then we went for a wonderful meal. People, I've always liked escargot, but I think that's because it's called escargot and not snails and they are always soaked in garlic butter. Eating raw snails straight out of the shell... a whole different experience. To be honest, I was a little freaked out putting in my mouth what I used to collect buckets of out at Good Spirit Lake, but it actually wasn't too bad. After supper we did a little more walking, and eventually headed back to our hostel. This was my first hosteling experience,
Yay! I found it!
Outside the Temple gates. and I quite enjoyed it. It was on temple grounds and run by monks. Very cool. I even thought I woke up to a monk playing the flute outside, but it turned out to be a recording. Still cool though.
The next day we took in the morning market, one of the main reasons we wanted to go. I've always loved markets and this experience was no different, well except that I payed in yen and I couldn't tell what any of the signs said. I suppose the selection of merchandise was a little different too. Aidamame (Japanese beans), huge and expensive peaches, Japanese spices mixed right in front of you, pickled I-don't-know-what of every colour, beef on a stick, rice balls on a stick... what more could you ask for? We also spent some time at a craft shop where we got to make our own glass beads. For a lover of crafts, this was awesome! Mine was blue with white flowers... no surprises there. From there, we headed to Shirakawa-go. This was a small village of old style houses with the straw roofs and everything. Some of the houses were for tours and such, but others are
still lived in by people in in the village. Between the trip there and the village itself, the beauty was awe inspiring. For the first time, I think I was actually speechless. We took in some tours of the old houses, had lunch, walked around the grounds, and dipped our feet in a wonderfully cold mineral water stream. Takayama, another success!
The following day, I got what I had been looking for since I arrived in Japan. No, not maternity pants! I got a way to both enjoy the heat, and escape from it at my leisure... a trip to the beach! Mr. Adachi, two of his friends, Junko (an ACC student who also came to Takayama with us), and myself all went together. There was a typhoon in the ocean that day, so it took many tries to find a beach that didn't have waves that would gobble us up. We also took many wrong turns, but that was actually a little encouraging for me... if the Japanese get lost in Japan, than I suppose I haven't been doing too poorly! Eventually, a nice beach was found, so we set up camp. We ate maki and squid on
the beach, we snorkelled, we walked, the men fished, we snorkelled again. It was a grand day that culminated in an unfortunately painful sunburn, but none-the-less, another successful trip.
Now, back to work. I hope you enjoy the pictures. They probably tell the story of my Obon week better than my ramblings. I think each one is worth like a thousand words or something. You be the judge.
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Martijn
non-member comment
did you....how does this frikkin log work
Ok, worked about 15 minutes to try to become a member of your weblog, but I don't one for myself. So I hope you can read my comments after all. I also added a comment on your previous draft though, Martijn