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Reunited
2 minutes after meeting up in Shibuya. In the background: Hachiko, the faithful station dog. I believe I have committed the sin of all blogging sins…I have gone over a month without an update! I failed to report the blooming of the cherry blossoms; I didn’t disclose any details about my Aussie friend Tim’s second visit; I even attended another wild dance party in the city without a peep. I believe I have gone too long to revisit those events, but having received several requests for an update I will write about my latest adventure.
To be honest, except for a couple of exceptional weekends, I had settled into a bit of a rut since my last update. My days were on an unwavering schedule (wake up, eat breakfast, walk to school, spend 8 hours there, do some form of exercise, walk home, cook dinner and make lunch, go to bed). My weekends were equally uneventful since I had my car scrapped after the accident in February. I think I spent quite a bit of time alone and did a lot of thinking. Introspection is hardly the stuff of an exciting travel blog.
However, I finally have an exciting story to tell. Japan had its longest series of public holidays of the year
Big Screens
The front of this building was actually a giant TV where they played music videos while blasting out the songs over the square. Hello big brother... last week (aptly called Golden Week). Most Japanese still had to work Tuesday and Wednesday but I took advantage of the chance to escape for the whole thing. Being the work-averse person that I am, I took the entire week off to meet up with my old friend Jen, who came to visit from Montreal.
Even before Jen arrived we had planned to do a whirlwind six-city tour during her 12-day visit. Here’s what our itinerary ended up looking like:
April 25th: Jen arrives in Tokyo
April 27th, 9:30am: I arrive in Tokyo; Jen and I tour bustling Shibuya, Shijuku and Roppongi; sleep in the peaceful Hotel Fukudaya just minutes away from the busiest clubs in Shibuya.
April 28th: More Tokyo touring with sashimi breakfast at Tsukiji Fish Market, shopping in the Ginza, more shopping in Harajuku (where we did glimpse some of the crazily-clad “cos-play” kids despite a total wash-out from a rain storm)
April 29th: Catch a 7am bullet train to Nara to visit Todai-ji temple. Set up quickly at a J-Hoppers hostel in Kyoto and spend the evening wandering Gion and eating a seasonal tofu dinner at my favourite Kyoto-restaurant, Tosai.
Along came a spider
Little Jen Muffet checking out the wildlife in Roppongi Hills April 30th: Tour Nijo Castle and its gardens in Kyoto and prepare for the overnight ferry ride to Shibushi on my beloved Sunflower Ferry.
May 1st: Arrive in Shibushi after a turbulent ride on the Sunflower (Jen was a little green but I fared pretty well); do a quick walking tour of Shibushi on the way to buy a tent and sleeping bag; eat sushi at my favourite sushi restaurant, Sushi Tora; pack for the next day’s trip to Yakushima Island (a World Heritage Site).
May 2nd: Catch an 8am bus to Kagoshima City; eat lunch at Dolphin Port in the city; nearly miss our ferry by going to the wrong ferry terminal and arrive as the gangplank is being pulled away thanks to a worker who let us ride in the back of his pick-up truck while he rushed us to the correct terminal; arrive in Yakushima and find a restaurant-owned campsite near the ocean; eat a dinner of fried fish (with side of fish organs, which I proudly finished) at said restaurant; buy lunch for the next day’s hike; get an early night.
May 3rd: Catch a 5:37am bus to the Arakawa Trail head from
Tres Chic
A giant Louis Vuitton store in Roppongi. Lowest price we saw? 30,000 yen! whence we will hike the “10 hour” trail to Jomon Sugi, the oldest tree in Japan; meet Hiroki and Masafumi, a medical student and law student who have also been good friends since elementary school, and hike the entire trail together, chatting about everything from sports to world politics in English; catch the 5pm bus back to camp and eat a dinner of tofu, pizza and smoked flying fish (an island specialty) at a charming river-side bistro.
May 4th: Wake up late (for once!); pack up and find a wonderful lunch of meatloaf and hard-boiled egg on English muffins at Smiley’s cake and sandwich shop; arrive at the proper ferry terminal 30 minutes early; return to Kagoshima City and head out to an izakaya (traditional Japanese pub) with Andrew, Mai and several other friends for a night of grilled meats, raw horse, beer and shochu; retire to Zach’s for an impromptu house party until 3am.
May 5th: Wake up late (again!); visit the Meiji Restoration Museum and view homage to Saigo Takamori (Kagoshima’s claim to fame - a samurai warrior who “greatly contributed to the Meiji Restoration”) via animatronics display; while away the rainy afternoon with Banana Coconut
So you don't want to teach English
Alternative work for foreigners! If only I could work in a cafe here... Frappuccinos at Starbucks; take “print club (a.k.a. purikura)” photos; stuff ourselves at a buffet dinner; watch “Clue” at Zach’s; get an early night.
May 6th: 8am wake up for a walk on Shiroyama mountain (literal translation of Shiro yama = white mountain) with a view over Kagoshima City and Sakurajima volcano; lunch at an all-you-can-eat sweets buffet; coerce Jen into trying an onsen (Roman-style hot-spring bath with NO bathing suits!); enjoy the onsen; leave Jen with Zach and return to Shibushi on the last possible bus back.
May 7th: Jen returns to Tokyo and I return to school.
Though I was feeling pretty fresh on my fist day back at school, I just about cried on Tuesday when I realized that I have 3 more months of routine to endure before I can resume the crazy adventurous life (yeah, yeah, isn't this adventurous enough?). Before coming I scoffed at any suggestion that I might not love Japan or that the countryside might be lonely. Nine months in, I must admit that living here has been one of the biggest emotional challenges I’ve ever faced.
I love a lot of things here, especially the vast expanse of
BIG
Kyushu has never seen anything this tall. nature that surrounds me, but even though we have access to things like peanut butter and internet rural Japan is still a pretty isolated place. I can’t, for example, find whole wheat bread (I have a stock-pile of whole wheat bread in my freezer from the occasions when I have spotted a single bag on the shelves) or skim milk in Shibushi’s grocery stores on most days. I definitely can’t find the ingredients to recreate any of my favourite dishes from home (especially not the Lebanese ones). It’s also a challenge to find companions; friendships are slow to form with other women in the town and dating seems out of the question. With the other ALTs being spread all over the prefecture (often in the countryside themselves) it is difficult to form close friendships with people other than the ones that live nearby.
Nonetheless, I’ve got weekend plans extending until the beginning of June that include long walks, hash running and birthday partying (not my own birthday, of course) so I think I’m in for some more blog-worthy exploits and maybe a little more much-needed social stimulation. Hope you enjoy the photos!
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